cheese eating surrender monkey heaven

So what's a raclette grill? First principles: there's a type of Swiss cheese - not really very much to taste when cold. However when thinly sliced and melted it really changes character- it's extremely delicious. We've been using it as a topping on veggie burgers off the barbecue for years. The Swiss used to prop a half round of cheese in front of the fire and scrape off the melted bit onto the rest of their dinner. ("Racler" means to scrape in French). So the raclette grill is a more sophisticated way of grilling the cheese and preparing all the accompaniments.

You can buy Raclette cheese in prepacked slices from Sainsburys or off the deli counter in Waitrose. I've also seen it for sale in sporadic continental markets (in Sheffield's regular shindig for instance!). I have seen two online suppliers in the UK too. You should use it up within two weeks- but supposedly it will freeze. However you can melt other cheeses- the book I have suggests butterkase, camembert, cheddar, emmenthal, gruyere, manchego, mozzarella, scamorza, parmesan, pecorino, feta, fontina, gorgonzola, gouda, roquefort and tilsit.

Well I always buy myself a nice birthday present and this is the 2008 effort. What turned up was very, very big! It looked like something from the X-Files- you know the bit where the saucer abducts Moulder's latest key witness- it is huge- 40cm /15.5" diameter with a generous 2m/78.5" power lead. There's a steel base- then a second saucer with the rests for the little raclette pans, then the double loop of the heating element. A non stick detachable cooking grill surface tops off the arrangement. The pans and grill surface are not dishwasher safe and need prewashing and seasoning with a little oil before you start. However they took no trouble to wash with a non abrasive pan scrubber (frankly I've never seen melted cheese slide off a surface before- magic!).

So I thought I'd give it a whirl. I cut thin strips of courgette and yellow pepper and popped them on the grill top, which I'd preseasoned with oil. The excess oil obligingly ran into the circular groove on the edge of the grill plate. I then scraped the bits into a raclette pan, added a cheese slice and shoved the mix under the grill. As I'd sussed that you could prepared Mexican dishes with this gizmo, I'd also bought some flour tortillas which I heated on the clean grill surface. It all worked splendidly- although you have to make sure you cut your veg to fit in the grill pan! I also boiled some new potatoes and grilled some cheese on its own in the raclette pans- yummy. (That one's a traditional combination). I was just eating on my own and I had two of the grill pans in action - it kept the flow of food going. You can use your own large non scrape spatula to move the food around or the little wooden spatulas supplied with the grill- they are only just over 4 cm/1.5" wide and they fit into the tapered end of the raclette pan too.

Now it is true that you could technically slave over a frying pan and grill and get the same result. However it was a nice experience to cook on the table- you can prechop everything and just let everyone go. Washing up the next day when everything had cooled was a doddle. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to store the thing- but it will get used.

I ummed and ahhd over which version to go for. In the end I plumped for the round version without the stone top here which creates a"pierrade". The recipes seemed to be oriented towards meat and fish cooking (although apparently you can grill fruit to add to your cheese). I need a replacement fondue but I'm a klutz near heating elements I was worried about burning myself on the grill pan while leaning over with my bread- the entire plate is hot remember. The supplier did helpfully advise me" the dimensions of both of our fondues are 20cm. The cast iron fondue is also very easy to clean.

The advantages of using the raclette and fondue together are that you can cook on the teflon surface then dip it into the fondue sauce.

When I use this model I use the fondue attachment for starters and desserts and use the stone cooking attachment for cooking all of the meats for the raclette meal."

So if you aren't a dedicated fondue user (YET!)you may wish to get the all in one set- it would certainly be a bargain.

The joy of melted cheese

So what's a raclette grill? First principles: there's a type of Swiss cheese - not really very much to taste when cold. However when thinly sliced and melted it really changes character- it's extremely delicious. We've been using it as a topping on veggie burgers off the barbecue for years. The Swiss used to prop a half round of cheese in front of the fire and scrape off the melted bit onto the rest of their dinner. ("Racler" means to scrape in French). So the raclette grill is a more sophisticated way of grilling the cheese and preparing all the accompaniments.

