Though most people use Griddlers to make breakfast items, such as pancakes, eggs, sausages, and French toasts, they hold much more potential. Their versatility makes them suitable to cook all sorts of things. Feel like cooking a Quesadilla, grilling a steak, making crab cakes, or warming your tortillas? A Griddler can do it all for you! Griddlers usually have a flat surface and offer you an excellent indoor grilling experience.
You can make breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even special meals for family gatherings on your Griddler.
Things to Consider When Buying a Griddler
1. Electric or Gas Griddler
This is easily the first thing that comes to mind when buying a Griddler. Both electric and gas griddlers have their pros and cons, and you can choose one based on your own preferences and needs.
A gas Griddler has the benefit of heating up and cooling down faster than an electric one. It is better suited for commercial use where you’ll be needing a bigger and heavier one. However, it is not portable and will be permanently fixed to your kitchen and need a proper ventilation system installed with it, both requiring professionals to do it for you.
On the other hand, an electric Griddler is better suited where there’s no room to install ventilation. It is more energy-efficient and will cost you less. Electric griddlers don’t heat up as fast but have a more even spread of temperature on their surface, thus making evenly cooked food.
2. Griddle Plate Thickness
Griddler plates make a huge difference based both on their material and thickness. Thin plates heat up much quicker and thus require less energy. Thicker plates are less energy and cost-efficient. Although thick plates heat up slower, they retain heat for much longer, and heat spreads more evenly on them. Thin plates do not heat as evenly, and your food might end up more cooked in some areas than others.
3. Griddler Size
Griddlers come in many different sizes, ranging from 12” to 72” wide. Larger ones are for commercial use, and smaller ones are made to use in homes. When installing a Griddler, one should also remember that you’ll be needing some extra space above it as well.
If you’re a small family, you should buy a smaller Griddler as it will also help you save on energy costs and kitchen space. If you frequently hold large gatherings at home or looking for one for commercial use, check out all the different sizes available and see which one suits your specific needs.
4. Ease of Cleaning
Some Griddlers are easier to clean than others. Non-stick Griddlers are, of course, much easier to clean. They also get rid of aromas quickly and prevent mixing up of smells and tastes of different foods. Certain types, such as chrome-top Griddlers, are also easier to clean as chrome is non-porous, prevents the food from sticking, and removes the need to oil the surface. Other factors that determine if cleaning the Griddler will be easy or not are its size and shape.
5. Temperature Controls
When cooking, you will need different temperatures for different foods. Economy Griddlers have a set number of temperatures to choose from. While this may be good for inexperienced chefs, it is not so much for others. Experienced chefs will want more control over the temperatures they choose to cook at and will go for manual control. They would want more preciseness than novice cooks. So, when buying a Griddler, check the temperature controls and see if they suit your needs.
Top 5 Cuisinart Griddlers
Cuisinart is a US-based home appliance company owned by Conair Corporation. It is considered one of the most trusted and reliable home appliance brands in the US. The thought-out cooking-friendly designs make its gadgets loved by many chefs and food lovers.
Their Griddlers offer several, especially the Cuisinart GR-4NP1 5-in-1, which we will be going over in detail later.
Let’s look into the top 5 Cuisinart Griddlers and what makes them great:
Comparison Table
Conclusion
One thing that all Cuisinart Griddlers offer is versatility. They are compact and can be converted into various options, such as grills, Panini makers, and more on-demand. When buying a Griddler, it’s best to read its specifications, pros, and cons and ensure that these match your specific needs.
We hope this article has shed some light on the differences between all the top 5 Cuisinart Griddlers.
