Customer Reviews

Presto 07039 Professional 22-Inch Jumbo Electric Griddle

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Normally, I hate to give bad reviews since I think most products are disproportionately represented with negative reviews already. On this product, however, I feel that the exact opposite is true.

This review ran longer than I meant it to, so here is a quick overview if you don't want to read it all:
1) Uneven cooking surface (horrible for things like pancakes)
2) Doesn't heat evenly (it is very hot around the outside and cool in the middle)
3) Heats up slowly (probably to make sure the middle is at least a little hot)
4) This is specific to mine, but the grease tray broke in half on the third use when I wasn't even touching it.

Now, on to the details...

We got this griddle about 2 weeks ago to replace the unit that we've used for the last 15 years (although we've really only been using it heavily for the last couple of years). The teflon was coming off the old griddle and the heating unit was starting to go out. When ordering the new griddle, I kind of thought they were probably all the same so I picked one that was reasonably priced and that had reasonably good reviews.

The first thing we did with the new griddle was to warm tortillas - I have to say that went perfectly well; so, if that's what you want it for, this is probably a great buy. After that, things went downhill pretty quickly.

The next morning, I broke out the new griddle to make some pancakes. I noticed that it seemed to take a long time to warm up, but that isn't really that big of a deal to me so I just waited patiently. When I started pouring the pancake mix onto the griddle surface, it immediately became obvious that it wasn't completely flat. The pancakes all ran together into the center of the griddle and came out as long oval shapes that I had to cut apart with the spatula - that was the first really irritating problem. The second problem is that it cooks very unevenly and the stuff in the middle hardly cooks at all while everything around the edges burns. I've never had pancakes that turned out worse.

As one last example of the uneven heating, I also made grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for the kids on this. Each sandwich had a burned line running exactly where it had been sitting over the heating element - it was almost funny, the rest of the sandwich was just fine.

Anyway, we ordered another brand of griddle to replace this one, but I had already thrown the box away so I can't return it - oh well... The new one hasn't come yet, but I'm a bit nervous now that I know that not all griddles are the same.

Edit: I just thought I'd throw in here that the replacement griddle I ended up getting was the Broil King USG-10G. After several days of usage, that griddle works great if you are looking for another alternative to this one.

I really like this design. It has a slight raised lip running around the outside edge which contains any batters, grease, or other liquids which might run over the edge and create a mess; the grease drain is only on the front edge and is treated with the same sturdy non-stick coating as the rest of the surface, making for easy clean up. Indeed, the lack of plastic attachments make cleanup easy, and I really like the simple design, a very large cooking surface, two plastic handles and a removable plastic grease catch.

The only thing keeping me from rating it a five out of five is that I would have liked to see a thicker aluminum used, the base is only about 2mm thick, though I've been unable to find anything thicker

I purchased this item as a result of the positive ratings on this product. I was very disappointed in the quality in that the cooking surface is very thin and the heating element is a single loop that is attached to the bottom of the surface. This causes the heat to be concentrated primarily in the area of the heating element which results in extremely uneven heating on the cooking surface. I allowed the unit to preheat and when I cooked pancakes there was a dark streak in the area where they were over the heating element. I would not recommend this product.

I bought this to replace my All-Clad LTD Nonstick Grande Griddle, a workhorse for weekend breakfast cooking, but a little pricey to chuck every two years. After all, these nonstick cooking utensils don't last forever, and the more use they get, the sooner they need replacing.

Looking for an affordable alternative, I settled upon this griddle after reading the other reviews. I find it to be just the thing for cooking bacon, eggs, and pancakes for a Sunday morning breakfast. The construction quality is certainly adequate, the grille is quite large, and it heats up quickly. The heating is a little uneven from one side to the other, but you can use this to your advantage. It's not that bad, really.

All in all, I am glad I purchased this after having it for a couple of months, and when it breaks, I'll probably buy another one!

I got this griddle for christmas a while ago and its nice but the legs and handles brake easily if your not careful. I am looking for a new one but I am wanting one with thicker legs and handles. But I really do like this griddle just thought people would like to know about the legs and handles.

I have considered getting an electric griddle for years & I finally decided it was time. My family loves an occasional big breakfast so this is a great way to make them without a lot of pans. I can cook hashbrowns, sausage & pancakes on the same pan, all at the same time! It also make excellent french toast. A GREAT time saver! The non-stick coating is nice, not teflon (YUCK) but another textured type of non-stick instead. The temperature adjustment is easy & seems to be accurate.

I would recommend this to anyone who is tired of cleaning 4 pans out with every breakfast! But make sure you have the space to store it as it is large!

This is a nice sized griddle, well suited for large groups. It is used when preparing breakfast items (pancakes, eggs, etc.) to feed 8 hungry guys. Cleanup is easy, as it is totally submersible with the exception of the removable temperature control.

My only complaint is the material the grease cup, handles and legs are made of. The cup was dropped and chipped easily, so we're being extremely gentle when handling the griddle while washing, etc.

I purchased this griddle to replace one that I had used every weekend for 5 years. This was the highest rated model on amazon so I got it. Right off the bat I knew this was not going to go well. The temperature range was was off (250 degrees on the dial got me over 350 on the surface of the griddle). Additionally the material of the griddle is too thin. Every pancake I made was overdone in the center and underdone on the edges. Also you could see that the overdone parts were right over the element creating a nice 1" stripe on each pancake. I tried making it work over the several months but it's time to try a new one. :(

In 1970 I was given a set of Presto waterless cookware along with a pancake griddle. At that time they didn't have non-stick griddles. Through the years the handles broke, but the grill fit over my stainless steel sink, so no problem. In 1999 I figured it was time to replace it with a new one. I really loved it because it never stuck and once again I could rely on it. In 2002 I started a Pancake Breakfast to raise money for our club. It started with my Presto grill and soon I added a second one. Over the next 18 months we raised $3,500 with those two grills, serving pancakes, french toast, bacon, etc. My 3rd grill is still going strong and puts out our Sunday breakfasts at home. It is so refreshing to be able to depend upon the quality of an appliance these days. Thank you Presto!

This griddle was a nice size for us, and the nonstick surface was wonderful, but it produced "striped pancakes" (a dark stripe down the pancake where the heating element would have created an uneven heat). This was surprising to me after all the other reviews praised the griddle's even heat and the resulting perfect pancakes. Perhaps we were doing something wrong? I tried cooking less pancakes at a time, and I made sure that is was completely heated before starting to cook the batter. Our previous griddle was a Toastmaster, and we didn't have problems with striped pancakes. (We were only replacing the old one due to loss of teflon that has occurred over 10 years of use). I am unable to add any insight regarding the Presto's ability to cook other things besides pancakes. We returned it because pancakes were primarily why we purchased it.