George Foreman 12617

...appliance recently - it's a George Foreman Grilling Machine (Model 12617) and it is the best thing ever!! We sort of bought it 'by accident'. Mum, dad and me went into town about a week ago. We were looking around some DIY shops as mum wants to have our kitchen painted a different colour and she'd like some new kitchen units. We can't afford it and dad was trying to persuade her to just change the cupboard doors. He said it would 'transform' the ...
...around B&Q mum spotted some George Foreman Grills. I must admit, I was a bit confused, as I'd always thought that George Foreman was the guy from the black and white movies who played the banjo and sang in that strange voice. Dad explained though that I was thinking of George Formby! The shop claimed they were on 'special offer', but at £79 a shot, dad said "no way" was he paying that kind of money when we already had a perfectly good grill ... more

We have bought a new kitchen appliance recently - it's a George Foreman Grilling Machine (Model 12617) and it is the best thing ever!! We sort of bought it 'by accident'. Mum, dad and me went into town about a week ago. We were looking around some DIY shops as mum wants to have our kitchen painted a different colour and she'd like some new kitchen units. We can't afford it and dad was trying to persuade her to just change the cupboard doors. He said it would 'transform' the kitchen at half of the cost. Mum wasn't convinced though and still said she wanted the whole lot changing.

While we were looking around B&Q mum spotted some George Foreman Grills. I must admit, I was a bit confused, as I'd always thought that George Foreman was the guy from the black and white movies who played the banjo and sang in that strange voice. Dad explained though that I was thinking of George Formby! The shop claimed they were on 'special offer', but at £79 a shot, dad said "no way" was he paying that kind of money when we already had a perfectly good grill in the kitchen. Mum went on and on about it though, and kept on saying that it would work better than our old grill and would be better for dad's heart as the George Foreman machine claims to 'drain away' loads of fat from your food, that you never even knew existed.

Mum went on about is SO much that when we got home dad looked it up on the Internet and found that Amazon were selling the exact same model for a fraction of the price - only £24.99 (and with free delivery too!) In order to get a bit a peace, dad decided to buy one and it was delivered within three days.

It came in (quite a large) white box and before we opened it we did have doubts about whether it was going to be a bit bigger than we'd all anticipated. No fear though. As soon as we'd opened the box and removed all of the plastic bubble wrap that came with it, it really wasn't too big at all.

Dad grabbed the instructions and began to read out loud to all of us the 'boring bits, before he actually got to the bits about what the machine was capable of doing. It's not too heavy, at 4.05kg in weight and it has approximately 465cm squared grilling surface - so plenty of room for grilling quite a few sausages at once. Mum was really pleased about the fact that the grilling plates are removable and that they are dishwasher safe - not that we have a dishwasher, you understand, but she kept on mentioning this to dad as a plus point for some reason (I think she's after a dishwasher now!)

We immediately plugged it in and set to work on making our tea by plopping on a couple of sausages and two small chicken breasts. It also has cool handles. I don't mean they look good - I mean that no matter how hot or how long you've been using the machine for, the handles never heat up and therefore there's no risk of you burning yourself accidentally. As far as I'm concerned this has t be a good thing as I'm usually starving on Friday and Saturday nights after I've been out with my mates and like to quickly make myself something to eat when I get in. As I'm usually a bit worse for wear late on weekend nights, at least I know there's no risk of my burning my hands when I make my alcohol induced midnight feast.

We were all really impressed by how little time it actually took to cook the food. As there are plates on either side of the food, it obviously takes a lot less time for the food to cook. You don't have to turn it over like you would do with a conventional grill. After about ten to twelve minutes our meat was thoroughly cooked and smelled delicious. Dad was horrified at how much fat had dripped off the chicken and sausages and run down onto the separate tray underneath, which collects all the fat. Mum proudly announced to him that at least he was saving himself from eating 'all that muck' and dad said afterwards that he thought it was money well spent.

It's really easy to clean too. Just wait for it to cool down, wipe of the excess with some kitchen paper and wash the grill and fat tray in with your normal washing up. It's non-stick, so nothing gets glued to the plates and it cools down pretty quickly after you've switched it off.

All in all, we as a family are very pleased with the George Foreman 12617 Grilling Machine and we've used it every single day since we've bought it. maybe the novelty will wear off soon, as we've only had it for a week, but it's so easy to use, even my brother's had a go (and he doesn't do cooking!). He loves his beef burgers grilled on it and I've also used it for grilling our pork chops for our Sunday dinner a couple of days ago. They were cooked just right and mum said they tasted much better than they normally do, when we put them under our normal oven grill.

If you are looking for a new and healthy way to cook your food. I say give this grill a go. It's worth shopping about for the right price as they seem to vary so much, but at £24.99 I think we bagged a bargain. And at least now I know the difference between George Foreman and George Formby!! 

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