Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bought the item in Jan 2015 and with Filet Mignon's in hand, proceeded to cook. And I can tell you this first outing was MEDIOCRE! My other half is forcing me to say it was because I DIDN'T READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. On our second go around, I grilled 2 more filets. THIS time they came out perfect. Since them have tried Italian sausage, gourmet hot dogs (thicker than normal) pork steaks and hamburgers. ALL came out perfect. Now for a few hints from someone who Strongly recommends you read the instructions. Yes, there are picture to show you what to do but the accompanying verbage is a bit lacking. FIRST, do put a bit of oil (with paper towel) on grill. Helps to keep things from really sticking although I haven't had a problem yet. SECOND: Push the on button and the type of food you are grilling (the pics on the buttons are a no brainer) AND KEEP THE LID CLOSED! This the "HEATING UP THE GRILL STAGE. This takes about 10 minutes. When the grill is ready, it will beep. Place your items on the grill and close the lid. Now for the hard part. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE GRILL AND TOTALLY RESIST OPENING THE LID!. As the grill begins cook your item, the color window WILL change color. IF you open the lid thinking the item is not being cook....BOOM! you go to manual mode and now have to really watch what you are cooking. So, if you don't open the lid, the light button will continue to change color as it rotates around the "done-ness" scale. So you want a medium rare steak? As soon as you determine the light is NEAR this color, open the lid and remove the steaks. Reason? The meat will continue to cook for a minute or two and you steak will go from med rare to slightly under medium. I had this happen with my second round of steaks but they were still juicy. Second thing to watch. Oil the grill lightly! If you get heavy handed, the unit will smoke. I've tried the grill without oil and it works very well. Use your own judgment. And FINALLY: Remember that once you remove your food from the grill, PUSH the on-off button, an then unplug. This unit WILL stay hot for at least 45 minutes. Now, what I like most about this grill: It does extremely well what it is intended to do and that is grill indoors and grill to perfection. Second, there is very little smoke involved. Third, found VERY LITTLE splattering and that was only with the hamburgers. Third. once COOLED, the unit is a breeze to take the two grill plates off, and place them and drain plate in dishwasher. I have not yet tried the panninis approach but my other half, who is currently banned by the EPA from even BOILING WATER, wants to try her hand at this after reading the recipe book that came with the unit. She thinks she can do this. OVERALL: Is it too expensive? Initially I thought so but after using it several times, it is well worth the price for what it does. Would I recommend? ABSOLUTELY! I now am cooking beef,chicken,sausage, etc to perfection. And I do think it is kind of neat to watch that light button change colors. I think it is important to think of this unit in two levels: one, you get what you pay for and two, you buy it because you will use it often. And please...DO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! UPDATE: DEC 2017 OK. Nearly 2 years of having and using this unit. Noted in my previous review, I eventually did liked the color changing light that denotes the done-ness of the food you are grilling. Well, I don't now. It was initially fun to watch but a meter, or an LCD screen that lets you know the done-ness would be better. As for the unit itself, I LOVE IT! I've used it over 20 times during the past 2 years and the grill still works like a champ. I use a little oil to coat the grill plates, preheat, and upon the "idiot" beep, place the grilling item on the grill and close the lid. Now, my other half and I both like our steaks medium so after the first "beep" ( which is not very loud), I am in the kitchen watching for the colored light change. Consistently, this unit has performed. Even hot dogs (AND Italian sausage and bratwurst) come out tasting like I used an outdoor grill. AND cleanup is simple. I do let the unit cool down completely (takes about an hour), clean off any bits of food that may stick to the grill plates, an then put them into the dishwasher. Plates come out clean (and sanitized!). I also give the unit itself a once over with a good kitchen cleaner in order to remove any/all grease splatters. My overall feeling is this: keep the unit clean, use a little oil on the grill plates, AND let it cool before cleaning and this little griller will give you very good service. Yes, my 5-star rating holds and I do RECOMMEND AS A BUY. UPDATEL: Dec 2019 My unit died last night. Or I should say was DYING over the past 5 uses. Granted, unit was purchased in 2015 and initially used it a minimum of 2 times per week for about 4-5 months. Then, used was about once every 1 1/2 - 2 months. 5 months ago, I set it up to cook 2 steaks. I hit the start/set/ok buttons and VIOLA! the light began blinking and the big M letter (for manual) came on. Seems the unit would not go into auto cook mode. I cooked the steak differently and got on the internet to see if other owners had the same problem. Second VIOLA! Found a RESET sequence that several people said would work. I tried it...and it worked.....one time. For the next 4 months, each time I wanted to used the unit, I would have to go thru the sequence of pressing buttons, waiting, plug in again, etc. More times than none, I would have to try the reset sequence at least 4 times before I could get the unit to respond accordingly. Last night I plugged the unit in and the idiot light (as I call it now) flashed light blue, then white, the back to blue...and lo and behold I get the big M light to turn on. But no auto cook. I tried the reset sequence 5 separate times, and each time it would not go. Finally, after the 6the time of reset, the unit reset and I placed my steak on the grill. Within 1 min. or so, the unit light flashed and changed to MANUAL mode without cooking my steaks on auto. At this point I said a bad word that started with "son". I did all the right things: handled the unit carefully, made sure the grill was cleaned thoroughly, let it cool before cleaning, ETC. I just NEVER expected that I would have to RESET this unit 1 to 6 times each time before I could use it!.....and then have it not work. No, I do not expect an electrical appliance to work forever....although my TOASTER gets a workout daily, and it is over 10 years old....and still humming right along. With the light workout this unit received and for the price I paid, it has turned out to be disappointing at best as initially it really did the trick on steak and chicken. I am now looking thru the Amazon offerings for a different griddle that hopefully will last longer. I give it a 4 star on cooking and a 1 1/2 star on longevity. As a recommendation for a buy? Your choice.