Charcoal Companion Cast Iron 7-Inch Diameter Grill Press, Round

A great cooking tool!

I bought the Charcoal Companion to use as a press to make paninis in my 7-inch cast iron, ridged, grill pan. Theridged, heavy-weight size,press had been dificult to find to fit my small skillet, so Iwas excited to try it when it arrived!I decided to make a paninii of left over chicken that day.Much to my surprise, it would not make the brownedridges I desired but only squashed the panini.I thought about it and realized the grill press was not hot when it contacted the bread.I have an induction cooktop so decided to see if it would heat the ridged press.It did!I put the grill press on one burner, heated my ridged cast iron pan on another burner.When I decided the temperature was right(I heated on No. 7 on my cooktop) I placed the panini in my skillet, then placed the grill on top.Viola!It produced a perfect ridged panini.

I did brush the grill press with oilive oil before placing on my burner, the same as I did my cast iron skillet.I lightly buttered both outsides of my sandwich. This gave a me an authentic panini.

I do not use regular white or wheat bread.I use french,baguette or aritisan bread from my supermarke I slice myself.I don' think regular sliced bread would hold up to this procedure.

this is a good product. I use it 2 3 time a week. I would buy a larger one from the same company

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Have used it consistently with my cast iron pan and my induction cookware (which I also bought from Amazon).Needs to be heated separately, though meaning if you have induction cookware, be prepared to heat the grill press on its own first.Once heated, it can be applied to the meat and it will sear it nicely.Recommend it, but with a caveat:Needs to be heated on its own first.

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Excellent time saver, Helps speed up cooking when used on bacon and burgers. The price is right for this Grill press. Works with induction stove tops as well, just be careful not to burn yourself as the wooden handle stays cool but the exposed metal ends get VERY hot.

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I purchased this along with a different press to use making bacon on an oblong antique cast iron griddle.My family initially thought this was kind of a goofy, frivolous purchase but they have been amazed at how much better the bacon is using this.It makes it nice and flat and more uniformly cooks it without as many "rare" fat spots.If you prefer the rare spots you simply would cook the bacon for a shorter time.I think it shortens cooking time somewhat by holding heat on the top of the meat.The bottom of this is cast with ridges about 3/16" tall, spaced about 5/8" apart.I've discovered that this makes it great for doing tube meat like hot dogs and sausages.You can use the press to cook along the whole length all the way around by placing the meat parallel to and between the ridges.I've also used it for frying cornbread and get a much more uniform cooking of it than I used to.I've only had it now for a few weeks but I'm sure I'll think of many more uses for it.There are other presses that weigh more but the weight of this has proven sufficient for any use to which I have put it.The seasoning appears to be good as so far I've had no issues with it sticking.The casting is of good quality with a pretty smooth surface and no flaws.

The only reason I didn't give this a 5 star rating is that you have to be careful with the ends of the handle.The wood handle is long enough to easily handle the hot press, safely avoiding the posts to which it is mounted.However a few times while holding the press to adjust my meat my hand has come in contact with the top of the posts (the handle is mounted between them).The press hasn't been hot enough to create a burn on my hand but it's an uncomfortable moment nonetheless.I usually just wipe my cast iron cooking tools with a paper towel between uses so haven't tried washing this.The ridges might create a bit of a challenge but I can't think of why you might get food stuck to the bottom to necessitate this.Regardless I think this slight risk is worth the extra utility of having the ridges.I looked at a number of these but was restricted in size by the flat area of the griddle.I was concerned that this wouldn't cover all my bacon but before my other press arrived I used only this one switching it from end to end.With bacon this worked about as well as having 2 presses.

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