Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I'm a longtime and happy user of a basic model George Foreman grill, and received an Evolve grill for review purposes. The bottom-line: while this grill has a lot of functionality for a Foreman grill, it's also (1) a bit pricey, and (2) moderate sized. Unless you're sure that you want everything this grill offers, I think there are better choices, both in the Foreman line and elsewhere.
What you get that you might not get on other electric grills:
+ Removable, dishwasher safe grill plates: This feature is really nice. I still put a wet paper towel between the plates after I'm done cooking to steam off the worst of the gunk, but dropping the plates in the dishwasher after that is very convenient.
+ Adjustable temperature (300-425 degrees F): The entry-level grills only grill at "high" -- this gives you "medium" through "high," and allows baking.
+ A built in timer: Not that big a deal, since the timer doesn't turn the grill off, but convenient.
+ Specialty grill plates: The Evolve is compatible with 11 grill plates or attachments. Usually, you will need 2-3 to accomplish any task. (The list of available plates is (1: bottom grill; 2: top grill; 3: baking pan; 4: slider insert; 5: bottom waffle; 6: top waffle; 7: muffin/cupcake insert; 8: top omelet; 9: bottom omelet; 10: panini top; 11: griddle). This model comes with the first 4 items listed.
+ Adjustable slope and hinges: You can set the grill to be flat with a high top, for baking, etc., or sloped with a low top to drain the fat from meats.
What I didn't like:
- It's pricey. You can get an entry level model for a fraction of the price, and even some higher end products like the Cuisinart Griddler are significantly less expensive.
- Additional plates are also pricey. They're currently only available from George Foreman directly, and you can get an entire basic grill for about the cost of each additional plate.
- I'm not sure how often most people will use the specialty plates, especially the ones that come with this model. I tried making sliders with the slider insert and brownies with the baking pan, but I'm more likely to make future brownies in my actual oven, and I'd rather make burgers than sliders. The George Foreman Evolve GRP4EWS might be slightly better on this point - that model comes with waffle plates instead of the baking and slider plates, and could save you some appliance space, since you don't need a separate waffle iron.
- Even at 72 square inches, this grill is not that big. That's good for storage, and can typically cook burgers for four, but compare some grills, like the Foreman Next Grilleration, which also has removable plates, but has 100 inches of cooking area. (And a lower price!)
My cooking experiments:
Grill plates: I made eggplant panini one night, and chicken breasts the next. The grill is great as a grill, and I imagine I'll be using these plates a lot.
Baking plate: The baking plate is about 11x7 by 3" deep, so it's about 70% as big as the 9x13 pans that many baking recipes call for. I made a half recipe of scratch brownies, which came out a little overcooked. Next time, I'll cut the temperature or the bake time a little bit below the oven recipe. Basically, you can cook anything that doesn't need to rise too high - brownies, lasagna, casseroles, frittata, etc., but if you have an oven, this is going to be either a back-up if you're baking more than one thing, or a novelty.
Slider insert: This plate is a mold that holds and shapes up to six mini-burgers, and fits between the top and bottom grill plates. Good if you want evenly sized sliders, but I found that I prefer larger burgers. (It's hard to cook a small burger so that the center is anything less than medium-well).
Bottom-line: If you want to do some light baking and don't have an oven, this might be a good compromise. If not, I would compare the Evolve with waffle plates, the Cuisinart Griddler, and some entry level and mid-range Foreman grills before making a final decision.
Click Here to see more reviews about: George Foreman GRP4EP Platinum Evolve Grill with 2 Grill Plates, 1 Deep-Dish Bake Pan and 1 Mini Burger Insert
From the Manufacturer
The George Foreman Evolve Grill
As the most versatile grill ever from George Foreman, the Evolve Grill lets you cook up to 8 different ways, all with one compact appliance. You start with a 4-plate starter set, then build your collection with up to 6 additional plates available for purchase. It's like having an entire kitchen's worth of versatility with just your grill.
Includes
Grill plates and deep-dish bake pan.
Get 33% OFF
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