I gave up and purchased the nonstick one, which I love. It's easy to clean and more reactive to the heat than the granite. Kids still love doing raclette.

Does it leak at all?

We broke out the raclette last night. Any updates on cleaning this? I'm tempted to buy the nonstick top now.

If I buy an extra to put away for later use, should I season it first? I'm wondering if the carbon steel will hold up if I do nothing and just store it in the original box?

Other than the cleaning part, I love the granite! There were some raclette videos online that I watched and the stone grill that the demonstrator was using looked awful. You can read the other board that I started here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/1000...

I contacted Swissmar. If I hear back from them I will let you know...

Swissaire,

May I ask how you get your granite cooktop clean? I just started a discussion on this. After our first use, we let the granite cool, and we had a hard time getting the stains off. I tried baking soda and vinegar too and it helped, but not completely. Any advice would be appreciated!

What do you serve with your raclette? I'm assuming a baguette, but any charcuterie or cooked sausages?

Also how do you currently clean the boska?

Looks like there is no drip tray if you were to do meat on here.

Do you think it would cook meat? I would love to get one for a smaller group.

By the way, the Swissmar granite cooktop gets very hot and keeps its temperature, which is very nice. I bought the Raclette cheese at Whole Foods and it was delicious. Trader Joe's cheese seems to be gone for the season.

Some people put sausages or charcuterie on top. Swissmar has a recipe for making crepes on top. Seems like a multi-use grill.

Here is the link to the product. Lots of reviewers say the used one like this in Germany.
http://www.amazon.com/Swissmar-KF-770...

Sirrith is correct...usually small pieces of raw meat and veggies can be cooked on the top part, the granite or nonstick grill, while cheese is melted in pans underneath and served on bread or potatoes. Doesn't the boska have a heating element underneath?

Thank you. Looks like the perfect grill for a small party or appetizers. I like that the Swissmar serves 8 people and thought the granite would be a healthy alternative to nonstick.

The "problem" is that there is burnt on food that I can't get off, and I'm definitely not worried about "bugs." My pizza stone is disgusting too, but when you are having guests over to sit around a Raclette grill you don't want to start out with a surface that you could not get clean.

If you read the reviews of this product on Amazon, most reviewers claim that this is an easy product to clean, so I'm looking for advice out there...

I never got around to ordering a wok lid. I'm not sure that the Wok Shop flat top lid with the wooden handle is the same as the one at WS. toddster63 says the Wokshop's are made by Atlas in the U.S. and WS's product page says "made in China". Looks like there is a coupon on the WS site today...

Did you order the 14 inch?

Yours are definitely more rustic and hand-made looking than mine. I will post a picture tomorrow if I can get it to work...

I went to Grace Young's FB page and the picture of his woks show a more rustic looking screw that holds the wok handles on than the one from WS. The screws on the one I received from WS are highly polished and more refined looking. Interesting.

WS does not seem to sell a lid for the artisan wok. Any recommendations? BB&B has a domed one. Looks enameled.

Thanks, We have an Hmart nearby. I should be able to find something there.

I can't believe how beautifully mine seasoned after only two rounds in the oven with peanut oil. Not sure what to try next. Perhaps some Chinese chives?

Scrubber for woks...

Do either of these take the seasoning off?

What kind of scrubber does everyone use?

I took it out of the oven, let it cool, rinsed with hot water and dried with paper towel and no black stuff came off. I then heated on the stove as the wokshop suggested to get it fully dry. Just oiled it with paper towels for the second time and only a hint of black stuff was on the paper towel.
I put it back into the 450 oven for another 20 minutes. Perhaps I should have used the steel wool to begin with as you suggested. Not sure if I should go back and bother at this point.

I was afraid to use anything abrasive since it warned against it. Is it okay that started to do the oil seasoning without getting all of that black stuff off?