

Nevertheless, these models are able to cook food evenly on both low- and high-heat settings, which often vary by a hundred degrees or more.Are you ready to make some amazing meals on an outdoor griddle, but want to make sure you’re getting the best flat top grill?įlat top grills (also known as outdoor gas griddles) are popular among grill enthusiasts since you can cook so many different foods, and multiple foods at the same time! By design, flat-top grills don’t have as wide a temperature range as that of a regular gas grill. These models, with a width of 28 to 36 inches, are capable of doing that from edge to edge. But it needs to heat evenly from one spot to another, in order to ensure consistent results. The appeal of a flat-top grill is that you can cook lots of similar items at once. This capability suggests that the grill can hit even higher temperatures soon after that, too, so you can start tasks like frying eggs or searing burgers. That’s plenty for low-heat tasks like rendering bacon. The best flat-top grills reach 300° F, or close to it, within 10 minutes.

Here’s what the top models have in common:

The experts at Consumer Reports zero in on flat-top grills that are capable of cooking a great meal with consistent results. Or if you’re into camping or tailgating, a flat-top grill might make more sense than a regular grill because you can cook a broader array of foods without the need for extra grill accessories, like a griddle. You can cook a steak over your gas or charcoal grill, for instance, and use a flat-top grill for eggs, pancakes, and home fries to make a farmer’s breakfast. So is a flat-top grill worth it? The answer comes down to how much you enjoy cooking outdoors and for a crowd. It’s also easier to regulate temperature, and in turn, get better results, because a griddle lets you fine-tune temps without transferring heat to a separate pan. A flat-top grill can hold far more food than a griddle accessory for a grill. A griddle is just a flat piece of metal (or a pan) that you place onto your grill. A flat-top grill gets connected to a propane canister, generates a hidden flame, and distributes the heat from that flame across a metal cooking surface. The terms are often used interchangeably, but in the grilling world, a griddle is typically an accessory to be used with your regular grill, while a flat-top grill is a separate freestanding appliance.
