Side by Side Comparison of: T-fal vs Cuisinart

For much of my life, I've been eating processed foods -- they're cheap, convenient, and don't require much more than a stovetop and a pot or two. After some recent bloodwork, I was informed that I was borderline diabetic, and that it might be reversible if I make significant dietary changes. Since I don't have a lot of cooking experience, I found myself in the grocery store, completely unsure of where to start. I called my sister, who is both diabetic and a registered nurse, and she recommended this grill...and it has proven to be a godsend! For the past two months, I've used it almost every day, and it's practically idiot-proof. Let it warm up, wait till it beeps, throw on your meat of choice, watch the color dial, and take off your meat when the color corresponds to how rare or well-done you like your food. I redid my bloodwork last week, and everything was way below the diabetes threshold. In other words, with the help of this convenient way to cook unprocessed meat, I managed to reverse a potentially dangerous condition. Oh, and as countless others have said, the meat cooks extremely well, never losing moisture, and cooking exactly as the color dial indicates. A steal for $120!

If I could give this grill six stars, I would have done so! This grill is fool proof! I've already cooked lobster tail, bacon, filet mignon, New York Strip steaks, and pork chops without one bad result yet! I'm still not sure how it "knows" how thick an item is that is cooking, or when to alert you when the item has completed cooking! I love cooking with this grill! Next, I'm cooking chicken breast. I usually avoid chicken because it can become so dry. I'm sure that it won't be an issue with this grill! A great feature is how you can cook frozen meats with the same great results by simply pressing the snowflake button, too, as you program the grill as usual. Clean up is so easy! The metal plates come free in an instant, pop in the dishwasher, and click right back on again. Likewise, the drainage dish for excess fat drainage for once really fits perfectly compared to other grills, and there is simply no spillage. Sure, the grill is a bit costly, but you do get what you pay for. I bought the larger grill so I could have more programming features for bacon, etc., which the smaller model does not offer. If you are concerned about any possible issues down the road, purchase the protection package for four years for repair or replacement at Amazon's great price. Then, you really are risking nothing giving this grill a try!

I LOVE IT!! In the past, I have burned my pork chops, pork loin steaks when I cooked them on the stove, as I wanted to be sure the pork was thoroughly cooked. Now the pork is thoroughly cooked and NOT BURNED! I even put some frozen pork butterfly steaks on the grill last week and they cooked beautifully. I have cooked Alaskan Red Salmon and my husband was thrilled how it came out. I washed the grill plates by hand and also in my dishwasher. I season them each time after I wash them. Just put some vegetable oil on a paper towel, wipe the grills, then take a clean paper towel and wipe the grill plates to remove any excess oil. Very Easy. I am telling my children to get themselves one. It is truly worth the expense and so easy to use. I also cooked Tbone steaks. I had to cut the bones out before cooking them. I cooked mine rare and my husband's medium. They cooked just the way we wanted them. The grill has a different light for rare, medium and well done. I would recommend this indoor grill for everyone. Be mindfull that a large family might have to cook in two batches. I think you could cook three Tbones (with the bones removed) on the grill at one time.

Love this grill so far. I didn't purchase it from Amazon because they were out of stock at the time. I am always worried about ruining meat on the grill. Overcooking steaks or under cooking chicken. So the fact that it did all of the thinking for me is what had me sold. I have only had it a few days - will update if I find any problems.First night when it arrived, a gorgeous, thick bone-out rib eye. Kind of an expensive piece of meat for a test drive. I put a little olive oil, salt, pepper and Todd's Dirt (love this stuff). Waited for the pre-heating which was about 5 minutes. Threw it on and like probably everyone else who uses this for the first time, I watched the lights change. It took about 7 minutes to get to where I was guessing medium rare would be. It looked and smelled amazing.I put it in a foil tent to let the juices settle. Reset the grill to manual and threw on some asparagus. For those I brushed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and that's it. Put them on the grill and waited. About 5 minutes and I figured they were done. So it was time to eat!It was PERFECT. This was the best steak I have probably ever grilled and I didn't even have to think or guess if it was done.Next afternoon made a turkey, ham, provolone, pesto panini on wheat. Also delicious. And that night I tried a pretty thick and uneven chicken breast that marinated for a few hours in italian dressing. Again added asparagus after while the chicken rested in a foil tent. It was perfect again. Tender, juicy, and thoroughly cooked. It didn't matter that it was uneven, but I will do a better job of that in future.Today, hot dogs. That was an easy one.So far I would recommend this to anyone. If that changes I will update it.

I absolutely love this thing, as you can see from the picture I provided it grills chicken breast perfectly! I love the grill marks too. There is a little learning curve when it comes to this product, which I was disappointed about but oh well this grill works like a charm once you learn to not trust it's sensors.

