Why did people use electric frying pans?

What does the TRUDY cookie do

I think one thing you could do with these is unplug them bring them to the table to serve from them. They had little plastic "legs" to prevent table damage and keep what was inside piping hot.

My aunt fried fish in hers outside on their patio so as not to stink up their house.

I still have one. I hate cleaning my stove. Electric skillet is easy to clean in the sink.

Appliance makers had products to sell and created a need.

You might as well be asking the same question about toasters. Bread cooked over a basic heating element is just fine. Do you really need designer colors?

Makes the perfect gift!

R5 for the win!

Post War America was relatively affluent. There followed a push by corporate America for everything to be new and modern and up-to-date. Just being new and modern served a perceived need. We got a lot of improvements out of that push, but also a lot of misses.

TV dinners. Tang. Paper dresses. Just piles of shit.

Sometimes you needed more cooking space. The stovetop got full.

I still use one sometimes. You don't have to heat up the stove and thus the kitchen. Also, it controls the temperature, so if you want to fry, say fried chicken, at 350, you just set it and the electric fry pan regulates the heat, so you don't have to stand there adjusting and trying to get it right.

I love mine. The convenience of precise temperature control is great. Part of the appeal is also the 'retroness ' fun of using one.

The temperature control is what I remember being advertised about electric skillets, with it's handiest use being for frying things up in oil.

Boy, in the 70s we had a ton of gadgets for the kitchen, there was always a Crock-Pot or an electric mixer or a blender or a toaster oven or something like that being used. Nowadays I cook much more elaborate meals, but I almost never use anything except the stove and the oven. I did buy a countertop rotisserie chicken maker, and I have a Fry Daddy, but I don't think I've used it in years.

It makes perfect bacon.

This is pre-Genration X, OP.

Because the OPEC oil embargo made gas powered frying pans unaffordable.

Portability. You could cook at the dinner table.

[quote]Portability. You could cook at the dinner table.

Splattering hot oil on your dinner guests always made for a memorable occasion.

My mother had one of the square ones with a lid back in the 1950s, later replaced with a rectangular one without a lid. Great for making batches of pancakes, waffles, eggs and such for a large family.

R16, it's not for guests. You cook at the family dinner table, and yes, sometimes there's a random microdroplet of hot oil that hits you on the arm or face, especially if you're adding oil to the pan like a fattie.

People used to actually cook full meals so the extra appliance helped out.

[quote]You might as well be asking the same question about toasters. Bread cooked over a basic heating element is just fine. Do you really need designer colors?

Electric toasters have been in use for more than 100 years and can hardly be considered a fad item. And they are convenient. Do you really want to heat up a skillet in the morning to make toast?

R16 -- you don't have to fry in them, you dippy-dolt. Non-fried foods can be cooked in an electric skillet, too.

They've been around in America since the 1950s,

[quote] Electric toasters have been in use for more than 100 years

R20, just short of 100 years in America.

Electric toasters have been around just a bit over 30 years longer in the US than electric frying pans.

I could never figure that out...less mess? Is the heat.distributed better.

I guess this is one for the theologians, Rose

Who the hell has an electrical outlet at the dining room table?

My mother had one in the 70s, I remember its primary use was to make pancakes, I think because of the temperature control made consistent cakes. Other than that, my mother used her 30-year old perfectly seasoned black cast iron skillet for everything. I wish I knew what happened to that skillet.

I personally wouldn't fry chicken in an electric skillet, but you could. I use mine to fry zucchini and donuts and am getting it out right now to make fattigmann for Christmas.

And,like R19 said, they are great to have around, especially for big family meals or buffets. My grandmother always cooked the Thanksgiving sweet potatoes in hers. Or the Easter party potatoes. A lot of vegetable and hotdish recipes can be made in the skillet. You just don't get a crispy oven crust. And, if you live in a place where it's hot in the summer and you don't want to turn on the oven...electric skillets and crock pots can be your best friends. You NYC and Palm Springs queens should be all over them.

I love it, cooking threads always lead to rock fights! How many fatalities will this thread cause?

R26, it's not for the dining room table. It's for the family kitchen table. It's extremely common in Japan, Taiwan etc.

I remember my grandmother using her's in the 60's & early 70's. She would make my favorite, hamburgers with chopped onions mixed into them.

My mother was killed when I was 5 so I was raised by my grandmother and she died when I was 16, I still miss my grandmother, especially at this time of year.

