Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterUpgrade pickThis griddle goes beyond the basics of the typical griddle portfolio with its shallow walls and lid, which add the ability to steam and fry.More akin to an electric skillet than to a classic electric griddle, the Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler Electric Griddle EA-DCC10 is especially versatile, allowing for a wide range of cooking preparations.The Zojirushi has a maximum heat setting of 425 °F. Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterIt’s exceptional for classic griddle use. Pancakes on the Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler turned out picture-perfect: golden and fluffy, with a high rise. The griddle’s center cooks pancakes just slightly darker than its sides, but the pancakes are still uniform across the surface. And the griddle’s etched surface leaves a diamond pattern on pancakes.The cooking surface measures 18 inches by 11.5 inches before the walls curve up, and it’s a good amount of space: Six pancakes can fit with plenty of room to maneuver. Bacon easily fits across the width of the griddle, and eggs flip without any trouble. And once the griddle has been preheated, it can make smash burgers with those coveted crispy edges.It’s capable of much more than a flat-top griddle. With shallow walls, a lid, and no drain hole, the Zojirushi griddle offers countless cooking opportunities. It can steam and fry, so you could make potstickers, steamed vegetables, latkes, tempura, or soufflé pancakes in it.My colleague Lesley Stockton shallow-fried chicken in the Zojirushi, and she was enamored with the process. The chicken fried evenly across the griddle, and the temperature of the oil held steady. With the exception of doing one flip halfway through, frying a large batch of chicken — which is often a very involved process — became a largely hands-off venture.It gets hot. While all of our picks get hot enough to crisp meat, the Zojirushi griddle is a standout, with an average surface temperature rising well into the 400s on its maximum heat setting of 425 °F.The frame prevents accidental contact with the surface. The griddle on Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler sits inside a plastic frame, so only the cooking surface is exposed, not the sides of the surface. This recessed design is a bit safer than griddles with uncovered edges (like our top pick), which get hot and can burn you.The griddle separates from the plastic frame that houses it, so it can be thoroughly cleaned. In order to plug and unplug the temperature probe into the griddle, the griddle insert must be fully seated within the plastic frame. That means you can’t lift the griddle out of the frame while it’s heating, and you can’t plug in the bare griddle without the frame.It has a long cord. Trust me when I say this is a huge bonus for an electric griddle. The Zojirushi griddle’s cord stretches over 6 feet long, so it’s easy to set up the griddle wherever you need it. The cords on most electric griddles (including those on our other picks) are not much longer than 2 feet.The Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler EA-DCC10 is covered by a one-year limited warranty.Flaws but not dealbreakersIt’s pricey. But the Zojirushi Gourmet Sizzler’s versatility makes it worth its price — you’ll likely use it for more than you’d expect.It takes a while to heat up. The Zojirushi griddle had one of the longest heat-up times of all the griddles I tested — surpassed only by the cast iron Hamilton Beach’s heat-up time. It routinely took at least five minutes to reach its target temperature, and it took nearly 10 minutes to reach its maximum temperature. So it requires a bit more foresight to preheat than our other picks.It doesn’t have a drain hole. Of course, the lack of a drain hole is what makes this griddle so versatile, but this can be a bit of a pain if you’re frying up batches of bacon or other greasy foods. The griddle does pour cleanly from its corners, so it’s not messy to empty, but you do have to remove the power cord in order to lift the griddle insert.It has a factory smell right out of the box. The first few times I heated the Zojirushi griddle, a plasticky industrial odor came off the surface. While many appliances need a break-in period to remove factory coatings or residue, this griddle’s manual did not specify one.Even so, before using it to cook, consider heating the griddle a few times for at least 10 minutes.
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