Toasting bread and using it to make sandwiches works well enough. However, if you want the hottest, crispiest sandwiches with the meltiest cheeses, you can’t beat putting that sandwich inside a panini press. A panini press is arguably the quickest way to elevate the humblest of sandwiches, heating up its bread to a golden-brown color, warming up the filling, and melting all the cheese as it drips down the sides, all while pressing the whole thing more tightly, so your sandwich doesn’t fall apart (your toaster oven can’t do that). Yeah, that’s enough to make the most lackluster sandwiches look (and probably taste) just a tad better.
Even the best panini presses are not quite a must-have for most kitchens. You can, after all, heat up a sandwich in an oven or even press it one side at a time on a cooking pan. However, having a panini press gives you an appliance that heats up both sides and presses in one fell swoop, which makes it just a tad more convenient.
Additionally, panini presses can do more than heat and press sandwiches. It’s, essentially, an indoor contact grill, after all, which means you can even use it to cook chicken breasts, burger patties, and sausages, with the simultaneous dual-sided cooking allowing your food to cook just that much faster.
The best panini presses today also boasts more features than the simpler ones of the past. Usually, the better models out there come with a floating hinge that lets you press even the tallest sandwiches, while some use removable and reversible plates that give it even more versatile function. Some panini presses also come with timers and temperature adjustments, which, basically, just turn them into indoor electric grills at this point.
These are the best panini presses to crank out those hot, crispy, and melty sandwiches.
DASH Mini Maker
Pros
- Very compact
- Heats sandwiches at perfect temperature
Cons
- No power switch
- Fixed hinge
- Non-removable plates
The smallest one in our list, this sandwich press has a cooking area that measures four inches in diameter, so you’ll want to use breads that are less than four inches to fit flush inside the contact plates. It’s small enough, in fact, that you don’t even have to keep this in the kitchen, taking up very little room even if you put it on your desk, so you can heat up sandwiches in a pinch. Because of the fixed hinge, it doesn’t handle taller sandwiches properly, but it does heat up fast enough and cooks well – you just need to make sandwiches of a more reasonable size. We especially love it for cooking patties and sliced meats during snacks, as it’s the perfect size for single pieces, although it can definitely be frustrating using it if you need to make food for more than one person. More than anything, though, it’s the compact size that really sells this, since you can put it away in a corner of the drawer and even take it to work if you want hot sandwiches at the office.
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Holstein Houseware Electric Griddle
Pros
- Flat griddle surface offers a nice change of pace
- Floating hinge
- Great for cooking burgers and chicken breasts
Cons
- No power switch
- Non-removable plates
- Runs hotter than you’d probably expect for a sandwich press, so you’ll have to experiment a bit to find the right timing
They call it an electric griddle, rather than a panini press, to account for the flat contact surfaces on both top and bottom. Sure, it won’t give you the grill marks that some people like seeing in their paninis, but we actually do like the straightforward simplicity of the flat pates, which does the same heating function anyway. It has a pretty spacious cooking surface that measures 10.3 x 6.7 inches (width x depth), so you can use longer bread or press a pair of sandwiches at a time. At this price, we really appreciate that it has a floating hinge and even brushed stainless steel at the top, which really makes it feel much more premium. The only downside is it gets a bit hotter than we expected, so you might want to manually control the power (we use an extension with a switch, since there’s no power button) to heat up the sandwich without burning the bread.
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Proctor Silex Panini Press
Pros
- Floating hinge
- Stores upright
- Gets the basics right
Cons
- No power switch
- Non-removable plates
We’re impressed by how well-designed this seems for a very affordable panini press. It heats up fast and toasts sandwiches perfectly, with no danger of really burning the bread as with some similarly-priced presses we’ve tried (unless you leave it in way too long, of course). This one has a floating hinge that accommodates even taller sandwiches and the lid feels level, too, so it presses straight down the tallest point, while a drip tray keeps any oil from flowing out to the countertop. Other nice details include a lid latch that keeps it shut tight when not in use and the ability to store upright for maximizing storage room. We do wish they made the plates removable for easier cleaning, although wiping it down with some dish soap seemed to work well enough. Hopefully, it can stay that way going forward.
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Chefman Panini Press
Pros
- Floating hinge
- Perfect heat level
Cons
- No power switch
- Non-removable plates
Available in two-slice and four-slice sizes, this panini press works similarly to the previous entries, automatically heating up as soon as it’s plugged in, with indicator lights letting you know as soon as it’s fully preheated. It’s got some of the basic niceties, such as a floating hinge, a removable drip tray, and a cool-touch handle, which actually stays cool, allowing you to more easily press down on thicker sandwiches. The heat level is perfect for toasting sandwiches, never getting too hot that it will risk burning the bread, although the plates are still not removable, so you’ll have to wipe it down on spot after it cools later. We love the bigger size of the four-slice model, by the way, making it a better option since it’s only a few dollars more extra, especially if you have the room to accommodate it. The lid, by the way, can fold out flat all the way, allowing you to use it as a dual-plate contact grilling surface in a pinch.
