This was given to us as a wedding present and I do use it semi regularly, but it is not something that I would have bought as we do not get enough use out of it for the cost and space taken up in the cupboard.

The grilling machine has to be plugged in. You wait for the light to go out, which tells you that it is up to heat, then you can add the food. It can be used to grill a wide variety of things including burgers, sausages, bacon, vegetables, sandwiches etc. It comes with drip tray and plastic spatula. you have to be careful not to use metal impliments or scourers on it which will damage the non stick coating.

I now only use it for toasted sandwiches. I prefer them done in here than in a dedicated sandwich toaster, as they seal the edges which makes them all hard and crunchy. In the George Foreman grill they stay nice and soft; the downside is that more of the filling comes out when cooking. The grill is small so you can only fit one sandwich on at a time, which means that cooking four sandwiches for lunch ends up taking quite a long time, and there is lots of waiting around.

When I first had the grill I tried cooking burgers, sausages etc. on it but now don't bother and just cook them in the grill, for a number of reasons. The grill is small and you struggle to fit two burgers on it, so that is only any good for a single person. If you wanted to use it as a real alternative to the grill you would have to buy a much bigger one. You have to get the machine out, clean it and put it away again after use. This is a fair amount more effort than just using a grill, which I have lined with foil so it doesn't require cleaning every time I use it.

The grills are marketed as healthy as the grooves run the fat away from the food into a little tray (if you remember to put the tray there first, otherwise you will have a big mess to clean up!). However, this is exactly the same as a conventional grill so I don't see this is really any better. They do cook both sides at once, so cook quicker than under a grill and don't have to be turned over. However, I do not find that it grills evenly as the bottom always grills quicker than the top, so I have to keep checking on the food and moving it from top to bottom, or turning it around in the case of a sandwich. So I don't find this any better than a grill either.

All in all I feel that this is one of those gimiky items that many people buy but rarely use in reality, until it ends up just collecting dust in a cupboard. If you are thinking of getting one I would advise you to think carefully first about how much you will really use it, and whether you will really go to the effort of getting it out and cleaning it every time, rather than just sticking your food under the grill as normal.

On a plus, I imagine it is cheaper to run than a grill.