Hamilton Beach 25450 Gourmet Panini Press

by Hamilton Beach

• Gourmet sandwich press for deli-style grilled panini at home
• Floating lid makes even contact with thick or thin sandwiches
• Nonstick grids measure 8-1/2 by 12 inches
• Power and preheat lights; locking lid; upright storage design
• Grill unit measure 13-1/2 by 11-1/2 by 4 inches; 2-year warranty

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16.3 x 13.3 x 5.8 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001AG8F0
• Item model number: 25450
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,192 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)
  • #4 in Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances > Specialty Appliances > Sandwich Makers & Panini Presses
  • #14 in Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances > Contact Grills

Product Description

Amazon.com

Create delicious, deli-like panini at home with this gourmet sandwich press from Hamilton Beach. Designed to accommodate everything from single-slice ham sandwiches to piled-high turkey grinders, the grill heats ingredients, melts cheese, and creates a crispy outer crust. The floating lid slides and swivels for the right fit and locks into position with a side dial. The locking function is also handy for keeping the lid upright if you want to make open face snacks or clean the grill plates. Roomy and ribbed, the grill plates measure 12 by 8-1/2 and are coated with a wipe-down nonstick coating.

Stable on its four feet, the press has gleaming chrome housing and durable plastic accents. A side clamp locks it shut between uses, so you can choose from upright or horizontal storage—a thoughtful feature for the space-efficient kitchen. Two indicator lights signal power and preheating, and the whole unit measures 13-1/2 by 11-1/2 by 4. Hamilton Beach includes a two-year warranty. --Emily Bedard

Product Description

The Hamilton Beach Panini Press Gourmet Sandwich Maker is an excellent appliance to have on hand to make grilled cheese and other hot sandwiches. Every deli sandwich tastes better hot and with melted cheese. This Panini Press can handle sandwiches of any size.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

198 of 202 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, but no frills January 19, 2006

By Logical Paradox VINE™ VOICE

You can't give this machine a bad rating. This Hamilton Beach Panini Press does one thing and one thing only, but it does it very well. If you enjoy pressed/grilled sandwhiches you will love this machine. As I write this I'm eating a feta/olive/artichoke/roasted peppers on pita sandwhich hot off the panini press, and it's scrumptious. I actually bought this as a christmas gift for my mother, but I probably use it more than she does.

The machine looks good on the counter, and has a large, non stick service. It's not on a hinge so it's designed to accept even the thickest sandwhiches without squeezing all the filling out. You can even "lock" the lid down to apply constant pressure, or lock it up to maintain minimal pressure or to not make contact with the top at all. It's great for quesidillas as well. Ignore the user that says it takes too long to heat up, it takes only a couple of minutes, about the time a waffle maker would take to heat. Even cooking on the stove you need to take a few mins to heat the pan! Also ignore the comment that this machine burns the bread before heating the filling, I've never had such problems, although I do wish there was a temperature control for further versatility. But my bread never burns... I find 2-6 min will brown the bread perfectly, from lightly browned to nice and crispy (depending on how you like it) without burning it at all. I've never burned anything on this machine. Maybe this would happen if you used the wrong bread, but I can't say for sure. I even once used it to grill some chicken, and it did the job nicely, though it's not really designed for that.

There are a few down sides. This is a no-frills unit. There is no included recipe book, just a few hastily thrown together ideas in the instruction booklet. That's not a big deal, as I'm sure you'll have plenty of ideas of your own. More disappointing is the lack of a temperature control. That might have helped the reviewer who had problems with bread burning, and would give better flexibility. The machine itself gets very hot on the outside, but that's to be expected. Keep youngin's away from this thing, though. There's no alternate "plates" or cooking surfaces for say a flat "griddle" style surfaces, so if you prefer that or find a need for one. I don't think that's a huge deal, but I do think I'd prefer a flat surface, as that means more surface contact and more browning (though you wouldn't get those nice brown grill marks).

This is a decent machine at a decent price. It could be better with a temp control, some added weight, and some extra features, but all-in-all, you can't complain too much there.

*Update*
After having this a while, we noticed the non-stick coating was beginning to a) lose its nonstick ability, and b) peel and flake off the cooking surface (and into our food!).
This was within a year or two of owning and using with only non-metal utensils. We only used the grill occasionally, so it's not like it was due to over use.

I've also since come to realize that nonstick in general, and PTFE (Teflon) in particular, make absolutely no sense in an application like this--the surface must get quite hot to do it's job well, and that both burns the coating and causes it to release harmful fumes into the air. I've reverted to using a pair of well-seasoned, cast-iron pans, one small enough to fit inside the other. I preheat the pans until they are very hot, and let time and weight to the rest. No harmful fumes, no limited lifetime, and cast iron holds and distributes heat as well if not better than even the higher end presses.

If you're looking for this kind of grill, you'll have these problems with almost any model, but I would recommend a plain cast iron model without nonstick if you can find one (I've never seen one). You may also want to just try doing it the old fashioned way. Honestly, I don't remember why I thought having a dedicated sandwich press was a good idea.

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Nicely priced, multi-use grill February 6, 2005

By Reader Rabbit

Excellent value because it's not just a panini press -- you can also use it as a contact grill for vegetables, burgers, etc. You do this by using a set screw to lock the upper plate at the height you want. Bingo: buy one appliance rather than two.

The upper plate has about 3" to 4" of travel, so you can press fairly thick sandwiches. The size is nicely compact, with the overall dimensions not much bigger than the heating plates.

The plates have very fine ribbing, so you can't use this grill to fry eggs or pancakes. If you want those options, consider the Breville SG620XL panini press/grill (which has flat plates that lock into 6 positions), or the smaller Hamilton Beach 25219 Contact Grill.

101 of 106 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Bread is Done, Sandwich Fixin's Are Not September 20, 2005

By asfhgwt

Amazon Verified Purchase

Mechanically, the press has a nice design and it works OK for a $40 item. The upper lid is not hinged, so it can be raised very high to accomodate thick sandwiches. Bread comes out nicely ridged and crunchy. It does take a while for the unit to heat to cooking temperature, however. The main problem seems to be how to cook the inside of the sandwich without burning the bread; for an average sandwich (3 oz. ham and 2 oz. cheese) after 1.75 minutes the bread is done, but the ham is not sufficiently warm nor the cheese melted. This may be an issue with all lower-end panini presses, I suppose; perhaps some experimentation with different bread types and cooking times will solve my little dilemma. In any case, so far the resulting sandwiches are better than if served at room temperature, but not as good as those heated in my toaster oven and then slapped together.