I have had five or six different electric sandwich makers over the years; some of them worked better than others but none of them worked perfectly. This Rival sandwich maker is a little better than others that they have had in the past; the coating seems to be a little better and less things stick to the inside of the cavities so you can use it for making French toast, stuffed sandwiches, pizza pockets and more with less of a chance of things sticking. This is something that needs to be cleaned completely when you are done with it; I made the mistake of leaving this on the counter after breakfast without cleaning it. I had to run to the store and what started out as a 45 minute trip turned in to four hours. When I got back there were some ants on the counter, no doubt they smelling the sugar and cinnamon from the French toast. Even if you clean it after using it, you need to check the sides of it to make sure that there's nothing on the sides or bottom of the sandwich maker. One of the things that I liked about this sandwich maker is that it was quick to heat up; I could plug it in and start prepping everything I was going to cook in it and it was always done heating up before I was done cutting, slicing or chopping up ingredients. I have made a lot of things in this sandwich maker including grilled cheese, ham and cheese, omelet triangles, frozen (defrosted) waffles and pancakes. The cord is short but that's a safety measure; I would never use this with an extension cord because it could increase the chance of someone tripping on the cord and causing burns. I made that mistake one time and one time only; I didn't have an available outlet where I was working in the kitchen so I used an extension cord. Someone walked into the kitchen and caught their foot on the cord and the sandwich maker got yanked off the counter; out of instinct I went to grab it when I saw it falling off the counter but caught myself at the last second. I could have ended up with serious burns to my hands and chest if I would have caught it. Durability With proper cleaning you can get years of service from this.

AlexFortune

Undisclosed

I bought this because when it is winter here it is very cold and my kids love to have a hot sandwich when they get home from school with a cup of soup. Since all of my kids are getting older, I thought this would be great to let them "cook" there own food without me having to worry too much about them turning on the burner on my stove and burning the house down. This is so easy for anyone to use and requires no real work other than putting all the ingredients together, shutting it, and well, then you just open it when it is done, pretty simple and even my 9 year old son likes to use it and make his own sandwich. The clean up on it is very easy as well, the non stock on it works great and makes it super easy, I just wait until it has cooled down and use a wet paper towel and wipe it out and then put it away, very simple! I love how fast it is too, it is so much easier than getting out a pan and turning on the stove, it makes making a sandwich a quick and easy process.

jbrown458

USA

This sandwich maker is really convenient to pull out and quickly make a delicious hot sandwich, it takes only a minute to heat up, and I usually only cook my sandwich in it for 2 minutes and it's always great! I only have really one negative thought on this sandwich maker and that's the fact that it is really difficult to clean. Performance It works so great, it heats up within just a minute, and once you put your sandwich in, it's done in 2 minutes or less. It always heats through the entire sandwich, not just one part and leaves the middle cold. Durability Very durable, I love how strong the clip that closes it up is, I've had it for a good while and have never worried that it may break or anything, it stays closed nicely and the entire thing is really durable as well. Ease of Cleaning This is the one part about the sandwich maker that I really do not like, it is so difficult to clean, there is no way to remove the plates and wash them I really wish they would make it so they could be removed but there are so many little crevices that are hard to get to it takes a good long while to clean. Ease of Use Very easy to use, all you do is make your sandwich, place it in between the two plates and push it closed and wait, that's it. Then, when your sandwich is done just slide it out and that's it!

sarahertzberger

USA

I love my Rival Sandwich Maker. It is so handy and you can make two sandwiches at the same time, which is great when you need to make several sandwiches to feed a large family. I really like the way it cuts each sandwich in half as it cooks, sealing the cheese inside each half. This little sandwich maker heats up quickly and evenly and since it has a non stick surface it is so easy to clean. Just quickly wipe it off after each use. And because it is so small, you can easily store it in a cabinet, or leave it on the counter because it looks so nice. And it is so easy to use! Just put a little butter on each slice of bread, add your cheese, ham or whatever you want in your sandwich and put it in the machine. As you close it, the heat seals the edges and you get a perfect sandwich! I also like the fact that it isn't expensive at all and it is available in most of the stores. So I highly recommend this product! I do own several indoor grills, but this is my go to grill for cheese sandwiches. I have gone through nearly every small grill out there in my search for the perfect grilled cheese sandwich maker.

