We use a Waring commercial panini maker at work. It can make 3-4 sandwiches at a time but it weights a ton and was somewhat expensive. I use a small, cheapie at home that gets the job done. I think the important thing is there is a little weight to the lid so you get the pressing without having to hold it down the whole time. Neither the ones I use have interchangeable plates. That would be great to be able to use it as a griddle too. We found you can make a panini with any ingredients and they taste great. We're always experimenting.

Breville

It may sound funny, but I use a George Foreman countertop electric grill. No interchangeable plates, but mine is old and newer ones may have them. I bought mine for less than $10 at a thrift store years ago. Still works fine and unless bread slices are extra large, I can make four at a time.

I have the Breville. It's a great panini maker but I especially love the griddle for pancakes. It's easy to remove & clean the plates but it is large & heavy. I store mine in my lazy Susan. It still pains me to type "lazy susan". I have a new kitchen (less than 1 year), spent months on GW researching & I have not a Super Susan, but a Lazy Susan.

I have the Breville. It was a gift and I was planning on returning it because I didn't need a single use appliance or to have to find a place to store it. We decided to try it. We kept it and now our son has one too. He loved it.

The Breville heats very quickly, cooks quickly and evenly and cleans easily. If I were going to buy one, I would consider the one that has the changeable plates so it can be used for more. Even without that though, we've found that you can reheat a slice of pizza in a hurry and without heating the oven and other such exciting gourmet adventures.

I have three Breville appliances and I don't think you can go wrong with them.

Thanks for all the great feedback. I will keep my eyes open for good deals.

I too use the Foreman grill and put something on top for weight. I don't do panini's that often so find the GF quite functional for a sandwich.

Other than for a sandwich I do not like it.

if its just panini, forman or cuisainarts should do. I have the Breville and use it mostly for panini but also for grilling fish, meat, vegs, bread. Its an excellent grill. A chicken breast cooks in 2-/12 minutes with the grill closed. I also got a single griddle plate which i use occasionally. i find it a bit small for pancakes though it would do them. one of those expensive but worth it purchases.

Couldn't resist sharing my makeshift panini maker...
My old Lodge grill pan just happens to fit perfectly inside the Staub grill pan.
Two sandwiches at once on sourdough limit though ;)

This post was edited by ctycdm on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 20:40

Krups! Love ours. FDE3-12 not sure what the rest of the numbers are. Around $75? Highly recommend; it's been great for tomato mozz basil paninis as well as in my constant search for a good monte cristo. Good luck and bon appetit!

This post was edited by oldbat2be on Mon, Sep 8, 14 at 20:54

I apologize for the lack of KIA pictures; will remedy!! Another from the web:

Btw, localeater and other Geo. Foreman grillers: This is the best way to cook bacon Ever! Comes out perfect and all the grease goes into the 'drip pan'. No splatters, messes on the stove, etc. I also use mine to grill chicken breasts, hamburgers and pork chops. It's really more versatile that one would think.