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Tefal Optigrill – Review & Giveaway RRP £150

Published on by Elizabeth Atia 268 Comments
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Tefal Optigrill

In early April Tefal followed me on Twitter. I might have went Eee! just a little bit. My blog is still in its infancy with regards to product reviews and to get noticed by a big brand like this was really exciting. What could they want?

They asked if I ever grilled anything. I’ve never owned a grill – I mean, I do have one built into my oven that I frequently use, but I have never owned one of those posh ones like a George Foreman. I said I grilled mackerel fillets (it was the first thing that sprang to mind!).

They sent me a DM:

tefal

I’m pretty sure I went squeeee! at this point!

A few days later a giant box arrived in the post containing my brand new Tefal Optigrill. I emptied the box, photographed the contents (as you do!) and started experimenting.

I love my Tefal Optigrill!

I’ve been using this grill at least two or three times a week since the day it arrived. It’s not the most attractive of kitchen gadgets, but my it works wonders with a bit of meat, and vegetables, and it makes a crackin’ grilled cheese sandwich!

The Shetland Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich

One of the first things I made with my new Tefal Optigrill grill was the grilled cheese sandwich pictured above. It’s made with local Shetland all wheat bread and Monterey Mild Shetland cheese from Britain’s most northerly cheese producer here on the west side of Shetland. This is the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever tried, and you can find the recipe over on my post at A Taste of Shetland.

Sourdough Bruschetta with St. Ninian's Cheese and Smoked Sea Salt

It also makes a wicked toasted sourdough bread for a quick Bruschetta with St. Ninian’s Soft Cheese and Smoked Sea Salt lunch.

I’ve grilled vegetables in it, cut thinly and brushed with olive oil. Chicken fillets, brushed with oil, grill to perfection in this machine, and make for a quick dinner with a salad or perhaps sun-dried tomato pasta, as pictured below with the grilled vegetables.

sundried tomato pasta

One of my favourite foods to grill in the Tefal Optigrill are the peppered pork grills from our local butchers. I’ve never been very good with judging how long to cook pork. I fear undercooking it and so I end up feeding the family tough chewy pork. The Optigrill takes all the guesswork out of this, making perfect grilled pork every time. This grilled pork goes really well with my grown up cheesy alphabet pasta recipe. Dinner in less than half an hour!

peppered pork grill

I also grill sausages, straight from the freezer, on those days where I’ve been absent minded I’ve forgotten to take something out to defrost. The Optigrill has this fantastic frozen food setting – sausages, burgers, chicken nuggets – the cooking sensor adjusts the timing and can cook from frozen. How convenient is that?!

To use the grill you plug it in, switch it on and select from seven different settings: burger, poultry, bacon, sausage, red meat, fish or manual (for toasties, paninis, etc). Press the frozen button if your food is frozen. The grill has a light to show you what it’s doing – at the start it pulses purple/pink while the grill is heating and when it reaches the correct temperature it bleeps at you and stops pulsing. Pop your food in and wait while it cooks. The cooking level indicator changes colour through blue, green yellow, orange and red, bleeping at each stage to let you know what it’s doing. If you want your steak rare, remove it from the grill at the yellow stage. If you want your bacon crispy remove it at the red stage.

The beeps mean you can get on with the rest of your meal preparation without constantly having to check if your meat is ready (or burning!). For a quick summer dinner my five minute bbq sauce works really well with sausages, chicken or burgers, and served with salad it’s no effort at all!

Five Minute BBQ Sauce by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

grilled sausages

The only downside, for me, is that the style of the machine doesn’t really fit with the style of my kitchen. It’s quite grey and industrial. Also, I don’t care for the flavour of beef steaks cooked in it. Yes, they are tender and cook to the right level, but it’s missing the burnt butter flavour I’ve grown accustomed to when my husband sears the steak (and sets the fire alarm off).

We did attempt to cook a great big piece of meat as displayed on the front of the Optigrill box. The instructions say that meat up to 4 cm thick can be grilled, so we cut a giant 4 cm slab of roast beef. This doesn’t work, don’t waste your meat! The machine kept switching off as the surface area was too large. Stick with regular cuts of steak. Lesson learned!

The Tefal Optigrill is really easy to clean – when the non-stick grill plates have cooled you pop them, and the drip tray, into the dishwasher. No mess! No burnt bits stuck onto a pan to scrape off, no fuss! The drip tray will need to be emptied prior to washing. It’s really quite astonishing how much fat can drip out of the machine, especially from bacon and burgers. It really is a much healthier option to frying.

With an RRP of £150 the Tefal Optigrill can be purchased through several high street retailers and Amazon.

Tefal have very kindly offered one of my readers the opportunity to win their very own Tefal OptiGrill in a giveaway! To enter fill in the Rafflecopter entry form below. Tefal say the OptiGrill will be delivered in time for the World Cup final!

How to Enter

For your chance to win one of TWO Tefal OptiGrills RRP £150 enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Come back and tweet about the giveaway every day for more chances to win!

Terms & Conditions

This giveaway is open to UK entries only. Entrants must be age 18 or over. The winners will need to respond within 24 hours of being contacted; failure to do this may result in another winner being selected.

