Hamilton Beach 31602 Raclette 8-Person

We've had this grill for eight days and have already used it on more than ten occasions. It is a hoot!! The sweet spot is for one to four. It's a bit crowded for six people but works. Can't imagine it is efficient for eight people unless two or more are children and you have a short table. With several people, it's a fun time and socially engaging--a real interactive, breezy feeding frenzy we've rarely experienced so readily elsewhere.Here's why we've kept it on our table and have used it regularly thus far: it's an easy answer to making a palatable weeknight dinner with little effort, especially when coming home from work exhausted. Just plug it in for warm up, change clothes, get out the precut veggies, cheeses and precooked meats from plastic containers in the frig then sit down to a quick feast with the whole meal before your eyes! With one or two people up to three raclette trays can be reloaded and managed by each person simultaneously. When we get up we're sated, unplug the grill, put the extras away and face a brief clean up. The leftovers are ready for next use!! What a deal!!We've found it best to precook the meats. We buy a bag of frozen precooked shrimp, 50-70 count, at Costco and pick up their grilled chicken strips or stovetop cook the chicken for later use. Have grilled salmon with the Raclette but prefer to bake it for larger groups. Here's why we've defaulted to precooked meats: it takes time to grill the raw meats which keeps people waiting, the meats may not cook evenly and it's messier. For a party, we blanch the asparagus, carrots, and green beans, then ice down and set aside. Sometimes we cook entirely veggie.Effective grill surface on this model is 10 ½ inches square. Cord is five feet long. There's no on/off switch, but frankly I'd prefer to unplug this 1200 watt appliance after each use just in case the switch ever malfunctioned. While the bottom of the grill is hot to the touch, our table top is room temperature because the heat is dissipated by the air space below this grill. Cleanup is with damp paper towel or cloth with dish soap. We do use a cooking spray like PAM or equivalent prior to grilling. We give everyone a hot pad to place their Raclette tray on between loading and cooking. We also do not season on the grill, preferring the melted cheeses from the Raclette trays to savor. We serve limited condiments for guests and no one has minded.For veggies, we grill asparagus spears--selecting the thinner stalks or slice the thicker ones in two lengthwise, carrots (also split in half), cherry tomatoes, red and green pepper strips, boiled baby/fingerling/new potatoes that are sliced lengthwise then grilled, green beans, mung bean sprouts, sliced mushrooms (esp. Shitake or Portobello), sugar snap peas and snow peas (they're more delicate). We've even grilled apple slices, fresh pineapple and fresh strawberry halves. We melt down creamy Mascarpone cheese to top the strawberries which is something your guests will find a great delight. And there's S'mores!! Just use your imagination...Course all of this will send you to your local deli to try out numerous cheeses. Our preferences include Cave Aged Emmentaler, Cave Aged Gruyere, Creamy Havarti, Gouda, and Kilaree Grass fed Cheddar. We've tried the Raclette Cheeses but our guests report their bouquets less desirable.All in all, this is a fun device offering many possible culinary adventures for ourselves and our dinner guests. We'll likely take it with us on beach outings and other vacations where we have use of a kitchen. We will probably consider buying a second unit in the future when we seek to entertain groups larger than six. For the moment, we feel it's a worthy starter unit, especially if one is not sure they want to invest $100 or more for an upscale Raclette grill.

As a total raclette lover (and a picky European who lived in countries that are used to eating raclette on a weekly basis) I can wholeheartedly recommend this raclette! At first, I was a bit shocked on how expensive some of the other raclettes were as I am not used to seeing "normal quality" raclettes for more than $100 and plus. But then I found this Hamilton Beach one and I can say, it is worth the money.Pro's:- heats up very quickly- heat can be easily adjusted (which means, it works great with all types of cheeses)- the non-stick grill on top works great, I used it to grill bracon, vegetables and chicken and they all came out great.- does not smell / neither smoke (which might be a concern for some people)- great size for parties of up to 8 people.- cord is surprisingly long for a raclette! (usually they are very short due to tripping hazards I believe)Con's:none so far :) I will update if I come across any problems or concerns.Add on: It even passed the test with my raclette loving french boyfriend!I would definitely buy it again and can recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good raclette at a decent price.

I concur with earlier reviews of this product in that it's an excellent machine at an excellent value. Did quite a bit of comparison shopping and went with the the HB31602 because it seemed both large and nice enough while keeping the price reasonable. Extremely easy to use - just plug in and set the temp. The convenient square cooking paddles make efficient use of the space and the cheese cooked perfectly. Don't even really need to use the scrapers as the cheese slides right off the non-stick paddles. Haven't actually used the top for grilling; have instead opted to keep the boiled potatoes warm. Yes, the 5 foot cord is a bit short, especially as the unit is meant to be placed in the center of a table, but that is easily remedied with an extension cord (needs 3 prongs). Highly recommend.

We first got introduced to raclette through a relative from Europe. After the fun we had eating at her house, I HAD to find a raclette grill when I got home. I chose this one because it was both inexpensive and I liked the square shape of it (better suited to the shape of our table). This grill works great. It doesn't melt the cheese quite as hot as the grill we used in Europe but does do the job. The top completely removes for easy cleaning. Even though it does have a non-stick surface, we found it cleans up better if you start off with a light coating of non-stick spray before cooking. Also I agree with another reviewer that it would be better that it had an Off switch on the heat control instead of it being necessary to unplug it to turn it off, but, all in all, it is an attractive product, reliable, a good value for the money and about half the cost of other raclette grills I have seen.

After experiencing a Raclette dinner in the home of friends in Switzerland, I was eager to find a grill and have a similar dinner at our home in NJ. The Hamilton Beach grill was the closest looking grill to the one we saw in Switzerland and performed perfectly. The cheese slid right off of the individual servers. The grill on top kept the potatoes warm and accessible. This is such a great, fun, social and easy meal to serve to guests. Clean up is also easy and the price is reasonable.

We use this raclette machine maybe once or twice in the year when it gets colder here in Los Angeles. It has worked well. But we started to notice that the surface of the top part is starting to peel! I am freaking out, is this made out of Teflon or similar cheap coating material? polytetrafluorothylene (PTFE)?This is not normal. I want to know what kind of material coating is Hamilton Beach using.

Herramienta muy buena y práctica para reuniones, se cocina muy sabroso y sirve la ocasión para compartir y reunirse con amigos y familia

The Hamilton Beach Raclette served as an easy and fun way to have a dinner party. The raclette was priced well and works great. The grill itself was very easy to clean and the food cooked quickly. Recommend! :)

great raclette! cook like a charm, easy to wash, lots of place for the mini cooking pan. Received promptly, good seller.

Quick delivery and well packaged. Quick wash and used that night. Heats up fast and keeps a good constant heat across whole surface on top grill. Quick to clean after. Great for a larger family and kids loved being able to do their own 'cooking'. Makes meal times a great social event.

c'est difficile de la nettoyer après, en tous j'ai arrêté de l'utilser depuis seulement 6 mois d'utilisation.