Equipment

If You Love Diner Food, You Need a Stovetop Griddle

Order up! A stovetop griddle makes cooking diner mainstays as easy as pie—especially for a crowd.
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Published Sept. 2, 2021.

Growing up, I used to love going to the diner for breakfast. The bustling open kitchen hummed with life as I sat at the counter, transfixed. Servers called in orders, adding to the din, and short-order cooks wielded offset turners and grill presses with well-practiced precision. But my main fixation was the centerpiece of it all: an enormous flat-top griddle, the heated surface on which meal after meal was lovingly—yet speedily—crafted. Pancakes, fried eggs, rashers of bacon, sausage patties, and more cooked evenly and efficiently on the well-maintained griddle as I watched, listened, and ate with enthusiasm.

Chances are you don’t have a massive flat-top griddle at your disposal at home, but might I suggest a satisfying alternative? A stovetop griddle sits across two burners on a standard-size stovetop (including gas, electric, and induction) and provides enough surface area to make almost any flat-top diner fave you can think of.

I recently cooked dozens of burgers and pancakes to update our stovetop griddle review and crowned a new winner in the process. It’s spacious and sturdy, with enough room to cook up to eight pancakes at a time, and its upright handles make it easy to maneuver even when it’s hot. It also has a nonstick coating, which makes cleanup a breeze, but it can still create a great sear on meats.

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Do you have a crowd coming over soon? How about breakfast for dinner? Fry up to eight eggs at once for breakfast sandwiches or churn out dozens of pancakes to order. Mix things up with crispy stovetop hash browns or even make mountains of your own breakfast sausage.

If you’re feeling more like dinner, I recommend our juicy pub-style burgers recipe. Cook the burgers on the griddle, then add cheese and let it melt with a final blast of heat. While they rest, spread softened butter on halved potato rolls and griddle them up for a rich, flavorful burger-eating experience. They won’t let you down. 

If you love diner food as much as I do, I hope you’ll consider picking up a stovetop griddle and giving these recipes and more a try. Who knows—you could be shouting “order up!” in no time. 

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