I want a large, flat surface to make pancakes, etc. Our electric stove’s burners are differently sized, so I want something with its own heat source.
Looking on Amazon I see they have separate categories for electric griddles and electric skillets. At first glance, all I can see is that the latter has a lid. Are the cooking surfaces the same? Also, any thoughts on features to look for?
IMO, an electric griddle is flat and usually rectangular with no sides (or very short sides). An electric skillet has higher sides, is square, and has a lid. For the griddle, I’d say non-stick. For the skillet, I don’t really know because mine is so old my mom used to make grilled cheeses in it when I was a kid and I’m in my forties now.
Sorry I can’t be of more help.
If specifically for pancakes and nothing else, I vote griddle. I’m anti-non-stick, though it is hard to find stuff that is not non-stick nowadays.
I’ve got an old electric skillet like this that I use for pancakes and bacon,
and I also have an old Foreman grill like this that I use for burgers, chicken, hot dogs, grilled sandwiches, etc.
I think I’m going to ditch both of them to save some space and get a Griddler.
Bet the Bat Man would cook with that.
Pancakes (reg. and potato) are the primary thought behind this. But there have been a number of things over the years that I wished I had a large, flat cooking surface. Of course, none of those things are coming to mind right now.
Assuming for the moment I’m not looking for a press, is there any functional difference save shape? I guess it might be easier to flip the occasional obstinate item if there’s something to work against, but anything else?
All I can think of is how much food you can do at once - an electric griddle will have more cooking surface than a skillet (at least the ones I’ve seen). My electric skillet can do four slices of french toast - our griddle pan (not electric - our burners are the same size) does eight.
The skillet is designed for cooking and using sauces. The griddle is designed for pancakes, bacon, french toast, grilled cheese, etc. You could probably use the skillet as a griddle, but you can’t use a griddle as a skillet and make something like Spanish rice. The griddle also has more space, so you can cook more items – six pancakes instead of just four.
I have found that the size and difficulty of cleaning of an electridle griddle just are worthwhile. The higher quality non-sticky surface is hard to beat on the stove top versions.
I have this 2-burner griddle that works well. If you buy a quality (>$20) griddle the conduction is such that the two different size burners make very little difference. On my stove I put the little burner at 5.5 and the big one at 4.5. After the second batch of pancakes comes off, I move them both down to 4.0 and cook as long as needed. So not as “simple” as the counter top one, but I think you will be very happy with it.
We have both. I think I’ve used the skillet maybe once in 10 years. The wife uses it more often, but the griddle gets used more by maybe a factor of ten.