The prize is offered and provided by Tefal. The prize is one of two Tefal OptiGrills. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.

If you need some help using Rafflecopter, here’s a quick clip to show you how. Rafflecopter will pick the winner at random from all the entries received. I will be verifying entries and any automated entries or those who have claimed they have made the mandatory blog post comment and really haven’t will be disqualified. It’s mandatory!

Closing date is midnight on Friday 4 July 2014 and the winners will be announced that day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See my Giveaways page for some fantastic other giveaways!

Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary was sent a Tefal OptiGrill for review. All opinions expressed are our own. This is not a paid post.

Comments

  1. Teresa Lee says

    Burgers – I usually do them in the built in oven grill but because they spit and make a right mess I tend to avoid doing them that often.

    Reply

  7. Carolin says

    Everything 🙂 I would have mainly gone for meaty things, but I love your grilled cheese sandwich idea too.

    Reply

  8. John Milton says

    I would be very tempted to use this grill first for some nice succulent grilled Salmon. I can almost taste it now. I would think it would be very yummy. I also don’t have anything posh like a George Forman grill so it would be a very welcome addition to our healthy eating regime (going for three weeks) Thanks for the chance to win Elizabeth and good luck to everyone 🙂

    Reply

  10. Bernadette K says

    My quorn veggie sausages because they are very hard to get browned to perfection – but I’m sure the optigrill could manage it.

    Reply

  26. Faye Reed says

    Marinated chicken breast. It would be great to help me keep track of my diet because it’s so easy to use I can just pop something healthy on there when I can’t be bothered.

    Reply

  27. sarah says

    think i would start with sausages, but over time alsorts, Ive never had one of these ether and would love one, maybe one day 🙂

    Reply

  30. Kelly Hooper says

    Chicken, mushroom and mixed pepper kebabs, my husband is trying to lose weight so like to make his food as interesting as possible but cook as healthily as possible too

    Reply

  34. Tracy Sinclair says

    I would cook some chicken breast on it first I think, as I eat alot of it and it would be nice to see if it is easier and tastier x

    Reply

  45. Aurelia Fredon says

    Like you the grilled cheese sandwich would be first (I do hope the machine settings can be adjusted as some of the food in your photos looks a little too much on the burn side for my tastes)

    Reply

    • Elizabeth says

      You would use the manual setting for grilled cheese and you could cook it to your liking. Personally I do like the burnt crispy bits although they’re not particularly good for you! 🙂

      Reply

  56. Debbie Louise Davies says

    I would grill my sausages and bacon, oh and cheese toasties….basically everything i can! xx

    Reply

  69. amy Skinner says

    Steak, I’m not very good at cooking it just how people like it so I’d love to try one on here

    Reply

  84. samantha nickells says

    Steak, chicken, sausages, bacon..the list is endless..all the pictures looked so delicious!

    Reply

  139. Elizabeth (Liz) Briggs says

    Everything – we use our basic one so much – it would be fantastic to have an upgrade 🙂

    Reply

  151. Helen B says

    I think I’d try out some pork as we often overcook that too! But I do like a nice bit of crispy bacon!

    Reply

  165. Tracey Belcher says

    Having just read your blog I would want to try out so much – I love fish and do not eat enough of it so would be tempted to try out some lovely fish first and as for grilled sandwiches – yummy

    Reply

  167. Jane Willis says

    I’m going through a retro food stage at the moment so I’d kick off with gammon and pineapple

    Reply

  188. Karen Lloyd says

    A chorizo, cheese, rocket and tomato toastie, that should keep me going long enough to plan the next meal.

    Reply

  192. Hayley Wakenshaw says

    Jerk Chicken. I know it’s meant to be barbecued, but I’ve had some success by tweaking a recipe and cooking it in a pan. This would just make it so much easier and less messy!

    Reply

  195. Paul Stokes says

    I would go for a cheese and ham toastie. Thick layers of ham, slices of cheese on top – and then my secret weapon – some worcester table sauce on top of the cheese. A cheese and ham toastie is already yummy enough, but the sauce gives it a nice cheeky tang. Try it.

    Reply

  211. Eve MUrphy says

    I would start off with grilled cheese sandwiches, then move on to beef. Nothing shuts my husbands mouth like a juicy hamburger!

    Reply

  228. Selina Jefferies says

    Homemade burgers – I do pop these under the grill but can be a little greasy (although hubby likes that!) an optigrill would help lower that grease level down

    Reply

  246. Rik Phillips says

    I had a small style grill in uni that was great for steak or chicken, but would love to try a larger version and see how it gets on for fish and large meals for the family

    Reply

  251. Jayne T says

    I would love to win this, the first thing I would try out is some grilled fish. Thanks for the lovely giveaway.

    Reply

  255. EMMA WALTERS says

    steak is my all time favourite food so this would be the perfect test to see if it can make me an amazing fillet steak 🙂

    Reply

Trackbacks

  2. […] we’ve been eating outdoors much more than usual, and this is due to the addition of the Tefal Optigrill we were given by the fine folk at Tefal back in April. Over the last few months I’ve developed […]

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