Heats ups quickly and evenly; I've cooked everything from pancakes, to paninis(griddle side) and steak, shrimp and burgers (grill side) with wonderful results. The griddle side gives me good browning and crisping, while grill side cooks evenly and leaves great grill marks. Also does a good job of keeping food warm.(I don't even set it to "warm", I just unplug it). The grease trapper is the same size as the grill/griddle, which is good and bad because if you're cooking for a large group, you don't have to worry about the trap overflowing. But the bad news is that the "trapper tray" isn't dishwasher safe. But the grill itself is, so that's good news. But once again, it is pretty large (I can fit 6 pieces of French Toast comfortably), so you'll need a next-to-empty or very large dishwasher to make it fit. All in all, great grill and I'm very happy with my purchase, and 2.5 years later, it still works great even with my husband and kids abusing it. Oh, one more thing, sort of off the subject: If you don't own or haven't used the product you're reviewing, it makes it difficult to review the product. Customer services rants are not helpful and should be aired out in another venue.