Bought the item in Jan 2015 and with Filet Mignon's in hand, proceeded to cook. And I can tell you this first outing was MEDIOCRE! My other half is forcing me to say it was because I DIDN'T READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. On our second go around, I grilled 2 more filets. THIS time they came out perfect. Since them have tried Italian sausage, gourmet hot dogs (thicker than normal) pork steaks and hamburgers. ALL came out perfect. Now for a few hints from someone who Strongly recommends you read the instructions.Yes, there are picture to show you what to do but the accompanying verbage is a bit lacking. FIRST, do put a bit of oil (with paper towel) on grill. Helps to keep things from really sticking although I haven't had a problem yet. SECOND: Push the on button and the type of food you are grilling (the pics on the buttons are a no brainer) AND KEEP THE LID CLOSED! This the "HEATING UP THE GRILL STAGE. This takes about 10 minutes. When the grill is ready, it will beep. Place your items on the grill and close the lid. Now for the hard part. DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE GRILL AND TOTALLY RESIST OPENING THE LID!. As the grill begins cook your item, the color window WILL change color. IF you open the lid thinking the item is not being cook....BOOM! you go to manual mode and now have to really watch what you are cooking. So, if you don't open the lid, the light button will continue to change color as it rotates around the "done-ness" scale. So you want a medium rare steak? As soon as you determine the light is NEAR this color, open the lid and remove the steaks. Reason? The meat will continue to cook for a minute or two and you steak will go from med rare to slightly under medium. I had this happen with my second round of steaks but they were still juicy. Second thing to watch. Oil the grill lightly! If you get heavy handed, the unit will smoke. I've tried the grill without oil and it works very well. Use your own judgment.And FINALLY: Remember that once you remove your food from the grill, PUSH the on-off button, an then unplug. This unit WILL stay hot for at least 45 minutes. Now, what I like most about this grill: It does extremely well what it is intended to do and that is grill indoors and grill to perfection.Second, there is very little smoke involved. Third, found VERY LITTLE splattering and that was only with the hamburgers. Third. once COOLED, the unit is a breeze to take the two grill plates off, and place them and drain plate in dishwasher. I have not yet tried the panninis approach but my other half, who is currently banned by the EPA from even BOILING WATER, wants to try her hand at this after reading the recipe book that came with the unit. She thinks she can do this. OVERALL: Is it too expensive? Initially I thought so but after using it several times, it is well worth the price for what it does. Would I recommend? ABSOLUTELY! I now am cooking beef,chicken,sausage, etc to perfection. And I do think it is kind of neat to watch that light button change colors. I think it is important to think of this unit in two levels: one, you get what you pay for and two, you buy it because you will use it often. And please...DO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!

We've had this for two years and love it. It is very versatile and operates as described. It has a plate on the bottom and one on the top. One side of the plates is smooth and the other is scored. The scored side is great for cooking meat that tends to dry out during cooking. Smooth side is fantastic for grilled sandwiches. Super easy to clean. The non-stick plates just snap in and out and will fit in the sink. When cooking steak or hamburger it emits a little smoke for the first few minutes. We solved that by sitting it on the stove and turning on the exhaust fan. Particularly good for family of two.

We do a lot of RV traveling and have typically always carried a small (messy, stinky) BBQ. We thought we'd try this Cuissinart as a new approach to grilling and, so far, are VERY pleased! Last night we cooked fresh asparagus and turkey patties on the grill plate side - DELISH! Tomorrow we plan to make pancakes and eggs on the griddle sides. We can cook easily outside with it (so no odors inside) and clean up is a BREEZE because, once cooled off, the plates come off for an easy wash up in the sink! We're VERY happy campers! 😊😊

This was a replacement purchase. We have had a Cuisinart Griddler for several years and the top heating element stopped working. Since we use this appliance all the time, I searched until I found another just like it……almost. This one has reversible plates instead of two sets of plates. It works just fine and now I don't have a storage problem for the other set. If this unit lasts as long as the previous one, I am a happy camper!

WOW!!!!!! I think this is the BEST small appliance I have bought for my kitchen! We use this almost every day! its cleans sooo easy and cooks beautifully too! We have made burgers, chicken and salmon in this so far! and they all come out sooo juicy and very well cooked! Never will I cook chicken in a pan again! this is the best way to get juicy chicken! Looking fwd to try steak and maybe lobster too???dont hesitate BUY IT!!!

I purchased this Cuisinart Griddler because my husband and I just weren’t happy with our George Foreman Grill George Foreman GRP1060B 4 Serving Removable Plate Grill, Black. It didn't have temperature adjustment, the drip tray would melt every time hot grease would drip in it (or after being put in the top rack of dishwasher), and it just wasn't big enough really. When I came across this one on Amazon with such stellar reviews, I thought this would be the one for us. So I ordered it along with the waffle attachment Cuisinart GR-WAFP Griddler Waffle Plates.I have used it at least ten times since I received it. So far I have cooked eggs, bacon, pork chops, toast, a Philly steak sandwich, and waffles (with the waffle plates I purchased separately). Everything has turned out great except the first time I cooked eggs on it because I didn't use cooking spray on it beforehand. So keep in mind that you will need to lightly spray the plates with cooking spray or use butter before placing your items on it that may stick.I love that I have the option of using either the griddle or the grill plates. When you use the Griddle setting you get to select a temperature between 200 up to 425 degrees. If you use the Grill/Panini setting you select your temperature as either warm, low, medium, high, and sear. There are also marks in between those settings so you are able to get a setting of medium-high for example.The plates (including the waffle plates) are dishwasher safe but after owning the George Foreman for years I am choosing to hand wash my plates on this Cuisinart. When I would put the George Foreman plates in the dishwasher it would never seem to get them very clean. I guess it is just too difficult to cut through all that grease and stuck on food that was burned on. It is super easy to clean the plates on this Cuisinart though. The non-stick plates make it where I can just wipe the mess right up with little to no effort. Very nice.I like that the drip tray on this grill is attached underneath the unit. That was a big frustration for me with the other grill. To constantly have to place it under the grill in just the right spot, then find something to do with it until it cooled down. I have furbabies so I didn't want to leave it out because they look at it as "oh look, a meal!" Since this drip tray is attached I can pull it out and clean it when I please and then place it right back into the slot. Easy peasy.I love that I can fold this unit flat and make bacon, eggs, and toast all at the same time. It is wonderful. It is so nice not to have to dirty up a bunch of pots and pans and tun on my range all the time.Overall I really am proud of this Griddler. It has been a welcome replacement to our old grill and is definitely one of my best Amazon purchases.If you find my review useful please let me know and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them below and I will answer them as quickly as possible. Thank you for checking out my review. :)

