Sometimes a kitchen gadget comes along that you never knew you needed until you start using it! Well, one such gadget, which I have been aware of (but never took much notice of), is the Tefal OptiGrill.
To my mind, it was just a gadget that would take up space on my counter and be used for the odd steak or burger – how wrong was I. I’m afraid if Tefal wanted their OptiGrill back, they’d have a fight on their hands, as like the Tefal ActiFry, the family and I have taken to using it like ducks to water.
The first thing I loved about the OptiGrill was the short and simple instructions that it came with.
Basically, there are pre-set buttons to cook burgers, poultry, bacon, sausages, steaks/boneless chops and fish, plus a manual button for cooking anything else like toasted sandwiches.
You start by choosing a setting and preheating the OptiGrill, and when it’s ready, you hear an audible beep. Then you place your food onto the tilted grill plate, and again, an audible beeping can be heard, and a light changes colour according to each stage of cooking.
So for a steak, you can choose from rare to well done, and the beeping occurs at the end of each stage so that you can remove your food at the stage you wish. For things like sausages, you cook until well done, but the beeps are a useful reminder to turn them for an even all-around colour.
As the grill pan is tilted, sausages were the only food that I found a bit slippery when raw and some wanted to go for a slide, but it wasn’t a big issue as the results were well worth it.
So far we have had sausages, burgers, bacon (daughter fancied a bacon roll for her packed lunch the other night so cooked herself up a thick rasher) and finally toasted sandwiches. Oh my, the toasted sandwiches are to die for and like something you’d pay good money for eating out! Y
ou get a deeply toasted crispy ridge alongside a doughy strip of bread, and when using chees,e it melts so well that it just comes oozing out in a river of deliciousness (which I think you can see in the picture at the top of this post, that’s red onion in there too).
We just butter the outside of the bread to get this delicious fried sandwich effect! As the OptiGrill sits on our dresser now, my son will come home from college and just make himself a quick toasted sandwich and is extremely pleased with this new gadget.
My hubby, on trying the above toastie, asked what we were going to do with our large cafe-style sandwich press, as the OptiGrill makes far better toasties!
The other thing I like about the OptiGrill is that you can see exactly how much fat is coming out of your food, and it all just drains away.
I was very impressed with some Supreme sausages (pictured) that I got from the Elmbridge Food Fair last month. Not only were they delicious, but not so much as a drop of fat made it into the drip tray, unlike most sausages I’ve tried.
In fact, I used the OptiGrill to help me make one of our regular favourites, Scrumptious Chipolata Tagliatelle, which I tweaked by using sausage, spaghetti and added some petite pois towards the end.
So between the Tefal OptiGrill and the Tefal ActiFry, I can virtually cook an entire meal hands-free free which, when you’re a busy person and often pushed for time, is an absolute godsend. I’m off to experiment with bananas and halved peaches as I reckon a simple dessert is only around the corner!
If you’d like to read how other bloggers got on with the Tefal Optigrill, then check out these posts:
Super Simple DIY Churros with Tefal OptiGrill – Sophie Loves Food
Testing Out the Tefal OptiGrill – Feeding Boys & a Firefighter
Foodie Parcels in the Post – Foodie Quine
I’m entering this post into a new challenge, “Club Sandwich” from Cakeyboi and The Crafty Larder.
NB: Thank you to Tefal who sent me an OptiGrill to review, all opinions are my own, and I was not paid.
Stuart Vettese
Thanks so much for entering Club Sandwich with your toasted bagel. Loving that Optigrill!!
Camilla
Thanks Stuart, Optigrill is going to be worn out soon LOL:-)
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy
It looks like a great gadget and I love the stripes it has given to the sandwiches. Sandwiches aren’t the easiest thing to photograph, but the strips make them more visually appealing 🙂
Camilla
Yes we are all using the Optigrill so much since it’s arrival, just love it, so useful!
Martina Evans
I love those crispy char lines in that bagel! The optigrill sounds like a brilliant idea, I would love to have one in my home. Thanks for the review 🙂
Camilla
Thanks Martina, it really is so good:-)
Sarah Maison Cupcake
Those are seriously awesome tiger stripes on that toasted sandwich. I need myself a lean mean grilling machine I think!!
Camilla
It’s so fab Sarah, you really would love it-)
Sarah James
Looks a great product Camilla. I love my Actifry, might have to put an Optigrill on my Christmas list.
Camilla
It’s getting so much use Sarah, such a great product and saves switching the oven on so cost efficient too:-)
Sarah
I’m loving my optigrill – so easy to use!
Camilla
Exactly, had some more sausages in it tonight:-)
Emily Leary
It’s a brilliant gadget, isn’t it? I think it’s the most used in our kitchen, second only to my stand mixer.
Camilla
Yes I’m totally in love with it:-)
peter @feedyoursoultoo
Looks like a great grill. I love the marks it leaves on the bread – Perfect!
Camilla
Thanks Peter, it’s such a fab gadget:-)
Nicole Neverman
The optigrill sounds fantastic! Might have to look around the shops for this one 🙂
Camilla
It really is fabulous, we had salmon fillets cooked to perfection in it last night:-)
Diane
What a handy gadget! I love how the Tefal OPTIGrill whisks away the extra fat. And those grill marks are outstanding! Nice kitchen tool!
Camilla
It really is fabulous Diane, my next mission is to griddle peaches in there!
Katie Bryson
Great review Camilla, it’s such a fantastic gadget, like you I wouldn’t be without it now. Quick and delicious snacks are super simple to achieve. We grilled paninis in them this week and they were incredible…
Camilla
Thanks Kate, ooh paninis would be fabulous too:-)
Elaine
Hi Camilla,
How easy was it to clean? I am looking for a sandwich toaster and key consideration is cleaning it up after the fun and games… Do the plates remove and go in the dishwasher? Thanks for the review! Best wishes, Mrs Freeloader x
Camilla
Sorry Elaine I meant to put a bit about cleaning but got carried away with what it could do! Yes there is a push button on each grill plate which unclips them and then you can hand wash or dish wash – so a piece of cake;-)
Platter Talk
I’m loving this gadget but especially love what you have put together with it! Great job!!
Camilla
Thanks it’s such a great helping hand in the kitchen:-)
Corina
I love discovering new gadgets I never knew I needed! I haven’t tried either of the Tefal products but I’ve heard a lot of good things about them.
Camilla
I would seriously miss both these Tefal products were they to go. Tonight I popped a couple of bananas in the Optigrill, one stuck to the plates a bit but it didn’t matter and was a really quick way to have a griddled banana with some ice cream:-)
Sylvia Filozof
Oh wow! I’m so jealous. This is going on my Christmas wishlist for sure 🙂 I’m in need of a good grill where I can make scrumptious sandwiches 🙂
Camilla
Great Sylvia, glad to have got you inspired:-)
Becca @ Amuse Your Bouche
Oh my goodness, that bagel looks amazing!! I love crispy char lines like that. Looks like a really fab product.
Camilla
Thanks Becca, I had that for lunch today so was just a quick snap from my phone that I added but it was really good so more bagel buying lined up, think the cinnamon ones would be great too:-)
Elizabeth
I love my Tefal Optigrill – it gets used several times a week! I’m loving this toasted bagel idea, I’m so trying that out soon! Thanks for linking to my Tefal post! 🙂
Camilla
I’m not surprised Elizabeth, I am in love with mine:-)