I bought this griddle for yakiniku, which is a great way to entertain guests, but I have found that I have been using it far more than anticipated.
Pros:
It's awesome to have a griddle in the kitchen. First and foremost, it's great being able to make more than one or two pancakes at a time. If you want to serve someone up a short stack, there is a lot of waiting using only two pans, but with this, you can crank out three good size cakes at the same time. Also, frying eggs and warming meat at the same time has saved me a lot of time in the mornings.
It's easy to clean. If you read the manual carefully, it suggests seasoning before use. This ensures a light coat of oil stays on it while it's being used. I've done this and NOTHING has stuck to the surface. I also give it a thorough scrub with either a dry paper towel or a wet one held with chopsticks after each use and it stays very clean.
It gets hot fast! Way faster than my range top and a pan, which also saves me time in the morning. This is mostly due to the light construction, but this can also contribute to un-even heating, which I have not yet had a problem with, although others have.
Its just more fun. Maybe this is helping me live out some long-lost short-order cook fantasies? = )
Cons:
As other reviewers have noted, it slides around a bit. I find myself lifting it up a bit on one side to both keep it in place and also to give the spatula better odds of sliding under an egg without breaking it. This is not a deal-breaking compensation, but rubber feet would have been nice here.
It tends to get pretty hot. The manual comes with cooking temps, but I found most of them to be a little high. Cooking a little more cool has helped things out for me. Again, this may be what has attributed to others' problems.
The bottom line here is that you get what you pay for. This is one of the cheaper models on the market, so I think it would be a little unrealistic to assume that the bargain model would deliver a top-of-the-line performance. I have had zero problems with mine so far, but I recognize that it clearly has some room for improvements. Until I want to shell out more than $30 for a small kitchen appliance, I'll be quite happy with this product.
I have been using the griddle for about a year now, and nothing sticks to it. It has a nice wide flat surface that makes it great for making pancakes for the family. My family used to have to eat them in shifts because I could only cook 2 at a time on my regular frying pan. I can do about eight at a time now, depending on how big i want them i can do more. Clean up is a breeze...once you remove the plug the griddle is completely submersable in water. I had a george foreman once...cleaning it was difficult because it couldn't get wet. I cook all my burgers on the Presto now. If grease starts to collect there is a grease tray on the side, just push the unwanted stuff into the hole with a spatula.
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My original electric griddle was a Hamilton Beach. I had it for almost 16 years and used it constantly. It had the most non-stick surface I've ever seen. I never used any oil on it, and absolutely nothing stuck, not even scrambled eggs. When it finally wore out, I purchased a Presto Cool Touch griddle as a replacement. The product claimed to be non-stick. I was a little concerned when I saw that the surface was rough to the touch. It had the texture of a cast iron pan. I figured it must work, though. Well, everything stuck right to it. I was disappointed that I'd have to go back to using oil. I applied a nice coating of oil and started again. Everything still stuck. It was a real mess. As for cleanup, it's a nightmare. The oil got baked onto that rough surface and turned into that sticky brown goo you get sometimes on your glass bakeware. Not only that, it was impossible to completely remove the goo. I would wash the griddle by hand over and over again, only to find more brown goo rubbing off onto my dish towel when I dried it. I tried the griddle for 2 weeks and then took it out to the garbage can. I have since bought a #38510 Hamilton Beach StepSavor Jumbo Griddle and I love it. I am back to cooking without any added oil and cleanup is super easy. If you like to cook pancakes, eggs and french toast on your griddle, stick with Hamilton Beach for the best results.
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After reading comments from other reviewers I was a little worried about uneven cooking when I ordered this, but in my experience (with pancakes) the difference in coloration was very minor between areas that were directly above the heating element and areas that weren't. I usually leave a good 5-10 mins for the griddle to heat up before I start cooking, so maybe if you throw the pancakes on right away after the minimum amount of warmup time you would get problems with uneven cooking, but personally I haven't experienced it. With cooking other things like grilled cheese sandwiches, there is no difference in coloration whatsoever between what was over the heating element and what wasn't. I followed the directions about "seasoning" the non-stick surface with canola oil before the first time I used it, and so far NOTHING sticks to this thing. It's been very easy to clean. Overall I love it, and compared to the price of other griddles out there I'm very happy with my purchase. It makes about six pancakes or sandwiches at a time, so I can easily produce food for 4-6 people faster than they can possibly eat it. The only negative is that, like other reviewers have mentioned, the legs on this griddle tend to slide across the countertop surface very easily. I solved it with a pack of 1/2" adhesive rubber feet I bought for $2.49 (similar to these: Waxman 4215395N 1/2-Inch Heavy Duty Bumper, Clear, Round), but despite how easy it was to fix this, it's really something Presto should have corrected before production so shame on them for that. Still, I would recommend this griddle to anyone in the market for a new one. I love it.
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I picked up this griddle here for $20 and it was worth every single penny. I treated it with oil as was recommended in manual and have had absolutely no problems with sticking. It cleans easily and is large enough for quite alot of stuff. It heats quickly and evenly and has allowed me to make some quite spectacular meals.
Things I've cooled on it so far:
Eggs (over-easy)
Eggs (scrambled)
Bacon (wonderful)
Grilled cheese
Hamburgers
Pork chops
Steaks
Tuna steaks
Tillapia
Cod fillets
Salmon
Everything has come out wonderfully.
The only negative thing I have to say about it agrees with a few other reviewers. As sold, it has a tendency to slide around on the counter, which would be somewhat dangerous without precautions. However, it is trivial to deal with. I simply put a towel underneath. Walla ... no more sliding. For a real solution, just go to Home Depot and get some small rubber feet for $1.50.
All-in-all, this is the best $20 I have every spent on a kitchen appliance.
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I bought this for a Christmas gift for my father-in-law, who is a huge Auburn fan as well as a 'griller'. It arrived in horrible condition with dents in the wood, big gashes , not small marks. Additionally the overall quality was extremely poor, the logo on tools is a sticker.Would have returned if it wasn't delivered directly to him and was too late to send a different gift.
