Cuisinart 2-in-1 Grill and Sandwich Maker, Non-Stick Removable Plates, Midnight Grey, GRSM4U
COMPACT, HIGH PERFORMANCE GRILL AND DEEP-FILL SANDWICH MAKER
The Cuisinart 2 in 1 Grill & Sandwich Maker is ideal for making quick and easy meals and snacks, with no fuss.
Use the grill plates for perfectly grilled meat, fish or vegetables. The floating hinge allows the top grill plate to rest gently over your food, for even cooking, to give succulent results in half the time.
The deep fill sandwich plates have been designed to accommodate thicker slices of bread. The locking handle helps to brown and seal the perfect toasted sandwich every time.
HIGH PERFORMANCE
High temperature, with fast heat up, for professional results. The variable temperature heats up to 210˚C, for total control, whatever your recipe.
COMPACT SIZE
The Grill & Sandwich Maker is small enough to leave out on your worktop, or store in a cupboard and only take it out when needed.
GRILL PLATES
Includes grill plates for succulently grilled meats, fish and vegetables. It can be used for paninis and much more.
SANDWICH PLATES
Includes sandwich plates for perfectly browned and sealed toasties. Also great for omelettes, pastries, French toast and calzone.
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DEEP FILLED TOASTIES
Whether it’s a classic cheese toastie or you’re experimenting with different fillings, the deep fill plates ensures that you have a perfect browned and sealed toasted sandwich every time.
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GRILLED MEAT, FISH AND VEGGIES
Grilling from both sides speeds up the cooking of meat and fish, from steaks to chicken breast and more. It is also great for grilling vegetables, corn on the cob, potato wedges and veggie kebabs.
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SNACKS AND SWEET TREATS
With the deep fill pockets of the sandwich plates, you can create quick and easy meals or snacks – try out omelettes, frittatas, calzone and more. Or create sweet treats, like French toast.
| Weight: | 5.43 kg |
| Dimensions: | 35.1 x 32.7 x 23.6 cm; 5.43 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Cuisinart |
| Model: | GRSM4U |
| Colour: | Midnight Grey |
| Colour: | Midnight Grey |
Better than I expected. Compact and very easy to change the plates and to clean them.
It had its flaws – the clip to lock the plates was plastic and had to be “modified” to work after a few years and the temperature control was eventually unpredictable – but it kept working, was easy to clean and made excellent toasties.
So, I finally accepted it was time to replace it and found this one.
So, initial impressions (3 weeks of use so far) are as follows:
It is big and heavy!
I do not view this as a bad thing, but it does weigh a fair bit. Apparently it is 5.4kg (or 12lbs to those of a certain age).
This weight is reflected in the apparent build quality. It looks solid and the design appears well thought out.
It does an excellent job of sealing sandwiches, if you use the right type of bread.
I have found bloomer slices to be outstanding at adding lots of filling and keeping it as filling!
The locking mechanism when doing a toastie is different.
No click to tell you it is sealed, you just apply steady pressure on the handle (use both hands, one each side) and then try and lift the lid.
Once you have applied enough it won’t move.
I read somewhere that someone complained it broke very soon after purchase…
I can only guess they tried the (unwise) approach of slam down and push hard!
Honestly, just apply steady pressure and it locks. It does not need anything violent.
Unlocking is done by a simply press mechanism in the middle of the handle. Hopefully it will last.
Temperature control is a dial on the front, as with my old one.
To be honest I just use it on maximum (for toasties) so I can’t comment on the variations in temperature.
It comes with the plates for standard toasties and grill plates for…grilling!
I have tried the grill plates to do Paninis and they were excellent. I will try it for grilling other things in due course.
The plates are easily removable for cleaning (just let it cool down after use!) with push releases on the sides.
There are a few reviews giving one star claiming it arrived broken (so maybe contact Amazon & get a replacement rather than giving a one star review??) or broke after a few weeks use.
Not sure what they are doing with them, but I suspect a lack of thought when using.
