Having owned two Breville Toast & Melt sandwich presses, I was generally satisfied with their performance. However, I encountered an issue with the coating blistering and flaking off into the food over time. As a price-conscious consumer, I initially considered purchasing the same model again. However, my research revealed that these units contain aluminum, which led me to explore other options. After extensive research across various brands, I discovered the Breville Sear & Press Grill, which features ceramic plates and is aluminum-free. I also own a Breville rice cooker with a ceramic bowl and have been impressed by how easy it is to clean and maintain, without the concerns of PTFE and PFOA coatings. While the ceramic plates take approximately twice as long to heat compared to aluminum models, I find this trade-off acceptable given the benefits. It's been three weeks since my purchase, and I've tested all the plate options. They all perform excellently, although the open flat BBQ mode doesn't cook meat as well as a traditional barbecue. Nonetheless, it's a useful backup feature. The unit is quite heavy, which is worth noting. One downside compared to my old Breville Toast & Melt is that the height settings increments are too large for toasting small, flat sandwiches. Despite this, I am very happy with the product overall. Well done, Breville!

Great product so easy to use and clean. Whole family love it.

We have only used the grill for the sandwich setting but it does work very well. My only negative is the relative difficulty in obtaining the parallel plate setting.