Mishie01

La Rue, OH

I would only use this in a dorm. This is a very inexpensive product that makes a single sandwich that is good for students on a budget. It fitted nicely in my small but cramped dorm and was able to make decent sandwiches for my meals. This is a very budget item that has no temperature dials at all. You have to plug the device into the outlet to turn it on and then unplug it to turn it off. The non stick surface is actually decent quality and does not come off easily after multiple uses. Good value for the money and I only made grilled cheese sandwiches on it for breakfast. Sometimes it runs off though, so it might be a bit hard to clean. You can't make a highly stuffed sandwich, only a bare basic sandwich with a few ingredients. Don't expect much from this device, but it beats the alternative. Helped me avoid some ramen nights with a nice tasty alternative. Performance For the price, it does the job very well

nextgenkai

USA

I really have mixed feelings about this sandwich maker from Rival. It's alright, though I'm still not really sold on the face that it's easier or more convenient that just cooking up a grilled cheese in a pan on the stove. We recently went through a kitchen remodel and it was nice to be able to cook with all my little kitchen gadgets like this while my full kitchen was out of commission. I can imagine that if you don't always have a full kitchen at your disposal that this would be handy to have around, maybe for college students or something like that. For me, it's just normally not all that convenient. Ease of Cleaning The plates don't come out so cleaning is a bit of a pain. The cheese kind of squirts out of the sandwich while it's cooking and it inevitably gets in the the grooves at the hinges. It's a big pain to get it out. It would be a lot a easier to clean if the plates popped out. Ease of Use It serves it's intended purpose easily. I must not certain it's necessary.

jcaitlin221

Southfield, MI

The Rival Sandwich Maker DC-SWM169 did not win me over. In fact, it taught me a lesson. Try a product before you give it as a gift. I bought myself one of these, along with one each for my 3 sons as they have young families and I thought they would appreciate the easy of it for making grilled cheese sandwiches on a busy evening. Unfortunately I didn't try it until after I gave it to each of them. Not only did it burn the bread by the time the cheese melted, it also was very difficult to clean. The cheese leaked out and burnt also. I was not impressed. It is an inexpensive sandwich grill and that is exactly what you get for your money - cheap. I have had plenty of Rival products before and they have always been okay - not great - but useable. This product was not good and not convenient like I thought it would be. Clean up was tedious trying to get the burnt cheese off the grill plates.

sassey1111

Toledo, OH

I got this sandwich maker from Rival as a gift and was overall impressed by the performance of this product. The product is white in color and looks just prefect as a sandwich maker. The sandwiches are crisp and hot. I use it less often as I used to previously but still when I am in a mood of eating sandwiches, I take it out and make one sandwich and it makes them in minutes. I did not have to read the entire manual to learn how to use this product and it was very easy to use it. Sometimes, I do have to take more trouble making a grilled sandwich as the sandwiches get completely grilled after about 20 minutes. While using it, you need to be careful while opening it and taking out the sandwich as the product gets heated up fast and you need to wait for about three to four minutes till it cools down. I have used this sandwich maker for about two years and still it works perfectly. The price of this product is very reasonable and so I plan to buy another sandwich maker for my mother soon online.

bernadette2013

USA

I received this sandwich maker as a wedding gift. I was not quite sure if I would like it since I had never used one before, but I am definitely grateful to have it. Overall, it is a great product. It is extremely easy to use due to light indicators. A light turns red when the sandwich is not fully cooked, and then turns green when the sandwich is done. I also like that you can cook two sandwiches at a time. Our favorite sandwiches to cook with it are grilled cheese and peanut butter and jelly. We love how it slightly melts the peanut butter! The only downside of this product is cleaning it. Since you're not supposed to get the cord wet, it is somewhat difficult to fully scrub it without getting the cord wet. You are also supposed to spray it so the bread doesn't stick, and the nonstick spray tends to stain the top and bottom of the sandwich maker. The inside gets pretty clean, but I can't seem to get the exterior fully clean unless I use Goo Gone.

siddify

USA

This product is wonderful!! I have made numerous sandwiches with this product. I have made "pancake sandwiches", sausage and egg sandwiches, and anything else you can imagine. I think this product could be used to make about any sandwich in your dreams. I would definitely recommend this product to anybody. My friends and family are the ones who recommend it to me! Performance The performance is wonderful! It heats up wonderfully, and it cooks in little time. If you cook with cheese, it does not roll right out of the sides. The same can be said for sauces put into the sandwich. Durability I do believe that this product will be "alive" in our home for some time. The thing one complaint I have is that the "door" that you open for the sandwiches has came loose, but was put back on easily. Ease of Cleaning The ease of cleaning is very, very easy. I just take a paper towel and wipe all over the sandwich maker. The crumbs and all wipe off into the paper towel easily. Ease of Use The ease of use is great. Just plug it in and start "building" your own sandwich. I would definitely recommend this to somebody looking for a quick and easy warm sandwich.

loompick

USA