Cuisinart GR4 Indoor Grill

I purchased this grill/panini/griddle by Cuisinart because I wanted a panini maker. This machine will make a nice panini for you. The bread will brown nicely and the meat/cheese/veggies inside will be a good temperature for eating.

If you plan to grill a steak however - this is not the machine for you. I let the grill heat until the light indicated it was ready to grill (max temp available). My steaks had been left out of the fridge for 30 minutes to loose some of the chill. I first tried 1/2 inch thick steak and then 1 inch steak. The steaks were NY Strip USDA Choice. Nicely marbled and it was my intention to cook them to Medium/Well. The initial contact with the grill was a nice loud sizzle and I could tell the grill plates were hot. However before the steaks could even get to Medium Rare the grill started to steam the steaks because the plates had not held the heat (450). I expected to have the grill plates hold the heat the entire time so that my steaks would be nicely browned on the outside and nice and pink inside. This did not happen. I next tried minute steaks which had also been left out at room temp for 30 minutes. They cooked perfectly - but they were VERY thin.

I removed the grill plates and put in the griddle plates. I then laid the machine flat to cook pancakes. The pancakes cooked nicely but took much to long.

The plates are dishwasher safe - this is nice. They are coated with non-stick which is NOT metal utensil safe.

If cooking steak the juices will drip on your counter when you open the top to check or remove steaks. There is also considerable splatter of juices/fats when cooking steaks.
I placed the machine on a rimmed cookie sheet to prevent a mess.

I did not return the machine because it is nice for sandwiches and minute THIN steaks. Wattage is 1500 and this is not enough for real indoor grilling.