A couple of weeks ago we suddenly lost power in one section of the house.  After a bit of investigation, we discovered that one circuit had been tripped and it did not take long to locate the culprit – the sandwich maker.  Each time we plugged it in it tripped the circuit so we decided that after many years of faithful service it needed to go in the bin.

When an appliance ceases to work, it is a good time to review whether or not you really need to replace it.  Although we eat very little bread we decided that a replacement was necessary as we use this handy little appliance frequently.

The thing I cook most on it are these gluten-free buckwheat pancakes.  I find they cook much better on this surface than in a frying pan.  I also use it for tuna patties, vegie burgers and meat patties.

I did my research and decided on another Sunbeam Cafe Grill.  I like the floating handle which is hinged in the centre and allows the top to apply even pressure across the whole plate rather than being hinged at the back.

The new one is smaller than our previous one but that suits us.

I am looking forward to making some pancakes this weekend.