The Kitchen Novice

Le Creuset Review- Cast Iron Grill Pan With Panini Press

It’s not often that you have the chance to snag two Le Creuset products for one price, but this set gives you just that opportunity. A heavy duty Panini Press and the famous Le Creuset cast iron grill pan, both of which could be sold separately, are available together.

For those of you who don’t know, Le Creuset is a company mainly known for producing high quality French ovens. Similar to “Dutch Ovens”, but these are produced in France. Le Creuset first started producing them in 1925 from it’s foundry in Fresnoy le Brand, France. They’ve since branched out and make a variety of Le Creuset Cookware using their famous enameled cast-iron techniques, including this cast iron grill pan and panini press.

 

Key Features of the Panini Press and Cast Iron Grill Pan:

-Enameled Cast Iron square Grill Pan measures 10-1/4 inches.

-The Panini Press is made from the same material and measures 9 inches

-Deep ribbing imparts great grill marks and allows for healthier food by draining off excess fat

-Total weight is 12.4 pounds

-Cast Iron handle, with smaller helper handle on the opposite side to help with holding and pouring

-Pour spouts on either side of the pan to accommodate right or left handed users

-Oven and Broiler safe, includes Lifetime Warranty

-Customer reviews on Amazon give it 5 out of 5 stars

 

Using The Cast Iron Grill Pan and Panini Press

To do this review justice, I must first point out that the cast iron grill pan is a great dish all by itself. It can be (and often is) purchased separately here, but in my opinion getting the panini press as a bonus is a no-brainer, and simply increases the uses you’ll find for this pan.

 

Using the Pan by Itself:

Simply put, this is the next best thing to grilling outdoors. For those of you who can’t or don’t want to use an outdoor grill, or simply want to get that grill flavor in the dead of winter, this pan is for you.

The heavy cast iron imparts a unique flavor to your food that is hard to get anywhere else except on a traditional grill. The The deep ribs on this pan create very nice grill marks, no matter what the food.

By raising the food off the pan a little, it also provides another benefit. You’ll be cooking healthier meals by removing some of the fat from your food. There is a big difference between making hamburgers in this and frying them in a traditional flat bottom Skillet.

The interior of this pan boasts a satin black enamel, which means there’s no seasoning needed, and your food won’t stick. The enamel on this cast-iron one-ups the competition by allowing you to cook acidic foods without any changes to the color or taste.

The rugged enameled cast-iron can be used on any number of stove top surfaces, as well as the oven. That means you can start a dish on the stove, and pop it in the oven to finish cooking or keep warm.

 

Using the Pan with the Panini Press

Incorporating the Panini press with this Cast Iron grill pan really opens up the possibilities of what you can do with it.

If you’re familiar with Paninis, you’ll know that what makes a great one is even heat and a nice heavy press on the sandwich. There are tons of Panini makers and sandwich makers on the market, but most don’t do what they’re supposed to do.

In addition to taking up valuable kitchen storage space, most panini makers aren’t heavy enough to really make a proper panini.

On the other hand this piece of Le Creuset cookware is heavy! It presses sandwiches together nicely and the cast iron browns the sandwich evenly.

The directions are simple. Over low heat, heat the cast iron grill pan on one burner, the panini press on another. Once they’ve preheated, lightly grease both surfaces and make your paninis!

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Cleaning The Cast Iron Grill Pan

Being a grill pan, there is a little more work required to clean this pan than say, a Cast Iron Dutch Oven. As with any grill pan, you’ll need to clean in between the grooves on the pan to get it completely clean. Some people have found this to be an inconvenience, but there’s really no way to get around it when using a grooved pan.

There is one trick I’ve found that seems to work well. Heat the pan slightly, and then wipe in between the grooves with a wet paper towel. This seems to remove most of the grease. Then simply soak the pan for a while in water, and then clean as you would any Le Creuset cookware.

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