Overall, I am very impressed, but I will add updates as time passes to measure the longevity. However, based on my experience with the old one, I suspect it will last (I know how to look after things).
Thanks for reading and I hope you found the review useful.
You can put a ridiculously large amount of cheese in the sandwiches with no leakage.
The grill plates are brilliant for cooking meat on, I have also made sandwiches with irregular shaped bread using the grill plates and was quite surprised no cheese leaked out of the sides.
I will also be taking this away with us in the caravan.
I bought this a week ago, it’s great. You pay a lot for the item but you get what you paid for.
5 stars
The grill comes boxed with full instructions and a mini recipe book. There are two double plates which are easy to change depending on whether you want to make a sandwich or use it as a grill.
The plates are non-stick and require very little oiling prior to use — just a wipe over with a lightly oiled piece of kitchen paper is sufficient. The grill has low, medium to high heat settings with degrees in between. There is guidance in the instructions but you get used to temperatures with a few uses.
The sandwich maker is brilliant and cooks them really well. To use the grill is a nice alternative and small amounts of grilled vegetables works well. Remember that cooking happens on both sides so cooking a steak, for example, would only take a couple of minutes as both sides are cooked at once.
After cooking, allow the plates to cool, remove them and wash in warm soapy water. It does say that they’re dishwasher safe but from experience, non-stick lasts longer with just soap and water rather than the salt and chemicals of the dishwasher.
I use to make sandwiches/ wraps for my children lunches. Easy to use and floating top is an added advantage. Wish it had an auto stop once done
I love this grill. I thought I might use it once or twice and then put it away and forget I even had it, but I was wrong. We have used it almost daily. We used to make grilled cheese sandwiches occasionally, but this grill makes them so much faster and and more easily that we now eat them much more often. It has 2 removable plates. One for the sandwich and the other for grill. It accomodates many thicknesses of bread because of its floating lid. It says it takes 6 minutes to heat up, but in reality only takes about 2 minutes. It is attractive enough to leave out on the counter. The grill plates are easier to clean, as they are removable. You can put it under the tap or use a kitchen towel to wipe it. You can’t go wrong with this great little appliance!
Worked well with sandwiches not tried the grill yet but I see no reason why it should not do a good job.
Great product and works really good, really fast heating, only problem is the price as is really expensive but its Cuisinart.
definitely a solid item.
seems well made, supplied with two sets of plates and the first toasties came out ok.. as ever will need to get used to timings versus temp control but seems to have a good range.
If you like the perfect toasted sandwich , then with this you can’t go far wrong . Most importantly it is easy to clean with its removable plates which was a must have for me . Permanently installed on the kitchen worktop for all the family to use .
We have a George Foreman grill that we used for toasted sandwiches and grilling things.
This does the same thing, but with removable plates and seals the sandwiches!
This one has muscled out poor George.
I have owned a cheap (20) type sandwich toaster for many years, it doesn’t get used very often as it’s a pain to use and to clean and the results are iffy at best.
Step forward the Cuisinart 2 in 1 grill.
I looked at many toasted sandwich makers, this is the only one that got no bad reviews, so even though it’s expensive I bought one (and for the price you get a panini grill and a general grill too).
It’s brilliant, the sandwich plates are deep, so you can stuff the filling in and get really yummy toasties that are sealed.
I had to experiment with the temp setting to get the right timing and brownness but once you get it right for your bread and preference it produces great results.
Put the toaster on while you prep your sandwich and once it gets to temperature the toasties take about 3 minutes to cook.
Once cooled the plates simply unclip and go in the dishwasher.
So far I have had no leakage outside the plates, which are quite large which means the machine has stayed clean.
I havn’t tried the grill plates yet but I hold out great hopes. The design is such that although it presses and seals the sandwich plates, the lid clicks into a floating position for grilling.
The final clincher for buying this for me was the 5 year warranty, every other one I looked at had a standard 1 year warranty.
I really do recommend this, it’s one of those products that you know is right when you use it.
