Breville Panini Press, Duo 1500-Watt Nonstick, Brushed Stainless Steel Reviews

Breville Panini Duo BSG520XL Brushed Stainless Steel
1500 watt panini press with nonstick, scratch resistant Quantanium cooking surface
Flat bottom plate for fast, thorough cooking; ribbed top plate creates grill marks
Floating hinge; 4 height settings; on/ready lights; nonslip feet; locking storage clip
Cord wrap; brushed stainless steel housing; user manual with recipes included
Measures 13 by 11 3/4 by 5 1/4 inches; 1 year limited warranty

Reviewer: Cindy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR BREVILLE PANINI DUO
Review: My 14-month update. I STILL use this amazing panini grill nearly every day. Sometimes twice. I use it for so many things that I would find it hard to be without now. It is very easy to keep clean, it still looks new, and I still love it.Update October, 2012: I know, it is hard to believe. I still use this nearly every day, and often, twice a day. Some of the further uses I have found: quickly re-heat pancakes or waffles…just pre-heat, put the lid right down on them, set the timer for a minute or two, and they are done. I make instant French toast by dunking a thick slice of home-made raisin bread into fork-whipped egg, soak both sides, put the bread on the pre-heated surface, pour any leftover egg over the top, put the lid down…and one minute later…PERFECT. I have also been using it to “bake” frozen fish filets (you know….Gorton or whatever….) I do put foil on the bottom, spray some PAM on it, spray PAM on another piece of foil, lay that ON the frozen fish, then put the lid all the way down. I give it about four minutes. The fish is a bit oily (the guts get a little squished out of the “crust,”) but it is hot clear through and totally delicious…and saves you about 40 minutes of oven time too!Update end of June, 2012: I am still using my Panini Duo nearly every day. This morning I tried pancakes. I wasn’t sure how that would work, only doing two pancakes at a time. Still, there are only two of us, so I gave it a try. Check out the pictures and you can see the result. I made blueberry/coconut pancakes (kind of an improvised recipe). I found that 1/3 cup of batter, lid put down but not touching the pancakes, and 4 minutes per side, worked perfectly. Unlike my stove-top griddle, the Breville surface heats up uniformly. That is the best thing about making them on the Panini maker. I am pretty sure I couldn’t have burned these if I tried. They are probably too light for some, but so incredibly perfectly cooked inside…you should try it.Most Recent Update: I am still using this appliance nearly every day. It is so easy to use, and I keep it right on my counter (locked and standing on end – takes up virtually no space.) It still preheats in 3-4 minutes, and then cooks whatever I am cooking quickly. I just put up a picture of French toast….truly divine.I have had my Breville Panini Duo for a few weeks now. I think I have used it every day. There is always something different to try. So here are some of the many uses I have found for it, most of which have saved me 30-45 minutes of the oven being on (especially nice now that it is summer-like weather.) Reheated leftover home-made pizza; heated the chips for bean dip (pre-heated the machine, laid a piece of foil on the surface, put on the pizza (or chips), put the lid down so it was not touching the food…and presto. Two minutes for chips, about 10 minutes for the pizza. I have made garlic bread, oven-fried potato slices, potato pancakes, tuna patties, turkey patties, French toast, grilled bagels, and of course, panini sandwiches. I LOVE this machine, and no, I do not work for Breville! I am a self-employed composer (among other things) who really loves kitchen “gadgets.”There seems to be a concern among reviewers about the “plug” “unplug” versus an on/off button. You should know, if you are letting this issue stop you from purchasing, that it is not a “toaster plug.” It is a large, very insulated plug with a “handle” on it….incredibly safe, solid and very easy to plug and unplug.I researched for days and days, reading hundreds of comments, and then finally decided on the Breville Panini Duo. When I purchased it at Amazon, it was $57.99….and with Prime shipping it was an extra bargain. It came today…and I won’t have any bread in my house until Sunday! But I was eager to try it out, so I decided to see what else I might use it for. We love oven fries. Oven fries involve 15 minutes of pre-heating the oven to 425. Then baking the fresh-cut potatoes for a half an hour, turning once. We do not do this at all in the summer, for obvious (heat) reasons.After wiping down my Breville, I plugged it in, then got out one large potato. I sliced it in approximately quarter inch wide slices, plunked them into cold water, and by the time I had done that, the grill was saying it had pre-heated. So I quick drained and patted dry the potato slices, poured a little olive oil in the bowl and stirred it around, then carefully put all of the potatoe slices on the grill and closed the lid. 12 minutes later (after approximately two minutes of pre-heating time) I had the most delicious potatoes ever. Crispy on the outside, nice and done on the inside….machine already unplugged. Fabulous. Probably wouldn’t have needed the olive oil, but I am not used to cooking without it. Maybe next time I will try without.I have never had a panini sandwich, so I am looking forward to MANY of those, even if we never get fancier than smoked turkey and swiss cheese on whole wheat bread. But I am thinking I will be using this machine for many, many other things as well. Cooking for two…it is a perfect size.So today, (2nd day,) still having no bread, I decided to further experiment. I made tuna patties (simple….a can of good tuna, some chopped onions, oat bran (I had no bread crumbs either), a spritz of lemmon juice and some chopped up cabbage (I often use broccoli instead, and normally stir in an egg, which I did not do this time.) Anyway….less than 5 minutes to heat the grill, and 6 minutes to cook the tuna patties. While they were cooking, I whipped up the “potato cakes” I make with leftover mashed potatoes and egg. Took out the tuna, put on the “lumps” of potato….they were done in 4 minutes, thoroughly cooked, crispy on the outside, lovely on the inside. If you miss the buttery taste (normally I would fry each of these items in skillets or griddle with olive oil and a little butter) you can spread some butter on after. I am not sure yet how to use olive oil when I want to. I am afraid it will get too hot while the thing is heating up…and I am afraid to put it on WHILE the griddle is hot…..so I guess I will do some experimenting about that.I love this machine so much, thought I would do another update. For my third use….I did another version, using the leftover tuna patties, stirred them into mashed potatos with an egg and cheddar cheese, all together. This time when the grill was preheated I did pour a bit of olive oil on the flat plate and spread it with a spatula, there was no sizzling or popping or anything dangerous, although I tend to wear an oven mitt because I am not used to the machine yet and am afraid of getting burned bumping into the top grid. Anyway, I spooned my concoction on, closed the lid, set the timer for 5 minutes, and that was all it took. Delicious. And by the way….there is no reason on earth to have removable plates…this is SO easy to wipe down when it is cool.

