Excellent at what it does ...

When we purchased this grill we were looking for an alternative to pan frying everything. We live in an apartment so we don't have the option of a BBQ and we were sick of cooking everything in a fry pan. Before buying this grill we did a lot of looking around and we quickly discovered that most of the grills on the market really didn't suit our needs. They were either too small or terribly low quality.

We thought the idea of a grill/griddle was really interesting so we looked into it. It turned out that only 3 models were available at any of our local retail stores and this was one of them, the other two were complete garbage.

After trying the grill out we quickly found that it was definately no replacement for a BBQ. A BBQ has a cover so food is baked and grilled at the same time, anything you cook on this grill doesn't get that extra baking. As a result cooking times are longer and meat doesn't always brown/whiten at the edges as nicely as I'd like.

Still, even though it's a lousy BBQ it's still a great grill.

You just need to recognize it's limitations and have realistic expectations.

The grill is absolutely great for cooking steaks, thin chicken breasts, and anything less than say 3/4" thick. Anything thicker needs to be seared or boiled first and then finished on the grill. Ie. thick steaks need to be seared all over in a pan and then cooked on low for a good long time on the grill. (Delicious) With thicker chicken breasts, I've had to cut them in 1/2 to make sure they get cooked all the way through. Not a bad thing as it gives me a chance to stuff them with extra goodies.

We have also used the griddle for bacon and pancackes, both of which turned out really well.

The only two real problems we've had with the grill have been cleaning up and the power cord.

The cord is really, REALLY, short so your limited in where you put the grill. As well, cleaning up is a bit awkward because our sink and utencils are all metal and will scratch the grill if we're not careful.

All and all we are quite pleased with the grill and we make pretty good use out of it day to day. You can do just about anything on it that you can on an outdoor grill. So long as you realize the limitations of this grill and adjust for them. (Mainly temperatures need to be lowered to avoid mess spitting and cooking times need to be increased)