A while back my mom bought me what she classified as a “Godsend”.
“Oh, Mishi, it’s so easy to clean; you’re gonna love it!”
Yeah, it’s easy to clean all right. For people who have mad kitchen clean up skillz. Not so much for slackers like myself.
What was this Godsend? The George Foreman Grill, of course. The one thing that inhabits my kitchen that I fluctuate between loving and hating. The one thing in my kitchen that I have had serious thoughts about pitching out the window.
Here’s my rationale:
The Good: I can make dinner in 12 minutes and that’s a hell of a lot quicker than that Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meal.
The Bad: George Foreman is really the devil. He’s created a bunch of “little Georges” and, well, that’s just kinda evil.
The Ugly: There is no ‘on-off’ switch on the Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine, so when you go to turn it off you just pull the plug out of the wall and hope you don’t get fried.
[credit] George Foreman (center) and his sons George Foreman III (left) and George Foreman IV (right)
Seriously, the names of his sons are: George Jr., George III, George IV, George V and George VI.
*******
The Good: When I’m trying to be all healthy the Foreman (as I like to call it) comes into play. I can grill some boneless-skinless chicken breasts in 9 minutes flat. Then I cut it up and put it on top of my salad. Voila, instant healthy!
The Bad: I use an ass-ton of blue cheese. I guess that totally negates the healthfulness of the grilled chicken, eh?
The Ugly: Have you every tried to clean one of these stupid grills?
It’s actually fairly easy to clean if you don’t let it sit on your stove top for, oh, say, three days. Ok, ok, so maybe it was five days.
My people are just lucky I cook at all!
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
I have one of those. You heat when you want to clean it so you can A) get it clean
B) burn the shit out of your hands doing it
@Kim,
Oh, yes, yes! I know.. I should have included that one, but I had no recent burn pictures! And I didn’t want to do it for sake of the post. As a writer I will only go SO far.
Makes a mean panini, though!
Dude, I DID pitch my George Foreman grill! I hated to clean that mother fucker! And I agree…George Foreman IS the devil!
@JodiS,
Every. Single. Time. I. Cook. I say that *this* time is going to be the time that the grill goes in the trash. It never does, though. Well, it hasn’t.. YET!
@Secret Agent Mama/Mishelle,
That’s funny, I say that every year after I clean up my real
Christmas tree! Every.single.year I swear that I will never have a real tree again!
Twitter: kidthingsnet
December 2, 2009 at 9:17 am
I used my Foreman grill twice, I think, before I tossed it. It would have been a lot better if there was some kind of heat control to it, but no. It’s either off, or burning up. There needs to be an inbetween.
@C @ Kid Things,
I think that’s why I really won’t get rid of it. Because I have learned how long stuff needs to cook for before it absolutely scorches!
Twitter: ladyjess78
December 2, 2009 at 9:32 am
Mine has a temp control. And you can turn it off. Hmmm. I guess perhaps mine is some fancy schmancy Foreman. I still have the love/hate relationship, though.
@Jessi,
I think I need to seek out such a fancy-schmancy Foreman.. Then I can make a Youtube of me smashing the old one to smithereens!
To aid in cleaning that thing, which, admittedly, I make my husband do because if it were up to me, I’d have tossed it in the trash after the first time I used it. He takes the food off, unplugs it, then wets a few layers of paper towels with water, puts them on the grill, shuts the lid. Gunk comes off somewhat easy after it cools. Oddly, a guy at work told him to try that method, then when my husband told him it worked great, the guy denied even telling him that, acted like he’d never heard of a Foreman. Weird. More proof I should not have things in my kitchen invented by a male boxer. Maybe he invented my gross toaster oven, too.
@Tracy, You got your husband to clean something up? How? ;)
@Amanda Austin, I wish I could say he was generally helpful with cleaning, but that would be a lie. His mother bought the freaking thing for us as a Christmas gift. I knew it would be a nightmare to deal with, couldn’t return it as they live in a different state, no idea where she bought it, so I left it on the pantry shelf for 2 YEARS without even opening the box. They were coming to visit, he freaked that she’d ask about it, so he drug it out for a trial run. I put it out there that no way, no how was I cleaning it, good luck! That’s how it became his chore. We use it about 3-4 times a year when he forgets about the responsibility that comes with it. My solution to quick, healthy, cooked chicken for salads- buy the precooked, sliced chicken by Perdue in the deli meat section. Wahoo! No touching of raw chicken, no dicing, no cooking and best of all- no cleanup! A bargain at $4!
Twitter: shaunaglenn
December 2, 2009 at 9:57 am
I was thinking about getting one of these grills. I think I’ll skip it now. This girl doesn’t like to clean shit either.
Thanks for the heads up Mishi.
@Shauna,
This is what I’m here for. Next, I’ll tell you whey I hate that little pancake maker thing I recently got!
I am with on that…i hate cleaning my George Foreman Grill.
It’s only easy to clean if you clean it immediately. But immediately — it’s too hot. Your only choice is to let it cool and at that point the food is basically stuck. A catch 22! Makes a woman want to just run to the drive through for already cooked chicken.
@Amanda Austin,
Exactly! I mean, it’s easier to clean my roasting pan!
