Tefal OptiGrill XL GC722D

An OptiGrill+ XL That Tefal No Longer Sells Itself

The GC722D is a contact grill: the food lies between two heated plates, and the upper one folds down over it. At Tefal it is called the OptiGrill+ XL GC722D, and the reference is GC722D16. It draws 2,000 W and grills on 40 x 20 cm, which is 800 cm².

What we mean here is the silver basic version with a stainless steel housing, without a baking tray: Amazon lists the offer with part number 3016661146565, and at Tefal Germany that is the EAN of item 7211002208. Our product image shows it the same way, closed, with the button strip at the front and a booklet with an OptiGrill logo next to it.

You can no longer get it from Tefal itself. On 1 October 2026, the product page redirected to a spare parts page in the accessories shop, and the appliance could not be ordered there. Under the same name, Tefal had listed only the GC728D with a price on that day, which the manufacturer does not explicitly call a successor. It cost €169.99, and a pair of kitchen tongs is included in the box.

In our price box, the GC722D is at Amazon for approx. €130 (as of 1 October 2026). In our Electric grills category, it gets a 9.0 from us.

Plates, Housing, Control Panel

Grilling takes place on ribbed die-cast aluminium plates with a PTFE non-stick coating. Both can be removed. Tefal has tilted them by 7° so that fat runs off; it collects in a drip tray that, according to the manual, sits at the front of the appliance. The body is stainless steel, the handle thermoplastic.

According to the manual, the control panel consists of six elements: on/off switch, button for the frozen food mode (it carries a snowflake), buttons for the grilling programmes, button for the manual mode with four temperature settings, OK button and doneness indicator. The indicator is a round colour ring, on our photo at the right end of the strip. You can replace the coloured sticker on it depending on the language.

In the Tefal data sheet, five features are explicitly marked No: digital display, grill boost function, detachable cable, safety edge and tabletop grill function. You are not allowed to operate it open anyway, as the manual forbids heating and cooking in the “grill open” position. The permanently attached power cable measures 0.8 m. Tefal counts the appliance, a juice collection tray, a recipe book, the instructions for use and a Quick Start Guide as part of the delivery.

These details are missing at Tefal, on the product page as well as in the manual:

• Height of the opened grill and minimum distances in centimetres to a wall, curtain or furniture
• Voltage and frequency; the manual refers to the information on the underside of the appliance
• Temperatures in the automatic programmes, plus the number, position and output of the heating elements
• How the thickness measurement works, how accurate it is and which piece the indicator follows when thick and thin pieces lie next to each other
• Cooking times for individual foods, including in the frozen mode
• What the advertising claim “44% less fat” refers to; the asterisk for it is not resolved on the page
• Country of manufacture and year of market launch
• Volume of the signal tones and whether they can be switched off outside the keep-warm phase
• An app connection
• Material of the drip tray and control panel
• An RRP for the GC722D, plus prices for the black replacement plates and the snack and baking accessory XA7268
• Power consumption per grilling session in kWh
• Which of the two upper plates belongs to which customer service reference (79A or 79B)
• Technical values for the black GC722834

In Detail: What the Automatic Sensor Measures

Every round begins with preheating. You check that the upper and lower plates are seated correctly, unwind the cable fully, plug in and select the programme. According to the manual, preheating takes four to seven minutes, during which the indicator flashes purple, and an audible signal announces the end.

Then you open the grill fully, put the food on and close it. If you open it only halfway, it will not start, as the error table says. And if you put food in without having preheated, you end up in manual mode automatically.

From the moment you close it, the automatic mode takes over. According to Tefal, the GC722D detects the number of pieces placed on it and their thickness and then regulates temperature and cooking time; Tefal speaks of a patented technology. Because a heating plate sits against the food from above and below, it cooks from both sides at once. You do not have to turn anything. For the best results, the grill should stay closed and the food should stay put in the meantime, according to the manual.

