Grillicious! (George Foreman Grills)

Name: PyrettaBlaze

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Product:	George Foreman Grills
Date:	21.01.08 (339 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Range of price, healthy, quick meals.

Disadvantages: Get hot, if left too long hard to clean.

After much ranting from my friends about the amazingness of the George Foreman grills, I caved and bought one for myself...the deciding factor was that as well as healthy fat reduced meat and chicken, I could also make myself cheese toasties. How healthy. Being the skintoid student I am, I splashed out on the GR18 (or cheapo) grill for a princely £19.99. Despite being devoid of many of the features of the more expensive grills, I've found it has proved its worth time and time again.


In case you live under a rock, the point of the George Foreman is to cook food in a quick and healthy way. Its basically a pair of grill plates which get boiling hot and cook the food really quickly. It works by draining out the fat, which drips and collects into a little tray.

To use the grill you simply plug it in and wait for the red light to go off, indicating that the grill is hot enough to use, then plunk whatever you want to cook on the grill, close the lid and wait. Different foods vary in their cooking times, from five minutes for veg to around ten for meats.


The good bits

The big range in price is one of the big advantages of the George Foreman grills. Although the smaller ones can get a bit crowded if you cook the entire meal in one (my evening meals are usually some sort of meat or chicken with veg, and I find myself having to cram the veg in) its good that you can get the benefits of a George Foreman without forking out for the most expensive models, which are around £80. The cheapest one is the "baby" model which you can get for a tenner from Argos. The range in price seems to be based primarily on the size of the grill and whether or not you can control the temperature, but you can also get foreman grills that griddle or melt. The most expensive ones have removable plates which are great for ease of cleaning.

The health aspect is another great thing about these grills...cook a piece of fatty meat such as bacon or sausage on one of these, or even a lean type of meat, and you will be amazed at the fat that just drips away. If you're on a diet or just trying to watch the amount of fat you take in, these come in handy!

A lot of people think that the George Foreman tends to make certain foods awfully dry, but I find food cooked on it delicious, mostly. I find chicken, which tends to be dry anyway, can become too dry when cooked on it, but red meats still taste nice and juicy to me when cooked on these. Even if you don't like the taste of meat from a George Foreman, I urge you to try cooking some bell peppers on them...just so there is black patches on the outer skin, but the inside is still juicy and delicious. Broccoli is great on it too. Tomatoes, on the other hand, seem to end up more stuck to the grill than anything else!

You can also make yourself toasties on the George Foreman, which is always a good thing!

Lastly, the George Foreman is quick and convenient to use, you can make yourself a meal in about ten minutes flat. It only takes a few minutes to heat up, and a few more to cook food, even meat. If you're shattered at the end of the day it is a great and healthy alternative to heating up a readymade meal.


Bad bits

Although, generally speaking, if you clean your George Foreman before it is completely cool, it is easy to clean, if you leave it too long it can be really hard to get fatty stuff off the grill plates. My brother is a right pain for this, I always ban him from using mine when he comes round to my flat. You cannot use harsh abrasive stuff to clean this, just a soft cloth, which can make getting the more stubborn bits of fat off a challenge.

Food sometimes tends to stick to the plates, adding a little oil (if you're watching your weight try FryLight spray) will help the food come off the grill easier.

Although this might be stating the obvious, these grills get hot. The grill plates obviously get hot, but the top of the lid of the grill also gets quite hot. It goes without saying to keep kiddies and pets away from them, and watch you dont trip over the wire.


The George Foreman is a great addition to any kitchen. I hate to be one to pander to hype, but for once (at least in my opinion) the hype is worth it. This product is good value for money, seems to last well (I've had mine well over a year and use it regularly) and is a quick way of cooking healthy, low fat meals.

Summary: A great addition to any kichen

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