REVIEW: George Foreman vs. Hamilton Beach Grills

I've had my George foreman grill for several months, and have happily used
it three to four times a week. Very satisfied with it except for the
inconvenience of cleanup.

Then a week or 10 days ago there was a thread here about the Hamilton Beach
grill that boasts grill plates that are removable for easy washing as well
as a timer. Well, I saw a "Hamilton Beach 25285 Meal Maker Express" on
Ebay, bid, and won the auction -- not bad, $21.80 and it retails for about
$57!

Anyway, the HB grill came today. I had been planning on grilling a couple
of chicken breasts this evening, so I unpacked it, washed it and fired it
up, and grilled my chicken!

Which grill do I think is better? No simple answer. There is absolutely no
question that the Hamilton Beach cleanup was a dream. I easily popped out
the grills and they wiped clean in soapy water with no scrubbing, vs. the
engineering project that I usually go through with the non-immersible George
Foreman to get it clean. However, I was disappointed with the cooking
quality of the HB. It did not get as hot, or cook nearly as evenly as the
GF. The chicken cooked thoroughly on the bottome before the top was done; I
had to take the chicken out, flip it, and cook it longer. This made the
built-in timer feature pretty moot, since the chicken was not cooked
thoroughly when the timer went off. (I had preheated it 5 minutes as per
instructions, and cooked the chicken the recommended length of time).

On the Foreman grill, the top grate is very heavy and "floats to adjust to
the thickness of the food being cooked," while the Hamilton Beach has just
two positions. My chicken breasts were thick, and the top grill was not
heavy enough or at the right angle for even cooking.

Overall, I guess I give the Hamilton Beach a slight edge over the Foreman.
I don't usually cook meat as thick as I did tonight (2 lb of chicken
breasts), and I think it's probably perfectly fine for cooking thinner
portions evenly. Also, as long as I know that it doesn't get as hot at the
George Foreman Grill, I can adjust the cooking time accordingly. I stored
the Foreman and left the HB on the counter. The fast 'n easy cleanup was
the deciding factor; in fact, cleanup was so wonderful that I've built a
small altar and lit candles around the unit. (not really, g).

BTW, the chicken breasts ended up very tasty; I decided to turn them into
chicken salad (I'm on this chicken salad kick). I cut the chicken into
cubes, and chopped up and threw in what was in the fridge -- today it was
cucumbers, olives and celery, plus a tad of black pepper, oregano and dry
onion flakes. Add Dukes mayonnaise, and OMG was it good! Low Carb heaven!
And plenty left for tomorrow
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

Thanks for taking the time to post this - I think there is some issue
with the temperature on the HB - they seem to have a quality control
problem and a lot of them are sent back, refurbished and sent on to
discount outlets like Building 19 in New England. Possibly, as you
stated, in this case it was because of the amount and thickness of
the chicken you cooked. On the other hand, if it's not too much
trouble, I'd consider returning the HB for another unit to see if it's
any better. Kalish

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 04:17:53 GMT, marengo wrote:

I've had my George foreman grill for several months, and have happily used
it three to four times a week. Very satisfied with it except for the
inconvenience of cleanup.

Then a week or 10 days ago there was a thread here about the Hamilton Beach
grill that boasts grill plates that are removable for easy washing as well
as a timer. Well, I saw a "Hamilton Beach 25285 Meal Maker Express" on
Ebay, bid, and won the auction -- not bad, $21.80 and it retails for about
$57!

Anyway, the HB grill came today. I had been planning on grilling a couple
of chicken breasts this evening, so I unpacked it, washed it and fired it
up, and grilled my chicken!

Which grill do I think is better? No simple answer. There is absolutely no
question that the Hamilton Beach cleanup was a dream. I easily popped out
the grills and they wiped clean in soapy water with no scrubbing, vs. the
engineering project that I usually go through with the non-immersible George
Foreman to get it clean. However, I was disappointed with the cooking
quality of the HB. It did not get as hot, or cook nearly as evenly as the
GF. The chicken cooked thoroughly on the bottome before the top was done; I
had to take the chicken out, flip it, and cook it longer. This made the
built-in timer feature pretty moot, since the chicken was not cooked
thoroughly when the timer went off. (I had preheated it 5 minutes as per
instructions, and cooked the chicken the recommended length of time).

On the Foreman grill, the top grate is very heavy and "floats to adjust to
the thickness of the food being cooked," while the Hamilton Beach has just
two positions. My chicken breasts were thick, and the top grill was not
heavy enough or at the right angle for even cooking.

Overall, I guess I give the Hamilton Beach a slight edge over the Foreman.
I don't usually cook meat as thick as I did tonight (2 lb of chicken
breasts), and I think it's probably perfectly fine for cooking thinner
portions evenly. Also, as long as I know that it doesn't get as hot at the
George Foreman Grill, I can adjust the cooking time accordingly. I stored
the Foreman and left the HB on the counter. The fast 'n easy cleanup was
the deciding factor; in fact, cleanup was so wonderful that I've built a
small altar and lit candles around the unit. (not really, g).

BTW, the chicken breasts ended up very tasty; I decided to turn them into
chicken salad (I'm on this chicken salad kick). I cut the chicken into
cubes, and chopped up and threw in what was in the fridge -- today it was
cucumbers, olives and celery, plus a tad of black pepper, oregano and dry
onion flakes. Add Dukes mayonnaise, and OMG was it good! Low Carb heaven!
And plenty left for tomorrow

I have no experience with the HB, but it took several times using my GF
for meat to turn out good. I think it had to be seasoned with use or
something. When I first got the GF I thought it was horrible, now I
love it! -- Perhaps your HB will get better with age!

marengo wrote:

I've had my George foreman grill for several months, and have happily used
it three to four times a week. Very satisfied with it except for the
inconvenience of cleanup.

