Check out some of the best value commercial panini presses for cafes, restaurants, food trucks and more....
Weather you run a restaurant, café or food truck or food stall business commercial panini press grills are an important piece of catering equipment.
Not only can you make paninis but you can also serve a wide range of other popular food products such as gilled cheese sandwiches, vegetable, chicken breast, burgers and many more.
So what are the best commercial panini presses out there?
In the article I've put together 5 of the best commercial panini presses, ranging from the small to larger models to help you decide which is the right on for you.
Happybuy Commercial Sandwich Press Grill
(Best value)
Power: 1800 watts
Cooking area: 23cm x 23cm
Features:
Stainless steel/cast iron
Adjustable temperature control
Non-stick feet
Heat resistant handles
Pros:
Best value
Space saving
Cons:
Small cooking area
The Happy Buy commercial panini press is the best value buy in terms of price and performance of all the five models reviewed here.
It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but is made from good quality stainless steel and cast iron material, and has temperature control (the main things you need from a commercial panini press).
The main drawback with this model of commercial panini press is its at the small end in terms of surface space, which may become a issue when cook you need to cook multiple portions.
Cuisinart GR-150P1 GR-150 Griddler Deluxe
Power: 1800 watts
Cooking area: 30cm x 30cm
Features:
Six cooking options
Removable/reversible non-stick grill
Integrated drip tray
Dual-zone temperature control
Pros:
Easy to clean
Space saving
Modern design
Multiple cooking options
Cons:
Small cooking area
Moving up slightly in cooking area space is the Cuisinart GR-150P1 GR-150 Griddler Deluxe.
It has a modern and sleek design and a more generous grilling space at 30 cm x 30 cm which makes it easier to cook multiple portions of food.
One of the main features is that it has six cooking options which mean you can turn it into a full grill and griddle and cook a variety of foods (aside from grilled sandwiches or paninis), such as eggs, bacon or burgers.
However, despite having a slightly bigger cooking area than the Happy commercial grill this model is still at the smaller end.
Cuisinart Griddler Elite
Power: 1800 watts
Cooking area: 30cm x 30cm
Features:
LCD display
60-minute countdown timer
Six cooking options
Removable/reversible non-stick grill
Integrated drip tray
Dual-zone temperature control
Pros:
Multiple cooking functions
Space saving
Cons:
More expensive
The Cuisinart Griddler Elite is the upgraded model to the Cusisnart Deluxe and offers an range of extra features.
Aside from the having six cooking options it has a removable grill/griddle which makes it easily to clean, a 60 minute countdown timer for when your are keeping an eye on other things
It also has a integrated drip tray which helps to keep surfaces clean and free from grease.
The main drawback with this model is it is nearly 25% more expensive than the Deluxe model whilst offering the same cooking space.
In reality if you are only going to use this model for grilled cheese sandwiches or paninis then you can probably get by without the addition features.
Chef's Supreme - Commercial Panini Grill
Power: 2200 watts
Cooking area: 35cm x 22cm
Features:
Heatproof handles
Temperature control
Pros:
Large cooking area
Cons:
Lacks additional features
Grill plates not removable
The Chef's Supreme - Commercial Panini Grill is a pretty basic but well made bit of kit.
It offers slightly more cooking space width, than the other previous three panini presses on the list at 35cm and has temperature control for different food finishes.
However this model doesn't have any of the addition features you find with other commercial paninis presses on the list such as the two Cusinart products.
Happybuy Commercial Sandwich Panini Press Grill
(Best all-rounder)
Power: 2x 1800 watts
Cooking area: 48cm x 22cm
Features:
Stainless steel/cast iron
Adjustable temperature control
Non-stick feet
Heat resistant handles
Pros:
Best allrounder
Large cooking area
Cons:
Relatively more expensive
The Happy Commercial Sandwich Panini Press Grill is the bigger brother of the the first panini press on the list and is the best all-rounder.
It has the largest cooking area of all the other models (48 cm wide) because it has two separate presses in one unit and is made from commercial quality stainless steel and cast iron materials.
However this model is the most expensive on the list and you are really paying the extra price more for the additional cooking space rather than any extra features.
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Key takeaway
If you are on a tight budget I would recommend going for the 23cm x 23cm Happy Buy commercial panini press (best value).
For what you pay you get a well made pierce of commercial equipment at an affordable price. However, remember it does come with relatively small cooking area.
If on the other hand you have a higher budget I would suggest going for the larger 48cm Happy Buy (the best all-rounder).
It has all the same functionality and build quality but has a larger cooking area, which is important for building capacity.
Basically its better to have a commercial panini press that has extra space for more customers than not enough.
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