I bought this for myself for my birthday last month, and I am very pleased with myself. I also bought the waffle plates. I use the griddler 3 or 4 times a week for grilling meats, vegetables and bread (for crostini). I've used it for breakfsts: bacon, eggs, pancakes, french toast and , of course, waffles. It is great for panini's also. I love that the cord wraps around the back for storage and that it cleans up so easily--all the plates can go in the dishwasher. The upper plate does not heat quite as much as the lower, but I don't have a problem flipping things over, if necessary. Also the timing and temperature of the waffles in the recipe booklet is a bit short for crispy waffles. I jack up the temp about 50 degrees and add 3 or 4 minutes to what it shows in the booklet and they come out fine. Overall, I love my new toy!

Well this is a good table top grill. Most of what you cook comes out great. I particularly like the way the drip tray is set up as it is superior to the previous ones we have had.All of the automation seemed like a great idea...color coded lights to tell you when things are done perfectly, a sensor that measures the thickness of the food and automatically calculates the correct cooking time, etc.BUT all that stuff really does not work. If you follow the lights EVERYTHING will be seriously overcooked. I like my steaks very rare, and when Optigrill tells me it is done that way, the center is grey (that is NOT rare). What I have had to do is create my own cook times and just ignore the lights and automation.Once I began to use my own timings, the food cooks properly, and I am pleased.Manually it is great. Automatically it is useless.

Will update the review after a few more uses, but after my first hour with it, I'm a fan. Made burgers really fast. So fast I was wondering if the timer was off. It'll never recreate the flavor of a flame grill, but for those who live in an apartment or condo, seems to be a good fit. I read a lot of comments that this is overpriced. It seems a higher quality item than a George Foreman grill, especially with the automatic cooking time feature. I see how the comparisons would happen given that they mechanically do the same thing, but this seems to be a higher quality item than the Foreman grills I've had.

6 MONTH UPDATE: IF YOU FIND IT WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO SELECT THE MEAT YOU ARE COOKING, THIS MEANS THE MACHINE NEEDS TO BE RECALIBRATED DUE TO PLATES NOT CLICKING INTO SENSORS PROPERLY. YOU CAN CALL TFAL CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 18003958325, AND THEY WILL WALK YOU THROUGH THE STEPS TO RECALIBRATE THE MACHINE. HAVE SOMETHING EXACTLY 1.5 INCHES THICK (DON'T WORRY - YOU AREN'T COOKING IT SO IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT IT IS) READY, AND BE NEAR THE UNIT. THEY WILL WALK YOU THROUGH STEPS TO PRESS CERTAIN BUTTONS TO GET IT WORKING. This machine is everything. If you make a panini sandwich, you have to manually check the sandwich until it reaches your browning preference. It's so easy to clean and when completely open, it fits right under cabinets . Grill veggies, meat - just about anything. It makes the BEST BURGERS! We cooked it to medium. There was no pink, but it was inedible juicy. Just cook it for about a minute after rare buzzer beeps. I also cooked frozen salmon patties on it and they were wonderful! It surprisingly really helps to contain the fish odor too. I highly recommend this product. It's the best thing I've purchased from Amazon. #primedays

This has been a great addition to my kitchen. I have used the other grills sponsored by some boxer. But, the cooking has been hit and miss for me as I tend to over cook with the GF grill.This grill is awesome as you can program the type of meat you have (frozen or not) and watch the indicator for your cooking temperature in terms of rare to well done.The items I have cooked were done to perfection.The only drawback is that you have to watch the temperature glowing color indicator to determine when to stop cooking. There is no auto stop based on a selection.Also, this is a high wattage appliance with a long warm up time - if electrical costs are of concern to you.

