I hesitated to do the Hamilton Beach 38546 3 in 1 grill/griddle review at first. The reviews were a little low and as you know I do not recommend products that have low ratings in general.
I was wondering why the ratings were that way and started reading. I think the ratings could be a little higher than I found in the many places I looked for them.
The price of this grill is decent compared to the quality you buy. Reason for me to add it to our website indoor grill reviews and let you decide if this is the grill for you.
Better Grills Rating: 4.0
Grill surface of the Hamilton Beach 3 in 1
As we all know one of the most important things to know is how big the grill surface is.
The effective grill surface is 12.5 x 23 x 6.7 inches.
This all adds up to about 180 square inches and this is pretty large.
There are more people who are concerned about the possible health-related problems of some non-stick cooking products.
The Hamilton Beach 38546 comes with PFOA-free non-stick plates and I read that the PFOA is the component that people worry about. So this is grill surface is supposed to be safe.
Features of this grill
- 3 functions. Grill, Griddle, or Combo
- 2 Cooking areas
- Centered grease remove
- Reversible plates
- plates dishwasher safe
- PFOA free plates
- 2 separate controlled cooking area
Customer Reviews
“This is the second one I’ve gotten of this make and model.
I give it 5 stars for use (the flat grill is great for cooking bacon), it is actually a very versatile grill and if it weren’t for the following problems I’d rate it higher.
1. The knobs are very loose
2. The first one I had lasted for 3 yrs, I believe it would have lasted longer if I hadn’t used the highest setting on the unit, over a period of about 4-6 months before it broke I started using the right side to grill foods at temps close to its max, ie 425, after doing this for a while the knob on the right side broke off, I believe the inside of the unit is not very well insulated and the heat may have contributed to the failure…”
“I don’t understand the negative reviews, I’ve used the grill and griddle and both were great. I had no issues with the drip tray or grease running onto the heating element. For the price and the combination of grill/griddle, I’d say this is a great product….”
read more here: More reviews
Pros & Cons of the Hamilton Beach 38546 3 in 1 Grill
We tried to find the most mentioned pros and cons for the Hamilton Beach 3 in 1 grill and griddle.
Pros:
- Very versatile
- 3 cooking options
- Separate temperature controllers
- Dishwasher safe
- Large grill surface
- Grease tray dishwasher safe
Cons:
- Bulky
- Not easy to store
- Does not fold.
- The grease part can clog up
You can find the price on Amazon here!
My opinion about the Hamilton Beach 38546 3 in 1 Grill/Griddle
The Hamilton Beach 38546 is one adaptable piece of cooking equipment. If you love to grill, griddle, or both, this is a cooking masterpiece that you need in your kitchen.
It is easy to use without skimping on quality. With this Hamilton Beach Grill/Griddle you can get delicious, professional-quality food right in your kitchen.
The versatility of this Grill/Griddle should not fool you into thinking that it is complicated. It features a very simple and elegant design that achieves the desired functionality without complicating things. The most appreciated features are the Dual cooking area :
It has two separate areas for cooking. The heating in these areas can be controlled separately which means you can cook different dishes on either side of the Hamilton Beach 38546.
You can grill hamburgers on one side while gently toasting bread or buns on the other side increasing your efficiency as well, or if you are using it just for grilling or girdling a small amount of food, you can turn off one side completely thus saving on the overall fuel consumption as well.
Removable plates that can be reversed to use both surfaces :
Another simple yet elegant solution. Say you want to grill on either side of the Hamilton Beach 38546 or girdle on either side or grill on one side and girdle on the other.
The removable plates are smooth on one side so you can girdle on them while being ridged on the other side for grilling. So if you want to girdle on both sides, the smooth top of the plates would become the cooking surface on both sides. If you want to grill on both sides, the ridged top would become the cooking surface on both sides and you can alternate the cooking surface if you want to grill on one side and girdle on the other.
So you can use the grill surface to grill burgers, pieces of chicken, fish, lean meats or vegetables, and the griddle to make perfect pancakes, french toast, scallops, and eggs.
It’s healthy too :
This feature is unique to the Hamilton Beach 38546. There is a channel in the middle for the grease to flow through into a tray where it is collected. This tray is easily accessible and can be removed periodically to take out the grease.
Thus all the unwanted grease stays far away from your food ensuring it is not only tasty but healthy too by removing a lot of the saturated and ergo unhealthy fat away from your food leaving behind just enough to keep the food tasty while staying on the healthy side.
Easy to clean as well :
This is the icing on the cake. The removable cooking plates are dishwater friendly. The drip tray is dishwater friendly too. The rest of The Hamilton Beach 38546 can be easily wiped down with a damp piece of cloth once the drip tray and the cooking plates have been removed. Disassembly and re-assembly are very straight forward and do not require any rocket science.
Materials and construction :
The cooking surfaces are made of PFOA free non-stick materials. The rest is sturdy aluminum. The construction is solid and the black finish makes it look classy and in case you misplace or break any of the parts, they call all be replaced. It weighs roughly 8 lbs and the dimensions are 23 x 12.51 x 6.71 in which is pretty standard.
The actual cooking surface is 18.25 x 9.5 as some space is lost to the channel to carry away the grease. This piece of equipment will look at home in your kitchen along with being very handy at what it is supposed to do while lasting long enough both in active use and storage.
Like everything else in life, there are some quirks that the Hamilton Beach 38546 possesses. The channel in the middle for the grease to flow can sometimes allow grease to flow onto the coils if the cooking is done a bit carelessly and there is too much grease flowing through the channel. The channel also reduces the cooking surface area by a little bit, but overall these are quirks one can live with and not something monumental that would spoil the food or the cooking experience.
The size makes it a little bulky and not easy to store since it can no be folded.
Although this grill did not receive the best ratings I believe it a little underrated in some of the comments we read. That is why my rating is 4 stars!
I also noted that many of the people who were not too happy with the indoor grill came from older reviews. In the more recent comments, I did not find too many anymore.
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So be it steaks or pancakes the Hamilton Beach 38546 3-in-1 Grill/Griddle will make the cooking easier, healthier, and tastier.
Recommended
We recommend the use of wooden or plastic spatulas that do not scratch the non-stick surface of the Hamilton Beach indoor electric grill.
Metal spatulas and regular forks can have that effect on the grill.
Tips from real users
Watch the grease channel. If the hole clogs up the grease will run under the plates on the coils. That seems to be hard to clean.
You can find all the Hamilton Beach indoor grill reviews here or on the menu.
Robert Chill
Robert Chill loves to cook on BBQs and grills and uses all types of recipes and techniques to cook some awesome food. With his experience, he can share many reviews, tips, and ideas on how to use any grill. You can read more about himĀ here