Reviewer: Basak Abut
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Quick, Powerful, and Easy to Clean
Review: We are very happy with it. It’s a simple but powerful device. It toasts bread very quickly, and we make amazing sandwiches. It’s also very easy to clean because of its non-stick surfaces.

Reviewer: jbc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Sturdy simple design and good price…
Review: After reading all the panini press reviews on Amazon and looking at some different models in the store, I bought this Breville and am very glad I did. I agree with the other reviewers here who like its smaller size, sturdy build, and good design. When you inspect the Cuisinart and others in the store, they appear much more “tinny” and loosely built.Some folks are unhappy because the grill plates are non-removable and there is no switch to turn it on and off. However, that isn’t a problem for me because the non-stick grill plates easily clean with a damp paper towel. And they aren’t loose like removable plates. The plug is solid, so turning it off by unplugging is easy too. Also it’s much safer since you know the grill is off when you’re done cooking. The red and green function lights work well, and the unit heats up very quickly and cooks well without burning. The heating temperature cannot be adjusted, but to me that’s an unnecessary feature which would be just one more thing to go wrong. One temperature heating works just fine.With this Breville panini press, you simply plug it in and cook quickly and turn it off. Very easy and efficient. And the price is excellent for the quality. Highly recommended.

Reviewer: APSc
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: PERFECT! (For the Binging with Babish Wannabes)
Review: I LOVE THIS PANINI PRESS!!It heats extremely fast and hot. I’ve never had issues with areas being undercooked or overcooked. This makes grilled cheese sandwiches for my children in less than 1 minute. I use this nearly every day. We’ve made quesadillas, cubanos (OMG SO GOOD), paninis, and just every variety of hot sandwich you can imagine! My favorite is turkey, cheddar, and pesto on sandwich bread with butter on top. Super quick, easy, and delicious.It cleans like a breeze! Just let it cool a bit and use a wet cloth. Nothing has stuck and it looks like new after 50+ uses.Now, it struggled a bit with ciabatta bread. If it’s a super hard thick bread, it takes some pressing to get it cooked through, but just be patient and really give it a good press with your hands.The top gets very hot, so make sure to only put your hands on the coated handle so you don’t burn yourself (like I did).It folds up easily and we just store it away in the cabinet. It’s heavy, but not ridiculously so. You can lock the handle down so you can carry it by the handle if you’d like.All in all, I’m very happy with this press. It’s doesn’t have the bells and whistles of some others we considered, but it’s doesn’t need it! It heats, presses, and cooks the sandwiches. What more do you need?

Reviewer: Shadi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This product is a life saver! Believe me you could make so many delicious new meals with this ! It’s easy to use and even more easy to clean it up !

Reviewer: Jorge A Padilla
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Magnífico producto, calienta muy rápido y homogéneo. Esta marca es una garantía.

Reviewer: ma. isabel ocampo del prado
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excelente producto , calienta rápido

Reviewer: Fanny Lamarche
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Warms up really quickly, grills perfectly. Really happy about this product. I had been looking at a lot of different panini grills and this one is really worth every penny. I only had it for a couple weeks now… So I will update my review if needed.Yes, you have to unplug it to turn it off. No big deal. 🙂

Reviewer: michel lemieux
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Fonctionne a merveille, ne colle pas, se lave avec un simple essuie tout très bonne qualité