Cheese tends to run down from the bottom grill due to considerable slope of the bottom grill plate. The plates are advertised as non-stick, but it things usually tends to stick on them.

To be fair it does not cook the number of portions in one go that it says – come on Tefal be honest, well all adverts be honest.

THAT SAID – I think this is a wonderful appliance. Geoge Foreman and Panini grill passed on to a greatful user as this appliance does all that and more.. and more.. and more..

Easy to use – easy to clean with in the main a quick wipe down – the plates come off for a soak if you make such a mess – any melted to burnt cheese on the grill tastes fantastic by the way – the guides are easy to understand and to be able to cook steaks to your prefered liking rare to well done is easy – it defrosts – it cooks veg.. and more.

Well worth the money and highly recommended.

Absolutely love this product. So easy to use, cooks Bacon, sausages, chicken, pork and so much more in less time than a conventional oven. Wonderful temperature controls, cooks food to perfection . Easy to clean after use. Can’t find any faults at all with this product.

For a grill it is great, has some nice features such as indicating when your perfect steak is ready. Also very handy for cooking burgers and sausages, just put them in and forget about them until ready.

The plates are removable and slide into the dishwasher easily. Although most of the spill just wipes off easily, even why cold and dried on.

The functionality, usability and results of the grill I really cannot fault. It cooks everything perfectly, easy to clean, doesn’t cost a fortune to run and it’s simple to use.
However, all this fun comes with some dull draw backs.
First of all, storage. The thing is huge so finding a spot in the cupboard is impossible so it literally lives in the box under the stairs. With that, the power cable is right at the back rather than tucked inside the leg so even if it did fit under the cupboard, you cannot store it upright without creating wear on the cable.
Second, if you are lucky enough to find a space you can stand it upright for storage and don’t mind a bit of wear to the cable. You will have to wedge it between something as there is no lock for the lid so it tilts open.
Thirdly and this is the most annoying. The cable is only able 50cm long so I am really limited as to where I can use it in my kitchen.
My closest socket to reach is under my cupboards above the work tops and this brings me on to my forth and final issue.
The lid doesn’t hold itself open so when you are trying to open it when on a work top, you can’t use two hands to load/unload the grill.
These aren’t mayor things and in no way effect the perfect performance, just some little bitty gritty things which I’m sure will annoy you over time

Great for people that don’t know how to cook as you literally need no skill at all to work this grill.
Great for when you have no time – out some protein on it, press button and do something else until you hear the beep.
Great to make hit sandwiches with cheese oozing out of them.
All in all its a great piece of machinery. Only downside is when not in use it take up a lot of space.

This is one appliance that I am super happy to own. It’s fast, easy to clean, simple to operate with a very fast learning curve. The most exciting feature is the precision of the cooking time and it’s management. Its very fast and saves lot of time in the kitchen. Delivers everything promised by the manufacturer. In the short time I have it I tried to grill potatoes, aubergines, steak, chicken, fish, toasts with 100% success. Recommended it to my children.
Real pleasure to have it. I just love it!!!!!!!

A very good product – easy to use, provides good results with almost no supervision! My only remark is that as the upper grill presses the product, the upper part of it gets better cooked, so I prefer to turn it after a couple of minutes. And, yes – read the instructions. Especially helpful when cooking separate batches of food.

It a great. I was so afraid I ll returning after a couple of days but it worths all the money. It s very easy to use, you can make from chicken to fish , different vegetables and wont be disappointed. My husband who is really hard to please loves it too.
The grill s plates are removable and very easy to wash . Really good buy

This grill is a nice modern looking grill. I have made a cheese and ham sandwich, I let the sandwich grill to its higher setting, but next time will take it off the grill just before it clicks over to the hottest setting, all the cheese had melted, the bread evenly toasted, I didn’t cover the outside of the bread with butter and was pleased with the crusty result. Next cooked a piece of steak to it’s hottest setting but did not use the searing setting, the steak was nicely marked on both sides and was cooked to my liking, no blood running out of the steak, the steak was really tender. Then I cooked a pork steak, cooked it on the beef setting as there is no actual pork setting, but after reading about the grill, you can cook pork on the sausage setting, again the pork was nicely marked, was well cooked and surprisingly soft. Then cooked some sea bass, cooked it through to the end on the hottest setting, the fish was nicely cooked and was juicy not dry. There is no setting for lamb either, you can either cook lamb on the sausage or beef settings. The two plates are easily removed and really pleased at how effortlessly it is to clean them, the drip tray is solid plastic and cleans up with no effort. This grill will change everything in my kitchen, it has taken out the guess work when cooking meat and fish and I know every time whatever I cook will be cooked perfectly.

This grill is good a grill, you can grill a few portions at the same time. It can tell how thick the food is and will then cook and alert you at each stage so that you can decide how well done you want your steak.

