panini makers?

[jenn]

Now that the rush of Christmas shopping is over, its time to start shopping for Valentines while all the sales are on! On our last trip to Paris, my husband really enjoyed the panini sandwiches he tried. I started thinking that a panini maker might be a nice V-day present---that way he can easily make dinner and lunch for our son!
Does anyone have experience with any particular brand of electronic panini maker that they would recommend or avoid like the plague?
Second question, could we achieve the same panini effect with a cast iron skillet and something heavy on top of the sandwich?
Thanks and happy holidays!

[Joan]

I've been eyeing panini makers lately, but think I've pretty much decided to stick with my tried and true method using 2 cast iron pans. I've got a waffle iron so am not buying one of the new ones with changeable plates for panini. And although I've seem mention of an inexpensive cast iron panini maker, I haven't been able to locate one.

Two cast iron skillets work fine. I spray the pan I'm going to cook in with olive oil, lay the sandwich in the pan, spray the top of the sandwich with a bit more olive oil, put the second--smaller--skillet on top, and press hard for about 15 seconds. It isn't elegant, but it works well. Now. Do I really need that deLonghi fryer?

[The Turtle (Bay) Dove]

I can't say whether it works better than a cast iron skillet, but my parents recently got a Krups panini maker which they love. Seems to work great to me - and my father now has a panini for breakfast almost every morning!

[Dylan]

Great idea! I'm a bit of a kitchen appliance geek, but I have to admit the panini maker is one of my favorites. A panini is truly superior to a regular sandwich. You'll find that you can put almost anything between two slices of bread and it will be wonderful. (The one sandwich I DON'T like in panini form: peanut butter.) (Appliance aside: I have no problem buying something I only use once or twice a year; I've got plenty of space, and kitchen appliances tend to be pretty cheap. I really want to have a waffle iron that one day I wake up wanting waffles! And I get so much pleasure out of using the right tool for the job. So I suppose you could use the cast iron skillet method, but it's not for me.)

I got the Krups and I think it's great. The only other one that gets good reviews is the new one from Villaware. I've seen complaints about every other brand.

The Krups looks great and performs superbly. My only complaint is that it doesn't have a thermostat. The temperature is fine, but I'd prefer to also have a hotter setting for grilling chicken breasts or hamburgers; the Krups is perfectly hot enough to cook these foods, but not hot enough to impart dark grill marks. The Villaware does have an adjustable thermostat, but I don't know if it gets hot enough to reallly grill, so it may not be a useful feature.

The only other knock on the Krups is that it's a bit tricky to clean. Not a real pain, but the cooking plates can't be removed from the head unit.

OK, here's a recipe I love - I actually based it on last year's Pillsbury bake off winning recipe, but I think my version is a lot better of course.

Heat up your panini maker.

Take a chicken breast. Pound it very thinly, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, season with salt and pepper. Grill it in your panini maker; take it out and squeeze a bit more lemon on it; set it aside.

Slice up some red onions. Cook them slowly with a bit of butter, salt, pepper, and sugar; add water as necessary. Add some balsamic vinegar at the end and reduce to syrup.

Take two slices of a nice, rustic sourdough. (Not too thick!). Between the slices put:

A layer of grated parmigiano reggiano and high quality smoked gouda.
Some finely chopped tomatoes and basil.
Some of the balsmic red onions
The chicken breast.
Another layer of grated parmigiano reggiano and smoked gouda.

(I put the cheese on either side to make it stick)

Now grill this whole thing in your panini maker; don't bother cleaning the grill much after the chicken, as the left over oil will add flavor to the panini.

OK, now that is a fantastic panini. Go crazy and put in some bacon too if you want! Hungry?

[Dylan]

And I forgot to mention: one great feature of the Krups is that the grill lines are just perfectly spaced for an aesthetically pleasing panini. No cast iron pan will make it look like that. For me the grill marks are important... for others?