Didn’t Hannibal Lector sautee slices of Ray Liotta’s brain in an electrical skillet tableside?

I had an electric wok. It needed precisely and you didn't have to clean up the stovetop.

I used it because it was electric, rather than gas-powered. Thus we didn't use any propane and deplete our propane tank any more than necessary.

But I don't think that was a selling point. It was the convenience or portability.

[quote]Who the hell has an electrical outlet at the dining room table?

Plus, electric frying pans always had short cords as a safety measure.

Kitchen tables didn't have electrical outlets either R30, at least in American homes. My mom had one and the cord out not have reached from the counter to the table.

*would not have reached

The temperature control was the big one for my mother. Her fried chicken recipe included an intermediate low-temperature cooking stage and it helped to be able to set it precisely. It also came in handy for things like pancakes where the right temperature really does make a difference. It was larger and deeper than the frying pans that came with her cooking set, so she used it for the occasional larger recipe that our family of 7 needed.

Also keep in mind that in the pre-microwave days, everything was cooked on the stovetop, so having an extra cooking surface available came in handy on more than one occasion. I don't have one myself and don't feel the need for one but my family used ours for over 20 years.

R7 - I don't know that I would include TV dinners in that list.

I remember in childhood when my family would go on road trips, my mother wisely brought along an electric skillet so that she could make us breakfast in the rinky dink Motel 6s we'd stay in.

Also, my parents owned an apartment complex with 2 studio apartments that had no kitchen. The tenants who rented these out made good use of electric skillets and burners.

I don't cook many oily foods, don't really like fried chicken that much, but I do love bacon. Cooking bacon or fish which I also rarely if ever cook will make the house smell for days on end. That smell and grease has to get into everything so I fry bacon in an electric skillet in the garage. It keeps the smell out of the house completely.

Electric fry pans also had tight fitting lids that would keep the oil from splattering.

[quote]in the rinky dink Motel 6s we'd stay in.

Another poor person giving uninformed opinions.

You can cook a lot of foods in an electric skillet. And you can turn the thermostat to "keep warm" for second helpings.

Hello, I'm Peg Murdock.

OP, you're definitely weird.

Electric skillets allowed far more precise temperature control, including warming, without needing constant attention. Most stoves just have "low/med/high" and not exact temperatures. They were GREAT for pancakes and casseroles and a bunch of other things. They're better than either electric or gas ranges for certain things. Certainly not everything. But man, you go way over-board with your highly biased cherry-picking in your "list". Why do you have an irrational hate for such a useful kitchen item?

Breakfast casseroles are a snap with an electric skillet. Perfect for when you have overnight guests.

Whoever commented on the need for toasters is a retard. I couldn't live without my Dualit.

I had one that my parents gave me back when I lived in a little studio apartment in the city. It was great for the precise temperature control. I would use mine for pancakes and for risotto with chicken livers.

In those days, stoves had 4 burners. Cooking a large meal meant your timing would be off. These appliances did a couple of things for you.. (1) An all in one meal could more easily be prepared than on the stove top or the oven and (2) if you needed a food warmer for a big breakfast for already cooked pancakes and bacon, they were unbeatable

My parents got one for their wedding in the late sixties and used it through the 90s. I think it still works. It was used for larger groups of people when making bacon/eggs, pancakes, hash browns, etc. it kept the stove top clean and usable for other things. The temperature control was far superior to the electric coil ranges that many regions had back then. You could also use it for trips and if you wanted to fry, outside being preferable. People did almost their cooking at home up until the 90s, so the extra gadget came in handy.

only a BITCH uses a fucking electric frying pan!

^ only a fucking CUNT would say that!

My Grandmother used hers as sort of a prehistoric slow-cooker. You could set a low temp, put the tight fitting lid on, and walk away for a few hours. She used it for things like Swiss steak.

Ours was used a lot on holidays for extra stove top space. Big elaborate meals need precision timing and plenty of burners.

sluts and whores need time off form the kitchen, the electric skillet works well for this

Is a large electric skillet covered in this thread? I use it for its size and the cooking temperatures allowed. I can cook alot in one skillet. Plus its deep enough that I can do a whole roast in. I put a roast in, fill it up to the brim with lipton onion soup, and cook it all day. About an hour before it's done I throw in the potatoes and carrots. That's my favorite thing to cook in the skillet. It just allows you to cook a lot of things that a stove top skillet won't let you.

