When Making Breakfast For A Crowd, Break Out The Griddle

Waffle House regulars know that a quality griddle makes a world of difference when preparing breakfast for a crowd. From pounds of crispy hash browns to a dozen eggs at a time, a flat-top cooking surface is one of the reasons the late Anthony Bourdain called the breakfast chain better than The French Laundry, a Michelin-starred restaurant in California. Griddles are easy to clean and a breeze to cook on, so even the most amateur chef can excel with them.

Charcoal lovers may ask whether it's better to own a grill or a griddle, but breakfast enthusiasts know there's a reason diners have relied on griddles for so long. They're perfect for achieving the Maillard reaction, that savory crust created when a protein hits a hot surface, and for evenly cooking dishes like pancakes and French toast. One of the biggest advantages of a flat-top is its surface area. A griddle with enough space to cook for an army makes for a hassle-free breakfast experience that will leave you feeling like a veteran fry cook.

Outdoor, gas-powered Blackstone griddles are a favorite among many home chefs as they aren't prohibitively expensive and can cook everything from whole chickens to fried eggs. However, if you aren't ready to invest in a standalone flat-top grill, there are plenty of griddle plate attachments you can buy for a gas stove or grill that are significantly cheaper while achieving a similar result. Both options have their respective strengths and are fantastic tools for cooking breakfast for a crowd.

When cooking in bulk, standalone griddles definitely win this contest. Many of them have cooking surfaces that are almost 30 inches wide, giving you enough space to cook multiple foods at once or a mountain of the same food like scrambled eggs or these black and yellow breakfast potatoes. However, if you aren't cooking for 10 or more people, a plate attachment or even a smaller griddle pan does just fine, though you might have to cook in batches.

Evenly heating a gas-powered flat-top is often easier than using a plate attachment. Detachable griddles rely on your stove for heat, so if you have different size burners it can be tricky to dial them all in evenly. Standalones, however, often only have one or two dials to control equally sized heating elements, making it much more straightforward while still allowing you to have a cooler and hotter side for different recipes.

Cleaning both standalone and plate flat-tops is easy. Full griddles often have a grease cup where you scrap the crumbs and oils from its surface before sanitizing it. But dishwasher-safe plate attachments only require you to rinse them off before throwing them in with your plates and flatware, making cleanup much easier. Finally, attachments are exponentially less expensive. They're essentially just a shallow, rectangular cast iron skillet, so they're simpler to maintain, cheaper to buy, and can be used indoors. While standalone griddles offer more versatility and cooking space, not everyone is ready to spend over $200 on a cooking device.