Calphalon Grill Pan Question

[ellen6242]

I've been wanting to buy a Calphalon grill pan for a long time and I just bought the 11" square pan with 4 skewers on ebay. It's on its way to me right now. I went to Amazon and looked at the pan and the reviews are horrendous. The reviewers all say the finish is terrible, and it's impossible to clean. That'll teach me to buy before researching! I was wondering if any of you have this pan and what your comments are. It wasn't expensive ~ $29.99 ~ but I hate to think that I wasted my money.

Thanks!

Ellen

[lorilei]

We have a great time using our grill pan. I also got mine for $29.99, and I think it's money well-spent. We can now make grilled chicken and burgers in the hosue in the winter. And it makes great panini sandwiches (which amuses my husband to no end).

We don't find it hard to clean (especially now that the alumninum has been well used and there's a slight patina). I mean, it's a bit tricky to get the pan spotless with all the ridges -- but I'd venture a guess that that would be an issue with ANY grill pan. And I don't mind putting in a little bit of elbow grease for the convenience of having a fast-heating, high quality pan.

[linsleyd]

I love mine as well and I don't think it's difficult to clean at all. Use the scotch brite plain thin green scouring pad things, cleans up like a peach.

[Sami]

I have one and I hate cleaning it. When i sold the condo in VT I took home the Cuisinart non stick grill pan which cleans up in a breeze.
You might not mind the cleaning, but I found that even scrubbing with the Caphalon cleaner took a lot of elbow grease.

Sami

[blazedog]

You need to be careful about buying some of the pans on EBAY because I'm finding Calphalon and some others greatly discounted in the local stores.

That said, I am convinced that there are different grades of Calphalon even when they are called the same thing. I needed a sauce pan and happened to be in Marshalls and bought a Calphalon SS 4 quart for what I thought was a good price. However, the handle is REALLY terrible - instead of solid construction like the other good pans I have, it's got a seam underneath which makes it very uncomfortable to lift. I just didn't focus on this when I was buying it -- couldn't figure out why I didn't like the pan until I dissected the difference between its handle and my other Calphalon handles.