Cooking with the Lean Mean Grillin Machine!

I just bought a George Foreman grill this weekend...so far I have only done hamburgers on it. My mom who started it...forgot to put any seasonings on it before cooking...We did the 9 minutes = well done before taking them off...Lets just say it was flavorless and the DRYEST burgers I have ever had in my life...Any advice on cooking with the grill? What should I avoid cooking on it? Is it alright if I marinade then grill on it...with some of the "chucks" of chopped flavorings I marinated it with? Is there anything I shuold not grill on it? What's your favorite thing to make with it? I want to start using it...but I am just afraid of frying something on there and not being able to get it off...or something that is terrible tasting after using that grill...

What do you cook on yours?! That's actually really tastey! lol

[peekawho]

Be careful not to overcook, that's the main thing.  I think you might have to play around with it a bit.  9 minutes seems like a long time for hamburgers.

I've grilled mostly chicken breasts, boneless pork chops, or steaks on it.  I usually just season with salt and pepper or whatever else I'd usually use (I have a garlic pepper mill thing I like), preheat the grill for 3 minutes, slap 'em on, and start checking after 6 minutes. (I make a small test cut into the thickest part).  

Here's the cleaning tip I find most useful:  After you remove your food, unplug the grill.  Slop on a bunch of dripping wet paper towels and close the lid.  While you eat, the remaining heat from the grill will steam loose any stubborn charred bits that might be on the nonstick plates.  Let it rest a good 30-45 minutes and cleaning will be a breeze.

Then you can wipe it clean, and I go over it with a soapy sponge and rinse well, towel dry.  

[Jame0223]

Thanks for the tips! We did 9 minutes because thats what the manual said for hamburgers lol.

The cleaning tip will be most helpful because when we did the hamburger we had to really scrub the thing! It was a stuck on mess and took forever to get all the crusty bits off!

Next thing to try is chicken breast! I think I wil go pick up some more spice mixes to try out with it! Thanks Peek!

[frankic]

Thickly sliced (into long strips) veg like courgette (zuchini) and aubergine (egg plant) brushed with olive oil and seasoned are lovely along with peppers (capsicum) - I would cook them for maybe 5 minutes but it depends on how thick they are.

a favourite in our house is as follows

Whizz up some dry polenta (corn meal) with a bit of garlic, chilli pepper and any fresh herbs you fancy.
Dip chicken fillets in beaten egg then into the polents mix, back into the egg and back into the polents mix.
Grill on the George for about 7 or 8 minutes.
Beautiful served with a home made tomato sauce.

[Jame0223]

Thanks Frankic!

I have discovered a problem...I have cooked steaks on it a couple times now. One Filet Mignon and one Top sirloin..but...I have it cooking and I open it up to check the steaks and its completely burnt the tops of the steak! Totally charred, just on the top, not the bottom. The steaks were still good...but the charred parts did not add to the flavor! Why is it doing this? Totally charred on the top but still medium rare in the centers..I like my steak cooked to medium well, but I don't like the thought of ruining the steak to get to the doneness I like best...How can I stop this? Is it the thickness? I would say the steaks both times were about an inch thick...is that too much? Is that even why?!

[frankic]

If it's cooking more on the top than the bottom sounds like the bottom plate isn't working properly - I'd return it to the supplier.

[Jame0223]

Well its not just that...its the fact that it burns it 2-3 minutes in and the steaks should be cooking for about 7 minutes...its that the top cooks a lot faster then the bottom...the bottom cooks fine. I made hamburgers on it before and it didn't burn those at all and they were on for 9 minutes! I just don't get why the steaks burn so quickly...I read a suggestion to put aluminum foil on the top of the steak...Hopefully that will help. Otherwise I would want to return it...not that I have the receipt anymore. I got it at walmart on sale..I wish I would have looked into it more, I would have gotten one that you could manually fix the temperature..oh well. I'm glad I didn't spend too much money on it..

[peekawho]

I've never had that problem, but I imagine if you used extremely thick steaks you might.

I wonder if there is something wrong with the unit, with the top cooking much faster?  It definately sounds like something is wrong with it.