The mall intercept comes to DL.

The Teflon coating that chipped and peeled into the food provided an extra boost of flavor.

The Sunbeam pan in R45’s post is the one my mother had. Also the Sunbeam mixer seen in the background. Those things lasted 40+ years, and still worked great.

Plus it has a warm setting that will keep things warm, on a low enough temperature, so it doesn't dry out.

Only a mule-kicked fool would not already own an electric skillet.

It's a good thing. So there.

[quote] It was larger and deeper than the frying pans that came with her cooking set, so she used it for the occasional larger recipe that our family of 7 needed.

This is why my mother used one also (although our family was only 4, not 7).

She used hers for frying chicken by setting it on the kitchen table. She would cover the table with brown paper grocery bags and put wire racks on top of them. As she fried the chicken in the electric skillet, she'd take it our of the pan put it on the wire racks and let the fat drip onto the paper. That way she'd have the whole table to work with instead of the small counter next to the stove. When she was done, she'd just toss the paper bags in the trash and Jubilee the kitchen table. Much easier than removing the electric burners and cleaning the stove of all the splattered grease.

She'd also use it for skillet dishes like Joe's Special (sauteed ground beef, onions, mushrooms, chopped spinach, all held together with scrambled eggs (a San Francisco tradition).

I love men who can cook at home. My ex-husband ate out 4 nights a week.

The millennials don't know how to cook for themselves!

R56 - 😂, then you better make sure it’s on your Christmas wish list!

It’s sexy

r2 is correct, my mom would bring it to the table and serve from it (for our family, not company)

Your mom sounds like a smart cookie, R63.

For those of you worried about outlets, you just unplugged it before bringing it to the table.

My mothers 70s electric skillet didn’t have a Teflon coating. In fact she distrusted Teflon and never bought anything lined with it, she was afraid something would leach into the food.

One thing I remember was the short cord though, it couldn’t have been longer than 18” long. Luckily when she used the skillet it was always on the countertop next to the stove and there was an outlet there, no extension cord necessary. She didn’t like extension cords either, she was afraid of electrical fires.

"Jubilee" used as a verb.

Wow!

I loved the way our kitchen smelled it got "Jubileed." Do they still make that stuff?

I jubileed for one hour this morning.

My mother used it for tons of stuff. Fried chicken, bacon, pancakes - not at the same time! Very versatile and handled everything well.

My aunt still uses hers . You fry your fish on the patio and no smell indoors.

You can wash them in the dishwasher.

you can make pineapple upside down cake in them and seduce your married bald neighbor next door 1

Like r3 my mom ( who had an exceptional sense of smell) used it to fry fish, sausages, etc. on our backyard stoop. She hated the lingering scent of fried food in the house

When I wanted to cook 'Chicken Taco Beans' (Red Kidney Beans, Costco Canned Chicken, Salsa, and Taco Seasoning), I USED to use my reliable 12" x 15" electric skillet (Technolon) in order to 'Freeze and Eat.'

Last weekend I dropped a full rack of Gatorade 2 (Costco size) on the corner of my electric skillet, at which time its 'leg' broke!

(Can you, at least once, tear your Fat Ass off the sofa to help me unload groceries!)

I'm pissed!

Well, you can get another one for less that $40, r79. Or Superglue the broken leg.

^^ Good thought. Not confident Super Glue withstands the skillet's heat dispersed through its 'legs.'

What about "Gorilla Glue" for same repair. Anybody?

I almost bought one when I replaced my old, big, uncleanable oven with a microwave, air fryer and portable stovetop.

I decided to buy a vertical grill with DETACHABLE cooking plates which can be washed properly in the sink.

Another big reason why I have one: I grew up using an electric stove. I HATE cooking on a gas stove where I live now. It has two setting. Burn and low. I have a huge skillet and use it all the time.

The general use of the past tense, or suggesting the rarity of an electric skillet on this thread is bizarre. There are hundreds of companies currently selling these devices, so they are hardly some artifact of another generation.

From $29 budget items to All Clad, Cuisine Art and WOLF units selling for up to $500, this kitchen item many here compare to a dinosaur is far from extinct.

They're really good for making ratatouille, of all things.

[quote] I loved the way our kitchen smelled it got "Jubileed." Do they still make that stuff?

Indeed you can. And yes, I loved the smell too

My colored maid Elvia Latrailer- Johnson would make heavenly hush puppies in my old Fabarware electric skillet !!!!!