The T-fal OptiGrill is an evolution of the George Forman grill. Both use the same concept of electrical heating elements within non-stick grilling plates. The main difference is that the Forman grill has a large cooking area, and you can grill quite a few items at the same time. You flip them when necessary and grill the other side. The T-fal grill has top and bottom plates, so you grill both sides at the same time.The T-fal grill uses more advanced technology to set and cook to the desired temperature. Whereas the Forman grill used a simple knob to set temperature, the T-fal has a dial of various colors intended to simulate "doneness", so the cooking stops when sufficiently done (supposedly automatic). It takes some trial and error to find the correct setting for the degree of "doneness". The colors on the dial are not always accurate, and require some manual intervention. For example, small loin lamb chops, which require only moderate heat, generally do not over-cook. But larger and thicker steaks, which require more heat, generally over-cook at the suggested setting. It takes some practice to attain "medium well done". After a few uses, you will become quite adept. Vegetables are relatively easy to do properly.The biggest drawback with the T-fal grill is its small grilling area. If you are cooking for a number of people, you will have to do a few batches of chops, steaks, veggies, etc. to get the quantity you want. Not only does this take considerable time, you also have the problem of keeping the earlier batches warm. Unless you have a warming oven, you will use the microwave to reheat, which in itself tends to overcook the meat.While the grill marks produced by the T-fal are quite impressive, they do not impart any flavor to the meat, as you get with a charcoal or gas grill, so you will have to add spices to your taste. All in all, for a very small group of people, this is a useful product, but due to the small grilling area as well as the trial and error needed to attain desired "doneness", I've given it 4 stars. For a single person or couple or very small familily, it's easy to use and produces a very tasty product, but I wouldn't recommend it to replace the traditional family BBQs.

If it had a more controllable manual capability I'd give it 5 stars. It grills meat well, but insists on reheating "mode" for too long between cooking batches, or even if you open it for more than 1 second while cooking to see how things are going, and if you don't give it all the time it wan'ts, when you stick that next piece in, it switches to manual. But if it only had manual it would be ok. It drains and collects grease well; is nearly perfect for cooking large batches of bacon for freezing and using a few strips at a time; is great for sandwiches and steaks and burgers, but takes more getting used to than it should. When I'm cooking a bunch of meat for later use I just keep it in manual and ignore its blinks and it works fine once you get the feel.

This grill gets the job done, it's easy to clean and overall I like it quite a bit. My only complaint is that the grill isn't slanted in any direction so that the grease can funnel off the grill sheets. It all just pools around the meat you're cooking so I find myself pushing the grease towards the back with the provided heavy duty plastic spatula to get it to drip down the super tiny little hole in the back. Grease evacuation is the one category where George Foreman grills win every time. BUT - it's not a deal breaker.

I'm a prime member so it came right on timePros:Good amount of space for cookingHeats up quickVery beautiful in my kitchen counterSettings availabilityCons:It came scratched (it's the reason why I'm not giving it 5 stars but is not such a big deal so I won't return it just because of that) I included some pictures of the scratchesBut aside from that... BUY IT!!!

We got a folding griddle for our wedding 11 years ago, as well as a waffle maker with interchangeable plates to use as a grill or a sandwich maker. These items worked great for us all of this time, but the non-stick finish started to wear and peel so they needed to be replaced. No one makes a folding griddle anymore, which was really frustrating. We used it all the time and have a small kitchen with very little storage, so having something compact was very important for us. Throughout my searching I kept seeing this one pop up and kept avoiding it because I really don't want a panini maker. After searching for weeks, I finally gave in and decided to give this a shot. We purchased the waffle plates separately as well, figuring we could kill two birds with one stone.I've been pretty happy with this. When you open it up you have your full griddle, although it is a bit smaller than your standard size which can make for some messy pancakes or fried eggs. The waffle maker plates are great as well, and clean up is simple. You just take off the plates and throw them in the dishwasher. The run off catch basin seemed weird to me at first, but then when I used it as a griddle and saw how it had to drain it made a lot more sense. The grill works nice for some marinated chicken, burgers and I also made some zucchini and summer squash that turned out really nice, grill marks and everything.The ONLY downside to this is that it does not heat evenly. The side of the griddle that would be the top of the panini maker when it's closed is considerably cooler than the side with the controls on it, which can be very frustrating when you're trying to make a big meal for a bunch of people and want to move things along. That being said, it does the job and I feel like it does it well. It folds up nice and small to put in the cabinet and I was able to replace two units with just one, so that was an added bonus for me. I still haven't made a panini on it yet...

Definitely one of the best products I've ever picked up for my kitchen. The plates heat up evenly and are easy to swap in and out for different applications. Griddle breakfasts and their subsequent clean up have never been easier with the non-stick surfaces and removable grease catcher, all of which are dishwasher safe. The only thing stopping me from the 5th star in the rating was an issue with locking the upper plates in place. It takes a good amount of applied force to get the plate on the lid to sit properly without hanging off just a little bit. It looks negligible, but can and has affected the heating of the plate.

I love it, far exceeded expectation and much better than the Foreman grills. There are lots of cooking settings and the cooking plates are rervisible. The bonus is that the cooking plates re removable for cleaning and can be put in the dishwaher. The only negative is that the clips that hold the cooking plates into place break. Cuisinart has replaced the original unit. One clip has come loose on the replacement unit. If Cuisinart can figure out how to keep their clips form breaking they have a 100% winner, in my opinion.

