Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I recently purchased this item to replace a very old https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-735-GRILL-HERITAGE-SILVERSTN/dp/B00029OQ7W that is still in great working condition today. I wanted a larger rectangular griddle to replace our current one. When the Broil King griddle arrived arrived I was shocked to see such a poor quality piece of equipment. I don't write reviews, but with this item, I feel compelled to save other people the same mistake. They wasted my time, and I'll burn some time here so that you don't have to waste yours. My apologies for not including photographs, but I've already packaged up the Broil King for return. I had purchased this under the assumption that the America's Test Kitchen review was reliable--I was wrong. Better quality products are available for less than half the price. The Presto brand in a similar size is one that comes to mind (I have taken a close look at it in a brick-and-mortar store). Clearly this item never went through quality control of any legitimate sort. After receiving it, I went so far as to call Broil King to ask if this was typical. Their customer support person answered the phone with "hello, what do you want," a response in-line with the quality of the product I received. When asked if the issues were typical with the griddle, the person said "yes" and " just keep sending it back for a replacement until you get a good one." No thanks. Here are the specific issues: 1. Incredibly terrible cast quality: The cast aluminum was wavy, had a deep dip around the heating element in the middle and on the sides. It showed indications of improper cooling and early removal from the casting mold, leaving clear stress lines in the cast. This is an obvious indicator of poor quality and workmanship, and an attempt to build it as cheaply as possible. 2. Excessively thin metal. I measured the thickness of the aluminum cast. It was as thin as a couple of millimeters in some places and wildly varied across the base. This is shocking, as a heated surface of any quality should have more metal--not less--to allow for even heat spreading and prevent damage during heating and cooling. This will adversely affect your ability to cook evenly. It will also allow for incredibly high temperatures around the heating element--as thin metal is highly resistive to heat propagation just like tiny wires are resistive to current flow, likely damaging the non-stick in those areas, deforming or cracking the metal, and scorching any oils left on the griddle. This is typical of a manufacturer attempting to cut costs and results in throw-away and arguably dangerous products. 3. Poor surface non-stick application. The non-stick application was uneven, incredibly rough in some places, and had sharp high spots that would catch on a spatula or tear food. 4. Uneven stands. The handles and stands are a single piece. The stands were uneven resulting in a wobbling griddle, mainly due to the twisted cast of the griddle. They were thin and cheaply manufactured. 5. Sub-par heating element attachment. Our current griddle is a thick, well-casted piece of aluminum and the heating element is cast-in to the griddle--completely surrounded by the casting. It heats quickly and evenly and it seems like it will never fail. The Broil King on the other hand barely has the heating element encased in the casting and is exposed under the base. It seems dangerous and is likely a fire hazard as the heating element on the bottom is half exposed--meaning that the heat will not be fully absorbed and spread by the cast base, but instead radiated intensely to whatever is below the griddle. 6. Splash guard. The splash guard is clearly an after-thought. It is not attached to the base in any way and it's sharp edges rest directly on the non-stick. It is held on by a couple of tabs that slide under the handles. It arrived warped and out-of shape. As it sits in contact with the griddle when installed, it will likely get very hot. I did not test the heating controller, nor did I open it to look inside. I saw enough problems with the casting that I didn't need to be convinced of the quality of the electronics one way or another. I cannot attest to the quality of the electronics. Needless to say, the Broil King is going back today. I've purchased the Zojirushi instead--it's a brand that has never failed me and has always been engineered to a higher standard: https://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-EA-DCC10-Gourmet-Sizzler-Electric/dp/B00G2TVNCC I expect that I won't be needing to send the Zojirushi back, but if you are interested in a good griddle design that will last, I would compel you to read the reviews for the Zojirushi product, as a few engineers have posted thermal images and described why that product is well-built. Clearly it is much more expensive, but it seems the old adage about getting what you pay for is true. I can't attest for it myself, yet, as I don't have it in hand, but I have come to expect great quality from the brand. I don't work for Zojirushi, but I discovered them while living in Japan. As the Japanese often cook right in the middle of the dining table, they have been making products purpose-built for this kind of thing for a very long time. A note on "even heating" if you are