The Best Electric Griddles

This model includes preset temperature options (low, medium, and high) as well as a custom temperature setting that allows adjustment from 250 to 500 degrees in 5-degree increments. Pancakes came out nice and golden brown, while burgers also cooked evenly. We appreciated the model’s helpful interface. During operation, the digital display prompts the user to close the lid while preheating and shows “PREHEAT” in orange as the unit heats. Blinking bars on the display increase to indicate rising temperature, and once preheating is complete, the unit beeps and the display reads “ADD FOOD.” After the unit is powered off, the display continues to read “HOT,” providing a visual safety indicator until the appliance cools down. The nonstick-coated griddle plate is removable, making cleanup a breeze. The unit lacks nonslip feet, which meant it sometimes slid around on the countertop during use. We also wished the model had a larger grease tray. It’s very shallow and should be emptied between uses.

Like most electric griddles, this model does not feature a removable plate. It was one of only two we tested with a nearly square design. Despite its one-piece construction, the griddle is dishwasher-safe and can be fully submerged once the heat control unit is removed. It was easy to hand-wash, even after cooking messier foods such as hamburgers, and grease was simple to funnel into the medium-size grease tray. We detected some hot spots, particularly near the power connection, but that didn’t affect our cooking results.

We loved the size of this model’s cooking surface, which was the largest in our lineup. The griddle features a textured cooking surface, which resulted in minor sticking; however, pancakes cooked evenly and emerged fluffy and golden brown from edge to edge. This model was the only one we tested that did not include a grease tray. Instead, the griddle surface is bordered by walls slightly over an inch tall. This proved helpful when cooking foods such as scrambled eggs, as it prevented them from being funneled away from the cooking area, which happened with some of the other models we evaluated. Two small drawbacks It was hard to see the indicator light during preheating and we had difficulty removing any collected grease or fat due to the lack of a grease tray. The griddle plate must be carefully removed and the contents then poured out.

The most expensive model in our lineup also featured the most distinctive design. Most electric griddles have nonstick cooking surfaces, but this sports an uncoated metal plate. Its clad cooking surface—aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel—resulted in more consistent temperatures during testing and allowed for the use of metal utensils. This model is marketed toward a “shared dining experience” similar to its namesake, teppanyaki, a Japanese style of cooking. (“Teppan” means “iron plate”; “yaki” means “grilled,” “broiled,” or “pan-fried.”) We cooked chicken thighs, steak, and asparagus on this model. The chicken and steak seared beautifully, while the asparagus spears picked up nice browning. As happens anytime you sear meat on metal cookware, grease splattered and the cooking surface developed dark fond that we had to clean up. Food can be sliced directly on the griddle surface and then served to those seated around it. It’s also marketed as being well-suited for pancakes and other foods commonly cooked on electric griddles. However, it offered the smallest cooking area of all models evaluated and had no walls. This meant taking extra care when adding food near the edges of the clad plate. Grease collected in a small and flimsy tray that surrounded the cooking plate, and removing it was a challenge. The limited temperature options (320℉, 360℉, 400℉, and 430℉) forced us to select a temperature slightly higher or lower than we wanted. Overall, this model is best suited for smaller-batch cooking.

This model was among the most difficult to use. With the lid attached, it weighs over 18 pounds—about 3 pounds more than the next heaviest models—and was cumbersome to move from storage to the countertop. Assembly was also unintuitive, as the removable griddle plate had to be aligned with hard-to-see brackets rather than simply placed in position. Additionally, the rear grease tray must be installed before the griddle plate, which was easy to forget and occasionally meant we had to adjust the unit while it was already hot. When it came to cooking tests, pancakes had inconsistent color and burgers were also seared only near their edges. Cleanup was very easy thanks to the nonstick cooking surface.

This model exhibited some of the highest temperature variations across its cooking surface during testing, resulting in uneven cooking, with pancakes browning more at the edges and remaining lighter in the center. We spotted the same issues when cooking burgers. The very short side walls (approximately ¼ inch) made it easy for food and grease to spill over, often becoming trapped in the gap between the cooking surface and the griddle base, which created a mess that was a pain to clean later.

This model uses a numbered temperature dial (1 through 5) rather than precise Fahrenheit settings. We had to consult the instruction manual and still only found approximate temperature guidance. Testing revealed significant temperature variation across the cooking surface, particularly around the edges of the griddle. The short side walls further hindered our success. It was difficult to flip pancakes and burgers, and without careful handling scrambled eggs were prone to spill over the edges.