Cuisinart Griddler
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Cuisinart Griddler Model No. GR-4N
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Review of Cuisinart Griddler Model No. GR-4N What You Can Do With Your Cuisinart Griddler Optional Accessories for the Cuisinart Griddler Suggested Products & Cookbooks to Pair with the Griddler |
Review of Cuisinart Griddler Model No. GR-4N
My family just recently purchased this Griddler, so I can’t say I’ve tested it exhaustively, but I have used it repeatedly and can give you a good idea how it works. It is absolutely super easy to use – I pulled it out of the box, was able to remove and replace the plates, and operate it, without reading one word of the instructions, it was that easy, easier than operating a microwave. The first couple of times I used it, I made rib eye steaks, of varying thicknesses. I used no extra fat or cooking spray on the griddle, and nothing stuck. I also liked the fact that unlike a frying pan, there weren’t small particles of grease flying around in the air above the cooking surface, that any juices were either sealed into the meat or stayed in the drip pan, the meat cooked quickly, certainly more quickly than if I’d been cooking it in a regular frying pan, and the food was delicious. I haven’t yet been able to get quite the Maillard reaction (the browning of the surface of the meat) that I would get using my normal cooking technique, however, that may be due more to the fact I didn’t use any additional fat (butter) or to my impatience to start cooking and the fact that I hadn’t brought the meat up to room temperature before grilling than to anything attributable to the griddler. (This is best no matter how you cook the meat, but I would recommend that especially with thicker cuts of meat like extra thick steaks, that you remove the steaks or chops from the refrigerator and leave them out at room temperature for at least a half hour before cooking, and that you pat the surface of the meat dry with a paper towel immediately before cooking – bringing the meat up to room temperature before cooking helps ensure that the meat cooks evenly, and patting the surface moisture away aids in the browning process.)
You can also use the Griddler as a panini press, anything from a traditional grilled cheese sandwich, or I should say several, since there would be room on the griddle for at least two at a time, or panini sandwiches (something I appreciate as someone who has started making her own homemade focaccia on a routine basis). Another nice feature is that you can open the machine up, both halves lie flat on the counter, and you can use it as an actual griddle to make pancakes, bacon, grilled ham, scrambled eggs, French toast, or anything else you’d normally make on a griddle. Clean up could hardly have been simpler either: I just turn it off, unplug the machine (just in case), let the machine sit for a few minutes, and then I come back when it has cooled, pop the drip pan out, dump the contents, and put both the drip pan and the griddles into the dishwasher. We’ve washed the griddles repeatedly in the dishwasher, they’re dishwasher safe, and we’ve seen no adverse effects. Oh, and there are separate waffle iron plates you can buy to convert the griddler to make four waffles at a time. So for the price of a separate 2 waffle iron machine, you can buy the plates, make twice as many waffles at once, and eliminate an extra machine from your cabinet space.
If I were asked to come up with any criticisms or “cons” to the product, I’d say I wish it was more like a waffle iron and had a red light up button to let you know when it reaches the desired temperature and is ready to use. I could well be wrong because I haven’t tried this myself, but I’d also suggest being cautious about cooking fish in it, unless you are particularly skilled in cooking fish, because I’m concerned that it might not heat up high enough to keep the fish from sticking (Thomas Keller says high heat is the key) and conversely, that because fish cooks so quickly, you’re cooking both sides simultaneously, and with the lid shut you can’t examine it, it might be very easy to overcook your fish. But as I said, my concern on this point could be completely unfounded, and someone who cooks fish more often than I do might well have no problem.
As a gift, I think the Cuisinart Griddler would have a lot of appeal to a variety of people. It would be a good choice for anyone who wants to make panini, obviously, for the busy cook who is pressed for time and wants to get the meal on the table faster, for those who are interested in cooking techniques that will help them reduce fat in their diet, or who wants an indoor grill that’s easy to clean (and I’ve used several that aren’t). With the ability to open up the Griddler and for both halves to lie flat to double your available cooking surface, it would also be a good choice for anyone who has friends or relatives who come and stay with them, to increase their cooking capacity, so they can spend less time cooking and more time with visiting friends and family.
