Explain to Me the Point of the Grill Pan...

[chefmelody]

OK, I'm a little frustrated that a lot of the recipes in the new cookbook call to use the executive grill pan & press. I was NOT planning on buying this item, but it looks like I'm going to have to in order to do the proper demos. If I were just doing this myself, I would cook the paninis and skewers and other things on my George Foreman grill... if I have that, what's the point of buying a separate pan and press that will do the same thing as my electric grill?

Someone sell me on this... because I don't think I can sell it to others if I don't think I'll ever really use it.

 

[Ginger428]

Well first of all...we work with Pampered Chef, not George Forman!
Second...I went out & bought 1(Forman)...used it a few times, found that everything I tried to make, did not come out like I planned. Also it is a PAIN in the BUTT to clean! I take my Grill pan & no matter what I cook in it, it comes clean with no fuss!
Third...I make stuff in my grill pan in the oven, cant put Forman in there!
Forth....I defrost things in my Grill pan!
Are you sold yet, or should I think of some more!!

 

[cooking.with.ann]

WELL...if you have a gas stove, you can still cook your panini on the stove in the grill pan with the press even when the electricity is out!Seriously, what better way to use up the stuff in the fridge when the power fails?Actually, I am a HUGE fan of the George Foreman grills (I'm on my 4th--I actually wear then out I use them so much!) but I do prefer pressed sandwiches done on the stove top where I can control the heat myself rather than having to use the preset temperature of the George Foreman.

 

[jenniferlynne]

I too have a Foreman and hate the clean up. It's not the hardest thing in the world to clean, but could be better. I also hate how bulky it is. I was very excited to see the new grill pan and press. I jumped on both of those while they were half price!!

 

[chefmelody]

Thanks, everyone!

 

[its_me_susan]

Thanks, everyone!

Also a george sandwich is pinched on one side. LOVE the grill press!

 

[chefbria]

I just had a tip for you guys with the George grill. If you have it heated while cleaning everything comes off super easy. It works everytime for me. (Just be careful not to burn yourself).

 

[chefbria]

I just had a tip for you guys with the George grill. If you have it heated while cleaning everything comes off super easy. It works everytime for me. (Just be careful not to burn yourself).

 

[Becca115]

I just had a tip for you guys with the George grill. If you have it heated while cleaning everything comes off super easy. It works everytime for me. (Just be careful not to burn yourself).

Be careful doing that. I loved cleaning it while it was still warm too... until the nonstick peeled off!!! I found out the hard way that cleaning nonstick when it hasn't cooled enough will make the coating bubble and peel off. It did give me an excuse to buy the new George grill with the plates that I can take off. In the future I do want to get the PC grill pan, but I'm not sold on the press. I like the idea of having the grill pan for stuff I don't want squished in my George.

 

[DebbieJ]

I love my grill pan. You can control the heat and cooking time, which you can't do with the GF grill.

I love my grill pan for nights I want grilled food, but don't want to fire up the big Weber. For nights when it's just ds and I and we need dinner! I just did Italian Sausage on it last night. Earlier in the week I grilled up a bunch of chicken breasts and cut them up and put them on salad for my lunches. YUM!

It's a really great pan--you just have to get to know it. I've had mine since February (too bad they came out with the Exec now) and I'm finally using it more often and loving it!

 

[soccermama]

I've had my grill pan since it first came out (the professional line) and I use it a LOT! I can grill anything I want, anytime I want! I've even been known to make grilled cheese sandwiches in this!!! Eventually I will get the new one from the Executive line so that it will match my other pans that are hanging in my kitchen... but I'm happy with this for now... lol I think I'm going to buy the grill press, though! It'll be a fun thing to have! Of course, my ultimate goal is to own EVERYTHING in the catalog. I'm close... very close... but they keep coming out with more big items and I get behind! lol

 

[koren]

OK- this is a foreman tip but also a pampered chef tip that i've shared with customers!

When you have yucky spooge on your foreman (cheese, chicken grease, etc)- you CAN get the gunk off when it is still hot and easy to wipe off without hurting the coating-

Use the skinny scraper from pampered chef- it doesn't melt like any other scraper you'd try, and slides the goo right off before it gets hard and crusty.

Koren

 

[jrstephens]

I have a GF and I just got my grill pan today and cooked in it for the first time. The clean up was much easier. And my sandwich was not as squished as with the GF. And it was more tasty - but that "could" be my imagination b/c I have been waiting so anxiously to get the pan to try with my press!!! HA! I think I will like that i can cook meats with "bone-in" where my GF directions say not to do that. I liked that I do not have to worry about the timer going off while I am in anohter room and then having to start it again when i come back in.

 

[BethCooks4U]

You don't have to buy the grill pan to sell it. Show it from the catalog and tell them all the tips you heard here. Tell them the disadvantages of the electric pans and the advantages of the PC version.

People who love their GF will not buy ours but the others in the room will.

It's also a great booking tool.

 

[Pamprd_Heather]

What about the press? Can it be heated and then used to grill on both side of your food at the same time? In the recipes I've seen you use the press to weight the food and then turn the food over and use it again. I don't have either and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth purchasing.

 

[jrstephens]

I have put by press on top of all my food i have cooked. i have done chicken and steak this week. i did not heat it but i am sure you can. it did seem to hold the heat in and make my food cook faster by having it on top.

 

[BethCooks4U]

What about the press? Can it be heated and then used to grill on both side of your food at the same time? In the recipes I've seen you use the press to weight the food and then turn the food over and use it again. I don't have either and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth purchasing.

It is so worth purchasing the press even if you don't have a grill pan! Put it on top of meats, sandwiches, large vegetables (like slilces of onion, portabella mushrooms...) while cooking them. Then turn the food over, put the press on top again and finish cooking. It cuts cooking time way down - more moist food too! You do not preheat the press, it's used as a weight. Yes you can cover a brick with foil for a similar effect but the press is much more uniform, let alone sanitary.

I have used it several times now and LOVE it!! I have always made a great reuben sandwich but now they're even better and done so quickly that my family says "are you sure it's ready?"

 

[cmdtrgd]

You are not supposed to heat the grill press.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I don't own the Grill Pan (yet!) but I borrowed my directors for my Open House.....and immediately fell in love with it! The Protabello Chicken Panini's were a HUGE hit, and I fed them to my son & Husband for supper also - and my husband liked them so much he asked if there were leftovers for his lunch the next day! What I really liked about it - grilling the veggies (I've never had any luck doing this with the GF), also - items can be uneven, and the press adjusts it's weight so all are pressed (my bread wasn't all the same width slices), it was so so so easy to clean - but then we all know how easy our cookware is to clean - even the cheese just lifted right off!
I hated having to give it back! I think though that after wooing my husband with a couple of those panini's, he is on board with me purchasing my own!
Oh - and I love that I can hang it on my Pot-Rack and make more room in my cupboard!

 

[smarteez2]

NO..... You are notSupposed to heat the Press. At conference they said as much. It is just to used to press your food down. You have to flip your food 1/2 through cooking to get the grill marks on both sides. The reason the press on grill marks on it is, is so is won't slide of the food, NOT to leave grill marks, make sense? HTH )

 

[nicolespcshows]

I love my grill pan. I use it for everything. It is so worth it. If you were going to buy one piece this would be the one I would buy. You can do everything in it. I even had one hostess bake a cake in hers. I love it. I have't tried the press but I have it and I have heard nothing but good stuff about it.