Top 5 Best Electric Skillets

The best electric skillets are like a griddle, a stove, and an oven in one. Actually, we can add buffet server to that list, too! These fun countertop cookers can be used to grill, sauté, bake, and fry depending on style, and make a great household addition to big families, travel trailers, dorms, and people who like to entertain with buffets. If you’re interested to give your carbon steel skillet a rest and purchase one of these versatile types of cooking pans, check out our electric skillet reviews below.

The 5 Top Electric Skillets

* Ratings are determined using our specialized rating system.

While many of the best electric frying pans have similar specs, the key to finding the best electric skillet for you and your family lies in those differences. To get you started on your electric skillet search, we found the top five best electric skillets so you can find the best one to suit your needs.

Maxi-Matic Elite Platinum Dishwasher Safe Electric Skillet

The Maxi-Matic Elite Platinum Dishwasher Safe Electric Skillet is a great electric skillet to start our list with. It can easily pinpoint exact temperatures between 200° F and 400° F and can hold up to eight quarts of food. The size makes it a great option for a family of 4-6 and perfect for small parties and get-togethers.

Whether you want to do a stir-fry night, use it as a griddle for pancakes and eggs, fry chicken for the whole family, or make some grilled cheese sandwiches for an easy Saturday lunch, this skillet has your back. The tempered glass lid allows you to check in on your food while it cooks or do a low and slow simmer for meats and stews. This skillet has a signature honeycomb texture nonstick pan, and the tall sides limit splatter and expand your dinnertime options.

Presto 16-inch Electric Foldaway Skillet in Black

This elegant Presto 16-inch Electric Foldaway Skillet in Black is perfect for family dinner or a buffet server. The fold-down handles attach and detach from the base, meaning you can fit the entire base and lid inside the skillet pan for easy storage. The attractive design also means it doubles easily as a warming tray for buffet-style serving or catering.

The foldaway handles make neat work out of storage and allow you to actually put the tray in the oven for traditional oven baking, making it the best electric frying pan. The baking option makes it even more tempting for lasagna and casserole lovers, whether it’s for a crowd or just yourself! The built-in spout is made for pouring liquids, but doubles as a holder cooking utensils and serving spoons, meaning less mess on the counter and no utensils end up on the floor.

BELLA Electric Skillet with Copper Titanium Coating

This BELLA Electric Skillet with Copper Titanium Coating makes its name on sturdiness. The nonstick ceramic coating is reinforced with titanium to withstand metal utensils. The electric skillet has two griddle cousins as well in different sizes, but the skillet is a smaller 12″x12″. It’s ideal as an extra cooker for the holidays, or cooking for a smaller family or group.

The bottom is made of copper, which means that it needs to be seasoned before use or you will damage the cooking surface from the start. The instructions say that before using the skillet, you should wash the pan with mild soap and dry thoroughly, then turn on the heat to 450 while empty and dry for five minutes. After five minutes with the heat on, turn it off and let it cool for at least fifteen minutes to cool to will help maintain the nonstick surface of the copper.

Presto 16-inch Electric Skillet with Glass Cover in Black

If you’re looking for lightweight and aesthetically pleasing, the Presto 16-inch Electric Skillet with Glass Cover in Black is for you. At only nine pounds total, this is a great option for on-the-go cooking, small spaces like dorm rooms, or even as a griddle and extra cooker in a larger kitchen.

With the heat control removed, this small electric skillet is both fully immersible and dishwasher safe, so no worries about heavy-duty cleanup. Though it is a lightweight option, the heavy cast aluminum base should remain stable and meet all your electric skillet cooking needs.

Hamilton Beach Deep Dish Electric Ceramic Skillet in Copper

This Hamilton Beach Deep Dish Electric Ceramic Skillet in Copper features Durathon ceramic nonstick coating that is PTFE and PFOA free and a roomy 3″ depth, making int one of the best electric frying pans around. Though it doesn’t have as much surface space as some other options, the rounded lid easily provides an extra 1-2 inches in height.

As long as the cord is removed, both the skillet and the lid are dishwasher safe for a hassle-free cleanup after your frying, simmering, braising, and sautéing. Like other electric fry pans, the temperature of this model can range from 200-400 °F. It also features plastic handles that stay cool even when you’re cooking at high temperatures.

Features to Consider for the Best Electric Skillet

After reading our electric skillet reviews, it’s easy to see that there are a lot of different options out there, and each of them has different features that you may or may not want. If you aren’t sure where to start when choosing the best electric skillet, here are some features you should prioritize.

Nonstick vs Ceramic

While most skillet options feature some kind of nonstick coating, there are differences between them. Traditionally, nonstick coating is made of Teflon, which is what you’ll find in the kitchen goods aisles of your grocery store and across the internet. Nonstick is fast, convenient, and easy to clean, but more recently has been raising some health concerns. Teflon is made with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which the government banned for nonstick cookware back in 2015. While some people are still concerned about PFOA, it shouldn’t be a worry when buying new nonstick cookware.

