George Foreman 14525 Four Portion Family Grill and Melt with Removable Plates

i debated for a while whether to get a grill with removable plates as i already had an existing one with fixed plates, but im so glad i decided to purshase this product. it is a great size and plates are very easy to remove. as soon as i use the grill i immediatly place the plates in a bowl of water and then its just a matter of a quick wipe and they are clean. it is a great time saver as before would spend ages scrubbing and soaking my fixed plate grill and would get in a right mess. well worth the money to me. althought the heat setting is fixed i have no issues with this. it cooks everything very evenly and have cooked all different things on it from meat to sandwiches. overall you need one of these in your life, and definatly go for the removable plate option

Well, where to start? I'll start off by saying, NOTHING can cook fish like this thing.. nothing. Having got that off my chest, the actual grill is pretty good, I decided to go with this particular modal because I wanted something with a timer (my time keeping is horendous!), I was actually in two minds as to whether it was an absolute necessity to have a temperature gauge on the grill... and to be honest, its not. And for me, neither are the removable plates.. I dont even remove them to clean it anymore. Which leaves the last selling feature of this grill, the timer.. well its a timer, what else can I say?! The top grill heats up about twice as hot as the bottom grill, so I usually leave it open winged to let the bottom cook for some time, before closing it for about 2 minutes (if that)... depending on what my tastebuds demand. Cleaning is super easy, as soon as I've finished grilling, I turn the machine off and place kitchen towel soaked in warm soapy water on it and close it. When its cooled down a little while after - but not cold, I'll just wipe it clean with the specialised sponges (I recommened you purchase some of those). The actual purpose of the grill definatly holds its own ground, it will strip anything with the slightest bit of fat of all its innocence.. yet leave it succulent and juicy enough to make your tastebuds dance and skip to the rhytem of your chewing - oh yes. All in all guys, I really don't think you need to buy any of the variation models of the orginal George Forman grill. I honestly wish I just got the orginal little black one and a small alarm clock to go with it, with the specialised sponges. The extra gadgets add in too many performace variables, which are highly noticeable anyway. But the actual brand and product?! I AM A LOYAL FAN. =]

I decided to invest in a George after having a massive paddy when all the cheese spewed out of the sides of my toasted sandwich, which I'd made in a traditional toasted sandwich maker machine. Someone seriously needs to reinvent those things to allow people to put a decent amount of filling in them! So I went on a search online to find a better toasted sandwich maker and my searches and reading loads of reviews lead me to this George Foreman machine! So I thought I'd write a review in case there's anyone out there in the same position I was the other week. I'm very happy with my George machine and I'm having great fun making toasties and grilling meat & veggies now. I'd never had one of these machines before so I'm a complete ignoramus about what everyone is on about so I hope I can help anyone out there who is like me, looking at the machine but with no experience of them at all cause a lot of the reviews seem to assume people have used one of these machines before. This machine will make great toasted sandwich makers. It obviously won't clamp the sides of the bread together like a traditional machine but don't worry, it won't spew all your filling out the side either. I worried that everything would just slide out the bottom with the angle on the bottom plate but it doesn't. The trick is to put your sandwich in there (I butter the outsides of the bread and so far have done things like cheese, onion, ham, tomato) and close the top lid down but don't lock it closed (cause that will cause all your filling to spew out the sides). I think it works better if you just leave it and don't open the lid too often, 4 to 5 minutes seems to be optimum for me. And then your sandwich will be great! I've also done panini from Sainsbury's and these work great! I did one last week with ham, cheese, onion, spinach and tomato and it was devine! So far I'm overcooking steak in it cause the manual says 5-7 minutes and we did our first ones for 5 minutes and it was too long but hey, I need to experiment with it and get used to how quick it cooks and I'm sure then I'll be flying. I did chicken breasts with Levi Roots Reggae Reggae sauce on them last night and the manual said 5-7 minutes again, I did 5 and they probably would have been done in 4. Seriously fast! So I'd recommend this model, it's great, looks good, I like the removable plates and I'm having fun trying out things in it. If you're tossing up whether you need one of these things, I'd say go for it. I don't think this will end up one of those kitchen appliances you chuck in the cupboard and never bother to get out cause it's so handy and it really makes cracking sandwiches!

