Pans on the stovetop are all well and good, but for a hungry family at breakfast, nothing beats a big griddle. This large, flat cooking surface is perfect for cooking eggs, pancakes, and bacon all at once.
The problem is, most home stovetops aren’t big enough to include a griddle.
Enter the electric griddle…
This is a simple appliance that can change your life forever. These days, electric griddles are lightweight, energy-efficient, and non-stick with durable coatings like ceramic.
So, join us as we take a good look at the best ceramic electric griddles currently on the market and find the perfect one for you…
The Best Ceramic Electric Griddle Reviews
1. Bella: Copper Titanium Electric Griddle – Most Affordable Ceramic Electric Griddle
Cooking Surface Size: 20 inches wide by 10 ½ inches deep
We start our best electric ceramic griddle review today with the cheapest of the griddles on our list. And this griddle by Bella is really, really inexpensive. Almost unbelievably so!
What does it offer?
This product has a copper and titanium-infused ceramic coating over the aluminum cooking surface. It sits mounted on a plastic base that wraps around the front and sides while the back is left open. It also has a removable dishwasher-safe plastic drip tray for run-off fat. Handles on either side make it easy enough to pick up, but these do get hot.
The temperature is controlled by a knob attached to the 1500 watt heating element. This allows you to simply keep food warm or to cook up to 400 degrees.
So that’s the product, but how does it perform?
To start, the cooking surface is slick as glass. It’s so non-stick, in fact, that it’s hard to get a hold of some foods. You’ll probably need two spatulas to help get a hold of your food items.
At the same time, the ceramic coating shows some bubbles around the edges. To explain, this means poor adhesion between the ceramic and the aluminum, and we’d worry that it might start to flake off sooner than later.
And cooking on it?
Cooking is alright. The heat distribution is definitely not even, and you’ll find cool areas on your griddle. As well, the temperature control wasn’t very sensitive, and we found it all too easy to burn food without constant attention.
However, clean-up is a snap. The surface wipes clean easily, or at least with some soap and water.
PROS
- Very, very cheap.
- Non-stick and easy to clean.
CONS
- Ceramic coating has questionable durability.
- Heating is not even.
2. Presto: 07055 Cool-Touch Electric Ceramic Griddle – Best Mid Range Ceramic Electric Griddle
Cooking Surface Size: 20 inches wide by 10 ½ inches deep
The next griddle we looked at is from Presto, and this one has a lot of similarities with the Bella griddle we’ve just seen.
Once again, we’re looking at a ceramic-coated aluminum cooking surface supported by a plastic base that wraps neatly around the appliance’s front and sides. This griddle also includes a removable plastic drip try for fat and oil that may run off your food. This tray is, however, unnecessarily big for the size of the griddle, we thought.
What about the outlay?
The Presto griddle is about $5 more than the Bella, so what does that get you?
This griddle comes in a choice of copper or black ceramic surfaces, so the extra money gets you a bit of additional choice. But on top of that, the cooking surface is a bit bigger.
While the listed dimensions are the same at 20″ by 10 ½”, the Bella griddle is curved while the Presto is nearly rectangular. This might make a difference if you have a lot of hungry mouths to feed, as a few extra square inches can fit another egg or a few strips of bacon.
More even heat distribution…
We found that the heat distribution on this griddle, though far from perfect, was more even than on the Bella. It also had more sensitive settings and turned itself off and on to maintain a constant temperature much better than the Bella did. On the other hand, the cooking surface wasn’t as slick as the Bella’s. Time will tell which holds up better, though.
PROS
- Very affordable.
- Better heat distribution.
- More active temperature control.
CONS
- Surface less slick than the Bella’s.
- Unnecessarily large drip tray.
3. Caynel: Smokeless Non-stick Electric Griddle – Best Performing Ceramic Electric Griddle
Cooking Surface Size: 23 ¼ inches wide by 11 ½ inches deep
Moving up in price by about 40%, we have the Caynel Smokeless Non-Stick Electric Griddle left to consider. Though it’s pricier, we still think this is a relatively affordable appliance, considering what you get for your money.