interested: Lastly, a word of warning and an engineering note about the "uneven heating" reviews that you'll see everywhere. All griddles will heat unevenly during pre-heat, unless the manufacturer over-builds the heating element to cover the entire bottom of the cast base (you don't want to have to pay for that feature). So, in order to minimize this problem, one simply has to wait for the griddle to pre-heat before you cook on it or measure its temperature. But you should actually wait a bit more. In order for the griddle to pre-heat quickly, the element has to be much hotter than the desired temperature and the surrounding metal--otherwise it would take a very long time to get the griddle up to the right temperature ("overshoot" in control theory). Newton's law of cooling dictates this, and if you're the curious type, you can look it up. That pointy piece of metal on the plug-in controller is a temperature probe. Notice that it comes in contact with the edge of the griddle--not the middle. That tells the electronics when to stop pre-heating. Usually, a light will go off, telling you that the pan is pre-heated. But this comes with a caveat as well--the controller only knows that the edge is at the temperature you want because that is where the probe is--it doesn't know anything about the middle of the griddle or the other edges. Knowing that the heat came from the element, we can expect the area around the heating elements is still hotter than the temperature you are aiming for when that pre-heating light goes out. So, you should wait a bit longer for that heat to spread out evenly before you begin to cook (or measure temperatures to post in a review). From there, the heating element will either cycle on and off--creating moments of severely increased heat in those locations--or it will attempt to slowly keep a lower heat applied that will continuously diffuse through the metal base. The second method is better for not scorching your food but still creates hot spots--just not as hot. This area of engineeirng is called "control theory" coupled with "thermodynamics" and it can get quite complicated, so I've kept it simple here. There are a few methods for fixing the uneven-heating problem, and these may help guide your purchasing decisions, but you should be aware that unless you have a thick cast-iron griddle, properly pre-heated, and sitting over a gas stove, no reasonably priced stand-alone method will be perfect: 1. Expensive PID controllers and zone-heating with multiple sensors. Avoid unless you're running a professional kitchen or building something for NASA (in which case you'll know what a PID controller is). 2. Heat spreaders--copper conducts heat much better than aluminum which conducts heat much better than steel. Some griddles, hot plates, and often high-end pots and pans will incorporate a layer of copper to act as what is called a "heat spreader." Adds cost, but a thin layer of cast-in copper can go a long way. This is also why you should insulate any copper pipes in your home on the hot-water side. 3. More complex heating element designs. A better heating element more evenly spaced along the cooking surface also heats more evenly. It's also more expensive and a design problem. 4. Thick, even, high-quality casts. Thicker, well-cast metal will spread the heat more evenly and more quickly--though it may take longer to pre-heat. It will retain more heat, reducing the need for cycling of the element. Also, it will reduce the hot-spots created by the element, as it will move the heat away more quickly. This is probably the cheapest, most effective way to drastically improve the performance of a griddle (or any cooking surface for that matter). This is your go-to for the price-range you're looking for if you've found yourself here at the Broil King page. If you read a review where there are complaints that pre-heating takes a while, you're probably looking at a higher-quality product. 5. Better attachment of the heating element. Notice some products like the Cuisinart griddler have reversible cooking surfaces with cast-in elements. This will ensure better cooking, and is likely one of the reason for it's high reviews. My current griddle--while I don't like the round shape--has a cast-in heating element and it works great. It also has a thick casting. I wish it were rectangular and bigger. 6. Shape. Round griddles will have more even heating gradients than rectangular griddles, but round is less functional. 7. Separate radiative heating. Having the heating elements away from the surface allows the heat from the elements to diffuse before reaching the cooking surface. It also heats the air in a chamber below the cooking surface (if so designed) which allows for convection and gives an additional advantage to even heating. The Zojirushi implements this method. Notice that the the Zojirushi doesn't have a drip tray. This is one potential engineering trade-off for this design. Ovens and especially convection ovens works on a similar principle. 8. Oil. Oil, just like in your car engine, moves heat around (as does the thick cast engine block) while it lubricates. Applying oil to the griddle will help, and the more you use, the more it will help, but the trade-off is obvious, which is why this isn't a great solution for griddles. I hope this helps in your decision-making.