Another Cuisinart panini press that people often talk about is the Cuisinart GR-2 griddler express contact grill. Now, despite the fact that this model has a few features that can be considered old (like those of the older countertop grills) it can still function pretty effectively.
Since some people get confused about the exact features of the Cuisinart griddler express, it should be noted that this product has non-removable cooking plates – meaning that these plates are fixed to the whole unit and cannot be removed for easy cleaning.
However, in many cases non removable plates distribute the heat a lot better compared to contact grills with detachable cooking plates. These types of units (with non-removable plates) are usually much more secure (cannot fall while you’re cooking), more durable and often don’t suffer from a poor heating mechanism/time.
The Performance of the Cuisinart GR 2 Griddler
First of all, the Cuisinart GR 2 griddler express contact grill heats up quickly and can get hot enough to sear almost anything you decide to cook on it. In fact, you probably need to be careful not to burn your food due to the high temperatures (in many countertop units with removable plates, the surface will barely get hot enough to cook even after you let it heat for a long time).
Additionally, the Cuisinart griddler express contact grill seems to be pretty good at cooking a wide range of foods, from Panini’s, toasts and other sandwiches to burgers, chicken breasts and more. One handy tip with the Cuisinart GR 2 Panini grill is to flip the food halfway through the grilling time, since the bottom plate tends to get a tad hotter than the upper plate.
On the other hand, while the fixed cooking plates of the Cuisinart GR-2 griddler express contact grill allow it to grill dishes more effectively compared to other appliances, it’s important to mention that this Cuisinart griddler is quite hard to clean.
To begin with, when you buy the Cuisinart griddler express contact grill you also get an annoying grease cup that is supposed to help you drain the excess fat and unwanted grease. Yet it’s easy to accidentally spill the content of the cup that really should be incorporated into the design of the whole unit in order to make it more user-friendly (like it is in some of the newer contact grills and Panini makers).
In addition, it can be time consuming to clean the Cuisinart GR 2 griddler express contact grill once you’re done cooking. The unit is also not dishwasher safe and the cooking plates cannot be removed for easy cleaning, as mentioned before.
Now, the hard part about cleaning the Cuisinart griddler express is to manually clean each and every groove in the surface, and the cleaning tool that is included with the Cuisinart GR-2 probably won’t be of much help to you.
One trick that could make your life easier is to place wet paper towels on the contact grill as soon as you’ve done cooking the food, and close the hot Cuisinart grill with the paper towels. Leave it for some time and when you come back to the unit you’ll discover that most of the ‘junk’ was removed thanks to the paper towels.
Despite the fact that the Cuisinart griddler express contact grill isn’t very cheap, and can be troublesome to clean – the Cuisinart GR-2 griddler still offers an impressive heating mechanism that has the ability to properly cook a wide range of foods.