I'm giving this four stars because though I love it, the friend who received it as a gift and uses it most thinks the bottom plate does not get as hot as it should. (It gets hot enough for me and a hamburger does sizzle on it). The only way to turn it off and on is to plug it in and unplug it. Safety wise this might be better (or not) and the cord is made with a handy loop pull that is very sturdy so I don't think this will cause it to break due to all the action it gets going in and out of the wall. The lights on the top DO NOT tell you when it is off or on; they merely tell you when it is actively heating or not heating. I'd rather know when it is on or off as I don't care when the thermostat is presently active or not. There is no way to adjust the temperature other than to set the height of the lid lower or higher depending on how think your sandwich is and wether you want to grill or melt cheese etc. All that being said, I really like it. It's my new favorite kitchen appliance. Another friend who came over and used it is going to get one as well because he liked it to and decided his kitchen needed one.

I really love Breville. I have many products from them and the quality is just extraordinary. I do very much like this panini maker however I'm a little confused why there is not a grill pan on each side of this press. I suppose it's for if you want to make pancakes or something, but I think being advertised as a panini maker it should have that nice panini look on both sides of the sandwich. Please make this review as helpful if it was helpful to you.

So finally I bought Breville Panini maker after due consideration and comparing with various other products. It serves the purpose and is very useful for a family of 4. In one go I can make 4 sandwiches/ open toasties. However after few uses I realize that the base gets heated up after using it twice and the bread starts getting burnt. So you need to let the machine cool down a bit before you can use it again. which i guess is not so bad. No smoke, no smell and easy to use. I like it and can't wait to experiment more.

So far, I've not discovered the limits to what I can do with the Panini Duo, but I have now given my toaster oven away as it did nothing that I wanted to do that the Breville doesn't do better. The plates, although not reversible, clean easily and I've not needed to use anything more than a wet paper towel to have them ready fro the next sandwich. It heats quickly, cooks efficiently and cleans easily--a winner for me.

I love Breville products and this one is no different. Its well made and the lid has nice weight to it.

I would like to share one experience I have had with Breville on a Toaster oven that was out of warranty.

The oven stopped working and I called Breville about it. Fortunately, I bought it on Amazon so I could find my receipt really quickly. They had me send in my broken oven and sent me a new one. Very impressed with this company.