If you’ve ever marveled at perfectly crisped and browned diner eggs or hashbrowns, the restaurant’s flat-top griddle is the reason why. When it comes to griddle-cooking at home though, it’s common for people to opt for outdoor griddles (essentially a grill with a flat top), which have been popular for years, thanks to brands like Blackstone. “Blackstone was to griddles what Kleenex was to tissues,” says Neal Williams, the founder of the website and YouTube channel The Flat Top King. But now there’s a growing trend of people who want to use them indoors — and many more brands to choose from, too.
When choosing an indoor griddle of your own, keep in mind that it is less efficient than an outdoor version, especially when it comes to recovering temperature loss. (When you put eight burgers on your griddle top, the coldness of the meat will cause the surface temperature to drop, and it takes longer to reheat with an electric griddle versus one powered by propane.) But that doesn’t mean you can’t figure out ways to work around it or make the most of it if you know what to look for. Electric griddles are still a fast and convenient way to to cook pancakes, make stir-fries, or sear meat evenly thanks to the flattop’s even heat distribution.
There are a few considerations when shopping for a griddle. First and foremost: the size of the cooking surface. “If you’re thinking of cooking for the whole family, a small griddle isn’t going to be much better than a standard skillet,” says Mike East of Griddle King. “You’ll want something that can handle everything you throw at it without feeling cramped.” It’s also helpful that it has a nonstick surface, which will help with cleaning up. So will features like removable plates and a grease tray that’s easy to access and large enough to accommodate runoff from a pound of bacon or sausage.
Finally, East says not to forget about compatibility with your kitchen. “It’s essential,” he says. “Your griddle might be perfect for cooking, but if it doesn’t fit on your countertop or in a storage area, it becomes a hassle. Finding one that’s large enough to cook for many but also fits in your kitchen is key.”
Best overall electric griddle
Stephanie Manzanares, chef at Hana Makgeolli, says this griddle is a “solid, durable machine.” She’s been using three of them in her restaurant for two years and likes that “there are no hot or cold spots on the griddle top, so it does a great job of cooking quickly and evenly.” With all three, she can cook 100 pancakes in a few hours.
Recipe developer Grace Elkus can’t get enough of the Zojirushi either. She says, “Because of its nonstick coating, I don’t have to worry about butter burning or oil pooling in the corner like it does in a skillet, meaning my pancakes come out picture-perfect every time.”
Namiko Hirasawa Chen, a food blogger, uses her griddle to make Japanese comfort foods, like yakiniku, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and soufflé pancakes, which is only possible because the Zojirushi comes with a lid for steaming. “Not many griddles do,” she says. You can also purchase attachments like a takoyaki plate.
When it comes to cleanup, this model doesn’t have a grease trap but disassembles into three parts, enabling you to wash the griddle top and main body while the heating plate remains separate.
Best overall (less-expensive) electric griddle
This straightforward electric griddle is a long-time best seller, what East calls a legit fan favorite. “It’s not just popular for no reason,” he says. “It’s a really good value for the money.” The Presto offers 218 inches of cooking real estate and fits in most cabinets. As East says, “It’s a lot of griddle in a very wallet-friendly package. For under $50, you get a griddle that’s easy to use and clean and gets the job done.”
Best extra-large electric griddle
If you’re feeding a large party for brunch or simply have a hankering for a hearty stack of pancakes, this is the big-boy version of the above that measures nearly two feet long. You can make roughly a dozen six-inch pancakes at a time, and at $50, it’s still cheaper than some other griddles.
Best utensil-safe electric griddle
The GreenPan Grill has a ceramic nonstick coating but it’s metal utensil safe. East loves that you can stick to your usual kitchen utensils and don’t have to go out and buy separate griddle spatulas or scrapers. Additionally, it includes eight nonstick carbon-steel mini pans that “help really ramp up the griddle’s cooking versatility,” he says, so you can make individual servings of omelets or cobbler, or even just melt chocolate.
Best splurge-worthy griddle
This is the first electric griddle from Blackstone, a favorite brand among campers and RVers, like Jeremy Puglisi, author of Where Should We Camp Next?, who loves cooking outside on the road, but uses this griddle when the weather doesn’t cooperate. “When it’s raining or very cold out, I break out my Blackstone E-Series for big breakfasts with pancakes, eggs, bacon, French toast, whatever my kids want on those particular days,” he says. “I also use it a lot when they have friends sleepover because I can make a lot of food very quickly.”
And while it’s pricey, East says these plug-in griddles have some great features, including a large cooking space with separate zones so you can cook different foods at different temperatures. And it’s one of the few griddles with a digital control, allowing for extra precision in case your preferred cooking temperature is 333 degrees.
The griddle also comes with a transparent patented hood. “I really like the see-through glass cover,” Pugliese says. “I can put the lid down to melt cheese or steam veggies and still see the food I am cooking.” When the hood isn’t in use, it acts as a makeshift backsplash.
Best cast-iron electric griddle
A hack to save space while flat-top cooking in your kitchen is to buy a stovetop griddle that fits over your burners, but that’s not possible if you have an electric stove. This griddle with a removable cast-iron surface is one work-around. I was skeptical of having another appliance, but I was impressed with this griddle’s performance. I made smash burgers in minutes and got that coveted brown sear on my steak. The best part about this griddle is a slight downward tilt to the surface that sends the oil into a deep, removable grease trap in the bottom left corner. It helped to cut down on the splatter I’d typically get when cooking meat in a cast-iron skillet on the stove.
Best for small spaces electric griddle
I don’t have much counter space in my apartment so I need to be judicious about what goes on there. This griddle from Bella doesn’t have any extra bells and whistles, like extra attachments or removable grates, which makes it substantially smaller than most griddles on the market—but its diminutive size doesn’t make it less effective. It heated up very quickly, and I got crispy bacon in less than five minutes. While it’s not much to look at (it has the bridge-like shape of a laptop stand) you can remove the temperature dial and plug and store the griddle upright so it takes up even less room.
Best portable electric griddle
Chef Andrea Chetakian used Broil King electric griddles for years at her breakfast pop-up the Blue Light Speak Cheesy. With them, she toasted burritos, grilled bread, fried eggs, and made pancakes all over Brooklyn and never had a hard time hauling them around. “These griddles are consistent, lightweight, and easy to clean, which is great for catering purposes,” she says.
Best less-smoky electric griddle
Khal Matrood works in real estate, but he’s also a grill fanatic who cooks on an indoor or outdoor model at least four times a week. The Power XL is his preferred choice indoors because of its smoke-extraction technology and internal fan that prevents the house from getting too polluted, he says. It comes with interchangeable, dishwasher-safe grates so you can easily switch from a griddle to a grill and heats up to 450 degrees. Matrood is such a fan he buys the griddle as a Christmas gift for close family members.
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