What Can You Cook In An Electric Skillet? Your Questions Answered

Although they’re often looked down on as the stuff of dorm-life, an electric skillet can be an invaluable part of your home kitchen arsenal.

These electrically heated pans offer a huge amount of versatility, and – crucially – something you can’t always guarantee with a stovetop skillet: a perfectly consistent cooking temperature.

This kind of consistency means food is cooked evenly, whether you want to fry or sear something quickly, or slow-cook a hotpot for later on in the day.

Think of an electric skillet as a swiss army knife that can tackle a whole host of cooking jobs conveniently and discretely.

An electric skillet works in much the same way as any other heating element you’ll have in your home – think your hairdryers or heaters!

First of all, an electric current is passed through a resistor. The resistor converts that current into heat, which is then distributed over the cooking surface of the electric skillet.

A thermostat regulates the temperature, and most electric skillets have a number of different settings to choose from. These keep the electric skillet cooking at a steady, precise temperature.

The wattage consumed by an electric skillet depends of course on the make and model of the pan you’re looking at.

Here’s an example for you though.

The Presto 16-inch electric skillet is one of the most popular models on the market. This requires 1500 watts of power.

Bigger or larger electric skillets will have their own wattage requirements, but 1500 watts of power draw is a reasonable average to expect.

There are a few good reasons to own and use an electric skillet in your own home:

– You want to achieve perfectly even heating of your food, without having to constantly monitor progress
– You have a small kitchen space, and need a single appliance that can cover a lot of tasks (think everything from frying to searing, to slow cooking to baking!)
– You want to be able to enjoy a slow cooked meal, but don’t need a dedicated appliance for the task.
– You want fine control over the temperature of your cooking, without having to resort to a meat thermometer.

This is one of those super-convenient kitchen tools you’ll only find more uses for the longer you own it.

Electric skillets are excellent substitutes for slow cookers. What matters with a slow cook meal is maintaining a low and steady temperature.

As the temperature is electronically controlled, you can set the electric skillet to a low temperature, add your ingredients, and be confident that you’ll return to a perfectly slow-cooked stew,

You can indeed use your electric skillet as an oven. In fact, they’re particularly useful for making baked items like cornbread, biscuits and potatoes. 

Just make sure your electric skillet has a temperature setting that’s suited to the job at hand.

Anything you can cook in a regular skillet can also be cooked in an electric skillet. 

The advantage you get here though is accurate, consistent cooking temperatures with minimal fuss on your part.

Electric skillets can also tackle more tasks than a regular skillet can. For example, you can saute, grill, slow stew or even bake cakes in an electric skillet.

Yes, you can cook rice in an electric skillet. In order for the water to boil, it must reach a temperature of 212F / 100C. Most electric skillets are capable of reaching a temperature far, far higher than this, but check the product description as always before buying one.

Not only does plain rice cook really well in an electric skillet, you can also combine it with the rest of your meal so the rice absorbs all those other juicy flavors!

Yes, but with some limitations. You’ll notice that the cakes you bake in an electric skillet have nicely browned sides and bottoms, but softer tops. 

It’s best to play to your baking strengths here, and focus on recipes where a softer cake top is not a problem.

Yes, you can boil just about anything in an electric skillet. What matters here is that the electric skillet has enough power to push any given liquid past its boiling point.

Electric skillets can be used for making hotpots, but the deeper the pan is, the better the results you’ll enjoy.

Treat your electric skillet like a slow cooker when making a hotpot. Set a low, steady temperature, add your ingredients, and get ready to tuck into a juicy stew at the end of a hard day’s work!

The best temperature for a grilled cheese sandwich is around 275F / 135C.

When you use an electric skillet to make one, you want the cheese to melt and the bread to toast in harmony together – nice and quickly too! Just cook the sandwich at this temperature for around 5 minutes on each side.

You can tweak these timings to suit your preference, but this is about the right time and temperature to aim for at your first attempt.

It depends very much on the brand of electric skillet you own. Some are designed to be fully immersible, but it’s essential to check the product listing carefully.

If you want to know if your existing electric skillet is dishwasher safe, check the manual. If you’ve discarded the manual, look your model up on Amazon. 

Most manufacturers make a big deal when it comes to dishwasher safety. If you don’t see it mentioned in the product description, it’s better to assume your electric skillet needs to be washed by hand.

If you need to wash your electric skillet by hand, the process is pretty simple:

– Step 1: Make sure it’s disconnected from the mains power supply. Unplug the cord from the electric skillet too if possible, and put it to one side.
– Step 2: Drain any grease from the electric skillet into a suitable container. Don’t pour this stuff into the sink! Instead, let it solidify and then scoop the fat straight into the trash. Not a very nice job, but better than a clogged drain!
– Step 3: Add the disconnected electric skillet to a sink full of warm water and let it soak for a few minutes. This will help release the worst of the grime from the surface.
– Step 4: Use a cleaning sponge and standard kitchen detergent to gently clean the surface. You might find this easier to achieve under running warm water.
– Step 5: Dry thoroughly! Get in every nook and cranny and ensure the electric skillet is bone dry before reconnecting it to the power supply. I like to leave mine upside down on the washing rack for a good airing too.

Follow the instructions above to get the bottom of your electric skillet back to great condition!

Remember, just use standard dish soap, a gentle sponge, and a little elbow grease to get this job done.