The Chefman XL Electric Griddle features a countertop design with an electric heating element that warms its non-stick flat cooking surface. It can be used as a multi-cooking appliance to make several types of breakfast food, such as pancakes, eggs, bacon, burgers, sandwiches, etc., in batches instead of one at a time. The cooking surface is approximately 21-by-12 inches and can accommodate about 8 standard-sized pancakes or 4 large burger patties at a time. A detachable temperature-control dial lets you set the griddle to cook between 200 and 425 degrees F, and allows the entire griddle to be submerged in water and washed in a sink or a dishwasher.
An easy way to get breakfast on the table, fast
Most electric griddles can’t be fully submerged for cleaning because the electrical connection runs through the temperature controls. To get around that issue, the Chefman XL has a removable temperature control. Remove the dial, and the heating element will completely disconnect from the rest of the griddle. This allows you to submerge the entire cooking surface and drip tray in a sink full of soapy water, or put them directly into the dishwasher. Anyone who has had to spend 30 minutes hand-cleaning dried syrup off a regular griddle knows this is a big deal.
The 21-inch x 12-inch cooking surface is what sets this apart from a single-person appliance. It’s possible to cook six pieces of bacon on one side and flip three pancakes on the other side, or cook two hamburgers and four grilled cheeses in a single batch. The non-stick coating does an excellent job of preventing eggs from sticking and also makes it easy to release delicate foods such as fish or omelets.
Temperature precision is one area where electric griddles outperform stovetop cookware. The dial sets a target temperature, and an internal thermostat maintains that heat across the entire surface within a few degrees of the setpoint. Pancakes cook evenly from edge to edge rather than burning at the center, while the outer edges remain underdone, which is a common issue with skillet pancakes on a stovetop burner.
A built-in slope channels grease and excess oil into a removable drip tray at the front of the griddle. The drip tray slides out for emptying without lifting or tilting the main appliance, and the tray itself is also nonstick-coated for easy wiping or rinsing.
The Chefman XL Electric Griddle is currently $40 on Amazon, $10 off the $50 price. The savings put a full-size family electric griddle under $50, and the immersible design saves real cleanup time after every pancake-and-bacon weekend morning.