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 - Top notch grilling indoors - 4 in 1 GrillThe Cuisinart Griddler is a great way to build the perfect panini, grill up some chicken breasts for dinner, fry up some eggs for the next days breakfast and reheat the leftovers from last nights dinner. The Griddler is very easy to use and comes ready to go out of the box with drips cups, a dishwasher safe scraping tool and four plates, to flat and two ridged. The two seperate styles of plates can turn the Griddler into a panini press, open grill, contact grill, or griddle. The secret to a good panini is to toast the sandwich evenly top to bottom with even grill marks. The floating hinge on the Griddler is perfect for doing just that. When you press down on the top the lid swings into place. If you are building a large dagwood sandwich then you may have to manually adjust the lid to cover the sandwich, perhaps a heavier lid on future models will compensate for the manual adjustment. Even though you have to adjust the lid at times the end result is a perfectly grilled sandwich. Simply adjust the temperature controls to your specific needs and you are off and running! The open griddle feature self levels the Griddler so you can cook bacon on one side and eggs on the other without combining them together on the same side. Every brekafast item is a snap from grilled ham to french toast, just remove the ridged plates and lock in the flat plates and you are ready to go. The easiest part of all is the fast clean up due to the high quality dishwasher safe non stick cooking plates. Food slides right off and if by chance some cheese or egg gets stuck on the plate, simply scrape it off with the dishwasher safe scraping tool or by placing in the dishwasher. It's more versatile than a George Foreman Grill and is just as healthy by draining the grease away from your food, channeling it into the included grease drip cups. The convenient cord storage is great and keeps the cord out of the way and makes storage easy. If you're looking for a multi purpose panini grill that's easy to cleanup then this is the item for you. Cuisinart GR-4 Griddler Rating: - I love it!I just love my new panini press/griddle. It makes any sandwhich soo much better. I come up with a new creation every day. I recently used it at a bridal shower I was hosting and everyone just loved it! Rating:  - Nice idea, faulty materialsLooking for our first indoor electric grill, we decided on this one. Had a lot of features that looked great on the surface. Actually it does work pretty good as a panini press, OK as a griddle. If your surface is not completely level, or tilted towards the front, the grease does not flow out to the cups. Grease does splatter out the sides, but I would think any with open sides would do the same. I have owned two now. I use it almost every day (say 5 times a week) to make dinner, and 2 more times a day on the weekends to make paninis. I would say I average 5-7 uses per week. The first one, after 9 months, the bottom plastic plate that covers the electrical connection, broke, just on it's own, into about 3 pieces. This leaves the power connection from the cord where it connects to the internals exposed. I contacted Cuisinart, who for a $7.00 charge, sent a completely new unit. Way to go Cuisinart. They wanted us to send the old unit back, but we just trashed it. So I was using the new unit, and guess what, after 8-9 months, the little plastic door that covers the power connection, broke again. In my best guess the plastic it is made out of can't take the heat over time. Contacted Cuisinart again. They said since the first one was no longer under warranty, they could not send me another unit. No problem, send me the door, just tell me how much. I mean, how much can a 1/8 inch thick, 4 inch by 2 1/2 inch piece of plastic cost. Sorry, we can't do that because it contains the serial number. You have to buy a new grill. So I ask, Let me get this right, I have to spend $130.00 for a new grill because a $3.00 piece of plastic broke? Cuisinart says yes. I wrote Cuisinart a letter explaining the whole thing, 2 months ago, and have not heard from them. I am fixing to trash it and buy something else. Other than the broken power connection door, I had no real issues with the grill. I wish the top and bottom heated more evenly, but it was not bad. I wish the little red power light was a little brighter, but that was not bad. I wish the rear could be adjusted for height so I could make the grease flow, instead of picking up the unit, but minor annoyance. The whole plastic plate thing is a major flaw in my book. They should at the minimum offer a replacement part. Like it is my fault they decided to stick the serial number on that piece of plastic? Just because of that, I would avoid it. Rating: - Great countertop grillThe griddler works great. The controls are intuitive and clearly marked. The grill plates heat up quickly, and are easy to remove and clean. The bottom plate is positioned with its right front corner slightly lower so that grease drains easily through the provided opening. The top plate sits firmly and at the proper angle directly on the items being grilled. Having flat and ribbed plates provides the ability to use the unit as both a grill and a griddle. The only warning I would give is that foods cooks more quickly than the estimates provided. All in all, this is the best grill for the money available. Rating: - Won't do what a $15 George will do, but... it looks cool!I order a lot from amazon.com, but almost never write reviews. This time I feel compelled to, as I have been very disappointed by this product. This product is a waste of money. Here's why: it can't even grill a chicken breast. Years ago, I had a cheap George Foreman grill. I could take a plump, raw chicken breast, sprinkle it with some grilling spices, pop it in the George and walk away. About 8 minutes later I'd have a perfectly done, juicy and delicious chicken breast with attractive light brown grill marks. Here's what happened just now when I tried to do that with my Griddler: 10 minutes later, there is smoke in the house and a burning smell. I take out the chicken breast. Instead of attractive brown grill marks, these marks are black and burnt. I cut open the chicken breast to check for doneness. IT IS STILL PINK INSIDE. So there you have it, burned on the outside, raw on the inside, smoke and an unpleasant smell in your house. Bottom line is, if you want to make grilled chicken for yourself with a minimum of effort, as you can with a basic George Foreman Grill, do not buy the Griddler. Another drawback of the Griddler, which I've seen other reviewers mention, is the black non-stick stuff comes off on your hands EVERY TIME you touch a grill/griddle plate. So after every time I handle one of the plates, I have to wash black charcoal-looking stuff off my hands. I expect more from a product at this price point. The Griddler does do SOME things well. It does look pretty cool. It makes very nice grilled sandwiches (panini), and the griddle function works reasonably well. If you go to the trouble of cutting up a chicken breast into thin strips, it will grill those for you. It is admittedly easier to clean than what I remember about my old George Foreman grill. However, I am tired of making excuses for this piece of junk and trying to convince myself it was a good purchase. It was not. I wish I had just gone to Wal-Mart and picked up a $30 George.
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