Gotta love a good electric skillet! Unlike a traditional frying or cooking pan, an electric skillet has better temperature control and the temperature remains constant and even throughout the cooking process. This is what makes it such a great option for frying or griddling.
Actually there’s quite an array of things you can do with an electric skillet. Sateing, stir frying, braising, pan-broiling. Plenty of options and possibilities. And better yet, you can really save energy compared to cooking on a range burner.
So whether you’re into meats like steaks and burgers, or are a carb fiend for doughnuts or pancakes, an electric skillet is a great way to go!
We’ve been scouring the net to find the best electric skillets out on the market today, and we’ve handpicked our Top 5 to show you now. Each one a best seller, and we provide an honest review on each.
After that we’ve also got a handy little buying guide for you which goes through everything you might want to think about before you buy.
Top 5 Best Electric Skillet
OUR TOP PICK
Summary
Presto is a brand that dominates the best seller charts with retailers in the electric skillet category.
The brand has been around since 1905 making all manner of household appliances, and they turned their hand to electric skillets as far back as the 1950s. So it’s a brand that has stood the test of time and has become well practised at what they do. Setting the industry standard for such products in fact.
This particular skillet has been selling in its thousands and has received phenomenal feedback. On the Amazon page for example, after well over 3,600 individual customer ratings the average rating comes in at 4 and a half stars out of 5.
At 16 inches, you get plenty of cooking capacity - it’s big enough to easily feed a hungry medium sized family.
The base is composed of a heavy cast aluminum, and has a deluxe non-stick surface. Even scrambled eggs won’t stick to it (this blew my colleague’s mind by the way).
The lid is composed of tempered glass, which allows you to keep an eye on your food as it cooks.
You set the temperature as you want it using the control master, and you can adjust it as necessary.
We also love that you can put the parts (heat control excepted) straight into the dishwasher - how convenient is that!
Customers say they also like to use it as a buffet server when they have guests. Good idea if you ask us.
Pros
THE Top brand for electric skillets
Plenty of cooking capacity, 16 inches
Even scrambled eggs won’t stick to it!
Doubles as a buffet server
Parts are dishwasher safe
Cons
The temperature controls are in Fahrenheit rather than Centigrade or Celsius (well we see it as a con anyway)
EDITORS CHOICE
Summary
If you follow the link to the Amazon page, please do not be confused by the product’s title. It is an electric skillet, but it also happens to have other very similar functions besides.
So from that, you may have gathered that it’s a super versatile piece of kit. There seems to be no end of what you can do with it.
It’s available in different sizes, so you can go for a compact 8.5 incher which feeds 1 to 2 people, a 12 incher to serve the whole family, or the 16 incher which can serve up to 8 people.
(For the rest of this review we’ll concentrate on the 8.5 incher, because the other 2 are quite different.)
This has got to be the easiest to use electric skillet ever. There’s just the one button which allows you to switch it on or switch it off. It’s as simple as that.
It heats up your food super quick, and heats it evenly too. Your meals are ready in minutes and there are no hot spots whatsoever.
You can keep an eye on your food as it cooks, thanks to the tempered glass lid, which comes complete with both a cool to the touch handle, AND a steam vent. So you can lock in heat and moisture, while also allowing a little necessary ventilation.
There’s an indicator light to show when it’s on and it stands on non-skid feet. Both excellent safety features.
It’s easy to clean too. The lid goes straight in the dishwasher, and the PFOA free nonstick surface simply wipes clean.
We also love it’s affordable price point - even when it’s not on offer. However the price does go up for the bigger versions.
Pros
Available in 3 different sizes
Easiest electric skillet to use
Heats your food quickly and evenly
Steam vent in the tempered glass lid
Indicator light to show when it’s on
Cons
You can’t choose or adjust the temperature
BEST VALUE
Summary
This is another best seller, from great brand Presto, that has seen tremendous popularity. On the Amazon page for example, after well over 4,000 individual customer ratings the average rating comes in at a very nice 4 and a half stars out of 5.
This skillet has a very generous 16 inch cooking surface, large enough to easily feed a hungry family.
Yet at the same time it also suits small kitchens, since once it’s cooled and cleaned you can fold it down, and store it in a cupboard to free up more space.
It has many of the features seen in the Presto 06852 that we showed you earlier, such as the see through glass lid, a heavy cast aluminum base with a smooth non-stick surface, stay cool handles, and adjustable temperature.
Like the Presto 06852, it can also double as a buffet server, and it’s parts are dishwasher safe (save the temperature controls).
But there’s more to love about the 06857 foldaway skillet. There’s high sidewalls, which mean you can do more than griddle and fry, you can do things like making homemade stews and casseroles.
And speaking of soups and stews, there’s also a handy built in spout for pouring. And moreover, this spout can actually double as a spoon or spatula holder when you’re cooking or serving.
To be honest, if it were a little cheaper we’d have made this one our Number 1 Pick.
Pros
Flying off the shelves
Folds away to save space
High sidewalls for stews
Built in spout for pouring
Cons
The temperature controls are in Fahrenheit rather than Centigrade or Celsius (well we see it as a con anyway)
RUNNER UP
Summary
Zojirushi, while not American, is still a really great brand, with a strong focus on cooking appliances and food preparation. Their Gourmet line is a succession of top quality tabletop cooking appliances.
What’s different about this skillet is that you can remove the cooking pan from its plastic body and use it directly on a stovetop burner. (We don’t think you’ll ever need to do that, but at least you know the option is there.)
The cooking pan is 2.25 inches deep and 10.5 inches wide, so it’s big enough to feed a couple, and it can be used for stewing etc as well as grilling.
