We Made Hundreds of Pancakes to Find the Best Electric Griddles

If I was able to find a favorite when I was cooking on a bench in my living room, you can certainly count on one of these picks to help you make breakfast for a crowd. Read on to see the best electric griddles, according to our tests.

Essentially flat-top cooking surfaces that can be plugged into the wall, electric griddles free up your stove and can even be taken on the road. While in the midst of a kitchen renovation with no working appliances, I had the perfect opportunity to determine the most reliable griddle for daily cooking tasks. After making 42 grilled cheese sandwiches, 88 slices of bacon, and nearly 200 pancakes, I rated each griddle on the quality of the design and materials, cooking efficiency, and overall value. Since I also only had access to the smallest sink in our home, ease of cleanup was a key metric as well.

Perfectly crisped bacon. Gooey grilled cheese . Gently browned buttermilk pancakes churned out until everybody pushes back from the table and raises their hands in blissful surrender. All of this and more is possible with the right electric griddle. But what makes a griddle great? We set out to find out by putting some of the most popular options to the test.

Best Overall: Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler Electric Griddle

Amazon

View at Amazon ($153)

Why It’s Great

• Heats evenly
• Comes with a lid and spatula
• High sides prevent splatter
• Disassembles for easy cleaning

Grain of Salt

• Price is slightly higher than budget picks
• Requires more storage space

Zojirushi took our top spot thanks to its solid cooking performance and foolproof cleanup. Though it has a slightly higher price tag, this griddle comes with a very real benefit: You don’t have to watch your food as closely or rotate it as often to achieve the even browning you’re looking for in pancakes and grilled cheese. Cheese didn’t stick to the cooktop, and pancakes were simple to flip. It has a temperature range of 176 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, so you can keep food warm or fry an entire 16-ounce package of bacon. While the grates do leave a distinct, dimpled pattern on the food you cook, it doesn’t impact the taste or texture.

When I cooked bacon, the extra room (it’s 12.5 x 19 inches) and the higher sides of the cooking surface helped keep the strips from drowning in grease and splatter off of the table, but the lack of a drain and drip tray meant that bacon grease had a tendency to pool. Still, the bacon was crispy and cooked evenly. After the griddle cooled, it was simple to remove the cooking surface and pour off grease into an empty yogurt container.

It’s heavier than other models at 12 pounds, but not bulky. It also has a cord that’s just over 6 feet long, which is convenient if you don’t have an outlet directly next to where you’re cooking. A lid (an effective way to keep pancakes warm) and stainless steel spatula are included with the griddle, but I’d opt for using a silicone spatula to maintain the nonstick surface as long as possible.

The Details: Measures 12.5 x 19 inches; weighs 12 pounds; temperature maxes out at 425°F; no drip tray included

Best for Small Spaces: Presto Tilt-n-Fold Electric Griddle

Wayfair

View at Wayfair ($55)

Why It’s Great

• Portable and convenient to store
• Ample cook surface for a compact griddle
• Has adjustable legs and a drip tray

Grain of Salt

• Cool center spot
• Slight learning curve

If your griddle story is one of possibility, then the Presto Tilt-n-Fold is the versatile tool you’ll want tucked away in your cabinet. At less than 7 pounds and with legs that tuck neatly beneath the cast-aluminum base, it’s an easy, portable cooking tool that will have you thinking about breakfasts at a lake house or a cozy cabin.

While the griddle is compact, the cooking surface area is well-sized at 15 x 17 inches. However, I did notice a cooler spot in the center of the griddle, so you’ll need to rotate your pancakes through the space like players on a volleyball court for even browning. Still, the heat is consistent enough to thoroughly melt the cheese in a grilled cheese and deliver bread that has a nice toastiness.

As for the tilting part of this equation, the legs can also be adjusted to allow the grease from bacon to naturally drain into the drip tray. It’s a nifty function that takes a bit of practice—definitely lock the legs in place before you start cooking—but the pay-off is crisp bacon and less grease to wipe off the cooktop.