I've now had the griddler for about a year so I thought I'd write a review. I like that I can flip the plates over and have a flat press or a grill style press. The plates are super easy to clean and even after a year of hand washing the coating is non-stick and easy to clean. The temperature setting is a nice alternative to simply having a "low-medium-high" knob, but you do still have this knob as well. It is simple to pop the plate off to rotate or clean it. The grill heats quickly and the fat/run off catcher is easily removable for cleaning.My only complaint is that when you open the griddle up all the way (i.e. both plates are suppose to lie flat) the plates don't actually lie flat. No matter what I've done they still slightly lean towards the grease run off. This wouldn't be a big deal but since it doesn't lay flat eggs or batter runs straight for the run off slot which means you have to either find a way to block the run off slot or constantly use a spatula to prevent the batter from running off. This is incredibly frustrating.

I like this grill, but the auto sensor failed quickly after I got it. Thought about returning it, but it still works good for what I use it for. Don't expect your sensor to keep working, I did a lot of research after mine failed and this happens A LOT with these!

This worked great the first 2 years. By the third year, you have to keep jiggling the cord and unplugging it and plugging it back in to stop it from going to manual all the time. Also, after all this time, it doesn't cook as well as it used to, you have to keep an eye on it or your food will burn.

We had to return this grill because the sensors did not work when we used the programmed menu to grill chicken. The grill did not get hot enough and it steamed the meat instead of grilling it quickly. Perhaps we received a defective unit because other than that I think this grill has a good concept but needs improvement.

The first month was really satisfactory. I cooked steak, chicken, salmon, grilled cheese etc. They all came out perfect. After a couple of months, it started to go to M (manual cooking) whenever I turn it on. This is a very common problem, as you can read lots of complaints about the same exact problem. I can still use it, but it became much harder to cook as desired with the manual programming. I couldn't find a good solution to fix this issue. I should have listened the other reviewers complaining about the "M" issue. I still like the product, but I'm sure there are better ones that will continue to operate as expected for a much longer time.

When it works.... it's awesome.It does this thing where if you open it at any point during use it switches to manual mode.That can be very annoying and defeat the purpose.Sometimes you need to open it to add seasoning.

I really like this grill, but it took a little getting used to. It's made very well, but it was very slippery on my counter. The rubber feet had no grab to them. This was not good because when it was hot and I opened it to get the meat out, it slid forward and I almost got burnt. I put it on a different part of the same counter, and it didn't slip as easy - can't figure that one out. Anyway, it does a good job of grilling but is not always completely accurate. The steak I made was not rare, it was more of a medium. I guess it depends on the thickness, because another time it was just right. The one thing it doesn't do good is defrost. I tried that and the meat didn't defrost and that made the temperature of the meat incorrect when it was supposed to be cooked. Overall, it's still pretty good. It has very easy clean up which is a big plus. The grills are easy to remove and the grease catcher does a great job.

Idea is great. Product name is quality. Machine is ok at best. The base of the unit heats very well and gets nice and hot. The "lid" side gets warm. Inconsistent cooking. Not what I was expecting.

Just got this and used it twice so far and love it! Other reviews complain about the oil drainage hole, but I found it to work beautifully. I did notice that if the grill is not level, juices can build up on the low side. I also plan to put 2 small/thin pads under the front feet to help the juices drain. I let you know if it was a good or bad idea.Update: Though I still like it for burgers, the plates just don't stay hot enough to get a good enough sear for steaks.

I have mixed feelings about this appliance. Like many others who have given it lower ratings, I too find some problems with it. I agree with those who said it does not heat evenly and that the top plate, when folded open, does not get as hot as the bottom plate.Pancakes will not brown even when the griddle is on high or the hottest degree temperature. They get slightly tan but mostly are just a light beige color. The thermostat does not seem to work very well. It will heat really hot when the appliance is first turned on. But then the temperature drops back so far that food stops cooking. I also had issues with on even cooking on steaks, salmon, and bacon using both the grill plates and the griddle plates. After grilling and lifting the top plate, drippings ran down the plate, through the crack between the top and the bottom plates, and all over my countertop. Not fun to have to clean!I will be returning this griddle. A shame, because I was very excited to get it for Christmas.

The grill works great with steaks and hamburgers. I haven't tried anything else yet. The reason for only 3 stars is that the design lacks a splatter guard. The grill splatters all the way around to the sides and makes a mess on the counters. I would like to see Cuisinart incorporate a splatter screen/guard and then it is worth all 5 stars.

I received this griddler three days prior to this review and have used it three times as of this writing. Granted I have used it only as a grill making bacon and eggs. I have decided that comparing this to a George Foreman is like comparing apple to oranges. You can't cook bacon and eggs with a GF properly anyway, #1 I like the way bacon cooks with this product - eggs too for that matter and the clean up is quick and easy, However, I am concerned about the bacon grease draining. As with other reviewers I don't like the draining system for the simple reason of where it drains - at the very back middle in a tiny indention. Several times I was afraid the grease would over flow on the sides. It got up to the top and I had to think fast. I took the turner and helped it by pushing it toward the drain area. The griddler itself is not tilted toward the drain so there isn't a real good flow the grease to travel - it just sits there and continues to accumulate. One would think that Cuisinart would have noticed this and engineered a better draining system - like the entire back of the plate. Anyway I haven't tried it for hamburgers yet. I am kind of afraid when I put patties on it and close the lid I may have hamburger fat running over the sides and onto the counter top.I will give an update after I cook burgers. So far the jury is still out as far as I am concerned - Thus the 3 star rating so far.

