George Foreman grill morphs into a fryer

George Foreman, formerly the 'Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World', now successful entrepreneur, is promoting his new product, a fryer. Foreman, made iconic, due to beating Smoking Joe Frazier in two rounds, and losing the famous 'Rumble in the Jungle' against Mohammed Ali, reinvented himself in the 1990's as the promoter of a Teflon coated grilling appliance.

The grill was designed in a unique clamshell shape, and featured a slanted ridged grilling surface. The purpose of the slanted surface was to allow for the easy drain away of fats, enabling a healthier meal, which became a key marketing point. Since it's introduction in 1994, the grill has went on to sell eighty million units. This has resulted in Foreman making a cool one hundred and sixty million pound fortune from the venture.

The appliance is manufactured by Salton, Foreman's job is to promote the product. Due to the product baring his name, he does infact have a strangle hold over Salton. Few, if any celebrities have endorsed a product and received one hundred and sixty million dollars for it. But, there is the rub, without Foreman would the product even exist today? possibly not. To begin with the grill was only promoted on late night info-mercial in the US. It was the power of Foreman's personality, his likeability, warmth, trustworthiness and honesty which made the product sell.

Whilst the Foreman grill received a warm reception from most reviewers. Due to the price, build quality and assurances from Foreman about the health benefits of removing the fat, the Foreman fryer has left many people scratching their heads. To begin with, the deep fat fryer has always been one of the most unhealthy appliances in the kitchen. And secondly, how does Foreman/Salton expect to remove the fat from a fryer?

Well, with their patented Smart Spin™ technology, which aims to spin off 55% of the fat absorbed during the process of deep frying. A video of the fryer in motion can be viewed at the official site, link provided in the second paragraph of this page. Foreman also asserts you can keep the flavour, which is a dubious claim. It is gimmick?, some people believe so. Many chefs assert 'Fat equals Flavour'. And noted that the Foreman grill didn't remove the fat. It removed the meat juices, which in turn produces dryer and less flavoursome and nutritious meat.