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Merry Christmas to us!
Dec. 22nd, 2019 07:32 pmAs I add digits to my age I realize that I only want one thing out of my cookware--longevity. Years ago we had a panini press, but the plastic slider on the arm broke. It was still usable, but it meant that the top part would swing a little uncontrollably. Since the grill plates were non-stick and non-stick is a hazard to birds' respiratory systems, we either thrifted it or threw it out when we did our big purge in 2017. Hubs had a hankering to get another panini press and they are all pretty much non-stick. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond with coupon in hand and discovered that they only had a couple of models in stock. We looked over Amazon reviews in the food court and I said to hubs, "You know, I just want to buy something that lasts and won't kill the birds."
It turns out that both Lodge and Le Creuset make cast iron panini grills that double as frying pans. Both work this way--there is the pan part and the grill part. You need to heat both parts on two different heat sources first. We ended up getting the Le Creuset one. As I add digits to my age I realize that it would be nice to have a legacy and a fancy cast iron pan is something we could give to our nieces or nephew one day. They may not want their aunt's stooopid toy horse collection, but Le Creuset? Sure!
The weird thing is that a durable electric panini grill cost the same as the Le Creuset one. I found one on sale with free shipping and we were in business. It works great although it is a little tricky to heat the top part correctly. In theory you shouldn't have to flip the sandwiches, but we ended up doing that because the bottom part was cooking faster than the top. Once you oil the top part, you can't put it back on the burner :-D The grill makes one regular sized sandwich at a time. This is definitely a nice gift that we can use together :-) Like all cast iron it held heat very well and it was surprisingly easy to clean which made me happy. The frying pan will work great on the BBQ in summer and I can't wait to get a lot of use out of it. My last frying pan was non-stick and the finish flaked off after a few turns in the dishwasher, so not contributing to the landfill is a bonus for sure!
It turns out that both Lodge and Le Creuset make cast iron panini grills that double as frying pans. Both work this way--there is the pan part and the grill part. You need to heat both parts on two different heat sources first. We ended up getting the Le Creuset one. As I add digits to my age I realize that it would be nice to have a legacy and a fancy cast iron pan is something we could give to our nieces or nephew one day. They may not want their aunt's stooopid toy horse collection, but Le Creuset? Sure!
The weird thing is that a durable electric panini grill cost the same as the Le Creuset one. I found one on sale with free shipping and we were in business. It works great although it is a little tricky to heat the top part correctly. In theory you shouldn't have to flip the sandwiches, but we ended up doing that because the bottom part was cooking faster than the top. Once you oil the top part, you can't put it back on the burner :-D The grill makes one regular sized sandwich at a time. This is definitely a nice gift that we can use together :-) Like all cast iron it held heat very well and it was surprisingly easy to clean which made me happy. The frying pan will work great on the BBQ in summer and I can't wait to get a lot of use out of it. My last frying pan was non-stick and the finish flaked off after a few turns in the dishwasher, so not contributing to the landfill is a bonus for sure!