It’s also good at making grilled sandwiches. It is big, so you would need to think about where you are going to store this when not in use. Apart from that it works well and have not any complaints regarding the quality of the food.

i upgraded to this when my last grill died, this is all singing all dancing and takes a bit of getting used to, but it cooks exceptionally well and is much easier to clean than my last tefal grill, i got the snacking tray with this and have done a pizza and a macoroni cheese so far and they were fabulous, it`s a shame that a separate recipe book didnt come with the snack tray, but overall if your looking to buy a grill i would seriously consider getting one of these

I have had at least 7 different health grills over many years, but this beats all of those. The technology is amazing, the cooking result of all meats tried so far, from rare steak to fully cooked homemade sausages. Allowing us to cook homemade burgers as medium rather than well done is a great bonus. Ok, so it’s not cheap, but if you like health grills, then this one is great, with easy to clean removable plates.

We have just binned our old Optigrill (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FZR0A7Q) after 6 years of hard work. It must have been used to cook food (usually chicken), at least 4 times a week. This Elite grill is the exactly the same apart from the control system has a had a much needed digital makeover with some more whistles and bells added to coking length and a function called searing to give you that extra bbq burn effect. My original review gave the previous model 4 stars because I felt that steaks were not charred enough. I still stand by that but as I only tend to use it for chicken I can give it 5 stars because it cooks chicken how I like it.

Amazing product, one of the best purchases I’ve made recently! It’s super easy to clean, the non-stick surface is absolutely brilliant! It’s very very easy to use and it cooks things really well, really pleased with it, would definitely recommend. The only annoying thing is that this model doesn’t have the panini/sandwich button so you have to use manual or guess a bit.

We have used many ‘more affordable’ panini grills until we bumped into this and we wouldn’t change this with anything else. If you use the programs, it has the right temperature for cooking the right food. We have experimented with manual temperature and found lots of interesting settings. For example, for bread we put it on red light for 5 mins, then we switch it off to save electricity and leave the bread for another minute, and it has perfect taste and crispness. Highly recommended if you want your food nicely cooked and want a long lasting stylish panini grill at home.

Insanely easy to use and clean. Having to use an old fashioned grill built into the oven seems like such a chore now compared to this. Easy preprogrammed settings cooks your meat or veg to how you want it. And it is perfect every time. Never have I used a cooking utensil so easily. Also when it’s done just detach the steel plates and stick them in the dishwasher. No messy scrubbing and fat flying everywhere. Honestly the grill Is perfect in every way.

Takes a while to preheat. The cook indicator can be a bit of a gamble. We have struggled to get a medium rare steak. We have only cooked steak on it a couple of times and may need a bit of practice. Really good with sausage and burgers etc. Audible cook alerts really good

This is the 3rd grill I’ve had. They have all been excellent. Easy to use and give really good results each time. Having removable dishwasher safe plates make cleaning really easy. The drip tray is marked not dishwasher safe but is fine in the top basket. I really like the bigger grill (despite being 2of us!) as it allows things to be spread out more. All in all a great piece of equipment I use most days!

I have been using the optigrill for a while now. I like the way it cooks meat, fish and veggies. I have tried beef, salmon and veggies and the results where excellent. Poultry is a bit tricky. I have cooked chicken breast and when I slice the wider part of the breast the results were excellent (if not the results are okish). I also tried the mini turkey breast fillet and the results were disappointing. It looks like although it is able to cook bigger pieces of meat when it comes to smaller, thinner pieces the performance is not great. I still give it a five star review cause I think it gives very good cooking results even for people whose knowledge of cooking is rather limited (like me!)

Had a George Forman previously and was please with that, looked for a replacement but couldn’t get the same so chose tefal. Probably the best steak I’ve had, had to learn to trust the timer and not leave on for longer, I also have cooked chicken fillets and thighs which were fab, only had a month so not experimented too much yet. Plates go in the dishwasher fine. Quite clumberson but mine goes away in a cupboard, quite bulky to leave out on work surface

I decided to buy a contact grill generally, and the Tefal OptiGrill specifically, because we tend to eat either burgers or sausages at least once a week, and this seemed to be a better option than either pan, oven, or conventional grill. I should add that these are vegetarian/vegan products, and the OptiGrill is working perfectly well with these meat-free alternatives. The OptiGrill creates less work or mess, and gives the food – quite obviously – a nice “grilled” look and taste.

The plates are very easily removed for cleaning, are easily and efficiently cleaned in the dishwasher, and reasonably easily cleaned by hand. All good.

I love this grill… I can leave the food there, and play with my child, and I can hear beep when it is done, so I don’t need to spend time overseen the preparation at the risk of overcook anything.
I remove the grill and put in the dish washer, and this is definitely the best feature of this product.
What don’t like about it?
1st when you select the pre set mode, it does not leave a nice color in the meal, it is quite pale without any cripsness.
2nd it generated loads of smoke. However, I believe it is inherent to the process, and any grill will have the same issue

My old George foreman was getting a bit old and worn. I decided to treat us to this thing. We are a family of six so needed something that would cook a good amount. This is great, also cooks alot quicker than the foreman, also great for doing crispy bacon on!!! not sure if there is a tool to clean in the grooves a bit better but I’m sure will find out. Also love how the fat drip tray stays clicked into place, and how the lid stays open if you want it to instead of it slamming shut like some machines.