And what do you get?
This griddle is again a large sheet of cast aluminum coated in a scratch-resistant, non-stick ceramic coating. It sits smartly on two handles and also has a removable drip tray. But that’s it; there is no wrap-around body here.
For clean-up, the handles and drip dray can be easily clipped off and the heating element removed, so you can move the tray to the sink to wipe it up. It’s actually fully submersible!
The cooking surface?
The surface here isn’t as smooth and glassy as the Bella machine. At the same time, we didn’t see any indication of bubbling or poor adhesion. It looks like the ceramic coating is well stuck on there. When cooking, it’s definitely still non-stick, though the texture helps a bit to keep food from simply sliding all around.
This is a bigger grill, and that alone might be worth the extra cost. However, its temperature is also far superior to the other two griddles. You can set the cooking temperature from 200°F to 420°F, and the control actually keeps the temperature where you put it to prevent burning.
Smart!
Our only real complaint with this griddle is that heat distribution isn’t great. The far side away from the heating element doesn’t get as hot, so you have to do a bit of planning for what to cook where.
PROS
- Affordable for a larger surface area.
- Best temperature control.
- Easiest to clean and store.
CONS
- Heating isn’t even.
Buyer’s Guide for The Best Ceramic Electric Griddle
If you’re trying to find the ideal ceramic electric griddle for your family, there are way too many options out there to just fly blind. That’s why we’ve prepared this buyer’s guide to help you look out for the main features to consider when choosing a great griddle.
Cooking
An electric griddle is a kitchen appliance, so cooking is what it’s all about! An excellent griddle has a great range of cooking temperatures. You should expect a low-temperature warming function up to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Some grills only offer vague settings like Low, Medium, and High, but these take a lot of getting used to and also make it quite tough to follow recipes.
Temperature control…
Effective temperature control is also crucial. If a griddle’s temperature control isn’t sensitive enough, it could overheat and burn your food. A quality control will switch on and off constantly to ensure an even flow of heat to the cooking surface.
Even heating is another critical factor…
All electric griddles have heating elements that plug in at one end and then distribute heat across the cooking plate. Even though these are usually aluminum, a great heat conductor, you’ll generally find that griddles heat up more near the plug side and cooler on the far side. A bit of difference is manageable, but if it’s really quite different, or you get real cold spots, that’s the sign of a poorly designed griddle.
Size
The size of your griddle might make a big difference to what you can cook and how fast you can turn out orders for your drooling family. Large families will reap the benefits of larger grills, while small families and couples can get by with something smaller and more space-saving.
Cleaning
Nobody wants to spend precious hours scrubbing grease off a griddle. Non-stick surfaces should allow fat and other juices to run off from your food and be easily collected.
The cooking surface of a non-stick ceramic coated griddle should wipe clean with a paper towel or come spotless with a quick soap and water wash. Though ceramic is often considered dishwasher safe, an excellent non-stick surface should never require that much work to clean.
Durability and Price
These days, kitchen appliances can be so cheap that it boggles the mind. But are you willing to buy a new cheap griddle every few years and go through the hassle of shopping and waiting for delivery again and again – all to save a few bucks? More inexpensive cooking surfaces can wear over time or even have their coatings flake off.
We’re not sure about you, but we’re not that interested in eating flakes of ceramic!
An affordable, high-quality griddle can easily be had for well under $100, so look for a quality, long-lasting machine that will serve your family for years.
So, Which is The Best Ceramic Electric Griddle?
In this review, we looked at a handful of ceramic-coated electric griddles for home kitchen use. They’re all affordable, non-stick, and easy to clean.
But for our money, the extra-large size and superior temperature control on the…
Caynel Smokeless Non-stick Electric Griddle
… made it the top ceramic electric griddle here, hands down. For the ultimate breakfast and home grilling appliance, get yourself an excellent electric ceramic griddle and get your cook on!