We love that it has adjustable temperature settings, which range from a gentle Keep Warm, all the way up to 430°F.
There’s a tempered glass lid, which allows you to keep an eye on your cooking, and the ceramic cooking pan has a titanium enhanced non-stick coating.
There are handles either side of the skillet which are designed to stay cool no matter how hot the cooking surface gets, which is great for those who like to wash dishes while everyone else is eating (such people do exist - I met one once).
We love that it comes with a selection of recipes - great if like us you love Japanese cuisine.
Pros
Can also be used on a stovetop burner
Adjustable temperature settings
Comes with a selection of recipes
Cons
The temperature controls are rather alien - they are in Fahrenheit rather than Centigrade or Celsius
RUNNER UP
Summary
This skillet from Bella is also a best seller with excellent customer feedback. Again the Amazon average customer rating comes in at a very positive 4 and a half stars out of 5, even after thousands of individual customer ratings.
The stand out feature of this electric skillet is just how fast it can cook your food. First off it has a 1200 watt heating system which is quite powerful, and secondly the special ceramic non-stick coating cooks up to 30% faster than other more standard non-stick coatings. And that’s just what hungry tummies are crying out for - food, now.
The copper and titanium enhanced coating also offers superior strength & scratch resistance, making it 8 times more durable than skillets with standard coatings.
We also love that it gives you very precise temperature control, thanks to its temperature dial which goes all the way up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
It also cools down as quickly as it heats up, which is great for safety.
The skillet also comes with a convenient tempered glass lid, so you can keep a beady eye on your food as it cooks, and the handles are cool touch ones, which is a great safety feature. You won’t have to use oven gloves or a folded tea towel.
If you go through the Amazon page, be sure to select the 12 by 12 inch size as only this one is an electric skillet, the other sizes are for a griddle and a smokeless grill, which aren’t strictly the same thing (nice as they are).
Pros
Cooks 30% faster than other coatings
8 times more durable than other coatings
very precise temperature control dial
Cons
The cord is rather short
The peer reviews on the Amazon page aren’t all for the electric skillet, some of them are for the griddle and smokeless grill, so don’t get thrown by irrelevant customer reviews
Best Electric Skillet Buying Guide
OK, so as promised and without further ado, here’s some ideas about what to look for in your electric skillet.
Large capacity?
First consider how much food you want to cook in the skillet at any one time. The more mouths you have to feed, the larger the skillet needs to be. Skillets can often be fairly small, fitting about 2 chicken breasts with a little room around each, but if you're feeding the whole family, then something a little larger will be more appropriate.
If you have, say four people to feed then we would recommend that you go for at least a 12 inch skillet.
Transparent lid
Having a lid for your skillet helps to lock in heat and moisture, which is very handy for many dishes. But even better than a lid is a transparent lid that lets you keep an eye on your food as it cooks. To that end we recommend looking for electric skillets with a tempered glass lid.
Sometimes these lids come with a ventilation hole, so that’s something else to consider.
Cool handles
It can be difficult to plate up food while you’re wearing oven gloves or something similar, but if your electric skillet has cool handles, it really makes things much easier. It can even allow your skillet to double as a buffet server.
Adjustable temperature
It’s not necessarily an essential feature, but personally we like skillets that allow you to set or adjust the temperature as you cook. This helps to ensure that all elements of a meal can be served at the same time, since you can keep food in the skillet warm while you fix any side dishes for example.
High sidewalls
To be honest, what electric skillet you should go for largely comes down to what you want to cook in it. If you want to use it mainly for frying burgers and steaks then you don’t need the sidewalls to be particularly high. Similarly for sauteing, broiling or braising.
However, if you want to turn your hand to larger dishes such as risottos, casseroles or stews, then a skillet with high sidewalls becomes a necessity.
Easy to clean
You should look for skillets that are non-stick, as these are far more easy to clean than any other coating, and easier to serve from besides. You could even go a step further and look out for a skillet that is dishwasher safe. We feature several dishwasher safe skillets in our Top 5 Picks we showed you earlier.
Other Features
We’re going to level with you here, electric skillets don’t generally come with many special features. Heck, some don’t even come with adjustable temperature. So if you do see one with a particularly handy feature, grab it while you can.
Additional features you may have seen in our Top 5 Picks include a skillet that folds away, a skillet with a pouring spout that doubles as a spoon or spatula holder, and a skillet with a cooking pan that can be removed from its base and placed on a range burner.
Value for money
Electric skillets are typically very reasonably priced products compared to many other kitchen appliances out there. You should not need to pay any more than say $50 for a good skillet.
If budget is a concern for you, then we would recommend our Number 2 Pick, the Elite Gourmet EGL-6101 electric skillet which has a bargain price, even when there’s no deal on.
Brand
There is one brand that dominates the best sellers with retailers when it comes to electric skillets, and that’s Presto. Presto is a brand that has not only been around for years and stood the test of time, but they were the ones who set the standard in electric skillets back in the 1950s, and their products have only improved since.
In our Top 5 Picks we have included 2 electric skillets from this brand, and 3 others from other great brands that we feel can compete with Presto.
Customer reviews
Before you buy any particular electric skillet, we recommend that you do your homework first and check out any customer reviews you might find. We’re not saying that you need to read every review (that could take forever!) but rather just get a feel for what people are saying about the particular item you’re interested in.
We find that Amazon is a good site for examining customer reviews, not just because there’s usually a good amount of reviews to go through, but also because the manufacturer’s website will only show positive reviews, whereas Amazon will show both positive and critical reviews, and present a far fairer picture.