Twitter: LovinStilettos
December 2, 2009 at 11:15 am
They are SUCH a bitch to clean. I love cooking with mine but I absolutely HATE cleaning it. And it’s bullshit that there isn’t an on/off button. That’s an electrocution waiting to happen!
@Michelle,
I HATE unplugging that thing! I mean, seriously, having an electrician for a father I know the dangers!!
They now make them with removable plates. But i have a smaller version. EASIEST way to clean: turn ok (a.k.a. plug in) let it get hot, wet a wad of paper towels then wipe. Steams the gunk right off. I have to use this method b/c my hubby refuses to clean it after he uses it and i never realize until i myself go to use. it.
@MS MOM,
Yup, apparently I got gypped!
I can’t make myself buy one of those things, strictly because of the multiple-George factor. I mean, really. Really! God.
Twitter: alimartell
December 2, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I don’t even use my sandwich maker because of the cleanup. I could NEVER own one of those puppies.
@alimartell,
Oy! I had one of those pieces of crap in the late 90′s. Hated. It.
Twitter: AmazingGreis
December 2, 2009 at 1:45 pm
That mess looks oddly familiar. Quite possibly because it’s what my GF Grill looks like right this very minute. It’s been sitting on my stove for over a week. I’ll get around to cleaning it eventually, I swear!
@AmazingGreis,
I’m glad I posted this. If only for my husband to read the thread and replies and SEE that I’m not the only one!
You mean they never put it through the “waiting to be cleaned – 5 day test”? What the heck? Everyone knows dishes do NOT get done the same day. Ever!
@toywithme,
The only reason my dishes get done is b/c i have little slaves!
Whaaa?
I so belong in the Aiming low world cause really I’ve got this covered! wet a paper towel, close the lid, forget about it all for 2-3days, and BAM!(<–oops wrong promo word) when you turn it on the house burns, I mean when you open it up, you find the paper towel, unplug, then remove crud, and you’re ready to go and reheat AGAIN!
@kyooty,
I am all over this trick!
They do make one that has removeable plates that are dishwasher safe. I have it. It’s great. I had one of the other ones. I threw it away. Hated it with a passion.
@Crystal,
Yes, yes, I need the new one!
I ended up getting a George with removable plates. It also has an on/off button and temperature control. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to buy one.
Removable plates were a must after a year of using my roommate’s imitation George. That thing had no temp control, no on/off, no removable plates, AND it had deeper grooves that were not slanted at all. That basically meant that all the nastiness that usually drips and drains off into the little dish just dripped off and burned onto the plates. We used to have to trade off one person washing all the other dishes and one person washing fake George (which would take a minimum of 30 minutes of intensive labor – ewww).
The only thing worse than a dirty George is a dirty fake George.
@Sarah,
There are some things that are not worth getting the knock-off. Like a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Now that baby? PRICELESS!
Me and the George’s…because for some odd reason we have two, have a love/hate relationship also.
I also seriously think that my husband put them under the counter with out cleaning them after last use…which was at least a few weeks ago, and yet I still haven’t checked to make sure.
@Virginia,
I’m askeered to do that because it might call out the army. Of ants. LOL
Twitter: motherbumper
December 2, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I loved mine too until I had to clean it. My solution? Junked it and bought a different brand with removable grills plates that could be shoved into the sink and forgotten about until someone else came along and cleaned them. Um… I guess that wasn’t much of a solution but hey, worked for me.
@katie,
Is George in the taliban, too? Because either he’s the devil or a terrorist. I can’t decide.
I may or may not let mine sit on the counter until the next time that I use it. I also may or may not put it away dirty when I know my husband will be using it next. I may or may not have been called a few choice words because of that. Oh well.
@Elizabeth,
Been. There. Done. That. ALL.
I confess, I love mine. But that was only after I discovered I could put frozen hamburger patties on it and cook them up. I also found I really liked grilling veggies on it and it is the easiest way to grill veggies. I’m all about the easy.
I got mine years ago when we had a “barbecue” at work which consisted of someone putting hot dogs on the GF grill at their desk and producing tasty dogs with grill marks. I was dead impressed.
Now I may need to go back and get the one with removable plates. I hate having to pretend I don’t see the dirty grill for a week.
We have the old one and it has sat in the same spot in my cupboard for the last 2.5 years. My husband got it as a present from his previous marriage. and I won’t use it. too much for me to clean and I HATE dishes. I, however, LOVED the sandwich maker that we had and a *ahem* “friend” of ours decided to pilfer through our stuff when we were storing it in his garage and took what he wanted. I haven’t seen that or my waffle maker or my stoneware dishes since…bastard.
Needless to say I won’t ever leave my stuff in someones garage again and on top of that.. why would I use such a thing? Thanksgiving was last Thursday and I just cleaned the roasting pan that I used for said dinner like almost two days ago.
and if you think that GF’s innovative food cooking ideas suck, be careful what Wolfgang Puc items you buy. we bought a “griddle” to make pancakes and scrambled eggs and bacon….I still don’t know what happened to that thing……hm…
Twitter: brigidday
December 11, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I have been torn about trashing ours and replacing it with the new-removable-go-in-the-dishwasher-grills, or just leaving it in the basement and continuing to ignore it.
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