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Hamilton Beach Panini Press with Locking Lid
Pros
- Floating hinge
- Presses sandwiches, tacos, and wraps well
- Wipes easily
- Lid folds flat outwards, so you can use it as a dual-surface contact grill
Cons
- No power switch
- Non-removable plates
Hamilton Beach actually makes a cheaper panini press with a slightly different design. We liked this one better, as it has a thicker lid, wider grips, and a floating hinge that feels properly leveled at most heights we tried. There’s also a lid lock, which the outfit recommends using when making open-faced sandwiches. Normally, we have a hard time using cheaper panini presses for wraps and tacos, as the cheesy fillings tend to melt sooner than the flatbread could toast, making for an absolute mess, but it worked well for the few times we tried with this one, which is pretty impressive. We also like the nonstick coating on this one, as it feels easier to clean than the other non-removable options we’ve used, requiring little more than a quick wipe to remove any oil and drippings most of the time.
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Breville Duo
Pros
- Excellent floating hinge design
- Height-lockable top plate
- Heats up fast
Cons
- No power switch
- Non-removable plates
- Can’t be used as a grill because of the flat bottom plate
Breville’s panini press is probably our favorite at the sub-$100 mark. It’s just got so many little details that really make using it more convenient. Instead of ribbed bottom and top plates, for instance, they made the bottom plate flat so it heats up faster and cooks more thoroughly, wile also keeping any drippings right on the plate to avoid mess on the counter. The floating hinge, on the other hand, can be adjusted using a switch on the side, allowing you to lock it in at four different heights, so you don’t have to press on the sandwich the whole time. It still doesn’t have a switch, so it just continually heats up as soon as you plug in, but it does maintain an excellent temperature for sandwiches, so you’re never at risk of burning up the bread too soon. Heck, they even threw in a cord wrap, so you can tidy it up when not in use.
- 1500 watt panini press with nonstick, scratch resistant Quantanium cooking surface
Cuisinart Griddler Five GR-5BP1
Pros
- Adjustable temperature and time
- Digital display
- Sear function for finishing up meats
- Removable and reversible plates, each with one ribbed side and one flat side
- Very versatile
Cons
- No locking lid, so you’ll have to press down on thick sandwiches
This panini press comes with adjustable temperature, allowing you to go from as low as 175 degrees to as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can heat up those sandwiches at any temperature you prefer, as well as adjustable timer, so you can set the time and leave it without worries of burning anything. It has reversible plates, with one side ribbed and one side flat, so you can use this to leave grill marks on your sandwich or brown the sides evenly, depending on what you like. Finally, it’s the one on the list with removable plates, allowing you to easily clean it in the sink (or even in the dishwasher). While it doesn’t have the adjustable height of Breville’s press above, it does do a few more things that make it that much more interesting as a countertop appliance. The top lid can fold out a full 180 degrees, by the way, making it usable as a dual-plate contact grill, a dual-plate griddle, or a grill-griddle combo, allowing you to cook a proper full meal on the darn thing, complete with a sear function to give meats that crispy finish. The LCD display, by the way, shows the current function, temperature, and timer settings.
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Cuisinart Elite Griddler
Pros
- Adjustable temperature, time, and function
- Lets you set different temperatures for top and bottom plates
- Reversible and removable plates
- Clear controls and versatile functions
Cons
- Big and heavy
- Overkill, if you just want a sandwich press
Similar to the Cuisinart model above, this next-level panini press comes with an LCD display and physical controls. This one, though, has more clearly-labeled knobs and buttons, so it’s simple and straightforward to use (we had to check the manual on the previous one). The floating hinge is heavy and very responsive, so it feels satisfying to press down on thick sandwiches, with no uneven pressure, so the sandwich is evenly cooked the whole time. It’s big and heavy, by the way, with enough room to accommodate up to four sandwiches, although it weighs a whopping 17 pounds, so it’s the kind of countertop appliance you’ll probably keep in the same place at all times.
Like the previous one, this has adjustable time, temperature, and function, allowing you to really control the cooking to your liking. It also has reversible plates (one flat, one ribbed) and a lid that can be folded out flat. Going one step further, though, this lets you set different temperatures for the top and bottom plates, so you can cook meats on one plate and veggies on the other perfectly.
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Breville Sear & Press Grill
Pros
- One-touch presets for sandwiches, burgers, and searing
- Adjustable lid height and angle
- Separate heat controls for top and bottom plates
- Versatile functions
Cons
- No timer
- Panini preset may be too high
- Waffle plates not included (but you can purchase separately)
This multi-function panini press has one-touch preset buttons for panini, burger, and sear functions, so you don’t have to fiddle with the settings too much if you just want to heat up a sandwich quickly. Do note, we found the panini preset a bit too high (your mileage may vary), so we still prefer going with the manual controls. Similar to Breville’s other panini press in the list, the lid is height-adjustable so you don’t have to manually press the whole time, with this one even letting you adjust the tilt angle for even greater control of your cooking. In case you want to do more elaborate cooking, the plates are reversible, with one flat and one ribbed side each, while the lid can fold flat outwards for use as an electric grill or griddle. Out front, it has two temperature knobs, one for the top plate and one for the bottom, allowing you to set each one separately for cooking different types of food. The only thing it doesn’t have is a timer, though, so you can’t just leave your food and expect it to switch off all on its own.
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