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I'm looking to find a stovetop sandwich maker that seals the sides and bisects them into two triangles (possibly called "jaffles"1). We used to have a countertop sandwich maker that looked quite a bit like the Cuisinart Sandwich Grill, but I'm unsure of what brand we had, as most all the models look pretty much like this:

Cuisinart Sandwich Grill, slightly open to show the triangle grill pattern

Regardless of the brand, there are a couple of issues with this design, and I'd like to avoid getting another one. Specifically:

  • When oil/butter/cheese overflows, it's near impossible to get the grease out of the seams. This happens fairly regularly, as there's a very narrow window between "unsatisfying lack of cheesy goodness" and "that's going to be difficult to clean".
  • The handle is quite short and doesn't provide much leverage, so they can be difficult to close (particularly when you misjudge the amount of cheese and go over a bit, as noted above).
  • They don't disassemble, are heavy, and can't be submerged in liquid, so even routine cleaning is really awkward2.
  • They have a plastic body which is both slippery and can be a bit fragile3.

I'm looking for an alternative that's durable, easy to clean, and provides a bit more leverage.

I've seen cast metal (usually iron, occasionally aluminum) sandwich grills designed for campfires, just none that have the bisect and seal griddle pattern. They're pretty close to what I'm looking for, though the handles look a bit thin so I don't know how well the ones I've seen would handle the pressure needed to seal the sides. This one is pretty representative of what I've seen on Amazon.

I've also seen cast iron waffle irons that look just about perfect (if they had the right griddle pattern). They're plenty durable, and look to detach quickly for preheating and cleaning. This one is pretty representative of what I've seen on Amazon.

I'm hoping I'm just a missing search term away from finding what I need.

  1. These might be a subtype of Jaffle, but it seems like a broader term and I'm not Australian so I'm a little hazy on the nuances.

2 + 3. Tangentially, the combination of these two issues is why we don't still have our old one. It slipped and fell while being washed, which cracked the case and prevented it from closing.

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    Not the same, but I found this. When I was a child many many years ago we had something similar like this one. I've no affiliation with these products/manufacturers. Just found them on amazon.
    – Billy Kerr
    Dec 19, 2022 at 11:20
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    We call these kinds of sealed toasted sandwiches "toasties" here in the UK, so that's one term you could try in your searches. I've also heard the term "pie iron" for the kind used on a stove/camp fire, because you can use them to make pies.
    – Billy Kerr
    Dec 19, 2022 at 11:25
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    If you were around in the UK in the 80s, it would have been a Breville. They were synonymous at the time. People even called the sandwiches breville sandwiches, it needed no further clarification. It was like 'all vacuum cleaners are hoovers'. This was, of course, back in the days no-one had heard of panninis. These days I make cheese toasties in the 'George', which come out halfway between 'breville' & pannini, due to buttering the outside, compulsory for a breville toastie.
    – Tetsujin
    Dec 19, 2022 at 17:23
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    @Morgen I think it should work, maybe with the disadvantage of a more difficult temperature control/"first pancake" phenomenon. But I have two waffle irons, a cast iron one and an electric one, and stopped using the cast iron one exactly because it is much more difficult to clean. Plus, when the gunk leaks, it will leak onto the drip plate of your stove, which will have to be cleaned extra - the electric thing can be simply placed on a small baking sheet that goes into the dishwasher.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Dec 19, 2022 at 18:10
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    Not quite the same, but you can get Teflon bags/pouches just large enough for a cheese sandwich to fit nicely in an ordinary toaster. These are much quicker to use and have far less mess than a sandwich toaster, and give reasonably good toasties (though the inside won't be quite as well done unless you risk burning the outside). You'd think all the cheese would fall down and pool at the bottom, but I've had few problems with that. Search for ‘toast’/‘toaster’ and ‘bag’/‘pouch’.
    – gidds
    Dec 21, 2022 at 20:36

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