The Details: Measures 15 x 17 inches; weighs 6.51 pounds; temperature maxes out at 400°F; includes drip tray

“This griddle is great for families and makes plenty of food on one cooking surface.” — Rachel Johnson, Allrecipes product tester

Best Budget: Black + Decker Family-Sized Electric Griddle

Target

View at Target ($29)

Why It’s Great

• Inexpensive
• Lightweight
• Border channel captures grease

Grain of Salt

• Short cord
• Somewhat uneven heat

The Black + Decker isn’t flashy. If it were a car, it would be an older family sedan: It will get you where you’re going as long as you talk it through the drive a little—which is really all you need in a such a budget-friendly option.

One big setup note is that without an extension cord, you’ll have to plug this in right near an outlet. Once I got it cooking, I found that the grilled cheese sandwiches were properly melty inside and had a nice distribution of toasting, even if the bread and edges weren’t as crispy as they were with some other griddles. The pancakes sat in that good spot between chewy and fluffy with a color you could easily call “pancake brown.” Rotating each 180 degrees as I flipped them ensured more even cooking.

A small border channel helped capture some grease, but evenly cooked bacon required a game of musical tongs. That said, the bacon—with that bit of extra work—was the kind of crisp headliner you’d love to see in the middle of a BLT.

The nonstick surface was quick to clean. The entire griddle (minus the heating element) is only a little over 5 pounds and can be washed in the sink. The drip tray was also up to the task, even if sliding it in and out was a bit precarious. Cooking bacon left more splatter on the tabletop than other models, as grease managed to leap over the edge opposite the drip tray.

Some models come with a warming tray, but I’d look for the griddle without the undersized plastic tray (give away the early pancakes to whoever is hanging around the kitchen) and a lower price tag.

The Details: Measures 10 x 20 inches; weighs 5.12 pounds; temperature maxes out at 400°F; includes drip tray

Best Splurge: Wolf Gourmet Electric Griddle

Williams Sonoma

View at Williams Sonoma ($650)

Why It’s Great

• Has a preheat light indicator
• Easy-to-read temperature knob
• Quick and even heating up to 450°F

Grain of Salt

• Expensive
• Heavy

While you can’t ignore the weight or outsized price, the Wolf is a flat-top fit for serious cooks. It was the only model we tested that had a preheat light indicator. The cast-aluminum, nonstick surface heats quickly and evenly up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it’s likely one of the few griddles that can actually sear your burgers.

Some griddles are meant to be tucked away in cabinets, but that won’t be the fate of the Wolf. The stainless steel griddle with the signature red temperature knob is a sleek and powerful appliance that also clocks in at 21 pounds (nearing carrying-a-stand-mixer-with-two-hands territory).

Despite its weight, it’s slightly smaller than other models at 12 x 17 inches, but that was still enough space for eight saucer-sized pancakes and six sandwiches with room to spare. It produced golden grilled cheese where the butter was glistening between crisp edges and pancakes that were uniformly browned. The crispy bacon was brunch-worthy.

The ½-inch rim on the griddle easily contained bacon grease and was a nice buffer for wiping up crumbs when it came time to clean. Cheese droplets and a few pancake drips were easy to sweep off the surface. The griddle also comes with a stainless steel lid and drip tray, which is dishwasher-safe. Considering the steep price, we’d recommend this griddle for those who would use a griddle regularly. It would also be wise to watch out for sales and deals.

The Details: Measures 12 x 17 inches; weighs 21 pounds; temperature maxes out at 450°F; includes drip tray

How to Pick the Right Electric Griddle

Portability

Electric griddles are portable, flat cooktops with a temperature control dial often inserted for cooking and then removed when stored. Electric griddles can plug into a standard outlet and pre-heat in around 10 minutes. You can use them to cook anywhere where you have power readily accessible. Case in point: I did most of my testing on a coffee table and piano bench.

Nonstick Surface

You’re likely going to use an electric griddle for batch cooking. Definitely get an electric griddle with a nonstick surface—it’s a standard option—and consider what you’re cooking and subsequently how often you’ll need to clean your griddle. Take a look at the drip tray, if one’s included, to make sure it’s wide enough or deep enough to handle greasy foods like bacon or burgers.

Size

Storage is also an important consideration, and that means thinking about the weight and size of an electric griddle. The Black + Decker Family-Sized Griddle was the lightest model we tested at just over 5 pounds, while the heaviest—the Wolf Gourmet—was 21 pounds. If you’re tight on cabinet space, you may want to consider a griddle with a smaller profile like the Presto Tilt-n-Fold, where the legs store under the cooktop surface. If you aren’t using your griddle regularly, consider keeping it in the shipping box to protect the nonstick coating and keep it free of dust. Some electric griddles also include additional parts such as lids, drip trays, and warming trays.