I thought about this one carefully. My cupboards are already full of bread makers and juicers. This one had to be right. The main reasons I picked this one are that it has removeable dishwasher safe plates and the floating hinge. I'm glad I was careful. It doesn't live in the cupboard at all. It's always on the worktop and is probably used every day in some way or another. We use it for making toasted sandwiches at lunchtime (so that's something else we can clear out of the cupboard already), and all kinds of dinner things that usually mean cleaning up frying pans and cooker hobs or the grill pan. As a bonus it takes loads of the fat out of everything. Lamb kebabs, homemade burgers, chicken breasts, gammon steaks, sausages. They're all easy and quick compared to any other way of cooking. As you might imagine, stuff seems a bit drier than it would be if cooked in a pan, but then one of the reasons you buy it is to cut down on the fat. Sausages come out a bit strange as they have pale and browned stripes but they are cooked through, taste fine and are quicker to cook and clean up than using the conventional grill. It's quite nice that I can put a couple of chicken breasts in for a few minutes, let them cool, slice them and put them in the fridge for sandwiches. Saves a fair amount compared to buying the pre-sliced chicken breast in the supermarket. I suppose the only small criticism I would have is that the drip tray isn't actually attached to the main unit, so it you move the grill a bit while using it, then you might end up with hot fat on the worktop! Just a note about size, this is not always big enough to cook for four adults in one go in my opinion. Maybe three if you cram the food close together. I don't really find this a problem as it cooks reasonably quickly (typically seven minutes depending on what you are cooking so I can keep things warm while another thing cooks if necessary.

We love a GF grill in our house! I’ve had one of the more basic £20 ones for a couple of years now and we seriously use it every day - they are really so versatile - I cook usual chicken, steak, fish, burgers on it but it’s also great for bacon, veggies like asparagus and peppers and even for a cheese toastie or Halloumi cheese! Anyway, my biggest gripe with the cheaper model was cleaning the damn thing ... if only I could take the plates out I thought. I was aware of this more expensive model where you could do just that but put it off for ages as my £20 old faithful was working just fine. Well, the frequent use = frequent cleaning took its toll on that one and the non-stick coating was starting to come off (annoying with bacon and Halloumi as it was difficult to get off the grill) so I finally bit the bullet and upgraded to this one. Seriously, wish I’d bought one sooner! So much easier to clean, store etc. Not used the timer (as it cooks so quickly anyway) or the raclette plate setting yet but it’s nice it has those extras. If you’ve got the budget for this as your first GF grill, get this, you won’t regret it! If like me, you have a cheaper one but fancy the removable plates, do it, your life will be so much easier! I did purchase the special GF grill cleaning sponges at the same time as getting this and they are worth the money. I don’t want to damage the grill plates so worth the investment!

I bought this George Foreman model as a replacement for my trusty George Foreman 14053 Silver 5-Portion Family Grill , which had gone past the point of no return in regards to its cleanliness; my own lazy fault entirely. It was only when researching which new one to buy that I discovered models with removable plates existed. This seemed exactly what I needed - surely even I could keep one of these clean! I had initially been intending to buy a smaller model this time around, as surface space in my kitchen is limited. However, once I started reading reviews of small removable-plate models, I found that most had poor reviews, largely based on apparent low heat levels. This model came out well in that respect, so I went for it. The most immediate difference between this model and the 14053 5-Portion Family Grill is looks - my new George is pretty and gleaming and an all round nicer specimen to have sitting on my counter. But, down to the nitty gritty, the main practical difference is the removable plates. I've given it a go and they seem easy enough to remove and detach, but tellingly I haven't needed to yet, as I find the non-stick is far better than the older model. All it needs is a quick wipe down with a damp cloth while still hot, and it's shiny clean. However, one big difference I have noticed is that, although this model does get nice and hot, it takes a long time to warm up compared to the 14053 model . While I previously waited only a minute or two, the 14525 takes about 5 minutes to reach full temperature. In this regard it's a disappointment, hence the four stars. There are a couple of nifty features that almost make up for this minor flaw. There's a "melt" option, where you can leave the lid partially open to grill a meltable topping, i.e. cheese on toast. I've yet to try this for real, but the mechanism works fine. There are also little plastic clamps on the side to lock the grill shut; great for things like paninis. Overall, I'm a fan of my new George, but I do wish it would get hot a little quicker.

