I was asked the other month about reviewing the Tefal Optigrill* and seeing as the lid had completely come off our older other branded one, I decided to leap at the chance! We've been doing up our kitchen, (which I will get to another time) but I'd only recently been about to try this grilling device out until Friday evening. We were going to have a cheat night of steak and chips so this seemed the best thing to test it out on. A healthy way to create steak, but would my steak be cooked how I want it?
I unboxed it and realised it was quite big, this may be because the one I did have was tiny and you couldn't cook a lot at the same time. I looked over the instructions and realised how easy this was going to be to use. The main selling point for this Tefal Optigrill is the fact it is a great and simple way to have healthy food cooked just as you want it.
Looks and functions //
It's nice and sleek with simple black and silver metal with a series of buttons at the front for your options. It has a good sized cable to plug in and it opens and closes nice and easily. The hot grill plates and fat tray are all detachable making it far easier to clean! Hurray!
5 Steps to the Tefal Optigrill //
Along the front are some options for you to select. For example if you're cooking burgers or steak you select the appropriate setting.
1. Selected what you're going to be cooking from the list of buttons2. Press the big OK button and wait the Optigrill to preheat3. Wait for the sound as the Tefal Optigrill tells you it is pre heated4. Once that is done you open up the grill and pop in what you're cooking and close it firmly. 5. Now it's up to you how you want your item cooked - rare, medium, well-done? Once you've cooked it to how you want, (following the easy to see lighting system) simply turn it off and remove your item from the grill.
My view //
First thing I really noticed whilst using it was how quickly it heats up, previously I've had to wait 10 minutes for my old one when this is practically seconds. It's so easy to use if you're in a hurry or just want a quick healthy option for a meal, this honestly take no time at all and does all the hard work for you! The steak was absolutely spot on and I can be a bit funny about how mine is cooked. Big thumbs up there.
As I say we first tried it out with steak and cheap but last night as the sun was shining we made burgers. I came upstairs to write and before I knew it dinner was ready and I was back downstairs again. The only thing I can say is mildly negative is the size of it, we have quite a small kitchen and I don't really want it to live in cupboard if I'm going to keep using it. It's not huge but that was the only thing I could think of that may be an issue.
The Tefal Optigrill is available from a variety of retails but as seen on John Lewis for £99. Would I pay that? Before I reviewed it quite possibly not, but after using it I can honestly see so many bonuses from my last grilling machine. This certainly looks like it's going to last and the sheer convenience of it, makes my hectic life far easier!