5 Best Griddles and Flat Top Grills of 2025, Test and Review
Photo: Matthew Korfhage
Gridl is a hallmark of American diners and short-term cuisine, and is also a hero of all street tacos. We then tested the ability of each griddle to make the most distinctive food on a flat top grill.
I made dozens of smash burgers, tacos, fajitas, pancakes, bacon strips and eggs from the seven griddles I tested in this guide. They also tested their ability to grow skin fish, grill pork chops, and cook delicate vegetables like asparagus at lower temperatures, while the meat was cooked at a higher temperature on a separate burner.
For Smashburgers, this includes cooking at the highest temperatures each griddle can handle. We tested each griddle’s ability to quickly caramelize meat, bumped into the griddle and released the meat into a spatula and turned it over. Pancakes. Laid out across the griddle and had tests for uniformity of the grill across the cooking surface. Thick slabs of meat tested the griddle’s ability to maintain temperature while it was burned, like a compoke chop.
However, I was very familiar with each grid using an infrared thermometer. Heat temperatures at high or low temperatures at various points along the surface of the grille. We also competed on the griddle with each other to see how long it took each griddle to heat 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, please note that it is not always faster and better. Griddles that speed up heat may have less temperature stability. The top-rate pick, the Traeger FlatRock 3 Zone, took 10 minutes to reach 500 degrees. However, it evenly did the surface of the griddle.
I assembled each grid myself. Both are not only familiar with the amount of work each customer faces, but also settles at the heart of how each device is assembled.
In particular, we will make sure that the cleaning and seasoning work of each grid over time knows its fond and hot spots, how quickly it cools, and how quickly it heats up.