The colour ring shows the progress: blue and then green at the start of cooking, yellow for rare, orange for medium, red for well done. The appliance beeps at each level. If you like your meat very rare, you take it out at green, according to the manual.

Even with mixed rounds, the colour ring shows only one status: the manual describes a single indicator for the whole grilling process. If one steak should be rare and the one next to it well done, you open at yellow, take out the first and close the grill again. The programme keeps running until it reaches the well done level.

Thickness sets two limits. Above 4 cm nothing works, as the safety system then prevents the start. Below 4 mm, for example with bacon slices, the sensor does not detect the food, according to the Tefal FAQ. Then, according to the manual, the OK button flashes, the indicator glows steady purple, and you start it yourself with a press of OK. The manual admits that the results of the programmes vary depending on origin, cut and quality; Tefal has calibrated them for good-quality food.

In the German manual, the nine programmes are called Burger, Red meat, Panini/Sandwich, Sausages/Lamb, Fish, Poultry, Seafood, Pork and Bacon. Three of them are missing from the OptiGrill+ with its six programmes; according to Tefal UK they are Sandwich, Seafood and Pork. How far a programme goes is stated in the manual’s grilling guide. Red meat and Burger run through rare and medium to well done, Fish through lightly grilled and medium to well done. Panini/Sandwich has lightly grilled, browned and crispy, Bacon lightly grilled and well done, Seafood medium and well done. Poultry, Sausages/Lamb and Pork have only one level, cooked, shown in red.

With the Burger programme, rare is therefore also available. For burgers, Tefal in Great Britain nevertheless recommends cooking them through for food safety reasons, because there is a risk of bacteria with rare or medium. What core temperature minced meat has to reach is explained in our guide Grilling burgers.

You tell the GC722D yourself that food is frozen. You press the snowflake button before selecting the programme; in the German product text, Tefal describes this as a mode for thawing frozen food. According to the Tefal FAQ, you cannot use this setting in manual mode, because the cooking sensors are not active there.

Is One Plate Load Enough for Six People?

According to both of Tefal’s statements, yes, but the more cautious one also marks the limit. The product text speaks of 6 to 8 people, the feature table on the same page of up to 6. Tefal leaves open how many steaks or burgers fit on the plates at the same time. With eight people, we expect two rounds.

Compared with the OptiGrill and OptiGrill+, Tefal advertises 33% more surface. According to Tefal’s data sheets, their plates measure 30 x 20 cm, so 600 cm², while on the XL one side is 10 cm longer. An open grill trolley such as the Landmann EG-II-590 has considerably more space: according to Landmann, its grate measures 59 x 40.5 cm, which makes it almost three times as large.

What comes after the first round is regulated precisely by the manual. For every new grilling session, you preheat again, even if the same food follows, and select the programme again. You do not have to switch the appliance off in between, and preheating is shorter straight afterwards.

What Else Is Worth Considering?

The prices are guide values from the price boxes of our reviews and change. The rating is our editorial assessment based on the data comparison; we have not grilled with or measured any of the four appliances. The technical details for the Tefal models come from Tefal’s data sets, those for the Landmann from its manual.

When the GC722D Fits and When Another Grill Does

The place of use decides first. The German safety sheet for the OptiGrill, which Tefal links on the GC722D page, says literally: “Verwenden sie [sic] das Gerät nicht im Freien” (do not use the appliance outdoors). The English version of the manual restricts it to indoor household use, and Amazon lists it as an indoor grill. The German product text, on the other hand, says the on/off switch and automatic shut-off ensure grilling fun “whether indoors or outdoors”, and the point is missing in the German part of the manual. We stick with the safety sheet. That rules out the GC722D for balcony and terrace, even though our guide Grilling on a balcony otherwise ranks electric grills there as the choice with the least conflict.

According to Landmann, the Landmann EG-II-590 is intended for outdoor use. According to the manual, the trolley is 121.5 cm wide, nothing flammable may stand within 60 cm, and it is connected to an earthed socket behind an RCD with 30 mA at most.

