Rome's #1305 Panini Press Cooker, Cast Iron with Steel and Wood Handles

great paninis
This is a cast iron panini press. Which means it is heavy, especially with the long handles. Because it is iron , you need to cure it before using it the first time, so that it will not rust over time. This means you unscrew the handles, place oil in side the surface of the press and leave it in the oven for an hour so that the oil seals the surface. This is a one-time thing. Once you start using it, you should avoid using water to clean it, - use a dry sponge or paper towels. One useful feature is that you can unhook the two surfaces, and place each one on a burner to preheat the press before using to make the paninis even faster.

The paninis come out outstanding. I use it on a gas burner at home, an electric burner would not work. I have not tried it in the grill or outside, but reckon it would work as well as in the gas burners.

I have used the Foreman-type panini makers that you plug in, put the paninis are infinitely better with this product. I would use the...

Nice item but handle's a little flimsy.
I loved the idea of getting a cast iron panini cooker because I wanted to avoid the nonstick panini grills out there. It is a very heavy piece, so if the user has problems with hand/wrist strength, this may not be the item for you. The unit is made to be used on the stove (electric or gas), cooking the panini on one side and then flipping over to the other. The two cast iron plates come completely apart at the hinge, and you then have each plate attached to a metal rod with a wooden handle, making clean up easier. However, if the handle problem is fixed, I believe that this would be a really nice item to have in the kitchen.

I gave this only 4 stars because when I attempted to unscrew the metal rods from the plates in order to place the plates in the oven to "season" them as instructed, one wooden handle started spinning around the metal rod, and therefore I could not unscrew it from that plate. Looks like the handles are poorly attached to the metal, and should be...

Great sandwich maker
I bought this as a gift for my mom and dad. They used it and said that it made a great panini sandwich. They will definitely be making many more!

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