The George Foreman G5
I’m suspicious of anything I see advertised on television. So I’d been skeptical for a while about the George Foreman Grill, in any of its guises; if television advertising is cause for suspicion, then a celebrity’s name attached to a product is the kiss of death.
On the other hand, when you live in an apartment with no balcony, no patio, and not quite enough room to swing a cat, it’s not like you can set up a gas grill in the living room. So we caved in and bought the G5, the latest incarnation of the George Foreman Grill.
Surprisingly enough, it works pretty well. At different times, I’ve done chicken, steak, burgers, kebabs, and pork chops, to good results. I’ve also used it as a sandwich press, which didn’t go quite as well. The bread tends to burn or dry out, and the interior of the sandwich doesn’t get that warm, melty texture that was the reason you put it on there in the first place.
A few gripes: I’ve only used the flat plate once, in an attempt to make pancakes. If you’re making something that doesn’t need to be cooked on both sides simultaneously, you have to leave the lid open, which means cooking with only one hand free (while the other prevents the lid from closing and leaving your hand looking like the underside of a hamburger), so one of the G5’s plates has been less than useful. I also have yet to use the waffle plates. This is no fault of the manufacturer; it’s moreso that I like waffles, and I’m afraid that if I make a batch of warm, tasty, fresh waffles, I will have difficulty stopping making warm, tasty, fresh waffles. So that means that 3 of the 5 plates don’t get much of a workout.
The single biggest complaint comes to cleaning. I use a cooking spray to keep things from sticking to the grill, and it works reasonably well on the bottom plate. This plate is the same type found on previous Foreman grills. It’s the… well, grill-shaped one. The top plate is a different story altogether. Here’s what happens: you grill a handful of chicken breasts. They’ll come out fine, but just try cleaning that top plate. If you’ve ever taken notice of sneaker treads, you know what the G5’s top plate looks like, and if you’ve ever tried getting dog poop out of sneaker treads, you have a pretty good idea of what it’s like cleaning one. Unfortunately, while replacement plates are available, they don’t make a top plate for the G5 that has the same construction as the bottom one.
The verdict: A good product overall, but it could’ve been better thought-out. Keep a vegetable brush handy for cleaning, and keep those elbows limber.
Tags: cooking, Food, G5, George Foreman Grill, grilling, reviews