For the gourmets you can preheat them. That can make all the difference in the world when cooking a complicated dish or getting a steak just right.

"They're really good for making ratatouille, of all things."

Cabbage rolls, too!

Now I want one; hello Black Friday!

There are thousands of recipes that say “transfer - fill in the blank - to a separate pan and keep warm.

Guess what the best pan is to keep something warm?

An electric skillet!

Once you start using it little by little it will be your most used kitchen item. Even the simplest of one is nice to use.

^^ Right!

One reason I loved my electric skillet (12" x 15") is because my stove top is tiny.

Plus, the accompanying heat control allows one to set the heat to a 'Just Right' temperature.

Mom still has her classic sunbeam from the late sixties - she used it forever. I’m a wrinkled useless hag at almost 44, and it still works fine bitches. Wish I still did...

I used to pack a mini electric skillet in a duffle bag back when I did extensive traveling. I think it was a Presto. You can do some awesome stuff with one in your hotel room, heating canned or retort pouch items and the occasional grilled cheese. I'd do actual cooking, like skillet lasagna, mac'n cheese and burgers. Forget cooking in the room coffeemaker, that sucks.

They don't seem to make the minis anymore, so I got a small (4" ) Foreman Grill sort of clamshell thing that came from Bed Bath and Beyond. Same idea, but less capable. Makes good sandwiches and omelets, and I can use it to heat up stuff in a tiny skillet on the open grill surface.

They stink!

Another gayling whose mother Jubileed. She also Glo-Coated.

Julia Child popularized thèse in the 1960s. She made Coq au vin and chicken fricassé. My mom used her electric skillet for those types of French stews. You were able to braise the chicken then simmer everything in the same skillet. My mom had two going at the same time with the oven’s burners being used for other things. They were used for party prep. My mom was Irish so Coq au vin was served with mashed potatoes, string beans and corn. My dad’s mom was a French chef who learned to cook in small braisières. Both loved Julia.

My heart mourns -

They are awkward to clean the spattered grease off.

This so fits in with Datalounge. A skillet is the best fucking things to make bread pudding in.

they still make the little ones and they're great for breakfast. I've used them to travel on a budget to. Along with a coffee maker.

Melting wax for batik in art class

This thread would make Peg Murdock very happy.

Quick 'n' easy dinner --

Three thick-cut pork chops and a packet of that yellow rice mix. Brown the chops in the skillet, pour the dry rice and seasoning into the skillet and add the required amount of water. Cook on 275˚ for about 30 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.

Dirty skillet can be put in the dishwasher.

Of course this thread has attracted over 100 posts. I love you DL.

Instapots are where it's at these days, grannies.

Instapots are toys. Stove top pressure cookers are REALLY where it's "at."

I'm scared of pressure cookers.

^^ I gots mine!

That's because you're a Nervous Nelly.

Are you happy with your 'Instapots'?

They're not really 'instant' at all, are they?

The thing is you can make everything in a large skillet. From the best mac n cheese to a gourmet meal.

No, they're not r112

Thanks for reminding me! I'm going to dig my electric skillet out of the closet and make a roast.

I love to make the lasagna in the skillet. You just throw it all in and cook it for about 30 minutes.

It looks wonderful with my Wedgwood china and Gorham sterling.

R114 Thank you

R47 - What's a 'breakfast casserole' ?

R63 - That 'Joe's Special' as a SF specialty sounds revolting! Why in fuck would you throw scrambled egg into that conglomeration of ground meat and vegetables?

R116 - oh no, you've done it now! Lasagna prepared in a skillet has breached this 100++ posts thread of electric fry pan wisdom and retro memory bounty!

r119 -- Here ya go, you lazy butthole:

I USED to use my electric skillet to cook the best-damn-fried-rice, EVER!

Jasmine Rice, Egg, Scallions, Low-Sodium Soy Sauce, Garlic, and Gingah!

I make a breakfast casserole every Xmas eve for Christmas morning. A roll of pillsbury croissant on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan (bake 7 minutes) top with cooked sausage or bacon, then 8-10 eggs mixed with 1 cup of milk and 1+ cup of cheese (cheddar+mozzarella mix) on top and bake at 350° for ~45 min. Do it the night before so it can be microwaved in the morning and served with mimosas.

I bet it would be easy in one of these skillets. I'm going to Amazon to look at them.