Indoors, the footprint counts. Tefal gives only packaging values for this; Amazon’s catalogue lists approx. 44.5 cm width, approx. 36.5 cm depth, approx. 17.5 cm height and approx. 5.2 kg for the appliance. With the short cable, the earthed socket must be close to where you put it. If you use an extension, the cable must, according to the manual, have at least the same cross-section and an earth connection, and it must not obstruct anyone.

At the 230 V usual in Germany, the GC722D draws just under 8.7 A at full load in calculation. If a 2,000 W kettle runs at the same time on the same 16 A circuit, the two come to around 4,000 W and thus exceed the 3,680 W for which such a circuit is designed.

For the Elite XL from the table, Tefal gives 2,000 to 2,200 W. The same calculation applies to the circuit there, just with up to 200 W more. Its countdown belongs to a grilling assistant that, according to Tefal, guides you step by step through the grilling process.

You do not have to reach for the XL because of the frozen food mode. The smaller Tefal OptiGrill GC702D also has such a mode: Tefal Switzerland describes the GC702 with six programmes and a cooking mode for frozen food. According to the Amazon catalogue, however, the Amazon offer in that review belongs to the GC705D. For it, Tefal Germany gives 600 cm², six programmes without seafood, pork and bacon, a manual mode with only one temperature and room for up to four people.

For beef chops thicker than the limit from the detail chapter, we would reach for an open grate, because the GC722D does not start with such pieces.

Accessories and Spare Parts

Tefal links three accessories to the GC722D. According to Tefal, the XL baking tray XA727810 is intended for OptiGrill+ XL and OptiGrill Elite XL and is supposed to turn both into an oven; in the Tefal shop it cost €59.99 on 1 October 2026 against an RRP of €84.99. The plancha plates XA7298 are flat plates for the OptiGrill+ XL, developed according to Tefal for delicate ingredients such as fish, vegetables or seafood; on the same day they were in the shop for €98.99 (RRP €99.99). The third item is the snack and baking accessory OptiGrill XL XA7268.

The manual rules out third-party accessories. You use only accessories that are supplied or bought from an authorised customer service point, not together with other appliances, and you use the plates only in the appliance they are intended for, so for example not in the oven, on a gas hob or on an electric hotplate.

Tefal sells spare parts individually in the accessories shop. On 1 October 2026, the lower plate TS-01041611 was there for €15.99, the juice collection tray TS-01041550 for €4.99 and two feet TS-01039530 for €2.99. For the top, two plates are available: the upper plate TS-01041601 for €15.99, not in stock that day, and the upper cooking plate TS-01041602 for €31.40, in stock. Tefal has stored two customer service references for the GC722D, GC722D16/79A and GC722D16/79B. Before ordering, ask customer service with the reference of your appliance which upper plate fits. Two black plates are also linked, TS-01041600 for the top and TS-01041610 for the bottom.

Over the longer term, the status that Tefal’s data set assigns to the GC722D counts: repairable for 15 years. According to Tefal itself, since 1 January 2022 it has extended the availability of spare parts at a fair price from 10 to 15 years, also for products that are still in production, and stocks parts for discontinued products as well. As a repair network, Tefal names more than 6,200 authorised repairers.

Cleaning, Care and Safety According to the Manual

Before the first grilling, you wash the plates thoroughly with warm water and a little washing-up liquid, rinse and dry them. Then, according to the safety instructions, you spread a little oil on them and rub them down with a soft cloth. Before preheating, you may also wipe the plates with a paper towel dipped in cooking oil to improve the non-stick effect; you wipe off excess oil.

After grilling, you switch off at the on/off switch, pull out the plug and let the appliance cool for at least two hours. That is what the manual and safety sheet say; the Tefal FAQ, by contrast, gives approx. 45 minutes. We advise the two hours.

