Hello citizens of 3fatchicks!

I was wondering if any of you own/use George Forman grills. Does it actually do anything to the food you put in it? I've always been curious about other people's opinions on these grills...

so can anybody share?

It cooks the food with little guess work. It's easily accessable ( no needing to pull hot dishes out of the oven) and cooks pretty fast. It doesn't make food taste any better than broiling though. I haven't seen the infomercial in it's entirety and not for a long long time but I'm pretty sure they make claims that it makes food taste amazing. That's just not true.

We have had a small one for years. It's very cool and extremely easy to clean and easy to use. It's used exclusively for steaks and chicken breasts. I haven't noticed it doing anything to the food 'taste' but the convenience makes it worth it.

Well, according to the informercials, these things "Knock out the fat", and I was just curious as to whether they did that or not (not literally knocking fat out, of course). But y'know...if foods cooked on the grill were better for you then food cooked by other means.

We got one pretty early one, so it may be that they've changed the design a bit. I've always found mine difficul to clean, not because the food was stuck on but because it would just get moved into a corner and never come out completely. I found it to be a bit of a mess otherwise I would use it more often. I guess I am picky because the food comes out sort of crimped and goofy looking, not the most eye appealing. But the taste is the same. If you can get it clean. *LOL*
On a scale of 1 to 10 I give the product a 7.

I love ours, it's really easy to clean and does chicken just beautifully! I have to think it's healthier than some other cooking methods because you actually see the fat roll off into the drip pan as it cooks. It's kinda cool to take the food off and look at that, and know it won't go on your hips.

I had a little one last year but gave it away. For me, it's just easier to bake, broil or spray a pan with zero fat cooking spray and cook a chicken breast or fish that way. I also thought it was messy and hard to clean. Just seemed like a waste of money and counter space to me. Also it seemed to burn the outside of food before the inside was done. The bigger ones might be better, though, and the machine was kind of nice for keeping the kitchen cool in the summer.

When I cook with it, I have to plug and unplug the whole time. Otherwise, the outside gets too done. I used to be able to cook with it very well years ago. I put it up and forgot about it, and now when I cook with it I wind up with white chicken with dark brown grill marks, and it doesn't look very appetizing. I'm not sure what I used to do that I don't know.

As for fatty steaks and hamburgers, I like it because the grease drips out. I don't like it as well as the grill, but the grill isn't always an option. I do like it for grilling veggies. Marinate them and put them on the grill and close the lid. Good!

Mine has an on/off button and a timer, so I can set it for 6 minutes (etc) and it will turn off. THey don't all have that feature, though, which is a shame, because the ones you have to plug in and out are a pain.

I used mine for chicken and also for portabello mushrooms. It eventually wore out.

When I lived in England, I lived in a small flat without a stove, and all I had was a tiny microwave and a George Foreman grill. I cooked everything on it. Chicken, fish, veggies. I bought little tiny potatoes that were rolled in herbs, and I would toss them with olive oil and cook them on the george foreman until crispy. I also would take chunks of squash, onions, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and anything else, and toss them with a tomato dressing, then cook that on it as well. The outside of the veggies would caramelize a little and they cooked well through. It was delicious. You can even grill a sandwich in it.

I love using ours whenever we use it. It's nice to know that you can see all that evil grease and fat falling out that you could of been eatting if you were using that machine. It doesn't take too long to cook anything either and it's pretty easy to clean.

It overcooks my chicken but I love it for cooking frozen hamburger patties when I'm in a rush. I don't have to defrost them (they are the thin kind that are pre-packaged). They cook in just a few mins.

I cooked some salmon on it recently when I was too lazy to fire up the grill. It was a little dry.

Overall I think this is best for fatty beef.

And I agree...this is a pain to clean!

Hey, I cook with George once in awhile especially if I can't grill outside because of the rain etc. I find that if you spray it with the cooking spray cleaning is better and try to do the cleaning while its still warm. I cook chicken breast strips and season them with garlic and peppers and lemon juice. Then when done we use a hot sauce for dipping made with Red hot sauce, little butter melted and 2 tsp. white vinegar. It kind is like having chicken wings but with out the extra fat. Check it out even my hubby likes it and he is fussy!!!!!!!!!!!! Squash, mushrooms, onions grill up nicely but watch them closely they get done fast.
Skyfirefly

If you're going to cook fish on it, you need to clean it IMMEDIATELY afterwards.

Not this year but last year on the fourth of July, I tried to cook an entire bag of chicken breasts at once & after about the third breast, it blew a fuse. (My building is about 150 years old, that might've had something to do with it.)

So if I were to get a new one, I'd get a much bigger one, since I like to do my cooking for the week all at once.

The reason it "knocks out the fat" is because it sits at an angle, so any fat drips down into a cup they give you to catch it.

And when you are hungover, it is great for making Mickey Mouse pancakes--looks like Mickey's in jail. Good for a chuckle.


Forgot to say you can also make grilled cheese & other grilled sandwiches on it, too.

I recently bought a Villaware Panini Grill, and you are supposed to be able to cook chicken and other foods on it as well. It also has a drain so the fats will drain off. I haven't tried it yet, though. Hope it works!

My George Foreman and my Crockpot are two absolutely "Must Haves" for me in the kitchen! I have the extra large GF, and it is just great! For chicken breasts, I set the automatic timer on it for 7 minutes, and they come out perfect! I have, however, found out that just as soon as I take my food off of the GF, I IMMEDIATELY take damp paper towels and clean the grill (of course, it is turned off first). By doing so, I have very little mess to clean up on the grill after we have eaten. I do like the feature whereby all the grease empties into the tray. It is hard to believe that at one time I used to eat all that nasty grease. One plus of using the GF is that now I am totally turned off from eating hamburgers from any of the fast food places. It is hard for me to stomach all that greasy "junk" from fast food joints. And to think I even use very LEAN MEAT, and the tray is always at least half full of grease! YUK!

Have a nice day-
CAROL