BUYER BEWARE: This has received a lot of positive reviews, and I loved that it had all the features I wanted. Pros: easy cleanup with the removable plates you can use either on grill or griddle sides. Drip tray works very well, even in open position. Con: the really important part, the HEAT, does not work well in the open mode. I took a chance and bought it having seen that in some of the other reviews, but some reviewers said that preheating as instructed eliminated the problem. Not so for us! We loved it the first two times we used it, once as a closed contact grill and once as a closed Panini press. Tried to do pancakes and sausage--- took all @#$% night practically and had to keep closing the unit again to get it back up to a useable temp. The fat from the sausage actually got close to solid a few times, the unit got so dang 'cold' (plates still felt hot and you could've easily burned a finger, but it wasn't hot enough to cook the meat). Disappointed with the fact you can't really use it in the open position, so I may return it (recently purchased) and hope that the replacement unit will work better. If it doesn't, I guess my two choices are either to keep it for contact-grill only or return it altogether. Not sure which I'll do.

Replaced a "dumb" Foreman grill. We find that it cooks everything to near perfection, even steaks. The removable plates are wonderful, and make cleanup after use so much easier - just stick them right in the dishwasher.The only (small) gripe is that the alarm chime could be louder so it could be more easily heard in other rooms.UPDATE - May 2017Grill went kaput tonight.after a year and a half of ownership with relatively light use. Stopped working in the middle of cooking some steaks, would no longer power on. While the Foreman grill this replaced was a pain to clean, it lasted more than a year and a half - and cost less too.Shame, because until it stopped working, this was a great product.

I've cooked three steaks so far with this, and I don't think I want to cook a fourth.The first two times, I stopped the cooking at Medium, but my steaks came out well done (and I mean REALLY well done). On my third steak, I made sure I had a 1-inch EVENLY cut rib-eye steak and stopped the cooking at Rare, the step before Medium. There was clearly a marked improvement because the meat was now pink in the center, until I noticed that parts of the steak was medium, some parts were medium rare. That tells me the temperature across the plates were uneven.If this were a $60 to $70 grill, I might consider just keeping it because this obviates my having to sear my steaks on a frying pan and then putting it in the oven. But this unit is $130. For that kind of money, I am less tolerant of inconsistent and erroneous results.I rarely return things unless what I received is a wrong item or damaged. But I feel this product fails miserably on living up to its advertising. I am very disappointed.

Grill worked pretty well until latch that holds the top grill got stuck and no longer holds the top grill in place. Now I can't use it. I didn't buy the warranty on it but I didn't expect it to break in 6 months. We only used it maybe 6 times. 😕

Disappointed!! I have grilled several hamburgers and chicken patties the past few months. I am not impressed with the taste. Can taste rubbery. It will cook your food from frozen to well done. Expensive!! You are giving up taste for convenience.

I bought this OptiGrill earlier this week and I've had the chance to use it twice for Chicken and once for a burger. When I plug it in and turn the power on, I have two blinking lights for TEMP and OK (apparently manual setting). None of the preset grilling options are working. I can't select Burger, Poultry, Sandwich, Sausage, Meat or Fish. Non responsive to any button pressing at any time.I did some research and was advised to detach the upper and lower tray and reseat them. The advice didn't work.The food I've cooked has tasted great and the reviews on it are awesome, but at this point in time (considering T-FAL customer service has yet to respond to me) I believe I have a defective unit.

UPDATE: I purchased a newer version, the Plus, at Bed Bath & Beyond. It refused to go through the color changing to indicate doneness. It chimed but stayed light blue all the way until my chicken was over 180 degrees and dry. (And yes, my chicken was less than one and a half inches thick, troubleshooting guide.)That's it for me and T-FAIL Grills.**********************I bought this grill to replace one just like it I had used successfully for two years. My old grill worked as advertised and grilled meats and fish to various levels. The frozen to cooked function worked well, too.This new grill came and doesn't work properly. It won't signal an alarm when it's fully preheated, and won't customize to the type of meat I want to cook, instead it goes immediately to Manual and heats up. The "doneness" light stays blue the entire time, also. It will cook at one temperature, and that's it.I'm returning for a refund. I hope T-fal fixes the problem these grills are having, since obviously they purchased inferior parts, or else forgot to install them properly. It's a great product when it does what it's supposed to, so two stars. Five stars for the prior grill.

Main unit is amazing, the plates not so much. Have only had washed the plates with a cloth and rinsed in warm water after but the plates have white spots on them after every wash.

I would expect a Cuisinart item to last quite some time. This is not an inexpensive item and it quit working a year later. Very unimpressed. Now it has to be sent back to the company which just adds to the cost of the machine. I bought the waffle griddles to go with it for my son at college so the waffle grids are worthless if the griddle won't go on any longer. Very disappointed. Probably will never buy Cuisinart again. Not worth it.

I had higher hopes for this...the flat griddle plates do not get very hot and I feel I have to turn the heat dial all the way up just to get a decent heat for pancakes for instance. I've used the flat plates a handful of times but I feel like I'd rather pull out my big griddle (which I thought I could get rid of when buying this multi-functional product) to get more even heat and better pancake turnout. When the griddler is flat and opened all the way, the left side feels hotter than the right side. I have not used the panini/grill plates yet. Not as good as I was expecting it to be.

