will this Panini Press from Target make a good Father's Day gift for my dad?What if there is a chance he might already own a George Foreman, is it still okay to get him this Breadman Panini Press?
The teeth on a panini maker tend to be much smaller and finer. I believe it should also burn at a higher temperature, since you're not interested in cooking the food all the way through, only crisping it.
A panini maker will have a weighted top and may have a closure latch to help keep the top closed. This is what presses the sandwich - the key feature in a panini. In addition, most good panini presses will have a different type of hinge - one that's a bit more free floating than the Foreman. This helps allows the grill plates to evenly grill/press even the most stuffed, oddly shaped sandwich. (As opposed to the Foreman, where more pressure/grill surface reaches the portion of the sandwich near the hinge. If you don't want to buy a specialty panini maker, you can always wrap a brick in some foil or place a pan weighted down with a few heavy canned goods on top of your sandwich. Works fairly well.
Hey- the difference between the press you have the link to (or most other panini presses) and a Foreman grill is that a panini press has a heavier top, and/or you actually manually press down on the food to make distinct lines on the food, and to press it together- especially sandwiches that have a lot of cheese, or certain stuffed french toasts, etc. A Foreman grill does have a hinged top, but you merely lay the lid to the grill down, and don't press. The top lays on the food, and cooks both sides, but without squishing/pressing it. A Foreman, too, is mostly for cooking meats, you can certainly cook other things on it, but they are angled downward to make the fat drip out, where a panini press is usually more level. If I was wanting to make veggies or other sides, or something gooey, I would prefer the panini press because the Foreman would make the food slide down. (I have a Foreman, no press, yet- but I have worked at coffee shops that have them). I think a panini press would be an awesome Father's Day present, I really do. Even if he has a Foreman, the press is great. Good luck~
