Customer Reviews

Presto 07046 Tilt 'n Drain Big Griddle Cool-Touch Electric Griddle

5 star:		(195)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I love making pancakes. In the past I would use two large cast-iron skillets for the task. I found myself constantly adjusting my burner temperature and I would always get a few very dark (or burnt) or a few undercooked pancakes out of each batch. Plus I could only cook two pancakes at a time; one in the center of each skillet (I like making large, perfectly round, 5-6" diameter pancakes.)

After much research, I finally broke down and bought the Presto Tilt'nDrain BigGriddle because I liked the enormous cooking area it offered. And I liked the fact that is was made of heavy cast aluminum and that it sat perfectly level (some griddles have sloped cooking decks to allow grease and juices to run away from the foods... NOT desirable when making pancakes or scrambled eggs.) And I liked how the griddle can be quickly adjusted so that it WILL tilt forward which *does* allow grease to run away when you want it to! (it has a grease channel and catch-tray along the front edge of the unit.)

My first impressions with this unit:

- It's huge! 18.5" x 15" cooking area.
- It heats evenly. My infrared (IR) non-contact thermometer gun showed very little temperature variation across the cooking surface once it was fully heated (I let the thermostat cycle several times -- about 10 minutes -- before I took my readings.) My pancakes verified this finding with each one being equally browned.
- The thermostat is accurate. I set the unit to 350-degrees F., and it heated to 350-degrees F. as verified by my IR thermometer gun.
- The raised lip around the sides and back of the unit is high enough to contain pancake batter and keep it from spilling over and is low enough to be completely unobtrusive.

After un-boxing the unit, I cleaned, plugged, and turned on the unit (set for 350-degrees F.) After a 10 minute warm up, I applied my pancake batter. As noted earlier, in the past I was only able to make two pancakes at a time using two separate skillets. The Presto griddle allowed me to cook 6 (yes, SIX!!) of my large pancakes at the same time. All six pancakes browned evenly with no hot or cold spots seen. Flipping the pancakes was a breeze and I used no oil on the non-stick surface.

I made two batches of pancakes, one batch after the other, and both turned out exactly the same... and that was "perfectly." I made a two batches of pancakes (12 pancakes total) in the same amount of time it took to make 4 in the past. For the first time my whole family ate pancakes together at the same time!!

So, in summary, the Presto Tilt'nDrain BigGriddle is well designed, easy to use, heats accurately and evenly, and has a very large cooking surface. Clean-up was quick and easy. I highly recommend this unit to anyone who needs a large griddle that cooks accurately and evenly.

NOTE: Regarding a few other reviews here, I don't see how anyone can rate this product 2 or 3 stars, faulting the unit because it's too large to store. I mean, come on!! It's a big griddle by DESIGN!! If it's too large for you, then you should have bought a smaller griddle! ;-)

I bought this griddle over a year ago. I love it. I can cook an entire pack of bacon all at one time, six large pancakes, or four plate size pancakes, 12 pieces of french toast, you get the picture. As far as I know, the largest griddle available. I use frequently, have had no problems of any kind, including the non-stick surface which shows no sign of wear. This is a big improvement over griddles and other non-stick cookware I've owned before. Yes, it does have hot and cold spots, IF you don't let it pre-heat adequately. It's big, give it 10-15 minutes to pre-heat. Yes, you have to get creative to find a suitable storage space. I fortunately have a perfect cabinet (tall, deep and narrow) in my kitchen, although if I didn't I'd probably have to use the broom closet, coat closet, or some other unusual space. It is also a handful when washing at the sink, since it's too big to fit in the sink. However, it's hard to knock it for being too big when that's the whole idea. If you want something easier to store and wash, you'll be cooking longer and in batches. If you have a houseful of kids, you'll love this griddle. Put it under your bed if you have to.

I purchased this griddle because the electric frypan we had was simply too small. While trying to flip a few pancakes in it, half of it didn't stay in!! The first thing I cooked with this griddle was therefore pancakes. Instead of the 4 batches it used to take, I did it in 1. Flipping the pancakes was mess-free and effortless with the nonstick surface. I have since tried eggs and also bacon. I love the tilt function with the grease trap. It definitely helps keep splattering down. The one thing you will need is space to use it as well as store it. I set it on our stovetop while in use, which works for me.

Highly Recommend this product.

Bought the griddle for a big camping trip and it worked awesome. Plenty of cooking space (200 square inch surface). I was able to feed 12 people at once! If you are looking for a large cooking surface with easy clean up this is the griddle.

The griddle has exceeded my expectations. I put it to hard use, for catered events at places without a kitchen (I know it's for "home use") and it is flawless, or nearly so. It does have that cheesy home construction, and the pull-out sides for fat draining purposes are not lock-able, but I expected those little flaws--as a light-weight large griddle, it is super. No hot spot/cold spot issues, plenty of space, i can actually do 2 things at once on it for hors d'oeuvres presentation. It saved me during the holidays. It's inexpensive enough that if I wear it out, i can get another one. Does double-duty at home, too for pancakes for the family crowd. I can make twice as many as on the stove top griddle I have. It's easy to clean, easy to use--a well thought-out product. I'd purchase it again without a second thought. There is no commercial-use product that can beat it that I've found, either.

