When we were visiting my mom last month in California, I made dinner for everyone one night and had a chance to use my mom’s beloved (and ancient) electric skillet. I loved it because it’s size and shape (large and square) allowed me to cook about 6 boneless chicken breast halves at once, something I can’t do in even my biggest conventional skillet. Andrew heard me kvelling over her skillet and surprised me with an electric skillet of my own for my recent birthday.
I’m still getting to know my new toy, but so far it has become my pan of choice for cooking larger meals on the stovetop. I’m still getting used to setting the dial according to temperature rather than heat level (low, medium, high), but the results so far have been great.
It makes me wonder–why has this popular pan from decades past faded in popularity? Is it because the electric skillet is often associated with deep frying, which we Americans do much less frequently now that we are more health and diet conscious?
I had an electric wok in the late 90’s. What I didn’t like was that it couldn’t go in the dishwasher, and I had to be careful while hand washing it not to submerge the electrical part.
Good point, anonymous! However, with my new farberware edition, you can submerge it, but it still shouldn’t go in the dishwasher. Actually, I don’t wash any of my pots in the dishwasher because it seems to affect their finishes/coatings.
We have an old electric skillet at our cabin and it is the only way to make pancakes as far as I am concerned.
My family doesn’t get pancakes at home. One of the things I like is that it keeps the grease splatter contained in the pan (not all over my stove). I can put up with the awkward cleaning regime because of that.
BTW, I am only 2 weeks in to using the scramble and oh so very happy! Thank you for a great idea with great execution.
It’s the best for making lots of matzoh brie!
With regard to hot sauce, my husband is 100% Norwegian, so you would think hot sauce would be the last thing he would want. Not so - it goes on everything. Even when he’s sweating and his nose is dripping from the heat, he thinks it’s great. Who knew?!
The site was exactly fantastic! Lots of good information and afflatus, both of which we all need!