Cuisinart Griddler GR-4

Cuisinart griddle has many benefits. Can do many things: as a griddle, as a grill, as a panini press. For the most part, it lives up to its promise. The key is a specially designed “floating” hinge, as well as interchangeable cooking plates. The hinge unlocks to open the Griddler flat, so that you can use it as a surface cooker for either grilling or griddling.

While the Griddler is closed, the hinge also adjusts to the thickness of the food you’re cooking; it handles anything from thinly sliced eggplant to a thick tuna steak with aplomb, and presses evenly into a panini sandwich, unlike other panini presses that will squeeze sandwiches tighter at the hinge end.

When open, the Griddler can be used with either the grill plates as a grill top, or the flat plates as a griddle. The total cooking area is roughly 200 square inches, but because the cooking surface is broken into two sides, space seems limited when you’re cooking a batch of pancakes or burgers. The griddle can handle about 6 small pancakes at once, or 8 strips of bacon, and you wouldn’t be able to fit more than 3 burgers on each side. A benefit, though, to having two separate flat cooking surfaces is that you can cook two different foods at once, without mixing flavors…beef burgers and veggie burgers, for instance.

However it’s used, the surface heats evenly and gets hot enough to put nice sear marks on a chicken breast or a steak.

The Griddler has spawned a family of less expensive variations, including the smaller Griddler Jr., which also can be used flat or as a contact grill but only has grill plates; and the Griddler Express, which also only has grill plates. But at $129, the original, full-fledged Griddler is a good investment and will likely be used frequently in any kitchen.