 [Larger view] | George Foreman GGR50B Indoor/Outdoor Grill
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Average user rating:  | |
 Great for an ELECTRIC grill | |
| Before I get into this review, we have to understand the product we are looking at: a George Foreman ELECTRIC grill. George Foreman products are essentially useful variations of hotplates. In this case, the hot plate takes the form of a grill (with a stand, a dome cover, a large cooking surface with raised grooves etc...).
That being said, this product caters to people (me) willing to try a product that is not a traditional charcoal grill, could be useful in smaller spaces/porches, looks like it is easy to use and clean up, could potentially cut some fat (never hurts, right?), and seems like it will work well as a good back-up grill or a quick solution to throwing mini-bbqs requiring even heat distribution without the hassle of buying/lighting/dumping coal. If that's you, then read on... Here, I'll try my best to outline the grill's pros and cons, as well as do a quick, inevitable comparison it to a traditional charcoal grill. PROS: The pros of this grill basically equal the pros of using hot plates in general: 1) Quick Heat - The whole surface heats up very quickly (you'll be ready to cook in a few minutes after you twist the switch) 2) Design - Basically you have the stand, a bottom dome, the flat grill that sits on the bottom dome, then the lid (top dome). You can easily remove the flat grill part to use indoors separate from the stand, and it also makes for easy cleaning since you can just throw the flat grill surface in the sink. 3) Easy to Clean - The grill surface is relatively easy to clean. Understand, grease is never easy to clean. But in my situation, i wipe off the chunks of grease with paper towels, then run hot water over it in the sink (yes it fits in my sink) and wash it with a soapy sponge. It's basically like cleaning a big oily plate by hand in the sink, however easy or hard that is to you. 4) Space Saving - The bulk of the materials are where it should be: the grilling surface. Everything else (aka the stand) is small and portable. 5) Easy to Assemble - A no brainer. Put the pole of the stand into the foot of the stand. Attach the grilling surface to the bottom dome. Stick that whole thing on the stand. Then put the cover on top. Took a few minutes while I was watching TV. 6) Great Tasting Food - Of course this part is important. I tried cooking everything unseasoned and it just tastes great. I mean, this this one thing I love about hotplates...food tastes good without a lot of seasoning. I cooked unseasoned burgers, top sirloin, chuck roast, kielbasa..it was fast, it tasted good, and it had good looking grill stripes on it when I was done. Cons: Seriously, not much that I can think of. If I had to be picky: 1) Could be a little heavy for people with a bad back? 2) When you lift it by the handles, the stand comes out (since they're not really "attached"....the grill just sits on the stand.) So you gotta lift it by the pole of the stand, really...this isn't even a con truthfully. 3) People complain about the grease not dripping into the pan. Well, it's a hot plate with grooves and a hole in it for grease to drip. Of course not all the grease magically swims toward the magical grease drip hole. But still, it works fine...I didn't notice sever grease build-up that stood in the way of my grilling. Comparison to a Traditional Grill: Really, there shouldn't be a comparison. Obviously this is not a charcoal grill and should never be compared to one. They are just 2 different things, and so they make food taste different: traditional grills basically fire cook your food through the coal's heat so you get the taste of charcoal while this product essentially "pan sears" your food. I'm a long time lover of all kinds of BBQ, and charcoal grills are great fun, make great tasting food and really cannot be replicated. You shouldn't be buying this grill to ever *REPLACE* a charcoal grill; it should be bought to be a 2nd grill that's great for rainy days or a primary grill if you really have no space and don't have time/space to deal with lighting and dumping charcoal. Overall, this grill is an electric hot plate with raised grooves that makes great tasting food quickly, quietly, and easily. And for what it is, it's a SUPERB product (and relatively affordable too!). Go get one! I didn't regret my purchase and I don't think you will either. | |
| Drip pan is too small | |
| My only problem is the "convenient" drip pan. Maybe i'm the only one who likes to cook more than one thing at a time; but anyways, the fat and juices of the meat quickly overflowed the tiny drip pan and ran out the bottom making a mess everywhere. The "convenient" drip pan is located under the hot metal plate and you just try and empty it while cooking. Luckily I was cooking outside!! The grill works surprisingly well and the food produced was just excellent. Be aware of this problem or you might not be so lucky. | |
| George Foreman Grill Worth the Price! | |
| I purchased my grill second hand. It's over a month now that I've been using it...and I LOVE it!! BUT!! There COULD be some improvements. First of all...I received no manual with mine. I can't for the life of me figure out where the lid is supposed to "rest" on the grill? Second...indoors I've had to adjust and re-adjust where the grill is positioned so that the grease from whatever is cooking will run off properly into the drain tray. I live in an almost 100 year old house...so the floors are NOT even! That is an important factor when cooking with this grill indoors. Here's a bit of advice for folks with uneven flooring...place the grill so that the drip-pan is placed toward the downhill slope of your flooring:) Third...even when you have the grill on the pedestal evenly placed...EXPECT A MESS UNDERNEATH! Runoff & condensation from the lid will cause a bit of a splatter underneath your grill! And the grill placed on the pedestal is just a wee bit more wobbly than I like. One more downfall....if you clean your grilltop in your sink...BE CAREFUL!! Mine was perfect when I got it...but now has the metal showing around the edges where I've been cleaning it using my kitchen sink. These grills can NOT take hard knocks!!!!! I've learned from this not to EVER use anything but teflon safe utensils on my grill! And even then...be GENTLE!
Ok...enough with the downside...this grill shadows all I've ever used! And that includes charcoal, propane and open fire. No more bursting into flame and singeing your eyebrows off...no more nasty tasting food...no more over or under-cooked food...no more waiting for heat strong enough to cook...no more whining about it's "to cold to grill outdoors"...or no more "I'm not ALLOWED to use aything but electric in my apartment or college dorm"... This is a GREAT buy!!~ I think it needs just a few improvements...but all in all...BRAVO MR. FOREMAN!! Now...get on those improvements George!! |
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