Brillia
My teens use this constantly since it arrived!.
they use it for all sorts of fillings and am happy to recommend.
For a busy family it’s ideal, takes minutes to get a nice hot sandwich.
Washes up well too.
Arrived very well packaged and on time.
I am very pleased with the grill as it is compact and I also like the ability to change plates, one small issue with the ribbed grill plate is when you lift the lid juice runs off the top plate onto the worktop, I like the built in drain for the bottom plate very neat. The other difficulty is that the elements are not covered with a plate and are therefore its more difficult to clean than my previous grill, despite this I would buy it again mainly due to its compact size and switchable plates.
This is a well made piece of equipment for grilling and toasting sandwiches. The easily removed plates make things easier when it comes to cleaning. There is a special plastic cleaning tool for cleaning the groves of the grilling plates, but I have not needed to use this as yet, as the non stick surface of the plates cleans easily when the plates are removed for washing. The lid hinge can lock the top plate into the static or floating position very easily by pushing the plate gently back with the thumb to lock it or gently pushing it forward with the thumb to release it into the floating position, which enables it to still sit flat on top of thicker items like burgers or thicker brioche baps for example. My first four photos show the new grill opened and then how it looks with a plate removed, showing the heating element behind the plate. The plate just pops open with the press of a button on the right hand side. I make my own bread which is way too large for the toasted sandwich plates, but picture five shows how toasted sandwiches can still be made on the lightly oiled grill plates, although the sandwiches will not be sealed closed around the edges. Just don’t put things such as cheese or mayo right to the edges of the sandwich to be toasted to minimise the potential for leakage when the lid presses the sandwich down. Not a problem. Picture six shows burnt on stains underneath the bottom plate where juices from the food being cooked should not be able to reach, so I realized that these were potentially the result of me lightly oiling the plates using a small silicone brush which probably allowed oil to run down from the top plate, to go underneath the bottom plate. I am not sure but I grilled two thick, homemade burgers the next time I used the grill, and this time I just lightly wiped the plates with a piece of kitchen roll dampened with oil. I have shown the bottom grill plate in picture eight, after the burgers cooked and then showed underneath the plate in picture nine. Even though there was fat released from the burgers, there was no additional burnt on marking around the elements than in the fifth picture. This leads me to believe that these original burnt on marks were caused by my me using the silicone brush which applied too much oil to the top plate and allowed it to run down to and under the bottom plate and around the element. My fault as opposed to anything wrong with the grill itself. Be advised then to grease or oil very sparingly with a piece of kitchen roll. This is more than adequate as the plates are certainly non stick. Pictures ten and eleven prove this as they show the plates just rinsed under hot running water and gently rubbed with a soft washing up brush, after the burgers had been cooked. Picture twelve is a shot of the drip tray after cooking the burgers and it had remained clean and dry. I think I would have liked the drip tray to have extended our beyond the back of the grill a little furrher than it currently does, as there is very little protruding to catch potential drips, and with moving the grill around, the drip tray easily slides back and forth in the groves of its holder and can slip back inside the body of the grill where it will not be able to catch anything. Best then to always check that the drip tray is fully pushed in to position.
The grill seems to be well made and has the same five year guarantee that two of my other Cuisinart appliances have so this is reassuring. The adjustable thermostat seems to work very well, and all of these points probably account for the fact that it seems quite expensive as sandwich toaster/grills go, but I have always found Cuisinart appliances to be very reliable. I do think that I would have preferred the appliance to be at least half as big again when it is also a grilling machine and not just a sandwich toaster, and I personally find that the size makes it a little to fiddly for my liking . As it stands it is an easy size to store in a cupboard, and is a useful size for snacks and grills for one or two persons. However this is just my preference. It still is a well made quality item to be recommended, and I will continue to use it for grilling quick snacks.
It is solid and heavy duty. It heats up and cooks the toasted sandwiches quicker than my old one. Here are some of the good points about this product:
The top lid is weighty and so puts some pressure onto the toastie/panini to help compact it and melt the cheese and other ingredients together. However the top panel of the surface is insulated and you can touch it without burning your fingers.