June 17, 2009 Update: Well after three years of using this grill at least three or four times a week we are buying a new one! There was enough wear and tear of the surface to warrant the purchase of a replacement. Great Price Great Value!!!!

December 23, 2007, Updating My Review. - It has almost been a year, and this product is still going strong! I use it on average three times a week. There has been no wearing of the non-stick surface, only a little when I accidentally used the abrasive side of a two sided sponge - My Fault. Make sure you use utensils designed for non-stick surfaces, and non abrasive cleaners and soft sponges, and you will have NO problems with the surface of this grill wearing off. This grill heats up very quickly, does not require more than a minute or two to pre-heat, get your food on there right away. An excellent product if you like to cook and never have enough room on your stove!!

OLD Review:

I bought this because I like to cook, and there is never enough room on an electric stove for all of the many pans you need to produce a good breakfast with Hash browns, eggs, French toast or pancakes, or a good burger with grilled onions, bacon and toasted buns. One nice feature is the thermostat control that is measured in degrees, and the fact that the heating of the cooking surface is very even.

Clean up of the nonstick surface is very easy, but just make sure you have a sink big enough to do the cleanup in. I wash the grill in a utility sink in the garage because our kitchen sink is not big enough to the job, and even with the utility sink I have to wash 1/2 of the grill and then turn it around and wash the other half. A spray attachment in your sink would be a good idea.

I have only used the grill twice so far and I am already hooked, it will come out at least once a week for our Big Sunday Breakfast, and probably more often than that.

According to the people I gave this griddle to for Christmas, there is really nothing bad to say except it's so big it's hard to store. Unfortunatley, they needed something this large and the brands and models that fold had bad reviews regarding uneven heating and spillage near the seam. On this griddle the drainage is adjustable, so your pancakes or eggs won't run into the drip pan, but the grease from your burgers will.

This cooks just great and cleans up so easily. If you don't need one this big or have limited storage space, I'd recommend a smaller model assuming it works as well. Otherwise, get this and happy cooking!

Despite what all the others are saying, I was hoping to have a nice big griddle that I could use all the time but this just isn't it. I've gone back to my two smaller griddles because this unit just doesn't heat evenly. Yeah, you can cook lots of pancakes, but you have to keep track of them and keep checking on them because the ones on the edges are going to get done faster than those in the middle. And cooking bacon is a joke. Some were burned after a few minutes while others will actually still cold to the touch.

I've included a couple images in the customer photos of how the heating element runs underneath. I can't take a photo to show the thickness, or rather how thin the cooking surface is but it feels about 1/2 as thick as my $20 smaller griddles. Basically, it's very thin. All I have to say is 'buyer beware' and 'you get what you pay for'.

Cheers.

This griddle makes excellent pancakes, and quite a few at one time. Each pancake, from one corner of the griddle to the other was cooked to the same degree of brownness. This is exactly what I wanted so I am well pleased. It also performed well on a grilled sandwich and browning chicken before baking. It is easy to clean and the nonstick surface works as well as I've ever experienced.

My only disappointment is that it heats only to 400° and thus is not hot enough to sear beef and lamb properly. I guess I'll keep using cast iron in the oven for that.

A minor complaint: In order to activate the tilt feature, you move the handles out. That's fine, but it's VERY easy to move the handles out when you don't want to.

We have been making pancakes every saturday for the past 4 years. We have always used our older Presto griddle, the kind that can make 2 rows of 4 pancakes each (2 x 4). The old Presto is great, very constant heating across the surface. Even if the right side heats faster due to the electrical connection on that side, the pancakes cooked perfectly with constant brown across the pancake surface. The new Presto Big Griddle, is very big and easily fits 3 rows of 4 pancakes, which is a great for our family, which has grown. The heating performance, the main purpose of a griddle, is absolutely horrible. Gets plenty hot just above the heating element, in fact you can see an outline of the rectangular heating element imprinted in our non-stick griddle top, but as you move away from the heating element, either toward outside or middle of griddle surface, the temperature of the surface drops off significantly. When you flip the top or bottom row of pancakes, they will be half brown and half white in color -- brown directly above heating element and white near edge of surface. The 2 pancakes cooked in the middle of the surface take twice as long because the temp is lower, but come out evenly because they're not over the heating element. We have tried letting it pre-heat for over 20 minutes and the performance is just the same, which leads me to believe the new Presto surface is thinner or lower quality (read cheaper) than their older models. Or maybe it's exactly the same thickness/quality as their older models, but for a larger size that just doesn't cut it and it should have been thicken or improved somehow to improve the heat distribution. I certainly would have paid more for a better product, which this is not. Bottom line, I couldn't be more disappointed and despite the fact that 2 of the 4 legs are broke on my old Presto, I am temped to go back to using it so I can enjoy my saturday mornings again. (I'm giving it 2 stars because it is bigger and probably works great for bacon, eggs or hashbrowns.)