I love the concept of grilling indoors. However when using this as a fat reducing form of cooking and having visually appealing food you run into some complications like bits of food getting between the crevices of the grill slates. For most people who enjoy their home cooked food things like seasonings come into play. You can expect most of your seasonings or little pieces of vegetables that break up when the vegetables welt at the bottom of those slates getting burnt and creating smoke. I turn down the heat because the cast iron retains heat so well and disperses the heat evenly which I like about the skillet.

When I was a grill cook there was a trick to nice lines and non-stick, which was to roll/fold up a towel, clamp it down with tongs, soak it in oil and apply it to the grill. With the oil spread lightly the method works pretty well except most of the oil ends up in the crevices and the tops of the slates grab a bunch of seasoning or pieces of meat. Also, for people who know what happens when you leave a pan on the stove with hot oil in it, it creates smoke. The kitchen's stove blower isn't as strong like the heavy duty hoods in a restaurant, which means your smoke detector will go off and if you're like me in an apartment the smoke fills up the room.

Finally, like other reviews have said, clean-up sucks.

P.S. For those who are looking for alternatives, I'm waiting for this Sanyo HPS-SG3 I just bought from Amazon and will update my post on the results of success or failure.

Fantastic piece, fish or steak, works great! What else can I say it a Le Creuset!!!

This pan is awesome! We love to bbq outside but in NY cold weather it's not always possible. It tells you to spray it with cooking spray before cooking so I haven't found clean up to be a problem.( even with bbq sauce!) I would never cook a flaky fish or anything that could break apart, it's got ridges. Steaks, burgers,pork chops, chicken, veggies-grill marks and all, it's an indoor bbq and the oblong shape is perfect. it holds a lot. Gets real hot ( gas stove ), heats evenly, perfect!

This is a great pan for grilling meats.....We love it...However, it is a pain to clean up.....

This is the second grill pan in my cooking arsenal. I picked it up during a deal-of-the-day promotion at Amazon, and was anxious to try it out. I was impressed with the way it performed during our first cooking session together, but when it came time to clean the pan - egads. It's a nightmare! Food sticks, bakes right on and refuses to let go. I did some research on cleaning options, read reviews, tried different cooking, seasoning, and cleaning methods, hoping to come up with a method that would allow me to cook chicken or a burger without having charred remains in the pan, but frankly, it just isn't worth the effort. Nothing makes much difference. I've greased the pan with Pam, brushed it with oil, used it dry, seared hot, started up cold - I've soaked in hot water, cold water, baking soda and water - I've soaked for hours, overnight, 24 hours! I am sorry I spent 39.00 on this pan - knowing what I know now, I wouldn't spend 3.90 on it. I won't even donate it to our local thrift shop - why punish thrift shoppers with this albatross? It'll make a lovely doorstop, and for that I give it one star!