Hot Grill, Hot Sandwich

I have had the privilege of traveling to Italy many times and have often enjoyed the hot panini available across the varied landscape of that beautiful country. However, when I returned home, I always went back to eating cold sandwiches and of course, it is never the same.

So, how can we enjoy these tasty treats at home? This year, I have come to own an enamel coated cast iron grill pan with a matching lid press. I began making hot sandwiches and OMG, I don’t know why I ever waited to own one of these babies! I love hot sandwiches and want them all the time. And now, when I make sandwiches at home, I make ‘em hot.

Let’s talk about the mechanisms for making delicious hot sandwiches. As you will see in this review, I think “manual” grill presses are the way to go, but I won’t let their electric cousins go unnoticed.

The manual presses are normally enamel covered cast iron, though you can find pure cast iron grill pans. The enamel coated grill pans will be covered with a black matte enamel, which will develop a kind of seasoning called patina. It is not necessary to maintain this patina, but it can assist in food release.

Most pans have ridges on the bottom, as well as on the lid press. However, you can use any heavy skillet or griddle and a heavy press of some kind. Most companies make the panini pans/presses with ridges. Why? Well you want your sandwich to have grill marks, yes? The next logical question is “do the grill marks make them taste better?” Yes they do my friend, yes they do. (no, not really)

The truth is all one needs to do is heat and toast the outside of the bread and warm those insides. Any griddle or press will work, you can even use the BBQ grill and a press to achieve almost the same result. I do think that some form of cast iron is best for grilling sandwiches on the stove.

As in the picture above, one can buy a panini pan set from a good manufacturer such as Le Crueset or Calphalon, but for less money you can buy the pan and lid separately. This where the American company Lodge is a good cost option. They make pure cast iron (round) grill pans and presses that are pre-seasoned from the factory. If you do purchase them separately, it will be challenging to find a lid that covers the entire surface area of the pan. Stand alone grill presses tend to cover a smaller area that won’t fully cover two sandwiches in the same pan. From my preliminary search, about half the presses don’t have ridges and will possibly be sold as bacon presses. You often see this type of press used by cafes and delis for griddle potatoes.

Prepping the Pan

No matter which cast iron pan you use, it needs to be heated over high heat on the stove before placing the sandwich in the pan. Also, the lid (or press) needs to sit on a burner of its own. I have found that you need to put the lid on the burner a couple minutes before the main pan. Doing this helps keep the lid and base pan at a somewhat even heat. The main pan, or base, will continue to be over the heat source as the sandwich cooks, so it needs less time heating up. After the base pan is heated, turn down the heat to medium or medium/low. The cast iron will retain the heat very well while the sandwich cooks.

Sandwich Construction

While the pan is heating, I construct the sandwiches. Depending on the sandwich, I will coat the outside of the bread with oil or butter. It helps create the nice crusty grill marks. There are a couple of factors that determine browning…

1) type of bread
2) age of the bread
3) temperature of the bread

As much as possible, use room temperature bread. I have made the sandwiches with standard loaf bread, flat bread and some firmer crust French breads. I haven’t used focaccia yet, as I have always thought it too light and airy so that it would cook faster than I want and leave the insides uncooked.

For most Americans, standard grilled cheese sandwiches are the only thing we think of, but there are many variations possible. Keep the sandwich filling simple, no “Dagwood’s”. If you try to add too many ingredients, they will not cook thoroughly. After you have the sandwiches assembled, place them in the pan and put the lid on top and press down a bit. Watch the sandwiches for signs that the filling is heating and in a few minutes, you have hot tasty sandwiches. Don’t forget to turn off the burner that was used to heat the lid.

When it is done, it may look like this….

The grill pan base can be used on its own to sear/grill other foods, which add to the versatility of the purchase. As you will see below, I do not recommend using the lid or press for this type of cooking.

Manual Grill Pan Summary

If you want to buy the high quality, once in a lifetime pan, buy the Le Creuset set. If price is an object, then try the grill set from Calphalon.

Le Creuset Panini Grill Pan Set

Calphalon Panini Pan Set

The French company, Staub makes a very good grill pan, but does not sell a matching lid. The Copco panini pan set, branded under Mario Batali is ok, but not of the best quality. And for the money, I would buy the Calphalon over the AllClad panini press. Both Calphalon and AllClad are hard anodized aluminum with non-stick surfaces, but Calphalon is larger and costs less. Neither will last as long as the cast iron, but can be serviceable for years.

Electric Cousins

In addition to manual grill presses, there are electric versions made for the home. This won’t be a complete review of electric grills, just a quick glance for grilled sandwich perspective.

The concept for electric machines is the same as the manual, bringing heat from the top and bottom side to more quickly cook the food. The electric versions are sold with demonstrations of fish, steaks and burgers being cooked quickly and “fat free”. The selling point being that the fat runs down between the ridges and off into a catch bin. I have a problem with that selling point – with heat coming from both top and bottom, it is very easy to over cook fish or press all the juices out of a steak. So be careful.

The George Foreman Grill is probably the most famous of these machines. Many companies have taken advantage of the popularity of the George Foreman Grill to create more feature rich, advanced versions. In fact, if you have a grilled panini in a cafe or restaurant, you can be certain they use large commercial electric presses. These large presses can generate high heat, distribute it evenly and produce many sandwiches simultaneously.

The most important aspect of the these machines is to generate high heat; without it, you won’t get those great grill marks or an evenly heated filling. The biggest complaint about the George Foreman Grills is that they don’t generate enough heat, which may be fine for cooking fish and burgers more gently, however it is not good for a panini. There are also concerns about longevity and nonstick quality. I am not totally against Foreman grills. They are a good low price option for quick, single person home cooking.

Aside from the George Foreman Grill, there are some machines made for the home which can generate enough consistent heat to give you the desired results. The best of the bunch are DeLonghi, Villaware, Breville and Cuisinart. Two models have removable plates which are grill plates, griddle plates, etc. The Cuisinart Griddler and the medium sized Breville (model BRG400XL). Interestingly, not all of these models have ridged grill plates on both top and bottom. Does this matter? Not so much, you can always present the grill mark side up on the plate.

In addition to the removable plates, key features include temperature control, adjustable/floating hinge, adjustable tilt angle, lid opening flat for double work space and grease drain style. Be aware, some grease drains are only a spout that require you to put a catch bin in place for the drippings.

For the purposes of grilled sandwiches, I like the Cuisinart Griddler, Villaware, DeLonghi and the large Breville (model 800GRXL). If you have many to feed in your house, the Breville 800GRXL is your machine. It is the largest, most feature rich machine of the bunch. The Cuisinart is the most versatile, with interchangeable plates and reliable function. For just pure, double-sided grilling, I like either the Villaware V2160 UNO ProPress or the DeLonghi CGH800-U Retro Panini Grill.

DeLonghi Panini Grill

Cuisinart Griddler

Breville Panini Grill 800GRXL

Villaware Panini Grill

Summary

I prefer the manual cast iron panini grills over the electric models because of the superior performance of the cast iron. Cast iron gives me the thorough heat management I seek and those deep even grill marks on both sides. The heat capacity of cast iron cooks the sandwich quickly using less energy. Additionally, I would rather have another pan than another electric appliance.
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