The lid clicks down securely closed for carrying or storage but there is a convenient push button on the handle to release it.
It comes with two sets of interchangeable plates – one set the flat type with raised ridges to give your toastie a striped pattern, the other the type that cuts slices off a loaf into two stuffed, sealed triangles (fond memories of life as a student when I lived on these!). The plates are non-stick and release from the machine easily with another push button. What’s more, because you can release the plates you can take them off to wash them and leave them to drain and dry before replacing them. Much safer than trying to wipe grease and melted cheese of fixed plates with a wet washing up sponge.
Overall, a great product that produces brilliant toasties and paninis and is very convenient to use and clean after use. You can also use it as a grill to cook meats and vegetables but that isn’t something I’ve tried out.
This 2 in grill and sandwich maker is VERY aesthetically pleasing. It just looks fantastic. Normally I’d hide something like this away in a cupboard but it looks so good I’m happy to have it on display. The plates are easy to remove and swop. Simple press of a button. When I made my wife a cheese and ham toastie she told me ” that is the greatest toastie I have ever eaten” and she wasn’t exaggerating – it was fantastic. Crispy on the outside, soft warm and deliciously melted cheese on the inside. For this reason alone the price is worth it. Which is just as well because the grilling part of the test it didn’t perform just as well. I tried a steak & honestly it was up there with the worst steaks I’ve cooked at home. After only 5 minutes it was cooked beyond well done, tough, flattened and completely unappetising. I had high hopes for the grill aspect of this machine but was so disappointed. It still gets a high score, and I still recommend it purely on the quality of the toasted sandwiches. You would be hard pressed to find a machine that makes them any better. For toasties or paninis this won’t be beaten. Gorgeous looks, great performance in one half of its intended functions. It’s a shame about the grilling let down , but it’s still worth it for the quality of the toasties it produces.
The non-stick plates are really well made and very easy to take out to change or clean (Be careful though let them cool down before you do this). The whole product has a good weight to it, indicating that it is solid, well made and built to last. The colour scheme and design is also very modern and tasteful.
We have been indulging in delicious toasties the last couple of days, and then moved on to Panini’s. Both turned out exceptionally well, see the pictures. Because of the shape of the toastie plate you get a good deep fill and both crisp up really well. It almost feels like having a Cafe from home!
Another real plus is the quality of the instructions, so many products these days have terrible instructions and often in tiny writing with the pictures/diagrams also difficult to decipher, not so here! As you can see, a nice sized font has been used, the diagrams are clear and it’s printed on a glossy thin card too. Top marks!
The free Recipe Book is a great idea too as it gives you ideas of so many different things you can make with this machine from Calzone, Kebabs and Burgers to French Toast, Turnovers and Flatbreads. You can also grill meat on this as well for a perfect steak etc.
Certainly more expensive than a basics toastie maker, but this is so much more especially if you use it to its full potential. A great showpiece for the kitchen. If well looked after then you would hope this would last for years.
Highly recommended.
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EDIT 15/02/2021
As you can get an amount of steam coming out when using the grill plates as things get hot, you will want to remember to give the outside a wipe, along with the surface it is standing on, as well as it gets a little greasy to touch after a few uses. Hopefully should help things to continue to look good for longer.
===EDIT 13/04/2021===
Just to confirm that the top half of the product DOES click out so that it sits parallel to the bottom half when grilling thicker items. You just need to pull it down at the front.
===EDIT 13 June 2021===
Be careful if you use Brie on a panini with the grill plates, don’t press down so hard and use on a lower heat. We made this mistake last week and the brie completely melted and flowed out from the front of the machine leaving a sticky mess which was a little tricky to clean.
Machine still working great though.
[Hope you find this ‘helpful’]
There is a pullout fat drain underneath .
I think like this could be used in a professional kitchen or cafe it’s so good and comes with a 5 year guarantee