You can buy Raclette cheese in prepacked slices from Sainsburys or off the deli counter in Waitrose. I've also seen it for sale in sporadic continental markets (in Sheffield's regular shindig for instance!). I have seen two online suppliers in the UK too. You should use it up within two weeks- but supposedly it will freeze. However you can melt other cheeses- the book I have suggests butterkase, camembert, cheddar, emmenthal, gruyere, manchego, mozzarella, scamorza, parmesan, pecorino, feta, fontina, gorgonzola, gouda, roquefort and tilsit.

Well I always buy myself a nice birthday present and this is the 2008 effort. What turned up was very, very big! It looked like something from the X-Files- you know the bit where the saucer abducts Moulder's latest key witness- it is huge- 40cm /15.5" diameter with a generous 2m/78.5" power lead. There's a steel base- then a second saucer with the rests for the little raclette pans, then the double loop of the heating element. A non stick detachable cooking grill surface tops off the arrangement. The pans and grill surface are not dishwasher safe and need prewashing and seasoning with a little oil before you start. However they took no trouble to wash with a non abrasive pan scrubber (frankly I've never seen melted cheese slide off a surface before- magic!).

So I thought I'd give it a whirl. I cut thin strips of courgette and yellow pepper and popped them on the grill top, which I'd preseasoned with oil. The excess oil obligingly ran into the circular groove on the edge of the grill plate. I then scraped the bits into a raclette pan, added a cheese slice and shoved the mix under the grill. As I'd sussed that you could prepared Mexican dishes with this gizmo, I'd also bought some flour tortillas which I heated on the clean grill surface. It all worked splendidly- although you have to make sure you cut your veg to fit in the grill pan! I also boiled some new potatoes and grilled some cheese on its own in the raclette pans- yummy. (That one's a traditional combination). I was just eating on my own and I had two of the grill pans in action - it kept the flow of food going. You can use your own large non scrape spatula to move the food around or the little wooden spatulas supplied with the grill- they are only just over 4 cm/1.5" wide and they fit into the tapered end of the raclette pan too.

Now it is true that you could technically slave over a frying pan and grill and get the same result. However it was a nice experience to cook on the table- you can prechop everything and just let everyone go. Washing up the next day when everything had cooled was a doddle. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to store the thing- but it will get used.

I ummed and ahhd over which version to go for. In the end I decided against the one with the alternative stone top, which creates a"pierrade". The recipes seemed to be oriented towards meat and fish cooking (although apparently you can grill fruit to add to your cheese). I also chose the round version- aesthetic reasons only- the flattened circle version actually seems to be fairly huge itself. There was also a choice of one with a fondue (we are obsessive fonduists and I could do with replacing my old one). As I'm a klutz near heating elements I was worried about burning myself on the grill pan while leaning over with my bread- the entire plate is hot remember. The supplier did suggest that you could grill things to dip in the fondue surrounding the pot itself- however they leaned towards meatie examples.

Overall I'm happy with my nice prezzie- but boy is it big!

good product - but

This is my third product from this company all are well made the first 2 were ideal for me at the time but when i seen this it was what i was looking for. Since purchase it has been in daily use but could do with a handle and thermostat control,the lid does get quite hot even the front part of the lid which you are supposed to use to lift the lid i have burnt fingers to prove the point also as mentioned a thermostat as it gets very hot if you are doing several portions otherwise apart from these point it is a good productGeorge Foreman 13619 Junior Square Grill with sloped grill design and floating hinge - cooks up to 4 portions

cheese eating surrender monkey heaven

So what's a raclette grill? First principles: there's a type of Swiss cheese - not really very much to taste when cold. However when thinly sliced and melted it really changes character- it's extremely delicious. We've been using it as a topping on veggie burgers off the barbecue for years. The Swiss used to prop a half round of cheese in front of the fire and scrape off the melted bit onto the rest of their dinner. ("Racler" means to scrape in French). So the raclette grill is a more sophisticated way of grilling the cheese and preparing all the accompaniments.

