The Best Cast Iron Griddle for Pancakes (2024)

When I separated from my husband a few months ago, I wanted to start a new weekend tradition with my two young sons. Because church isn’t really our thing, I decided it would be pancakes. More specifically, mochi pancakes—which are just like regular pancakes except I swap out half of the all-purpose flour for Mochiko sweet rice flour.

As an enameled cast iron evangelist, I’ve always used my Staub 11-inch Traditional Skillet for this purpose. It retains heat beautifully, warms evenly, and because I cook on an induction range, I know exactly where to set the knob to turn out perfect pancakes every time. (Yes, even my first pancake is perfect at this point.) The only problem? I can make exactly one pancake at a time in an 11-inch pan. Because I usually make a double batch, that means I can sometimes spend up to three hours standing at the stove on Sunday mornings.

The solution, of course, is rectangular griddle—and I’m not sure why it took me so long to come to this realization. I think it has something to do with the fact that the griddles of my youth had flimsy plastic feet, needed to be plugged in, and featured the telltale signs of a metal spatula making regular contact with a cheap, Teflon-coated surface.

But I didn’t want my mother’s griddle; I wanted a hefty enameled cast iron griddle that would span the bridge burner on my Bertazzoni range. It just so happens that the maker of my favorite enameled cast iron skillet makes a 18.25 x 9.5-inch enameled cast iron griddle/plancha that might as well have been custom made for my cooktop.

Making pancakes on Staub’s Enameled Cast Iron Double Burner Griddle is a game changer. It heats just as evenly as my skillet, but instead of making one pancake at a time, I can make three. Since there are no shoddy electrical features sticking out from the sides, I can slip it into the same slim cabinet where I store my sheet pans.

But more often than not, this griddle lives on my cooktop, because it’s good for so much more than just pancakes. I can use it for bacon, eggs, and french toast, or high-heat searing whether I’m making steak or salmon. It’s also sleek enough to function as a stovetop-to-table serving platter in a pinch.

Honestly, though, even if I used it exclusively for pancakes, it would still be worth the price. Because now that I’m spending less time at the stove on Sunday mornings I actually get to sit down and enjoy breakfast with my boys.