Average Customer Review:
 ( 156 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
148 of 148 found the following review helpful:
 Very PleasedMar 18, 2001
By Richard Keller
I am very pleased with this product. I have the smaller Foreman Grill but needed something larger and this was it. With removable grills, the clean up was much easier than the Foreman grill. Another advantage of this grill over the Foreman grills is the oil drainage trays are built inside and do not just sit on the counter waiting to be knocked over. Make sure to spray the trays with cooking oil prior to using.I have cooked 2-3 lb London Broils, semi boneless steaks, chicken breast and ground beef with this grill and love it. I used it twice just this weekend and am really pleased.It is not 100% the same as outdoor BBQ grilling but for indoors year round cooking, it is fine.
120 of 121 found the following review helpful:
Healthy Timesaver - Easy CleanupMar 02, 2001
By Elizabeth
I am a countertop appliance freak, and I love this grill! Unlike most of the other grills I've used, the plates come off in a snap for easy cleaning. You can soak them in hot sudsy water, or you can put them in the dishwasher. They never need to be scrubbed, because they have a nonstick surface, which is much more durable than most of the nonstick surfaces I've encountered. However, you should never use abrasives, you don't need to because most stuff just rinses right off. When you use the grill, you preheat it with the timer, which is also the on/off control for five minutes, so it's nice and hot when you put the meat, veggies, or chicken on it. It's great for stir frying, just chop the veggies and spray them with cooking spray and put the lid down for a couple of minutes. If you're doing meat, fish or chicken with the veggies, put the meat, sprayed with cooking spray, on first, wait a couple minutes and then put the veggies in. The grill is large enough for a lot of food. It does great grilled veggies. And because it's covered when it cooks on both sides, there is no grease spatter! Nothing messy to clean up afterwards. And, if you pour a small amount of water over the hot grill after removing the food, and use the little grooved paddle supplied with the machine to sweep the drippings into the removable drip tray, (which is part of the appliance and not detached from it unless you want it to be), you have makings for a gravy if you so desire. Since we are calorie concious, we usually pour the drippings into our dog's dry food and does he ever love that! He's smart enough to know when we are cooking on the grill, and so he gets all excited! Once in a while we splurge and put it over our rice, and then the poor doggie has none! I can cook two large whole trouts, seasoned and stuffed with lemon slices in just a few minutes. The timer is a real safety feature, if you get distracted from cooking, instead of burning, your meal automatically turns off at the time you set and the residual heat keeps it warm until you are ready to eat it. The variety of foods you can cook on this machine is amazing! I have cooked hamburgers, eggplant, whole chicken pieces, fish, roasted/grilled vegetables, cut up meats, and seafood for fahitas and stir fry, and bacon and sausage with no spatter, liver and bacon and onions, the list goes on and on and no burning! This is one of those appliances I just couldn't live without after using it. If it died tomorrow I would have to replace it right away, but since it has a 2 year guarantee, no problem. I don't understand the reviewer who said she couldn't take it apart for cleaning. Maybe she didn't read the instructions. I have also cooked plenty of steaks, pork chops, etc with bones with no problems, so I don't understand her review at all.
73 of 74 found the following review helpful:
Beats the George Foreman Grill, Hands Down!Jul 09, 2003
By Michael Way
"critic-at-large"
I purchased my first of this grill three years ago by accident. Wanted to replace my sixth (6th) Foreman Grill because the Foreman kept burning out the elements. I saw this Hamilton Beach grill, studied it in the store, and decided to switch. This grill has outlasted all my Foremen Grills in spades. I use my contact grill at least four out of a seven day week. Often twice on the weekends. Let's examine the pros: First, the removable plates are worth the price of admission all by themselves. Second, the drip tray is so much more intelligently designed than the Foreman. Three, when the grill opens up, it has a tang that allows the gravity fed drippings to go into the channel also. Fourth, the timer is marvelous and gives adequate time for most contact grilling (I suggest a five minute pre-heat before actual cooking). Five, the design is sensible and you�ll never have to wash the heating plates in the grill, which was a huge hassle with George.The negatives: one; After three years, the timer knob split at the spine. two; The teflon began to erode by the end of the second year making it somewhat difficult to clean. three; the spring loaded clip on the lower plate lost it's coil spring. The good news is that all the parts can be easily replaced by Hamilton Beach. Finally, when I saw this on Amazon, I almost couldn�t believe the price so I ordered one. It was delivered so fast that I�m ordering a spare, which I�ll store in my pantry just in case Hamilton Beach loses the grill war to George Foreman. Believe you me; this is one grill that you won�t want to be without. It is absolutely the best grill for the money� anywhere. Oh, and one last thing. If you want the drippings to flow faster, just prop the left side on a thin cutting board. Personally, I like it the way it is because the channels are deep enough where the juices do not touch the food but doesn�t run away so fast as to inhibit the wonderful moistures that make your food tastier, juicer, and more tender. And no, I don�t work for Hamilton Beach; I just know a great product when I use one. Mike Way
33 of 33 found the following review helpful:
 One of the best grills out thereJul 07, 2004
By Daddy Duayne
"# DD #"
We're on our second Hamilton Beach grill and we love its simplicity and versatility. As a dad who does most of the weekday dinners, this grill has helped me go from Good to Great, at least in the eyes of my wife and 3 picky kids.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is that in our experience, the nonstick coating wears off rather quickly, and it then becomes a slight pain to clean. I'm willing to concede that could happen because we might use it three times a day (breakfast sausage, lunch hot dogs*, dinner salmon) and four or five days a week. In any case, you can order replacement grills by mail -- no web orders :-( -- from the company for about $13 each. Do yourself and your family a favor: get THIS grill AND a good book (like "Grill Power") on how to marinate and grill steaks, chops, chicken, lamb, fish, shrimp, scallops, etc.
You'll wonder why you didn't do so a long time ago. *Even if you're not a hot-dog lover, once you've had them or kielbasa grilled, not boiled, you'll never want to go back.
69 of 75 found the following review helpful:
 Was mine defective???Nov 20, 2003
By Music lovin' mom
After trying my mother's small sized George Foreman Champ grill with great success, I was very excited about getting this Hamilton Beach grill because it promised easier cleanup a larger cooking surface. Unfortunately, I was grossly disappointed with the cooking results on this Meal Maker Express
.
1. Even after a very long warmup period,the grill wasn't hot enough to brown the foods I was cooking so it "steamed" my burgers, chops and fish. Believe me when I tell you that the visual and taste appeal of these items was zero to none!
2. The grill does not accomodate foods that are over 5/8" thick because of the fixed hinge design. 3. The grill is too level for fat to run off the way it does on the Foreman grill. 4. The timer was inaccurate. 5. Customer service was not very informative. I had read a few reviews mentioning similar experiences so I called Hamilton Beach to see if my "steaming" experience was normal. The rep could offer no information about how to improve the grill's performance or whether steaming was normal. She simply told me to send this brand new appliance in for repair. Yeah,right! Thus, I returned the grill to Amazon. Thank goodness Amazon is so good about returns or I would have been stuck with a lemon.
PS. I rated the grill 2 stars instead of 1 or 0 solely on the basis of its removable grilling surfaces, its built in drippings reservoir, and the fact that it can be used in an open position which doubles the grilling surface. Nice design! Too bad it didn't cook well.
See all 156 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
based on 156 reviews