About Our Tests

To get a sense of each model’s strengths and weaknesses, I cooked like I was feeding a crowd by making grilled cheese (a pair of American cheese slices placed between butter-slathered white bread), center-cut bacon, and pancakes.

Over the course of three weeks, I made 42 grilled cheese sandwiches, 88 slices of bacon, and enough pancakes (close to 200) to feed a small elementary school. I also learned the maximum number of grilled cheese sandwiches you can give your neighbor for lunch is six sandwiches. As I cooked, I took notes on each griddle, observing the following:

• Overall feel: What is the griddle made of? What parts does it include? How functional is the design?
• Durability: Is the griddle made to last? Will it show wear over time?
• Cleanup/storage: How is the griddle meant to be stored and maintained?
• Efficiency: How quickly does it heat up? Does it cook food evenly? How difficult is it to remove food from the surface?
• Overall value: Is it worth the investment?

I gave these electric griddles the best chance for success, moving bacon when it was getting charred while its neighbor was still pink and bubbling in oil. I also kept a close eye on pancakes and grilled cheese to check for hot spots and gauge how evenly they cooked. When I finished cooking, I considered how easy or hard it was to wipe down the nonstick surface (in other words, was it truly nonstick?) and whether the shape or design of the griddle could unintentionally trap grease or crumbs.

The Leftovers: Other Electric Griddles We Tested

Presto 22-inch Electric Griddle with Removable Handles

Walmart

Buy button: View at Walmart ($70)

The Presto 22-inch produced nicely browned grilled cheeses with a melty pocket of American cheese but couldn’t crisp up crusts or evenly brown pancakes. Bacon grease pooled on the textured, ceramic nonstick surface, which meant bacon was a little chewy. There’s also a significant difference in heat between the end with the temperature control and the opposite side of the griddle.

The clasps on the removable plastic handles take a few tries to figure out but aren’t hard to master. While popping the handles off helps with storage and fitting a griddle in the sink, they become a game you don’t want to play if you’re attempting to remove them while the cooking surface is covered in bacon grease.

Oster DiamondForce Electric Griddle

Target

Buy button: View at Target ($50)

The Oster produced beautiful golden pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches with nice color. But like disappointing potato chips, the grilled cheese and bacon lacked proper crunch. Despite recommending that grilled cheese be cooked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature dial only has settings for 325 and 375, so there was a little bit of guesswork required. Crumbs wedged in between the edge of the cooktop and stainless steel handles and the plastic was slightly discolored after hot bacon grease sat in the grease trap for roughly 30 minutes, which raised some concerns about durability.

Dash Everyday Electric Griddle

Amazon

Buy button: View at Amazon ($36)

Most electric griddles are boxy and functional, but the Dash has lovely rounded corners that feel like you’re cooking on a warm cousin of an ice skating rink. The Dash gave crispy edges to grilled cheese and a bit of color to pancakes, but the temperature knob, which has settings from 1 to 5, made it hard to gauge the temperature.

With the tapered sides, it was a bit challenging to fit an entire package of bacon—I’d wait until the slices started to shrink before adding the last few pieces. The griddle rendered fat well, but slices of bacon were more likely to char before crisping up. It was also difficult to know when the griddle was clean, as bacon grease clung to the textured nonstick surface.

Bella XL Ceramic Titanium Electric Griddle

Amazon

Buy button: View at Amazon ($46)

The Bella got top marks when it came to cleaning; the cheese didn’t stick or burn when it cascaded over the edge of the bread, and the titanium ceramic nonstick coating wiped down in less than a minute when I was done cooking.

Unfortunately, it didn’t fare as well in the cooking tests. Pancakes had a rubbery texture, and cheese didn’t melt evenly. The bread was as likely to scorch as it was to brown. Fitting a package of bacon was also a tight squeeze; it was easier to lay the strips horizontally. Still, the bacon had to be rotated constantly to ensure that each piece was cooked, which made me feel like I was doing the work for the griddle while also splattering bacon grease onto the table. The drip tray was difficult to empty without spilling.