What You Can Do With Your Cuisinart Griddler
- Make Some Paninis! Italian breads such as ciabatta and focaccia are wonderful, Italian cheese is great, and Italian cured meats like prosciutto and salami are even better. Combine them into a warm sandwich with toasted bread, melting cheese, a little aioli and roast chicken and you’ll have a warm, delicious meal. If your local grocery store doesn’t offer ciabatta or focaccia, French bread would do in a pinch, or you could easily make your own focaccia bread with no kneading using America’s Test Kitchen Focaccia Recipe. I make double batches of that recipe several times a month, its easy, there’s no kneading, and it comes out crusty and delicious. And you can make it yourself for a fraction of what you’d pay at the grocery store or a bakery.
- Make Steaks, Burgers and Chops Quicker, Cleaner and With Less Fat. My father, like most men, loves burgers and steaks, and my mother absolutely hates cooking them because of all the tiny airborne grease particles that go flying around the kitchen, especially the stove top, the backsplash, the vent, the surrounding cabinets and walls, every time she does. I’ve tried using a Splatter Screen / Grease Catcher
, and aside from the fact that I accidentally touched my hand with the edge of one and burned myself, there’s two problems with splatter screens: you have to lift them to check or flip your meat, and when you do, a whole bunch of grease goes flying out of the pan. The most grease goes flying when you flip the meat, which is precisely when you don’t have the splatter guard on top of the pan. The second problem is when you lift it, you now only have one free hand, or you have to put tin foil on your counter to keep it from getting greasy if you want to use both hands.
I did not have this problem at all with the Cuisinart Griddler. I have repeatedly been able to cook steaks without any additional fat, even at the beginning, which is something I have never been able to do with a regular skillet. (So that’s a few less calories, right there.) I constantly checked the machine while the meat was cooking, and grease was not coming out of the openings. When I opened up the top of the machine, I couldn’t see grease go flying, when I flipped the meat (so I could get cross hatch grill marks on the steaks), there didn’t seem to be any grease coming up. And because the machine cooks both sides of the meat at the same time, the steaks were done in record time.
- Grill Your Vegetables (or Even Fruit) With Less Fat, More Evenly, and Quicker. You can do more than sandwiches, meat, and breakfast on the griddler. Griddle your vegetables, or even fruit, if you want a nice little bit of carmelization on your fruit to give it an added layer of flavor. You can quickly griddle pineapple slices, peach halves, or even a banana. If you are like my father and very fond of thick slices of onion on your burgers, you can griddle them much more quickly on this machine, you won’t have to flip them so there’s less likelihood of them falling apart, and you probably won’t need to add any fat, so they’re less likely to soften or wilt. If you’ve ever tried to cook whole carrots in a skillet, you know you have to make sure and rotate them all the way around, or you may end up with one side of the carrot undercooked. Because the Griddler cooks two sides at once, there’s a lot less chance of this problem happening, and you only have to rotate the carrots once to be sure that all sides have been exposed to the cooking surface. You can also quickly grill asparagus, zucchini, summer squash, chunks of eggplant and the like. I haven’t tried this yet, but I think you could also make great shish kabobs on the griddler: take chunks of your favorite meat and marinate them, add chunks of green, red or yellow peppers, chunks of Vidalia onion, and chunks of zucchini or eggplant if you want more veggies, alternate them on skewers, and you’ll have a full meal done in very little time.
Optional Accessories for the Cuisinart Griddler
There is also an optional Cuisinart Griddler Waffle Accessory available. The waffle plates snap in and out just like the griddle plates that are included, they are dishwasher safe, and you can make four waffles at a time with them. Add them to the gift for Christmas, or this gives you a gift for a future birthday, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day.
Suggested Products & Cookbooks to Pair with the Griddler
I wasn’t able to find a lot of cookbooks geared specifically towards indoor griddlers, I’ve included what I’ve found, and I’ll include more as I find them. There are lots of panini cookbooks, so I’ve included a number of them. I don’t have the Nancy Silverton cookbook below (she’s the owner of La Brea Bakery), but I have several of her other cookbooks, and they are always excellent. If you, or your gift recipient, is interested in baking your own bread for panini, I can recommend either Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
or any of Peter Reinhart’s Breadmaking Cookbooks
(I own just about every cookbook he’s written, if not all, and they are all amazing, informative, great baking cookbooks.)