^^ Steer clear of the ones with 'non-stick' coating; and read all reviews, especially for the lesser priced ones.

[quote]Great for making batches of pancakes, waffles, eggs and such for a large family.

How the hell can you make waffles in a skillet?

r97 Mary! I loved me some Glo-Coat. Dear god, that stuff was a wonder. I got through *every* single military inspection for 8 years with Glo-Coat. Let those damn fools use military issue floor wax. Bah. I bought Glo-Coat, buffed and never once failed an inspection. That meant I never once got stuck on toilet detail over a weekend.

Cleaned up so easily too, a bit of diluted ammonia and it all came off. Military floorwax was a bear to strip. No sir, no ma'am no thank you.

R77, Ted needs a Whole lot more sex in the bedroom and a LOT less time in the kitchen

Reading these threads about the glory of 'lectric skillets, I am duct-taping my broke-ass skillet's broke-ass leg up!

OP = panphobic

Thanks R102. I've got a mini sized electric skillet on the way! I'll make a grilled cheese in your honor.

Here, watch this!

Okay - I gotcha - thank you R120.

Yes - I see how those kind of bakes with traditional breakfast ingredients would be skillet worthy and be kept warm to serve.

You sound like a hot Daddy R125!

I bet sheeted frozen puff or short pastry would bake up a treat in the squared off shape for other options R122 - your brunch bros and buddies are lucky.

Once you get used to the size, depth, and most importantly the even heating you'll love it. Even if you are a casual cook you will easily grow to appreciate exact temperature control and the even heating.

I've used them for work potlucks to make potstickers.

Speaking of pot lucks.. I volunteered to make grilled cheese for the work potluck once. There were several foreign folks who had never heard of them, so I thought I'd introduce them. I used an electric skillet I had inherited from my mother. This thing was from the 70's. The temp gauge was either off, or screaming insane hot. The grilled cheese were a hit, but I got stuck making them and not really getting to mingle and eat. I had to keep unplugging it as it was way too hot. I would cook the grilled cheese during the "cooling down" period of when the thing was unplugged. I threw it out and was also talked to the next day for bringing in a cooking device that didn't meet safety standards. The negative Nancy in our group snitched. Karma was a bitch too....

^ How so? Did the negative Nancy then die in an electric skillet grease fire?

Unless you work at Underwriters Laboratories, I hardly see why your electric skillet's thermostat problem would be worth an admonishment

Oops, I meant to say French toast, not waffles, R124.

R136, LOL!!

R137, it had to do with the little silver sticker they put on all large electrical devices. It was the safety commission people who would have to check any devices used in the department. Has something to do with wattage, etc...I'm not 100% sure. I was simply told not to use any cooking devices in the department as that is where we set up some tables and put our various "devices". The people who brought crock pots were also "reminded" about safety. This was all because of the department snitch who everybody hated. Upper management did not care one bit, but had to play along and acknowledge her complaint. They couldn't stand her because her constant complaining made their jobs harder.

She ended up getting mrsa and eventually losing her job and leg I believe. Miserable person all around.

Well, that's why they have circuit breakers and fuses, to prevent the overloading of circuits.

Miss Snitch got hers, eh?.

I work from home now, but other than a refrigerator and microwave nothing electrical was allowed in the office kitchen/break room. We used to have a toaster, buy some moron jammed a bagel in it and all the smoke alarms came on followed by the fire department.

[QUOTE] We used to have a toaster, buy some moron jammed a bagel in it and all the smoke alarms came on followed by the fire department.

This reminds me of the hysterical “Let’s Be People and Things in the office Kitchen” thread a few years ago

For some reason the old electric skillet was one of the few things I took after my parents died, and this thread has inspired me to go dig it out. It's ancient, and old cloth electrical cord is looking mighty sketchy so I think I'll replace that before I use it, but I already have visions of meals like pork chops in mushroom gravy and Swiss steak cooking in it.

Thanks DL!

delicious

Liking the budget travelling skillet hack very much.

5 Easy Electric Skillet Recipes:

OP, have you said “DID”? I believe people still use them.

This lady fries chicken in hers:

what would simply sarah say????

more oil

I think Simply Sara probably already owns and electric frying pan.

R149 - that reminds me of the electric skillet’s diabolical siblings, the Fry Baby and Fry Daddy.

who are they?

I make pancakes in my electric skillet on a regular basis. They come out nicely tanned.