Can Your Panini Press Replace a Waffle Maker? | America’s Test Kitchen



You may not need a panini press, but a good one makes toasting sandwiches and grilling indoors so simple that you’ll find yourself reaching for it all the time. Hannah Crowley shows Julia Collin Davison a range of panini presses, from simple to deluxe, to see which press delivers even cooking, offers multi-cooking options, and grease drainage.

The Best Panini Press:
Winner:
Best Buy:
Bargain Choice:

Discover more recipes through the America’s Test Kitchen App:

Get exclusive access to every recipe, review, and more via our homepage:

Buy The Complete Cook’s Country TV Show Cookbook, Season 18:

Get more weeknight cooking inspiration from our newsletter Dinner Tonight:

Discover the latest recipes, tips, and tricks from Cook’s Illustrated:

Subscribe to America’s Test Kitchen: ​

Watch full episodes of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country for free on our new YouTube channel:

Watch More! ​
In The Test Kitchen: ​
The Taste Test: ​
Techniquely With Lan Lam: ​
Most Popular:

Follow America’s Test Kitchen: ​
Instagram: ​
Pinterest: ​
TikTok: ​
Facebook: ​
Twitter: ​

At America’s Test Kitchen, we investigate every aspect of cooking—recipes, equipment, ingredients, and techniques—with a goal to empower and inspire home cooks. Since 1992, our team of 50+ cooks, editors, and culinary creatives ask a lot of questions—and do a lot of testing—so that you get dependable, delicious recipes, comprehensive guidance, and thorough and unbiased equipment and ingredient reviews. You can find us in the pages of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, on our television shows America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, in dozens of best-selling cookbooks, and via the 14,000+ recipes, reviews, and classes available on our website and app. Whether you’re in search of a great weeknight meal or an impressive dinner-party dish, we’ve done the testing to deliver reliable recipes and comprehensive cooking info to your home kitchen. Bring your curiosity, and we’ll make you a better cook.

#AmericasTestKitchen #CookingTutorial #FoodScience​​

When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission.

source

Similar Posts

36 Comments

  1. I want to put in a plug for the cheapest one, the little red Dash grill that cost us $22 last year. We use it every week to make 3 1/2 minute hamburgers and it also comes in handy for grilled cheese or quesadillas that we make with cheese and Costco rotisserie chicken. I've also used it for quick one serving of tater tots. For the money and simplicity it is a great little kitchen tool.

  2. The Breville is great while it works, and then one day it won't. They are running a lot of electricity through those things to make the heat needed and they don't last long. They are quite expensive and I would never buy one again after my experience with Breville. I doubt I was able to use it even ten times.

  3. Everything old is new again. I own a Davey Short Order Chef and I know we've had it for 35 years, possibly longer. It's actually square, has a spring hinge so it sits well on a big sandwich and we use it mostly for grilled cheese sandwiches, but my wife prefers to use the waffle side to put the griddle marks on the bread. It was cheap but it still works great!

  4. Why is the title talking about waffles when they didn't specifically discuss a line up of models with swappable plates to make waffles?

    I have a Black & Decker Waffle Maker that have reversible plates and I can use the flat side as a griddle and could probably use it as a panini maker just without the grill marks.

  5. I have the Cuisinart, and bought the waffle plates as add-ons. I don't mind the heat cycles, it does what the others do, like laying flat to use as a griddle, reversable plates, grease trap. and at $120 (not including the waffle plates that were $45), I still get a very versatile appliance, and i don't need another appliance for waffles.

  6. My parents have a Waring with cast-iron plates. It can fit two sandwiches, so it's not huge, but man does it make a great a grilled ham and cheese on sourdough. The only downside is that it takes about 10 minutes to properly heat the plates, so it takes 10-15 minutes to get a sandwich done. The cast-iron plates also aren't reversible or dishwasher safe, but man does it make great sandwiches.

Leave a Reply