Then you release the plates. They and the drip tray may go in the dishwasher, the appliance and its power cable may not. By hand, you wash the plates with warm water and a little washing-up liquid, rinse thoroughly and dry them with a paper towel. You empty the drip tray, wash it the same way and dry it with paper. Metal scourers, steel wool and abrasive cleaners are off limits for every part of the grill; nylon or non-metallic pads are allowed. According to the Tefal FAQ, you loosen coarse residues with a wooden or plastic spatula; abrasive cleaners and cleaners containing alcohol or petrol are out of the question.

You do not clean the heating elements that are exposed once the plates are removed. If they are very dirty, you wait until the appliance has cooled down completely and wipe them with a dry cloth.

You wipe the grill cover clean with a warm, wet sponge and dry it with a soft, dry cloth. According to the safety sheet, the control panel is fragile and gets only a dry, soft cloth, not a damp sponge, because that can impair its functions. You never immerse the main unit in water or other liquids. The grill is only put away clean and dry, in a dry place. You leave all other maintenance work to an authorised customer service.

When grilling, you protect the coating with a plastic or wooden turner, do not cut on the plates and do not place any cooking utensils on them. Aluminium foil or other objects go neither between plates and food nor between plates and heating elements, you do not cook in foil at all, and nothing is flambéed on the appliance. The fat collection tray stays in during cooking; if it fills up, you first let the appliance cool and then empty it. You do not run the grill empty and do not heat it longer than the stated preheating time, so that the non-stick coating lasts. You do not move hot plates, and you neither put them under water nor on a fragile surface. According to the safety sheet, meat with skin such as whole sausages or poultry and large pieces of meat can spit out oil or liquid, so Tefal recommends piercing them beforehand with a knife or fork.

These rules from the safety sheet apply when setting it up:

• Not in a corner or against a wall, to avoid overheating
• Not under a piece of furniture fixed to a wall or shelf and not next to flammable materials such as blinds, curtains or drapes
• Not directly on a sensitive surface such as a glass table, tablecloth or varnished furniture and not on a soft base such as a tea towel
• Not on or next to slippery or hot surfaces, and the cable does not hang over a heat source such as a hotplate or gas hob
• Check before use that the appliance stands securely

According to the manual, the grill always stands freely during operation, and both documents require that it is never left unattended while in use. An external timer or remote control is not intended, charcoal or similar fuels are excluded, and the appliance stays plugged in only while you are using it. It is never transported hot or while in operation, and never carried by the handle or the cable.

According to the safety sheet, you inspect the power cable regularly for damage. If it is damaged, the appliance must not be used, and for safety reasons only the manufacturer, its customer service or a person with comparable qualifications may replace the cable. Damaged cooking plates must not be used either. One further point is explicitly marked as a warning: without the 2 plates, the appliance must be neither operated nor preheated.

If the grill catches fire, you do not extinguish it with water according to the manual, but pull the mains plug and smother the flames with a damp cloth. You cool a burn immediately with cold water and call a doctor if necessary.

Who Is It For?

Tefal intends the GC722D exclusively for household use. The manual lists four cases in which it must on no account be used and which are also excluded from the warranty: staff kitchen areas in shops and offices and other commercial settings, farm houses, accommodation and other catering and hotel businesses for their guests, and guest houses and private accommodation. The warranty page of tefal.de provides generally one year for commercial purposes, whereas the manual excludes these four cases from the warranty. Tefal does not say which statement applies; we would not rely on any warranty there. If you rent out a holiday flat or are buying for the office kitchenette, you are reaching for the wrong appliance.

The GC722D is intended for the private household, and there the manual draws the line at 8 years. Children from this age and people with reduced physical, sensory or mental abilities or with a lack of experience or knowledge may use the appliance if they are supervised or have been instructed in safe use and understand the hazards involved. Children may clean and maintain it only if they are over 8 years old and supervised. You keep the appliance and cable out of the reach of younger children, the grill is always set up out of the reach of children, and no child may play with it.

For bird keepers, the manual recommends housing the animals out of the reach of the appliance, because grill fumes can be dangerous for animals with a sensitive respiratory system.