The product is big and bulky and I expected a real workhorse. Unfortunately the temperature on the upper griddle (the one that is meant to sear meat or toast sandwiches would not get about about 325 degrees even when I set it to sear. I returned it.
I recently moved from a large home to a 3rd floor condo with a balcony. I wanted this product to use in place of my coal/propane grills. It turned out to be a great choice! I can grill on my balcony (under the roof) or in my kitchen on the counter near my range. It is functional, easy to use and cleans up nicely.
We had an old griddle that finally failed. Couldn't believe how much nicer the Cuisinart grill was. It works great, is easy to adjust and easy to clean. Love it.
I bought this for making Grilled sandwiches and for doing quesadillas. For me it was important to have both a flat side and a ridged side. Since plates come off they are very easy to clean. They say dishwasher safe but I usually hand wash right away. I started off using a George for grilled sandwiches and this is worlds better. For quesadillas it's great as they cook in half the time and require no flipping which means no mess versus a standard stovetop griddle. I find that it cooks very evenly and it's nice to have the temperature control when needed. When open full it folds flat Some annex plan is to do fresh baked tortillas which previously I was only able to cook one at a time on the stovetop, with this I should be able to cook for at a time.
I absolutely love this piece of equipment! So easy to clean up after using, and so useful in a small kitchen such as mine. My only complaint would be the top element does not get as hot as the bottom. Didn’t take long to learn to compensate for that, but one should not have to do so. Other than that, no complaints, just a lot of usage!