George Foreman grill - grilling help

[neilrufc]

Hi,

I have just bought a George Foreman grill. I am useless when it comes to grilling via my electric cooker and cannot grill sausages to save my life - why I don't know!!

Yesterday, I cooked several sausages on the Foreman grill, They were horible half burnt etc etc. I layed the sausages between groozes - should I have layed the sausages the width ways?

Can anyone give me foreman cooking ideas please?

Thanks

 

[RMS]

Sorry, I'm not fond of my foreman grill but I think laying the sausages width ways would have been better.

 

[neilrufc]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply!! I layed them the opposite way due to the fact the sausages would have rolled down the grill lol but relised I must be doing domething wrong as they turned out horrid!!

I dont mind the grill, its the 1st time I have a decent home cooked burger since I left home lol - 5 years now

Thanks

 

[RMS]

Good point about the rolling...LOL
Glad you like the grill. I don't dislike mine so much as I just don't bother to pull it out most of the time.
Home cooked is always the best!

 

[neilrufc]

I had a Carl Lewis grill thing but not that keen on it. It cooked Steak perfect but I just could not get on with it. It had a infuse system but just could not get on with it

 

[neilrufc]

Also,

if I cooked sausages again on the foreman grill, do I treat it like an oven grill - keep turning the sausages etc or is the purpose of the grill, put the food on and leave it? the instructions are not that clear for me

 

[Barb L.]

Hi, I used mine a couple times - shouldn't have to turn them, watch your timing, don't over cook. This machine you know is cooking from top and borrom. Google for "George Foreman grill recipes" and see what comes up. Good Luck, and let us know ! Wecome to the site!

 

[BigDog]

I've never done sausage on my GF grill. I have learned cooking on it is a delicate process. The cooking from both top and bottom really expedites the process. Also, my grill does not have temperature control, so you have to be that much more cautious when cooking. I have found for "heartier" meats like beef, which are oft best cooked on a screaming hot surface, the GF works great. When I do marinated chicken, I still use the GF, but I put the chicken on the cold surface and then plug it in so it cooks while heating up. If I put the chicken on the preheated surface, I'll have a super crispy outside and a super rare inside.

I hope someday to try the GF grill(s) that have temperature control. I think that would make all the difference in the world.

Then again, in another post, someone pointed out that the newest GF is the same price as the Cuisinart model of the same product. In that case, I'd go with Cuisinart.

 

[Sararwelch]

GF grills are good for grilled vegetables, but I use mine most often these days to make paninis.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I have/had a GF grill (which has now been relegated to the "appliance limbo" that is my basement.

When I did have it in the kitchen & was using it, I did use it frequently for sausages, but like you discovered, they really have to be placed across. The trick is to hold up the grill from the front (with an oven mitt on), place the sausages, & close the lid QUICK! There is absolutely no turning necessary - that's the point of the upper & lower grill plates. The only problem I ran into was opening the grill to check for doneness. Again, you have to be quick with that lid to keep the sausages from rolling off.

I did enjoy using the grill for chicken breasts, vegetables, sausages, & turkey burgers, etc. The reason mine ended up in the basement was the cleaning issue, since mine was one of the older models without removable plates. I found the cleaning difficult, no matter how soon after cooking I did it, & even just using paper towels (& no abrasives or metal utensils) the non-stick coating on mine started to come off. I contacted the company, but they weren't much help, so into basement limbo it went.

Plus - switching out those plastic "grease trays" was a real pain in the you-know-what. It just took up too much room & was too labor-intensive for me versus just using a skillet on the stove.

 

[Caine]

I had a Carl Lewis grill thing but not that keen on it.

Isn't he the guy that palyed Grandpa on The Munsters? I didn't know he cooked!

Oh, well, I guess if a boxer can grill, so can a werewolf.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

It' important to read the manuals that come with any appliance rather than make a costly mistake. I don't know which grill you have but I have the Lean Mean Grilling Machine and I absolutely love it. It makes the best burgers, fish and chicken breasts ever with no fat and the fat in the meat runs off. I know my manual states that you can't grill thick foods like steak, chops and sausages so maybe that's the problem. I don't know if your particular grill has those recommendations but it's worth reading to find out. If you CAN cook sausages on your grill then I would lay them in the grooves and keep turning them or they will scorch on one side. Cook them til juices run clearn

As for cleaning, I don't have any appliance in my kitchen that is easier to clean than this grill. After grilling, I wipe down with paper towels wet with hot water and it takes about 1 minute to completely clean this grill. I nver had anything stick so cleaning is just a matter of wiping with hot water.

click: A Day in the Life of this Drama Queen

 

[tilly]

I have had about 4 GF's I find they burn up --some lasted longer then others but I keep buying them because I love this machine. I love making bacon in it, it doesn't shrink up.
When I was using my son's from college inbetween buying a big new one, some times I would let sausage cook and un plug it and leave the meat in there so I didn't burn it. The smaller sizes don't have a temp control on them which is not too handy.
I find the bigger one with the removeable grills is worth the price, other wise I spent a small fortune on paper towels to clean it. Might as well spend the money on the up graded appliance in my opinion.

But then again I am a gadget freak, I LOVE LOVE tooking toys.

 

[StirBlue]

What kind of sausages were you cooking? I find that the sausage casing used by some companies does not cook very well. It's burning while the sausage inside is gooey and never really gets done while the outside disintergrates.
Brats are a lot better than they used to be.

 

[Corey123]

I own an older family-size GF grill, but I've never used it for sausages. They are too salty anyway, and I can't have them.

 

[Uncle Bob]

For all the reasons Breezycooking mentioned I tried to give my two away...but could find no takers...So instead of "cabinet clutter" I threw them in the garbage...

 

[Corey123]

You could have donated them to the Salvation Army or something like that.

They would have sold them at a dirt-cheap price and you would have been helping charity needs!

 

[neilrufc]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies,

Just cooked some sauages using the tips given to me from this ste -

Come out okay, slightly burnt on the outside but okay. The inside was red hot and not too dry. When cooking sausages, I always worry about if they have coooked properly. Sausages are so hard for me to cook for some reason..

Thanks again

 

[Corey123]

You're welcome!

 

[Caine]

I own an older family-size GF grill, but I've never used it for sausages. They are too salty anyway, and I can't have them.

You have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, right? Buy the grinder attachment, and the sausage stuffer attachment, and make your own sausages, with as much or as little salt as you prefer.