Hamilton Beach 25450 Gourmet Panini Press

 (127 customer reviews)

You can't give this machine a bad rating. This Hamilton Beach Panini Press does one thing and one thing only, but it does it very well. If you enjoy pressed/grilled sandwhiches you will love this machine. As I write this I'm eating a feta/olive/artichoke/roasted peppers on pita sandwhich hot off the panini press, and it's scrumptious. I actually bought this as a christmas gift for my mother, but I probably use it more than she does.

The machine looks good on the counter, and has a large, non stick service. It's not on a hinge so it's designed to accept even the thickest sandwhiches without squeezing all the filling out. You can even "lock" the lid down to apply constant pressure, or lock it up to maintain minimal pressure or to not make contact with the top at all. It's great for quesidillas as well. Ignore the user that says it takes too long to heat up, it takes only a couple of minutes, about the time a waffle maker would take to heat. Even cooking on the stove you need...Read more

Mechanically, the press has a nice design and it works OK for a $40 item. The upper lid is not hinged, so it can be raised very high to accomodate thick sandwiches. Bread comes out nicely ridged and crunchy. It does take a while for the unit to heat to cooking temperature, however. The main problem seems to be how to cook the inside of the sandwich without burning the bread; for an average sandwich (3 oz. ham and 2 oz. cheese) after 1.75 minutes the bread is done, but the ham is not sufficiently warm nor the cheese melted. This may be an issue with all lower-end panini presses, I suppose; perhaps some experimentation with different bread types and cooking times will solve my little dilemma. In any case, so far the resulting sandwiches are better than if served at room temperature, but not as good as those heated in my toaster oven and then slapped together.

Excellent value because it's not just a panini press -- you can also use it as a contact grill for vegetables, burgers, etc. You do this by using a set screw to lock the upper plate at the height you want. Bingo: buy one appliance rather than two.

The upper plate has about 3" to 4" of travel, so you can press fairly thick sandwiches. The size is nicely compact, with the overall dimensions not much bigger than the heating plates.

The plates have very fine ribbing, so you can't use this grill to fry eggs or pancakes. If you want those options, consider the Breville SG620XL panini press/grill (which has flat plates that lock into 6 positions), or the smaller Hamilton Beach 25219 Contact Grill.