Ceramic nonstick pans are not actually made out of ceramic, but they got the name from the similar process ceramics go through to get their coatings. Ceramic nonstick pans are metal pans that use sand for a glossy finish like silicone. The coating uses silicone, among other things, to create the nonstick layer. Although ceramic nonstick pans are generally machine washable, hand washing will ensure the nonstick on the pan has a longer life. Which one makes the best electric skillet is purely up to preference, so get the one that is best for you.

Tempered Glass lid vs Other Materials

Many electric fry pans have lids made with tempered glass, which is excellent! Tempered glass is about four times stronger than regular glass, and it is also safer. Standard glass breaks in large shards that can pose a major threat to human safety. Tempered glass, on the other hand, shatters into tiny, mostly harmless pieces. That is why things like car windows and patio furniture are usually made with tempered glass—lots of room for accidents! When looking for the best electric frying pan, I definitely recommend looking for one that uses tempered glass.

Copper vs Aluminum Cookware

Before really diving into the differences between copper and aluminum cookware, make sure that the metal is actually copper and not just a copper coating. It’s not unusual to see cast aluminum with a copper finish called “copper” because of the color, but it’s not really copper. Cast aluminum is cared for like most nonstick pans: dishwasher safe (but hand washed is preferred), and too high of temperatures will damage the nonstick coating. Copper heats up quickly and cools down quickly, but is more reactive to acidity so you have to be careful with things like vinegar or tomatoes. If it’s just copper-colored, you don’t need to worry about copper leaching into your food.

Size of Skillet

This may seem a bit obvious, but the size and depth of the skillet are incredibly important. Cooking for two will place drastically different needs on your electric skillet than hosting for twelve. While most electric skillets will be able to fry, sear, stir-fry, and braise, some are also capable of being baked in the oven and deep-frying. If those are traits you’d like, watch out for them to make sure you find a good match. Deeper dish pans can also be used for things like lasagna and casserole, which can be the best electric skillets when hosting family and friends.

Benefits of Using Electric Skillets

Electric skillets are a great addition to any kitchen, camping or otherwise. If you’re still on the fence on getting one, here are two more reasons why they are well-worth your money.

Versatility

Electric skillets are almost like a countertop stove and oven in one. They can do just about anything you stove can do, but are portable and fit easily on your countertop and only take up the same footprint as an average cutting board. Whether your stove is out of commission or just doesn’t have enough space for what you’re cooking, electric skillets are a versatile tool to pick up the slack. You could even use one as a paella pan—that’s how much they can do. Even for issues as simple as wanting to fry fish but someone in the house can’t stand the smell of fried fish; just take it outside! If you have access to electricity, they also work well for RV camping.

Hosting and Parties

Electric skillets are also a great tool for hosting and catering. Most of them are aesthetically nice on top of being functional cookers, so you can cook large batches of food in them, keep it warm, and serve directly from the counter. This also applies to bringing your own dish to a party or holiday that someone else is hosting. You can cook in the electric skillet and take the whole thing with you, saving food storage containers and allowing you to keep the food warm until people are ready to eat. Just plug it back in once you get to your destination—you can’t do that with a roast pan!

Precautions of Using Electric Skillets

Just like with many kitchen gadgets, you need to be aware of how to use your electric fry pan. Here are some things to remember.

Dishwasher Safe With Electrical Parts?

While many of the best electric skillets are dishwasher safe and safe to submerge in water in the sink, make sure you read the fine print. Often, there are certain electrical parts or gauges that need to be removed before they are safe for contact with water. Sometimes, only the actual pan is dishwasher safe, so it needs to be removed from the pot stand first. Make sure you know which kind you’re getting ahead of time if you want to plop it in the dishwasher.

Hand Washing May Still Be Better

Even with dishwasher safe appliances, washing by hand is still much gentler on the nonstick coatings and will make your new electric skillet last longer in the long run. If you want your new electric pan to last as long as possible, hand washing is the best route.

Be Mindful of the Heat

Many of the best electric frying pans heat up to 400° or more. While this is great for getting a nice sear, be mindful of your countertops (or whatever other surface you set it on)! While the skillet materials are built to withstand extreme heat, certain countertop materials or your kitchen table may not be built for it. Keep that in mind before choosing where to put it.

Conclusion

In the end, one skillet truly stood out from the rest, and we have chosen the Maxi-Matic Elite Platinum Dishwasher Safe Electric Skillet as the best electric skillet. Honestly, it’s the size of the pan and the deep dish that sold me on this one. You can make a really tall lasagna with 3″ of space! And being able to precisely adjust temperature between 200° and 400° is a huge plus, since you can use this electric skillet to make meals more associated with ovens like lasagna, deep dish macaroni, and casserole. It’s a great quality for the price and versatility, and I can think of so many recipes to attempt in this skillet. With all these great qualities, there’s no wonder why we thought this was the best electric skillet.

No matter which was your favorite, I hope these electric skillet reviews have helped you find it!

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