Then a week or 10 days ago there was a thread here about the Hamilton Beach
grill that boasts grill plates that are removable for easy washing as well
as a timer. Well, I saw a "Hamilton Beach 25285 Meal Maker Express" on
Ebay, bid, and won the auction -- not bad, $21.80 and it retails for about
$57!

Anyway, the HB grill came today. I had been planning on grilling a couple
of chicken breasts this evening, so I unpacked it, washed it and fired it
up, and grilled my chicken!

Which grill do I think is better? No simple answer. There is absolutely no
question that the Hamilton Beach cleanup was a dream. I easily popped out
the grills and they wiped clean in soapy water with no scrubbing, vs. the
engineering project that I usually go through with the non-immersible George
Foreman to get it clean. However, I was disappointed with the cooking
quality of the HB. It did not get as hot, or cook nearly as evenly as the
GF. The chicken cooked thoroughly on the bottome before the top was done; I
had to take the chicken out, flip it, and cook it longer. This made the
built-in timer feature pretty moot, since the chicken was not cooked
thoroughly when the timer went off. (I had preheated it 5 minutes as per
instructions, and cooked the chicken the recommended length of time).

On the Foreman grill, the top grate is very heavy and "floats to adjust to
the thickness of the food being cooked," while the Hamilton Beach has just
two positions. My chicken breasts were thick, and the top grill was not
heavy enough or at the right angle for even cooking.

Overall, I guess I give the Hamilton Beach a slight edge over the Foreman.
I don't usually cook meat as thick as I did tonight (2 lb of chicken
breasts), and I think it's probably perfectly fine for cooking thinner
portions evenly. Also, as long as I know that it doesn't get as hot at the
George Foreman Grill, I can adjust the cooking time accordingly. I stored
the Foreman and left the HB on the counter. The fast 'n easy cleanup was
the deciding factor; in fact, cleanup was so wonderful that I've built a
small altar and lit candles around the unit. (not really, g).

BTW, the chicken breasts ended up very tasty; I decided to turn them into
chicken salad (I'm on this chicken salad kick). I cut the chicken into
cubes, and chopped up and threw in what was in the fridge -- today it was
cucumbers, olives and celery, plus a tad of black pepper, oregano and dry
onion flakes. Add Dukes mayonnaise, and OMG was it good! Low Carb heaven!
And plenty left for tomorrow

--
Judy
197.5/191/160 5' 11"
Start Date: 10/26/03

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 04:17:53 GMT, marengo wrote:
snip
Anyway, the HB grill came today. I had been planning on grilling a couple
of chicken breasts this evening, so I unpacked it, washed it and fired it
up, and grilled my chicken!

Which grill do I think is better? No simple answer. There is absolutely no
question that the Hamilton Beach cleanup was a dream. I easily popped out
the grills and they wiped clean in soapy water with no scrubbing, vs. the
engineering project that I usually go through with the non-immersible George
Foreman to get it clean. However, I was disappointed with the cooking
snip

I have a GF grill and someone here recently posted a great clean-up
tip for it. Immediately after you've unplugged the grill, take a
couple folded paper towels soaked in cold water, lay it inside the
grill and shut it closed. It'll steam a bit and after awhile all the
grease and stuff would have soaked up in the towels and anything left
behind simply wipes off easily. It really works out great!

HAMBURGER
345/181.5/180
Started March'03

HAMBURGER wrote:
| I have a GF grill and someone here recently posted a great clean-up
| tip for it. Immediately after you've unplugged the grill, take a
| couple folded paper towels soaked in cold water, lay it inside the
| grill and shut it closed. It'll steam a bit and after awhile all the
| grease and stuff would have soaked up in the towels and anything left
| behind simply wipes off easily. It really works out great!
|
| HAMBURGER
| 345/181.5/180
| Started March'03

I'm the one who posted that g It's still messy though.

BTW, congratultions on your awesome weighit loss! Do you have any
before/after jpegs?
--
Peter
website: http://users.thelink.net/marengo

We bought a Hamilton Beach grill 3 years ago at Walmart for $17.
Have had no problems with it, use it at least weekly, often daily.

I have noticed, though, this year... that the non-stick surface has started
getting harder to clean over time. We're thinking about buying another one
and dumping this one in the garbage. I think we totally got our $17 out of
it.
Also, it came with a scoopy thing that was slotted the same as the grill
which made for easier grilling and cleanup... and we lost it over a year
ago.

I love the Hamilton Beach grill. I don't understand why people would spend
$50 on the tiny George Foreman. The HB grill we have is the size of the
LARGE george foreman.


--
Spring
LC since 1/1/04
250/239/170

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 12:15:45 -0500, "Sprgtime"
wrote:

I love the Hamilton Beach grill. I don't understand why people would spend
$50 on the tiny George Foreman. The HB grill we have is the size of the
LARGE george foreman.

The HB MealMaker Express that opens up to cook on top and bottom (if
desired) and has the removeable grates for cleaning is about $57 on
Amazon. I know they have different models, but that's the top of the
line as far as I know. Kalish

Kalish wrote in
:

The HB MealMaker Express that opens up to cook on top and bottom (if
desired) and has the removeable grates for cleaning is about $57 on
Amazon. I know they have different models, but that's the top of the
line as far as I know.

As I understand it, that's the least expensive one that features removable
plates, too, right?

Chakolate



--

Started low-carbing 8-26-03
242/195/150
As of Christmas Day, 2003, BMI under 30.