With just two words and three syllables, Spanish senior Michelle Ruffini can express her opinion about one of the most-used cooking appliances in her household:

“It’s awesome.”

But she’s not talking about the oven, the stove, the toaster or the blender; even the microwave, the electric knife and the skillet can’t match the awesomeness of this machine.

It’s in at least 12 million homes, and more than 20 percent of those homes own more than one.

It debuted several years ago and has been a favorite among college students, middle-aged bachelors and elderly widows ever since.

Yes, it’s true - the George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine is a kitchen wonder, amazing chefs by cooking chicken, hamburgers, fish and vegetables with ease in a few quick minutes.

“It’s much better than the stove,” Ruffini said. “If I’m cooking (something) like chicken, I will definitely use it - I wouldn’t even think

of using the stove.”

With double grilling plates on floating hinges, the Foreman Grill looks much like a sleek and stylish waffle maker.

However, its main claim to fame is the patented grooves that allow grease to run off the food and into drip trays, producing healthier food and adding the “fat-reducing” adjective to the grill’s name.

The grill debuted in 1995, and several size variations have since been added to the Foreman Grill collection. Prices range from $20 to more than $100.

Ruffini received her Foreman Grill from her father, who had two of them - until he gave one to his daughter.

“He’s not much of a cook himself and I kind of just said I wanted it,” she explained. “We probably use it a few times a week. Besides just grilling on a barbecue, nothing is as good.”

In addition to having his face splashed all over TV infomercials and advertisements, George Foreman - the grill’s namesake and heavyweight world boxing champion - has profited big-time from the grill.

In December 1999, Salton, the grill’s manufacturer, agreed to pay Foreman a total of $137.5 million for his endorsement. In contrast, Michael Jordan only received $40 million from his 1998 contract with Nike.

Before the deal, Salton was paying Foreman - also a Christian preacher - costly 60 percent royalties.

“There was a (selling) peak, I would say probably a couple years ago,” said Johnny Jones, an executive team leader at Target, 4890 Marsh Road in Okemos. “Then everybody started carrying them. The market kind of got flooded.”

Other manufacturers, such as Hamilton Beach with its HealthSmart Contact Grill, have begun making their own Foreman Grill imitations, further flooding the market.

Jones said his store sells hundreds of the Foreman Grills per year, with sales peaking around major holidays.

“It’s a gift that everybody can appreciate,” he said. “They’re a great tool to have in the kitchen. Students and elderly people swear by them because they’re fat-free and quick.”

The grill is also very popular with students living in dorms as they tire of eating cafeteria food.

But if vigilant dorm directors catch the aroma of grilled food in the dorm hallways, students with grills may be in for trouble.

“Cooking equipment other than, like, a microwave oven is not allowed,” MSU Director of Housing Angela Brown said. “We don’t allow them because there is a potential for them to become a fire hazard.”

Though she said she doesn’t know of any fires that were caused by grills, she said “if any problems are brought to our attention, we will address those concerns with students individually.”

Officially allowed or not, students are supplementing dorm diets with grilled steak, chicken and salmon, cooked fresh on their own Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Machines.

“I don’t know if we’re necessarily allowed to have them, but I would recommend it,” kinesiology freshman and dorm resident Matt Cooper said.

Cooper said he received his grill from his parents as a Hanukkah gift and began grilling chicken and hamburgers after winter break.

“There was a period where we used it just about every day,” he said. “I still plan on using it, but we just don’t have any food right now to use it on. I’ll probably use it more when I go home.”

But, for Cooper, taste is the Foreman Grill’s main benefit:

“It has the barbecue taste without even having a barbecue.”