UPDATE - My Griddler decided to quite working last night. Or, rather, it worked so hard that it never stopped heating up. The thermostat must have gone bad because we turned it on to pre-heat, and within a couple of minutes the kitchen was filled with smoke and the lights on the front were flashing green (which we'd never seen before). We bought this in 2013 and have used it 2-4 times a week since then for everything from breakfast (bought the waffle plates) to burgers, chicken, sausage, pork chops, steaks, etc. I live in Seattle, so basically anytime it wasn't good weather to grill outside, we used the Griddler. Last night it got so hot that we just unplugged it and cooked on the stove. I had to put fans in the kitchen and open all the doors and windows to clear out the smoke. I left it unplugged on the counter to cool down. This morning we took off the plates to inspect what could be the problem and they were actually warped. It got so hot it warped the plates. It started to melt metal. I'm surprised that the internal safety features even let it get to this temperature without popping a fuse or something. For $100, it served us well for a little over 2 years. I looked at upgrading to the Deluxe or Elite, but it doesn't look like they will accept the waffle plates. I think I'll be looking at the competition. I know TFal and Breville have similar products.I use this baby at least 4 times a week in our kitchen. I have tried a George Foreman in the past and didn't like that the plates are not removable. Not only can you remove the plates and put them in the dishwasher, they are reversible and you can get waffle maker plates for it. The waffle plates are great because this gets a lot hotter than a regular waffle maker so you can make crispy ones or light and fluffy. I am now on my second Griddler. The first one was bought on eBay refurbished and didn't last long. Had problems with the knobs not working right. This second one has been flawless so far and gets plenty of use.

I have been a single father (I have majority physical) since I was 26. My child is now 6 and I am now 30. I work alot and my child has school a lot. Sometimes I am really beat up after work and I want to make a better foods and home but quickly.I used it a few times and its good. My only complaint is I am SO confused between the griddle/grill/panini press settings. Are they not just plates that are heated the same way? The manual does not explain the difference between the settings (it talks about the differences in a general sense but not is a technical sense).One knob has temperatures and the other has "warm" to "sear." Ok, is "warm" not the same as the lowest temp setting on the other knob?If you read the instructions in the booklet, you will see it specify to use meats under a specific dial but the recipe book will tell you to use the other dial?I am very confused on how about cooking food on this. Cuisnart totally didn't do right here.

I've used this several times per week for the last 6 months. I cook primarily fish and chicken on it, though occasionally some veggies. The nonstick coating on one plate is now bubbling and coming off, despite being very careful with my cleaning, with using nonstick spray, and with trying to maintain the unit.I've also had problems since day one with the grease drainage. The grill plates don't have an angle to them, so grease can just sit until it accumulates enough to dribble off the back where the notch is. It's not really a good design, and it results in a fair amount of grease and spray on the unit and counter, rather than in the tray that's made for it. I've never had a contact grill with this much grease ending up outside the tray no matter what I do.My unit is easily within warranty, but return shipping or just buying new plates doesn't make sense to me, especially with the grease issue. I'm now just going to go buy a better grill from someone else. I used to use a Hamilton Beach grill with removable plates which was great and lasted for years, but unfortunately the cover cracked and the model is discontinued. We'll see what I can find... hopefully something that also has a timer while I'm at it.Anyway, I bought this for mid double-digits, and 1/2 what Amazon is selling it for as I write this. And I look back and just say I should have bought something else. The high reviews and ranking aren't justified. This might be okay for someone just occasionally grilling vegetables or panini, but it really doesn't seem well-suited for regular use, and especially not for things like meats that actually put out fat/grease.This product is reviewed way too highly. And unless you're ready to cough up return shipping when the plates fail... don't hold your breath on the warranty being worth anything, practically speaking. I can't recommend this for regular use.

If you haven't noticed already, there are a lot of reviews complaining about this grill breaking down. Based on the reviews and my personal experience, this is a poorly designed and assembled product. The reliability problem is common enough that I wouldn't recommend this grill to anyone. At this price point, one would expect that the grill would last longer than a few weeks. During the short time it worked, it created some of the worst hamburgers and grilled chicken I've ever had. That's because this grill doesn't get hot enough so it can't sear the meat properly. As a result, the end result is steamed and overcooked crap. Perhaps veggies work well but unfortunately it broke before I could try that out. I'm shocked that the price is around $150 as it's not worth 1/3 that amount. If you want a fancy grill and have extra money to spend, go for one of the Cuisinart models. If you're on a budget, then the George Foreman grills are generally inexpensive and work well.

We ordered this for our son in Jan. 2017. For the first few months, it worked great. In March he said it started acting up and doing the following: It goes straight to manual mode when turning on and will not let him select the programs unless he leaves the lid open. Leaving the lid open is not safe when cooking. We are trying to see if he can get a new one to replace this one as it is defective.

Unit started behaving badly after the 5th use then finally stopped working all together. I might have used it total of 10 times. and now it is too late to return. Maybe it was a faulty unit, my advise make sure to get the warranty.

