When your conventional stove top does not have enough cooking area to feed a house full of dinner guests, there are a few kitchen appliances that will give you some much needed real estate. Today, the appliance we will talk about is the electric skillet.
TLDR? I like the Presto Skillet best at Amazon.
What are the benefits of electric skillets?
Electric skillets offer you more cooking space when you need to serve food to a large group of people. They also make great backup skillets in the event that your oven goes out. Or maybe you want to cook something without heating up the entire kitchen.
And sure, maybe you are thinking to yourself, “I’ve never needed one before, so why should I get one now?”
The point is, there are several benefits to purchasing an electric skillet. No matter how seldom you think you’ll use one, once you have that option, you’ll find yourself using your electric skillet on a regular basis.
So let’s get into which are some of the best electric skillets to buy.
Rival Electric Skillet
This is an economically priced skillet with an 11-inch square cooking surface. The non-stick surface makes your cleanups easier. It comes with a tempered glass lid and has a handle that will stay cool throughout the entire cooking time.
There is an adjustable temperature control probe, that can be removed. This makes the skillet fully immersible in water and dishwasher safe (as long as the temp control is disconnected of course).
See the Rival Skillet at Amazon.
The handles of this electric skillet will stay cool when cooking, providing an easy handling surface when transferring the food from the skillet to a dish.
This skillet also has 2 in one functionality and can be used as a skillet or a buffet server, making this perfect for large gatherings.
Should you purchase this skillet from Rival?
This is a good model to purchase if you aren’t going to be utilizing it on a regular basis. While it will be perfect for occasional use like when you’re having guests or a large gathering, it is on the cheaper end of the spectrum. I wouldn’t expect it to stand up very long to everyday use.
De’Longhi Electric Skillet
This is a very good electric skillet that should stand the test of time fairly well. It has an embedded heating element that will provide the most efficient and even cooking in a relatively short time period.
Here’s the De’Longhi Skillet at Amazon.
The interior is coated with a non-stick surface for an easy cleanup. The dimensions of the entire machine are 19.29 inches long, 11.81 inches wide, and 8.47 inches high and is powered by 110 to 120 volts, with a die-cast aluminum body powered by 1500 watts.
There are adjustable steam vents for a safe way to release steam evaporation. This is easy to clean and dishwasher safe to make your cleanup even easier.
Should you get this De’Longhi skillet?
This is certainly a very capable electric skillet that will stand up well over time. However, there are some downsides to it. The main issue I have with this skillet is the non-stick coating on the surface.
Non-stick coating tends to scratch off after a while, and because this is capable of reaching such high temperatures, I do have some concerns about that happening here. One way to combat this is to hand wash the skillet.
Presto 16-Inch Electric Foldaway Skillet
Presto always seems to make to the top of the list of my favorite small kitchen appliances, so I guess this really shouldn’t be much of a surprise to me.
It is made with a heavy cast aluminum and has a PREMIUM nonstick surface on the inside and outside of the skillet. The skillet and cover are both dishwasher safe when you remove the heat control.
One of the better features of this pan is the ability to fold down to a more manageable size when it is not in use. This works by folding down the handles and detaching the skillet from the base.
The 16-inch surface area also provides plenty of room for making quite a bit of food at one time.
Should you get the Presto skillet?
To put it simply, yes. Out of all the electric skillets, I have looked at (under 75 dollars), this is the one that stands out the most. It provides great heat distribution and having 16 inches of cooking space is large enough to allow me to cook almost anything on it.
Wrap – Up
Electric skillets have so many different benefits to them. Not just the ability to have extra cooking space when you run out of burners on your stove. But also that you are able to apply consistent heat throughout the pan, and even the fact that you can cook at precise temperatures with them.
Either of these devices is going to do the job for you (some better than others of course). Each of them does exactly what they are intended to do. The best one, in my opinion, is the Presto skillet.
Additional resources
Image credit via Flickr Creative Commons: theterrifictc and Nick
Alexis DeAnda is a food fanatic, library card user, and cast iron hunter, in that order. She has been cooking for anyone that will taste it ever since her mom let her make doughnuts on Saturday mornings at the age of 7.