I bought a cheap George grill approx 20years ago. It was brilliant. Cost £15 & had variable temperature and timer that beeped and turned off grill, but food would be kept warm & resting. This was great for busy workday mornings as I'd rush downstairs, pop bacon on grill & set timer before going to get dressed for work. On arriving downstairs my bacon was cooked perfectly to be popped into a pitta and eaten on way to work. The timer also worked well when cooking steak because it allowed the steak to rest after grilling for 2 minutes. I often reminisce about my old grill that cooked everything perfectly due to the timer and allowed me to do other things as it cooked, keeping food warm ready for when i needed it. I refer to that time as happy food and I ate happy food several times per week. On a weekend I'd load the grill with bacon, hash browns, sausages, tomatoe, mushrooms and jump back into bed and read papers as my breakfast cooked, I would hear it beep telling me food was ready but keeping it warm & I'd then leisurely make my way to kitchen where breakfast was plated & served. But sadly my old grill broke so I invested in a new one with a timer but could not find any with a variable temperature. My new grill has a timer that beeps but continues to cook so no more happy work day bacon butties for me. And because it continues to cook it ruins leisurely weekend breakfasts. It also ruins steak because the steak is not able to rest after grilling. It has no variable temperature. I'm finding it useless & bulky, it takes up far more room both on worktop and in cupboard. It does have removable grill plates so is allegedly easier to wash. (As my previous grill was non stick it was easy to clean without moving plates). My bacon sticks to the plates & im finding the one temperature is burning everything. This grill cost me over £60 and is the worst investment I've made. Wish I could return it and get money back. I would have paid £60 to have a replacement grill like the old one. Why have George grill makers discontinued making my perfect original grill? I'd swap a removable plate for a timer that actually cooked for the time ( I've no idea what the point of the timer is if it doesn't actually stop cooking when the timer reaches 0? - I know it beeps but if I'm in shower I don't hear it!, yes I set timer on my phone) My recommendation is do not buy. There are cheaper grills that do exactly the same job as this one. In fact my oven grill does just fine. no more happy food.

This is very, very small. I can't see how they can describe it as being for 4 people - unless they want to eat at different times! The plates measure 27x16cm at it's maximum, which will hold two standard slices of bread side-by-side. It will take 4 small chops or chicken breasts, but nothing else so if you want to griddle veg to go with it they have to be cooked seperately and kept warm. I had expected to be able to cook the entire meal. Annoyingly there were no measurements given - the conspiracy theorist in me suspects this was deliberate. The drip tray is also annoying as it stands loose from the unit, which makes it very easy to knock. It wouldn't have been difficult to have it clip on in some way. The cord only extends 60cm from the unit, limiting where in the kitchen I can use it. The removable plates, on the otherhand, clean up beautifully - the first time I deliberately put them in the dishwasher without removing any of the 'grunge' and they came out spotless. Food is cooked to perfection, once you get used to timings - grilled strips of pepper are particularly good. I bought this at nearly 50% off, had it been full price I would have been disapointed. The removable plates are a must, without these cleaning would be a huge chore making it just a glorified toastie maker with a similar lifespan.