Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was super thrilled to finally get my own raclette grill after falling in love with raclette in Europe. This is a pretty good grill overall with only some minor things I'd change. Perhaps the biggest issue with eating raclette in the US has nothing to do with the grill but with the absolutely unavailability of raclette cheese. This may differ where you live, but we ended up using Gouda and Gruyere instead, which were poor choices. If you cannot get raclette cheese where you live I suggest trying out a bunch of cheeses. Now for the grill itself. PROS: - Good size: It's for 8 people and has eight pans, but the most I've used with this grill were four people. It would work for eight and I could see using this for two people. - Two tops: This comes with a light non-stick coated grill top and a stone top. The stone top is very heavy (about 12 lbs), but the grill frame holds it up well. I do recommend preheating the stone for about 30 minutes before using it and using oil or butter to grill on it. - Wooden spatulas: There are right wooden spatulas to scrape the cheese with. They are light weight but sturdy, but they are a pain to clean afterwards. - Clean up: It's super easy to clean. The pans are non-stick coated and were easy to clean even of dried cheese. The stone top takes some scrubbing, so I definitely recommend using oil or butter to grill on it to make less of a mess. Price: Many raclette grills can go upward of hundreds of dollars so this one is a good choice, especially if you're just starting out or only using it a few times a year. NEUTRAL: - Color coded pans: Each pan has a little color dot on the handle so people will know which pan is theirs, like on fondue forks. Now I have never had a problem with people confusing pans in raclette, since each pan goes into its little space anyway. It's still a useful little feature, however, the color dots are really dark and subdued colors that are difficult to see in a low light setting. - Spacing: The spacing between where the pans rest and the heating coil is a bit higher than I am used to from European raclette grills. This can somewhat negatively affect grilling time, especially in the beginning when the grill isn't hot yet or on the side slots where half the pan will melt quicker than the other. However, this higher spacing means I can be lazy and just add bread/potatoes into the pan with cheese and avoid burning anything on the heating coil. NEGATIVE: - No 'on/off' switch: This isn't a deal breaker, but once you plug the grill in it is on. A lever at the front let's you adjust the heat intensity. Depending on your set up wanting to turn off the grill after everyone is done might require someone to climb under the full table to unplug the grill (as happened with me). It's not a huge deal, but as the grill does put out a lot of heat it's likely you'll want to turn it off while everyone is still sitting around finishing up. - No instructions: The box contained no useful instructions on how to use a raclette grill. I'd had experience with raclette so it was fine, but I imagine a complete novice might like some instructions on exactly what to do, what kind of heat settings to choose, to preheat the stone, what to put in the pans, etc. Maybe even a little cookbook with suggestions on cheeses or what to grill on top might be nice. Overall I'm very happy with this grill. It works well and the raclette was fun and tasty (minus the cheese issues).