The Best Electric Griddles without PTFE

Ever since George Foreman first taught us how to "knock out the fat" by letting the grease run off, I've been looking for a better way to grill and griddle. These cooking methods are quick, easy, and healthy, but the problem back in the day -- other than the lack of removable plates for easy cleanup -- was that the health gains from siphoning off the fat were negated by using a Teflon cooking surface.

While great strides have been made to offer consumers choices in eco-friendly pans for the stove top, electric cookware has unfortunately not kept pace with the green revolution.

Nevertheless, I found a few PFOA and PTFE free electrics to choose from in the quest to live green and eliminate Teflon and toxic cookware from the kitchen, including this first model from Hamilton Beach.



Why would you need an electric griddle in the first place? Well, I can think of a few reasons.

They heat evenly once you set the temperature, so you don't have to worry about manually adjusting burners and guessing about the temperature. For pancakes, this is a lifesaver.

You can skip the aerosol cooking sprays and oils.

They have more cooking surface area than you can get on a stove, so you never have to cook pancakes or French toast two at a time ever again.

You can cook on this instead of heating up your whole house with oven use in the summer.

If you're entertaining or cooking a lot of food at once, griddles free up your stove top so you can use it to cook other things.

Chances are, if you're a griddle person, you already know it. So without further ado, here are the eco-friendly electric griddles I found:

The Hamilton Beach Reversible griddle [Amazon] boasts a large (26.5" W x 10.7" D) cooking surface with a hard-anodized, PFOA and PTFE free ceramic coating. "Reversible" here means that you can remove and flip the cooking surface so that you can connect the power cord on either side (for example, whichever way is closest for the cord to reach the socket). It does NOT mean that you cook on both sides of it. It's got a removable drip tray and adjustable temperature control, which is a must-have in my book for maximum control. The cooking surface is also dishwasher safe, but I'd still stick with hand washing it in a sink. Maximum temp: 200-400 degrees F.

Bella Copper Titanium Electric Griddle[Amazon] is another popular Teflon-free griddle. It has a 10.5"x20" nonstick ceramic surface. Ceramic's heat conducting properties are widely known. (That's why they advertise its use in hair dryers and curling irons, etc.) 

The manufacturer says it's ceramic surface cooks up to 30% faster than traditional nonstick, which means less cooking time and less electricity use.

It's fully immersible (once the electrical connection removed) for easy cleaning in the sink.

Oster Duraceramic Griddle

Here's a ceramic electric griddle [Amazon] from Oster with PFOA-free materials. It has a convenient warming tray, to keep food warm until you're ready to serve. The cooking area on this one is 10"x20", and the maximum temperature is 420 degrees F. Oster also make a PTFE-free panini maker and grill [Amazon].

Between these options, I'd chose the Bella for just 1 or 2 people (or those with limited space), and the Hamilton Beach for larger families, because of the larger cooking surface and the removable plate for easy cleanup.


(If you're looking for a PTFE free Slow Cooker (Crock Pot), click the link to see my pick and get some yummy slow cooker recipes >>)

Ideas for Your Electric Griddle

Electric griddles let you cook your favorite diner-style breakfast or Sunday Brunch at home. They're portable, so you can also take them with you to the vacation condo or cabin.

Not sure how much use you'll get out of this kitchen appliance? Here are the things in my rotation (except I'm not gonna lie and say I've ever made "Pikelets") that I might whip out a stainless steel or ceramic griddle to cook:

• Pancakes
• Pikelets
• Bacon
• Sausage
• Hash Browns
• Eggs
• Omelets
• Toast
• Grilled Cheese and other toasted sandwiches
• Hamburgers
• Steaks
• Pork Chops
• Salmon
• Kabobs
• Bruschetta