The Rival Company is a famous manufacturer that markets household appliances as well as industrial supplies. Being just a small part in several lines of products, the Rival griddle is well known as a reputed product that poses a challenge to other major brands.
Of the various different griddles of this brand, one design seems to be much better than others in almost any aspect.
Rival GRF405 Fold n Store Griddle
This nonstick unit is the improved version of the older model – the GRF400 Fold n Store appliance. The dual temperature control of the GRF405 model allows the user to cook different foods at the same time.
As its name suggests, it has a folding feature for easy storage. This is especially helpful when the space in the kitchen is limited and other big griddles that can’t be folded will make the storing much harder. This product is also quite cheap and the heat distribution is much better than in the previous design.
Other than the older Fold and Store model, none of the other Rival griddles have the convenient folding feature; neither do they produce similar results. Reviews of the remaining designs are listed ahead.
Rival GR201 20 Inch Cool Touch Griddle White
With a cooking surface that measures at 20.5 by 10.5 inches, this big electrical unit can take a lot of the kitchen’s space. Unlike the GRF405 fold and store product, this appliance can’t be folded for easy storage, and the grease has a tendency to overflow the groove.
The narrow drip groove can and probably will make the cleaning hard and the hollow legs that get filled with grease don’t really help the situation. Although this particular machine is very cheap, there are other Rival griddles to consider that would deliver much better results.
Rival GR225 10 by 20 Inch Electric Griddle with Removable Nonstick Plate
The GR225 unit also offers a big cooking surface of 20 by 10 inches. The removable nonstick plate of this kitchen item looks like a nice idea at a first glance, but the problem is that food tends to stick to the surface too often, not really something that you would expect from a ‘nonstick’ plate. The uneven heating of the surface doesn’t really contribute either. Overall, this appliance needs to go through some major improvements to make it a worthwhile purchase.
Rival GR250 20 by 10 Inch Digital Griddle
The digital Rival model has a large cooking surface and a removable plate. Before first use, you may be impressed from the size and controls of this particular design.
However, the cooking surface doesn’t prevent food from sticking to it and the heating mechanism seems to be too slow to keep up with the pace.
In order for a griddle to provide good results, it’s required to have even and continuous heating. Other electrical griddles can be considered as a better alternative to this digital unit, particularly the GRF405 Fold n Store product, that would deliver much better results, and at a cheaper price.
I too, bought the GR-825 model, and it is CRAP!! Everything does burn and stick to it no matter what the heat setting. I wasted twenty bucks and it is going into the trash as well…I will never buy a Rival product again, what crap!
I found the Rival griddle, model GR825, 20″ to be a total waste of hard earned cash. You can not control the temperature at all well and everything burns up. Very poor heat control. Griddle was bought from Walmart in Sept. 2011. Another product poorly designed and made in guess where – China! It is currently near the street for TRASH pickup tomorrow. Back to Presto we go. Thanks for the experience, Rival. Now I know.