My wife always complain about buy new kitchen equipment’s but she was more than Please with this Grill after a few use we are surprise how it cook 2 whole fish with head and tail by following the instruction and watching the lights that say well done cook the fish was great , she now stop using the oven and mainly Grill meat, fish, Chicken etc no problem we now prep our meat leave it in freezer and just slap on the grill walk away carry on with others with things with 3 young children’s in the home it a time saver and it cook fast this is great products easy to clean with only warm water and cloth we recommend this to anyone plus is a health way to cook little to no oil is need.

We’re trying to get away from frying food and the Optigrill has proved excellent. So far used it for bacon (lovely crispy bacon), chicken, fish, steaks and veg. The automatic settings work really well (and the gradually changing light colour, highlighting rare/medium/well done is good fun). I expected that thin fish, for example, would get dried up, but we’ve found something like sea bream fillets (moistened with lemon juice) are still fine when cooked to medium. Mushrooms are a revelation – so much nicer than fried because they’re not soggy and all the flavour seems to be intensified.

Cleaning is very easy – the two cooking plates clip off and go in the dishwasher (or are easy to quickly clean by hand). The only oddity is the drip tray, which seems to be marked with a ‘no dishwasher’ symbol, even though the instruction book says to put it the dishwasher (we have, without problem).

We’re using it a lot and loving it.

Had this now for a few weeks and as I’d hoped, it’s totally replaced the pans and grill as a means of cooking meat.

It’s size has meant it’s replaced most of the worktop too.

The beeping annoys me and I think it’s pretty ugly, but, it works really really well and the amount of fat that it removes from meat, is scary. My wife (who uses it most) loves it. She doesn’t have to stand at the cooker, flipping things over. Just put meat on, close the lid, wait for the right colour on the dial and job’s a good’un.

I am blind and had the Optigrill demonstrated to me at Blind Veterans UK. For me it is marvellous as once the sequence of keys are worked out then I can grill independently by listening to the beeps. I have been blind 20 years and have never used a grill comfortably in that time because of worrying about eating undercooked food. So I always over cooked food, to be safe. With the Optigrill I can grill confidently and eat food correctly cooked. It is easy to dismantle and clean. One tip is to put a piece of kitchen roll in the drip tray, it catches any fat and so makes cleaning the drip tray usually unnecessary. All in all it is a brilliant piece of kit, well designed, solid and easy to use, even for someone who is blind. How do I use it? It has audible beeps when it is ready to accept the food and then three beeps which signify how well the food is cooked. What could be easier? Apparently there is a visual colour change in the dial at each stage of the cooking process.

After reviewing a number of different grillers I locked on the OptiGrill+ from Tefal. It is an excellent griller yet it is quite large in its dimensions compared to the actual grilling area so this needs to be taken under consideration especially if you are low on kitchen space or still debating the XL version.

The tray beneath the instrument has a better design than the Breville one or others I have seen on the market as it is deep and matches quite nicely the dripping front area of the griller. The heating plates can be detached but you can only do this when they have completely cooled off as the latches are not easy to access and operate and doing this with hot plates is even a bit dangerous.

Regarding the preset programs, one thing to note is that this model (GC713) has the Sandwich/Toast program removed and replaced with a Bacon program. The info on the amazon site is a bit misleading as the buttons pictures are correct but the verbal description states incorrectly that there is a sandwich program. Now this doesn’t mean that you cannot do a panini or a toast – You need to switch to manual, set the temperature to Orange or Red level and then allow for 3-4 minutes of grilling (after the griller has heated up) – the exact setting will depend on the bread type/size/thickness. Also note that the bottom plate is tilted in a fixed way which may be excellent for grilling meats and allowing for the oils to drip but this is less needed and even a bit bothering when just doing an overloaded panini.

Overall an excellent griller with multiple uses mainly grilling meats etc.

Used it twice since I’ve purchased this. Burgers and a peace of steak it cooks perfectly both times. The settings and cooking moniter are brilliant. I’ve used alot of industrial grills in my time and this is as good as any for the results. And cleans really easy as the plates come of with click of a button and I havn’t got a dish washer so hand washs easily.

My main reason for this purchase was because my mother uses one, I can honestly say I would be lost without it, the device has numerous settings for food types and cooks to perfection. the drip tray at the end of usage makes you realise that not only is the food good, but its better that grease and fat remains there rather than consumed. I would definitely say the best thing about this product after the food, is how easy it is to clean, the plates come off with ease and can be washed very easily however a friend of mine has steak well done and this was the only time I have had a little challenge cleaning it, apart from that, perfection. Would highly recommend this product.