Grills and sandwich makers

A contact grill cooks both sides of a piece of meat or a vegetable. A sandwich maker is the same idea with plates that seal around bread so the cheese stays in.

Preheat until the ready light changes. Bread on a cold plate steams and goes chewy. A lid that will not close over a thick sandwich should not be forced. The hinge bends, and the top plate then misses the middle of the next one. Cut the fill, or toast it in a pan.

Cheese needs a light wipe of oil on a warm plate, not a pool of oil on a cold one. Wipe the plates while they are still warm and unplugged, with the cord out. Burnt cheese on a cold plate becomes a job for a wooden spatula and a lot of patience. Metal scourers scratch the nonstick and the next sandwich sticks worse.

Drip trays on the grill models catch fat. If the tray is missing, fat runs into the hinge. Chicken on a contact grill is done when the juice runs clear at the thickest point, not when the outside has stripes. The stripes appear in the first minute.

Open sandwiches and thicker toast are a toaster or oven job. A panini press will not run a waffle well. Use waffle plates.