The George Foreman Lean Average Fat Reduction Grill Machine was a kitchen appliance that America didn't know it needed.
When it arrived in the mid-1990s, the Food Network and Food Blog were just born. Martha Stewart redefines the house with entertainment, while Richard Simmons made low fat fun. Salsa was out for the first time in ketchup. This reflects the country's changing demographics and the burgeoning interest in food and cooking.
After leaving boxing and becoming an evangelical preacher, Foreman made money as a pitchman for Doritos and mufflers. He wasn't an immediate conversion to the grill. The early models that Salton's company shipped him were not used until his wife Mary pulled it out and made a burger in search of a spokesman.
Foreman agreed that Salton, the maker of a juice extractor and pasta maker, would slap his name on the grill, selling $5 million worth by 1996. The company continues to sell more than 100 million electronics.
George Foreman Grill injected himself into every layer of society. It turned into a star on the dorm staple food and late night television. The chef at a vast tavern in Green, New York, will set up one near the dining room to quickly grill tuna steaks for Salado Nissoise. Queens tough, hot topic newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin put one at the counter in his New York apartment and raved about it to visitors.
Foreman, who passed away Friday at the age of 76, provided the magic Salton needed to sell his recent acquisition. I held the beef patty along with a floating hinge that was able to close and cook in about 2 minutes on a countertop appliance with two non-stick metal grill plates.
And here is the real innovation: the grooved grill surface was pitched 20 degrees, so the fat is drained from the meat into a small plastic tray.
Low-fat foods have become extremely popular with a new appreciation for the food, especially for the generation that started to put small grills in tots in dorm rooms and first apartments.
Georgia politician Terri Anurewitz was among them. Like countless young people just starting out on their own, she received George Foreman as a gift. In her first Atlanta apartment with no vent food or dishwasher, she pushed countless chicken breasts coated with Paul Prudom's meat magic between those metal plates.
“I was a young woman,” she said. “I always read cooking light and I knew that boneless, skinless chicken breasts were sitting at the top of the food pyramid for young women on a non-profit salary.”
George Foreman also had a macho charm. It was also a man in the grill cliches, but also a gateway appliance for young men looking to join the food revolution gaining traction.
The grill was also practical for vegetarians who discovered that vegetarian burgers in the 1990s had been prevented from collapsing.
But his success in his runaway performance is a heavyweight champion with the world's grinning, dressed in an apron and tie. The infomercial was the perfect tool for Foreman, who had to mix the charisma of a preacher with the needs of a shy man, and who needed to make money with international fame to create a hit.
“You get all the flavor and knock out the fat,” he said. “Tell them that the King of Grill sent you.”
Celebrity chef Bobby Frey began watching boxing as a child during the golden age of heavyweight matches. He remembers it was a revelation that the boxing champion could become the face of the grill.
“It didn't make any sense except that it made perfect sense,” Frey said in an interview on Saturday. “His personality was incredibly infectious.”
The grill itself was also quite original. “It was really the first American version of the Panini Machine,” he said.
Line extensions follow, including cookbooks, versions just for quesadillas, and grills with warm, colorful plastic domes. Foreman and his partners sold slices of the business in 1999 for an estimated $137.5 million.
The cultural cache on the grill stands up. Writer, actor and producer Mindy Kaling became the star of the 2006 episode of “The Office.” The nasty hero, Michael Scott, burns his legs with what he placed next to his bed, allowing him to make bacon more efficiently for breakfast.
Fancier appliance manufacturers are currently selling a version that costs nearly $200. The George Foreman Grill Company also produces smoke-free, diving, or designed models to grill 15 burgers outdoors.
However, the 1995 model is still classic. It can be seen at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History near the first microwave, rival crockpot and the full kitchen of Julia Child.
