Excellent Paninis, and an all-weather and healthier alternative to outdoor grilling
Written: Sep 19 '07 (Updated Sep 19 '07)
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Pros: Very good grilling surfaces; and flexible joint, allowing larger sandwiches; beautiful on your granite countertop
Cons: difficult clean-up as grills don't detach; no on-off switch.
The Bottom Line: Great for indoor grilling, and likely more healthy for you than your outdoor
Weber.
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| LSMillers's Full Review: VillaWare Panini 2160 Indoor Grill |
Why a countertop grill?
Do you love the grilled taste of barbeque, but often don't have the time to fire up the outside grill -- or even the inclination to use it in the dead of Winter? Do you enjoy panini sandwiches done perfectly, with the grill lines present and the bread done just right? Are you a busy family that needs to prepare tasty dishes quickly? Then this device may be the one for you, as in a matter of minutes you'll be enjoying the above items, with a minimum of preparation and grilling times. And this is likely a healthier option for you than outdoor grilling (see In Closing below).
How we came to use this item
We were originally snobs about items like the George Foreman Grill, until we came to depend on one during a year-long major remodeling project that gutted our entire kitchen and much of the rest of our home. We learned from that experience that you can create some very tasty and quick meals, with a minimum of effort, with such devices.
Even though our kitchen is now finished and we have many options for cooking including a triple-oven/cooktop system, we still wanted the ease of use of the Foreman grill, albeit in something a little more elegant. The VillaWare Panini Grill takes the Foreman idea several steps further by providing grooved (non-stick) rather than flat surfaces, for a "grilled" effect; as well as having a more flexible joint between the grilling surfaces, and a variable temperature control. It also has an oil/grease drain system with a container to catch such, like Foreman, although it's made of metal rather than plastic. And the VillaWare unit, with its brushed steel top and black trim, presents itself beautifully on our granite countertop in a location close to the cooktop -- and fan -- where we leave it out on an ongoing basis.
Two of our favorite recipes
These are simple and quick meals, healthy and tasty -- although more the latter than the former re the burgers.
Grilled Chicken Salad
Take several plump, boneless-skinless chicken breasts, rinse and dry them, and slice them laterally so that they're half as thick. Then lightly oil them and apply your favorite meat rub. Rub With Love's Chicken Rub is great, or make your own with one tablespoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, basil, rosemary, and salt & pepper to taste. Add paprika too if using this as a barbecue rub - great with babyback ribs! (baked in the oven at 220 deg. for 2.5 hours, NOT cooked on the VillaWare). After turning the grill all the way up and waiting until it sizzles with a drop of water, place the chicken on the grill and let it cook for about two minutes or less, until tender but not pink on the inside. Slice the chicken into strips and place over a bed of butter lettuce, adding chopped nuts, orange/apple slices, raisens, tomatoes, dried cranberries/blueberries, etc. to taste. Garnish with your favorite dressing (for us, Brianna's Poppyseed is a favorite).
Kobe Beef Burgers
If you can get American Kobe Beef patties, all the better (available at the Stanford Andronico's in northern California), or choose lean ground beef patties, or burger and shape these into generous patties. Since you're not grilling over a fire, and aren't going to get that fat-frying-over-the-coals flavor, we've found that lean works better for us than regular burger with this grill. And it's healthier. Use the rub described above, with paprika. Set the unit on low heat, and wait until a water drop sizzles on the grill. Cook the burgers for two minutes or until medium rare, or use a fork meat thermometer for better results. Set aside the burgers and cook the buns, using high-quality ones from a specialty bakery if possible. Lightly oil (or butter) their surfaces, and leave them in the grill until you get a golden color and distinct grill lines. At the same time put several Vidalia sweet onion slices on the grill, leaving them until they have grill lines. Combine everything, including lettuce, tomatoes, etc, to taste, including cheese slices (that are melted over the burgers right before they're done on the grill)
An Essential Cleaning Tip
Other writers have criticized the mess it makes, which is a legitimate concern. However, we've found that doing the following will get the grease up every time: take a paper towel and place it on the grill. Then take the grill-cleaning comb tool that comes with the unit and place it over the towel, so that the towel is between the comb teeth and the grill surface. Then press down and do this repeatedly to all the grill grooves until the unit is grease-free. Then use the handle of the comb to clean the large drain slot, again placing the paper towel between the tool and the grill surface.
This is an essential task because the Villaware unit's grill surfaces aren't removable so that you could put them in the sink. Which is just as well, because I'm convinced that removing and cleaning them thusly would likely degrade their quality.
Some Cooking Tips
1. Set the heat at all-the-way up most of the time, as Steve Raichlen recommends in his book that comes with the unit -- except for no. 5 below.
2. Use a probe (or fork-shaped) thermometer to check internal meat temperatures rather than cutting with visual inspection. This keeps your burgers, fish and salmon in much better physical shape and gives you much better doneness to your preference. We get very good results with fish doing this, contrary to one reviewer's difficulty with "dried out fish". This unit cooks VERY quickly, so the thermometer is essential to prevention of overcooking.
3. Lightly baste oil or spread butter on bread to get a nice crispness when cooking panini sandwiches. Also, cook the meat separately first (duh!) before putting it between the bread, or use pre-cooked meats.
4. With firm veggies such as carrots and chilies, first partially steam (or microwave) them and then put them on the grill, after lightly basting them in oil.
5. For burgers, a thinner patty will cook more evenly and give a better result. For those who like thick juicy burgers, set the unit at the lowest setting and cook for a longer time. Again, check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer.
6. Read Steve Raichlen's Indoor Grilling book that comes with the unit. He's a genius with the grill, and he's assembled some awesome recipies just for this griller.
7. Keep your unit reasonably close to your kitchen fan. You will get smoke on occasion, and you'll need the ventilation. Ours is on the kitchen counter about two feet away from the cooktop.
In Closing, a word about health
Perhaps it should be emphasized that this is likely a healthier method of cooking than outdoor grilling, particularly since leaner cuts of meat are used and the meat isn't charred by flames -- the latter a source of nitrosamines, chemicals implicated in stomach cancer. We love the fatty taste of freshly grilled, flame-broiled burgers, but also recognize that there's a health cost to be paid for them. This indoor grill is a great way to keep some of the virtues of barbecue grilling, while at the same time passing on the hassles, extra preparation time, freezing cold (if it's Winter) . . . and flame-related toxins.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 79
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Epinions.com ID:
LSMillers
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 43
Trusted by: 26 members
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