You can buy Raclette cheese in prepacked slices from Sainsburys or off the deli counter in Waitrose. I've also seen it for sale in sporadic continental markets (in Sheffield's regular shindig for instance!). I have seen two online suppliers in the UK too. You should use it up within two weeks- but supposedly it will freeze. However you can melt other cheeses- the book I have suggests butterkase, camembert, cheddar, emmenthal, gruyere, manchego, mozzarella, scamorza, parmesan, pecorino, feta, fontina, gorgonzola, gouda, roquefort and tilsit.

Well I always buy myself a nice birthday present and this is the 2008 effort. What turned up was very, very big! It looked like something from the X-Files- you know the bit where the saucer abducts Moulder's latest key witness- it is huge- 40cm /15.5" diameter with a generous 2m/78.5" power lead. There's a steel base- then a second saucer with the rests for the little raclette pans, then the double loop of the heating element. A non stick detachable cooking grill surface tops off the arrangement. The pans and grill surface are not dishwasher safe and need prewashing and seasoning with a little oil before you start. However they took no trouble to wash with a non abrasive pan scrubber (frankly I've never seen melted cheese slide off a surface before- magic!).

So I thought I'd give it a whirl. I cut thin strips of courgette and yellow pepper and popped them on the grill top, which I'd preseasoned with oil. The excess oil obligingly ran into the circular groove on the edge of the grill plate. I then scraped the bits into a raclette pan, added a cheese slice and shoved the mix under the grill. As I'd sussed that you could prepared Mexican dishes with this gizmo, I'd also bought some flour tortillas which I heated on the clean grill surface. It all worked splendidly- although you have to make sure you cut your veg to fit in the grill pan! I also boiled some new potatoes and grilled some cheese on its own in the raclette pans- yummy. (That one's a traditional combination). I was just eating on my own and I had two of the grill pans in action - it kept the flow of food going. You can use your own large non scrape spatula to move the food around or the little wooden spatulas supplied with the grill- they are only just over 4 cm/1.5" wide and they fit into the tapered end of the raclette pan too.

Now it is true that you could technically slave over a frying pan and grill and get the same result. However it was a nice experience to cook on the table- you can prechop everything and just let everyone go. Washing up the next day when everything had cooled was a doddle. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to store the thing- but it will get used.

I ummed and ahhd over which version to go for. In the end I decided against this version with the alternative stone top, which creates a"pierrade". The recipes seemed to be oriented towards meat and fish cooking (although apparently you can grill fruit to add to your cheese). Still if you have a yen for this type of cooking it may be for you!

Lacks sufficient heat to brown meat well.

Purchased a couple weeks ago. Easy to clean and use.

Unfortunately the heat generated by the grill seems to"steam" meat rather than fry it. It works well for white meats -- chicken breasts etc. Not so well for steak.

You definitely have to make sure the meat is at room temperature, and even then it seems to suck the heat out of the grill. I have even tried leaving it"on" a few minutes after the red light has gone off. Seems to maintain an even temperature.

Maybe I have a faulty unit, but it really does not get"hot" enough to do a fair amount of browning. :-(

George Forman baby grill - Loveit use it every day

This gadget sits on my worktop I use it every day and my oven is nearly redundant. I have cooked so many different things on this, just about anything that can be cooked on baking tray, sausages, burgers, chops, steaks, potatoe wedges, onion rings, spring rolls, chicken pieces, nuggets, I've even cooked Pizza on this. Brilliant for cooking pitta bread, garlic bread slices and naan bread to perfcetion, if that was all I used it for I would be happy!
Downside is the green plastic bun warmer broke off very easily but I don't think this was integral to the use of the grill