The first thing I want to tell you after trying out GR-4N Cuisinart griddler grill for two weeks is the fact that a lot of information about this grill can't be found in the description or manual. I've even had to solve a couple of tricky situations by myself, but besides this, it is a really good piece of kitchen appliance. The cooking plates have anti stick surface; can be flipped, used on both sides and cleaned easily. The device showed itself as a well-balanced machine that is heating up fast, so you can start cooking almost immediately.
Controls are easy to use and you don't need to read the manual every time you accessing the griddler machine. It was a surprise for me that both control knobs on the sides does the same. The left is used to set cooking temperature when working in "Griddle" mode while the right one is setting the heat in "Panini" mode. Why would Cuisinart provide its griddler grill with just one temperature control instead of two? Maybe the answer is that cooking device with a lot of knobs and buttons looks more professional? But the truth is that GR-4N Cuisinart griddler is just a simple kitchen tool with two grilling plates, temperature setting and nothing more.
Because there is a lot of the info missing about the Cuisinart griddler grill, I've had to learn a lot on my own mistakes. I've discovered a lot of interesting facts and I hope you'll find them handy:
actual cooking space is about half an inch smaller from each side than stated in the manual. Keep that in mind when using Cuisinart griddler grill to prepare large stakes
the lid pivots are fully adjustable in the area where the handle is attached. This allows you to cook meals with different heights. You can even set it up to cook tall food on one side and the short on the other
the minimum space between cooking surfaces is about half of an inch. You can't grill anything thinner than that from both sides simultaneously
do not be afraid to get burns from handles as they are made from some sophisticated material that does not heat up
the side controls lights up in green at the exact moment when cooking surface reaches the desired temperature
when the grilling plates temperature drops for about 20 degrees, green light is being turned off, heat sensor triggers and Cuisinart griddler grill starts heating itself again
there are small grease outlets on the sides cooking plate. Those designed to have a tiny slope of a few degrees to let grease flow to the drawer. You have to keep them clean as much as possible, otherwise grease will stay in the cooking area
the power cord is about one meter long so keep in mind that you might need to use an extender to reach the electric socket.
I am a curious person, so I've used digital thermometer to measure the temperature of cooking plates. It turns out that Cuisinart griddler grill might not be the best choice for grilling beef, because the surface temperature goes up and down during the cooking time. In the low part of the cycle temperature drops down too much and grilling plates are getting too cold for meat to be fried in best conditions. I guess it is depends on the sensitivity of the thermostat trigger and this may be the feature of the particular griddler grill.
Another bit of information I've got while using thermometer on my GR-4N Cuisinart griddler grill is that there are cold and hot spots all around the grilling plates and the heat distributed not evenly. There experiments forcing me to rate Cuisinart grill with only 75 points out of 100 possible.
Other than a few issues with temperature distribution uncovered with my scientific approach, GR-4N griddler grill is a good kitchen device which I am sure suits fine for cooking a lots of different meals and creative sandwiches.
