Many years ago, I, rather reluctantly, strolled into the kitchen one Sunday morning. I had intended to bake pancakes for a group of friends. But I realized I had no idea how to do it. What temperature should the pan have? When should they be flipped? May be, I had asked myself these questions fairly loud. For, a friend of mine took charge of the kitchen and prepared some fantastic gourmet dishes for us. I was surprised to see that she did everything on the griddle. Needless to say, I felt a bit embarrassed! I didn’t know much about cooking in those days!
Apparently I was about to faint then. Faced with this hostile takeover attempt, my friend later reported something that left me in a state of discomfort. She informed my friend circle that I held the spatula upright, messed everything, and then locked myself in the bathroom. I do not remember any of this. For, I joined in a few minutes later.
Wolf Gourmet Precision Electric Griddle Review
No wonder I had a lot of doubts about electric griddles. But every now and then I ate something really good that was cooked on griddle and became curious how they did it so well. In a bar in New York, for example, I ate grilled prawns cooked on a griddle and it was awesome! Once I saw a very famous chef, cooking aged duck breasts. He did that starting directly in butter cubes on the hot griddle, steaming them alternately with the butter foam and browning their fat.
The results could be fabulous! I also began to realize that it was comparable to what I could achieve on a gas grill or a cast-iron pan. In fact, I have, many a time, raved about controlling the temperature, whether on a pan or a burner, in a steam bath or on the grill, in the oven or on a griddle. This means better and more consistent results with much less uncertainty in the cooking process. I would so much like to say goodbye forever to stove tops with medium to low settings that will vary from cook to cook and from stove to stove.
For the home cook, temperature control is a kind of empowerment. It is a clearer way to move forward, useful in a way that reminds me of the fresh, reflective paint on the street on a dark, stormy night. Just put the temperature control on a griddle. And suddenly you have a huge space where you can cook large amounts of food, and do it very regularly without any hassle.
This is what Wolf Gourmet-Precision Griddle offers you in a large, sturdy package. It is one model you can park on your kitchen counter or place on your covered terrace.
The Precision Griddle is pleasantly simple. It has a knob to adjust the temperature from “warm” to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. It has two lights, one for preheating, while the power light that stays on all the time and indicates that it’s plugged in at the front. It also has a non-stick coated cooking surface that is fairly wide at 12″ x 17″, and a lid to keep the heat on. I jumped into it, frying meat and vegetables, stir frying, toasting rolls and making hamburgers!
At the same time, I looked at a propane smoker and loved to find the stove so handy. Yes, it was good enough to burn the chicken chops and legs I had smoked at a low, slow temperature of 225 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew that I would like to use an electric griddle. And I was really surprised to see how useful it was.
However, as I immersed myself testing the above griddle, I noticed some disturbing temperature variations. For example, the butter was foaming a bit faster on the center line across the width of the griddle. I took out the temperature control thermometer and pressed its “foot” sensor into the surface of the griddle. Even with the time to preheat, the temperature along this center-line tended to be right on target. But it turned out to be 20 to 40 degrees lower when I was moving in the front or rear third. Later I wrote to Wolf’s team about this discrepancy, and, needless to say, didn’t get a reply.
Sometimes, you would expect a little inconsistency even with a high-end appliance. But it was incredible that an electric griddle which cost a staggering $550 would show such inconsistency. I’m sure it would complicate things for the manufacturer who has to repair it and send it to the customer. But, at this price, I hope they should have produced a much better product with more consistent results.
So if the purpose of temperature control is to control the temperature, the Wolf couldn’t score a lot of points. And this really sent my enthusiasm down the drain.
Other drawbacks of the Wolf Griddle
Other errors have also occurred in the wolf gourmet precision electric griddle. The non-stick surface is pleasant for some applications, so it does have a long life. The manual suggests using only wooden or plastic utensils. However, over time you’re likely to cheat yourself or simply feel an occasional urge to use a thin metal spatula. I did this and eventually wore out the surface. If the surface could be easily removed and replaced, that would be one thing. However, it won’t come off, so getting a replacement would be really painful for anyone, to say the least.
Non-detachable also means that cleaning is painful. You must go in with a warm, soapy cloth and then “rinse” with a damp cloth. You can drip grease into the drip tray, but in my tests, cleaning required much more than a damp cloth. To be fair, it must be said that cleaning restaurant-friendly flattop is also a difficult job. But the wolf would have been much more useful if it were a little easier for the home cook to use.
Even at my sister’s house, I found a Black & Decker griddle between the pots and pans in the closet. It has more basic controls and probably cost 30 dollars ten years ago. Obviously, there are many modern options online in the range of 30-40 dollars at present. Needless to say, you could buy more than a dozen for the price of a wolf. For the same $550, you could also buy a huge backyard griddle that runs on a propane tank.
Wrapping up
Wolf Gourmet Precision Electric Griddle Review
I had high hopes for the Wolf gourmet Precision Electric Griddle. This is indeed a great idea! But I have a feeling that no one at Wolf’s manufacturing base has tested it properly when doing the quality control test. They ought to have done it before marketing it. And at such a high price point, that can hardly be excused.
Anyway, if you want to buy one of the best griddle available on the market today , read this post where you can choose one according to your personal preference. We have done all the hard work for you and you just have to choose one for your kitchen.