Absolute waste of money. The sensor system is poorly engineered, constantly stops working and "solutions" offered by T-fal's support just make it worse.The unit goes into "manual only" mode and that's all that works. So you have something that can be had for less than half of the price. T-fal support sent me complicated and poorly written instructions for how to "fix" it, involving pressing and holding all kinds of buttons, which completely brick the grill and from then on it doesn't work at all.Clearly poorly engineered product and serious defects. Will never buy anything from this brand again.

this is the 4 time that I use this grill, from the 2cond time I saw that the control for pre heat always go to manual, I gave another shot and works the 2cond time, today I can not make it work, always go to manual I can not choose the meat that I want to cook, is very complicated I will send it back

Very intuitive idea IF it works. Got in total 3 of these machines. One for my parents back in 2014, it's still working and 2 others for myself. The second one is just a grill now, the "sensoring" system seems to have taken a dump. So back in December I got another one. Just now we wanted to give it a try and guess what, it does not even turn on. Thanks T-Fal.

Does an ok job of grilling, and the reversible plate is nice.BUT - grease doesn't really drain off the grill. And the snaps that hold the plate in place are plastic, and they melt right away. There multi knobs seem useless, since there doesn't seem to be much difference in temps/settings. We had better luck with a grill made by the former professional boxer. This was too expensive for what you get. Very disappointing.

I bought this two years ago. I really liked it at first, sans the dripping fat down the back, and I even purchased one for my daughter in college. After about a year, I found it didn't sear near as well as it did when new. The last time I used it, I made two 1/2-in burgers. I pre-heated it on high for 15 minutes - it ended up with a semi brown mess. I have since thrown it away. I never said anything to my daughter about it - she called last week and said, "Mom, I hate to tell you this, but I don't much like this unit." She had the exact same problems. Shheeez - $200 down the drain. Now I'm searching for a replacement.

I hated this thing.I was looking to replace a ugly foreman grill with something that looked nicer and possibly easier to clean. The versatility of flipping the plates as a flat grill was appealing, but primarily I was just looking for a nicer Foreman grill replacement.And it was not. What I thought was going to be a great idea having the grease trap underneath and out of view - was absolutely useless. I had wondered prior to purchase as to how that would even work. In reality it doesn't. It has a tiny little slot in the rear that if the planets are are in the correct alignment that a few drops of grease may enter.Instead any and all grease just pools up on the bottom plate (that which isn't splattered all over the counter). Fun.Yes, my plans were to cook hamburgers on this thing. Using anything other that super low fat content beef and this thing is a horror show. I usually use 80/20, or 85/15 ground beef, and both just make for a mess on this machine.I imagine if you are using this for Kale Panini's or anything not meat related, this grill might work ok for you.Also - the cord on the machine seemed to get very (very) warm. I've used plenty other counter top machines, and this was the first one that I was concerned with. I don't want this thing in my house.

Don't buy this thing. It seems like if you get a good one, you're good to go for a long time. My first one lasted six years of always once to twice a day use. Finally replaced it on a whim, as the old one was getting stained and the cooking trays were worn. My bad.Bought this unit, and it failed within three months. It would come up to temp, the green light would stay on. Then I noticed that the grill was cooling off. Green light still on. No cooking. Turned the temp dial off and back on and it heated. As anyone knows, varying cooking temps are not a good thing.Called Cuisinart and they gladly agreed to replace it. Ten dollar charge. Then I paid $26 to ship the bad one back. $36.00 invested.Replacement lasted four months with very sporadic use. Same failure. Light on, grill cold. $36.00 replacement.Next grill came and it is failing after a couple of months of very light use. Same failure.Will I try again? I think not. It's now a very expensive grill and the warranty is about to run out, so the next one would be totally on me. The original grill carries the warranty, so all the replacements just pick up where that one left off. My year is about up, and I really doubt that the new one would be any better.Cuisinart knows there's a problem. Read the ratings and see how many people say the same thing.Think I'm done with Cuisinart, and Amazon should stop selling these.

Once I began using the item for the first time for PANCAKES, it stopped working within minutes and it just died on me. It never turned on after that. The pancakes were just recently put on the grill plate, so I just threw them away because they did not work anymore at that point. It was at less than 200 degrees. I took the plates off to clean them and beneath it seemed all burnt out. The Griddler burned itself out. The product seemed to have malfunctioned, I still have it lying around. I did not contact the seller because I was sure that he was going to offer terrible service as they had already done so before that.That's what I get for buying a refurbished item thinking that it would be a great deal. Besides one other product, out of hundreds that I have bought and reviewed through Amazon, this has been my worst buy ever. A completely unsatisfying buy, I specifically DO NOT recommend to buy this item refurbished.

I'll echo the comments of a couple of other reviews further down... this is a great idea with poor execution. We purchased this grill primarily for use as a griddle, and we had high hopes for it. The panini/grill functions would have been a bonus for us. What we found is that it's pretty much useless as a griddle. The thermostat shuts completely off and the plates cool down so much that the food stops cooking - bacon stopped sizzling, and pancakes stayed very light. Even turning the thermostat up didn't immediately seem to turn the heating elements back on. We tried it twice over the course of a weekend, and gave up on it. Too bad, this seemed like such a great concept.