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Average Customer Review
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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
I love this pan, great grilled sandwiches
I received this pan today and I love it. It made two fantastic sandwiches in less than 5 minutes. The bread was crispy and had nice dark grill marks without being burnt. The lid is heavy enough to compress the sandwich without any additional pressing.
If you have a large family this pan might be a little small. I made two large sandwiches (approx 4 by 8...
Published on April 29, 2006 by Amalfi Coast Girl
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
I can't save me, but I can hopefully save you!
This pan has been the worst piece of kitchen equipment I've ever owned. The first one I got (as a gift for Christmas, and I feel awful that my brother spent so much on this for me) was pitted and chipped in places. I should have heeded that warning and just returned it for another item, but no, I got another one as a replacement. BIG mistake. Before even using it once,...
Published 10 months ago by plangal
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
I love this pan, great grilled sandwiches, April 29, 2006
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I received this pan today and I love it. It made two fantastic sandwiches in less than 5 minutes. The bread was crispy and had nice dark grill marks without being burnt. The lid is heavy enough to compress the sandwich without any additional pressing.
If you have a large family this pan might be a little small. I made two large sandwiches (approx 4 by 8 inches) with focaccia bread and had room for maybe one more sandwich.
This pan was very simple to clean as well. Cheese that melted in the interior of the pan easily released after soaking in warm water for 5 minutes.
The exterior of the pan is enameled, as the description states. However, the interior of the pan appears to be seasoned cast iron, not enamel as is reflected in the description. This in no way detracts from the functionality of the pan. I prefer the cast iron to the enamel. Properly seasoned cast iron is more non-stick than enamel.
I would highly recommend this pan to anyone that wants to make panini but doesn't want another appliance to sit on the counter.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Mine's in 1 piece and works great, July 17, 2006
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I'm with Amalfi girl. I have this pan and it works great- most importantly, the lid is heavy enough to weigh down the sandwiches. (The trick to these panini pans is that you must heat them thoroughly with the lid on before placing the sandwich inside. That way the top gets toasted at the same time.) As for those other two,I can't even imagine a cast iron pan breaking in shipment! The ones that did must have been from a defective lot. Wow! They have my sympathies.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Great purchase!!, August 4, 2006
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
We didn't need another "appliance", so this was a great choice. Heavy pan and lid, makes great panini and washes up easily.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
Slow heat-up, but great results, February 19, 2007
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I've had this about 4 months now, and it's a great press. Better, in my opinion, than the le cruset version (which is smaller and has a too-small press).
The downside to this one (and probably any cast iron panini press) is that it takes at least 5 min to heat up. I've only had good luck getting the press hot enough to toast with once I've let it heat for even more than that.
Definitely spray some cooking spray on it the first few times you use it. Otherwise, bread sticks like crazy to both sides.
I'd recommend this pan!
UPDATE: after using for more than a year, this is a great press... liberal use of olive oil is the key. Get it. Still slower than my electric version on the heat up though, and requires a flip of the sandwich. But there's something more romantic about the manual stove top version! I've even done meat in it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Great Pan, January 1, 2008
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I've owned this pan for about 3 months now. It works great, once you learn some tricks. First, toast the bread, if using sliced bread. Toasting dries the bread surface and eliminates sticking. You can still brush on a little olive oil for the taste, but you won't need it.
Start with low heat settings and let the pan heat up for 2-3 min. Higher heat settings will burn the bread before you heat the inside.
I found that I still need to flip the sandwiches to brown the top, but the press part is plenty heavy to give the traditional flatness. The whole pan is quite heavy, but this is normal for cast iron.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
great for steaks, vegtables and fish, February 13, 2008
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I use this pan for steaks, fish and vegtables. Steaks on this pan at medium high heat are incredible. The pan is very heavy and it holds heat well. Try grilling asparagus on this, toss in some fresh rosemary at the end.
Downside: The pan is quite large, it's very heavy and it's not easy to clean.
My 18yo son who is learning to cook has this on his "must have list", (along with my plasma tv)
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
I can't save me, but I can hopefully save you!, November 7, 2009
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
This pan has been the worst piece of kitchen equipment I've ever owned. The first one I got (as a gift for Christmas, and I feel awful that my brother spent so much on this for me) was pitted and chipped in places. I should have heeded that warning and just returned it for another item, but no, I got another one as a replacement. BIG mistake. Before even using it once, the enamel chipped off...and has gotten worse. And, as other commenters have mentioned, everything sticks to it. There's a reason they offer for sale a panini grill cleaner (which itself is crap--I also have that and it doesn't work). And before people insult my intelligence by suggesting I didn't try using oil/butter/nonstick spray...I did. I also preheated it. There's no excuses that can be made for this product. It's just bad. And either mine was a stinker, or the others don't know how a $90 pan should work. I suggest saving money on this and either buying the cast iron version from Lodge (which is what I wish I had now) or the electric Cuisinart 3-in-one press--my parents have that and it's wonderful. For me now, this is a seldom used thing taking up space in my closet...I use it to make hot dogs and that's it. And, I eat hot dogs about once a year. Sad.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Love It, November 3, 2006
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
This pan is the best! Nice heavy weight, great size. Can grill 2large or 3 medium sandwiches at the same time !
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
So-so so far, January 4, 2009
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
Have used this pan once, and heated it on high to make sure the heat got through to the lid, which is supposed to cook the top of the sandwich. The bottom of the sandwich burnt black and started smoking within 20 seconds, and the top never browned the top of the sandwich. I had to turn off the burner, flip it over after I unstuck it, and brown it the rest of the way. I'm not giving up though, next time I will heat the pan on medium heat. The pan is now soaking the in sink to get the carbon off!
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12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
disappointing, December 27, 2006
This review is from: Mario Batali Panini Grill and Press, Persimmon (Kitchen)
I was so excited to receive such a beautiful pan for Xmas. However, if my experience today is representative of how this pan performs, I won't be using it often.
The literature which comes with the pan describes it as pre-seasoned, and the recipe included instructs for the bread to be brushed with olive oil but mentions no prep for the pan except to heat it over low to medium heat. On the first try I had some cheese burn onto the pan and the bread seemed to cling stubbornly in spots, though I was able to get it to release with a pancake turner. The scorched cheese was very difficult to scrub off, even with soaking for awhile.
On the second try I oiled the pan and the press and carefully oiled the bread, so as to not have any bare spots. I still had sticking! Ditto for clean up.
This thing weighs a ton, too. It is awkward to transfer off the burner; the instructions warn "lift, do not slide" on a glass top stove.
I think I'll continue to use my non-stick griddle with a cast iron pan on top for a press. That always works great!
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