Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I used to be a restaurant owner and chef, serving fabulous toasted sandwiches using several commercial sandwich presses with flat grill plates and I really missed them after I left the business. After much consideration and reading reviews, I mistakenly bought a Delonghi panini press due to its mostly 5 star reviews. However after making one sandwich I realized its serious shortcomings, which I suspect is common to all grooved griddles, and returned the unit in favor of this flat plate Breville press. Before commenting on the Breville let me explain what happens with grooved griddles. I do not understand the consumer fascination or hype for grill marks on sandwiches just so that you can get that Italian "Panini" look. Grill marks may look cute but they are a functional waste for a toasted sandwich. The problem is that the deep impression made in the bread causes an uneven heating of the bread surface and ingredients underneath. On the Delonghi, I made a classic Rueben with rye, big eye swiss, corned beef, kraut and thousand island dressing. The ridges pushed deeply enough into the bread to cause the cheese to melt through the bread where the untoasted surface was between the grooves. So the raised grooves were toasting but not the valleys between, where the cheese soaked through. Also consider that rye is more dense than typical sandwich bread and it still did not withstand this process. The sandwich ended up a soggy mess within about 3-4 minutes and would not come out of the press very easily due to the deep grooves where the softer bread "gave up" and simply started falling apart from being soaked. So I returned the unit, unsatisfied with the results. I then promptly replaced it with this unit, which initially was my second choice for which I should have trusted my initial instincts. I got the Breville unit because it is about the only one on the market that has flat griddle plates top and bottom for a truly even toasting over the entire surface of the sandwich. The heat level is perfect and the surface area is larger than the Delonghi and it will actually accommodate 4 sandwiches at one time. The bottom plate features a raised lip around the perimeter to contain ingredients that may run out or for cooking meat or eggs. You can leave the sandwich in as long as you wish, to allow a more crusty surface or desire more heat to the interior ingredients, without burning anything. It is very forgiving on cook time so it would be hard to ruin anything cooked in it. I have also found it wonderful for cooking hamburger patties. And it does it very quickly. A third to half pound pattie will cook in 3-5 minutes, cooking both sides at one time. Not to mention that my Rueben now comes out perfect. I have also cooked Tyson marinated chicken breasts in it, with great results. And will next try sirloin steak cuts, which I am sure will yield excellent results. Although the Breville does not have a variable heat control, I found that to be of no consequence. It is not needed because the unit cooks everything perfectly, from sandwiches to raw meat. They have obviously programmed the heat to a universally acceptable level, in which you simply have to experiment to find the right cook time for various objects chosen. The Breville also has a stair step slider lid support on the side handle to allow you to set variable thicknesses for sandwiches and other ingredients, to avoid smashing your panini or toasted sandwiches to cardboard thin slices of bread. Also allows for great pizza reheating to crisp the crust on the bottom plate while setting the lid to the open "radiant heat" melt position, hovering above, to warm the topside ingredients while the crust does its thing. I am very impressed with this unit which performs as well as the $600 commercial units we used in my restaurant. All in all, a much superior choice unless you like "tire rut" sandwiches. Grill marks belong on meat and not sandwiches.