Electric Skillet recommendations?

[FastEddie]

Greetings! This is my first post here so forgive me if this topic has already been discussed. I love cooking and have been dabbling in it for years, but never with the equipment I would like to have. Now that I'm in a place where I can afford to equip a reasonably well-stocked kitchen (though money is still definitely an object!), I'm hoping I can come here from time to time to ask your opinions on a few things and to contribute my own experiences wherever they might be relevant.

I'm in the market for an electric skillet. Non-stick would be great, but I keep reading horror stories of electric skillets whose non-stick surfaces very quickly began coming off (though obviously it's impossible to know what those cooks were doing to their skillets, like cooking at temperatures that were too high, etc.). I don't need anything large; the Rivals 12 inch non-stick that Amazon has on sale for $20 would be an ideal size if I were sure of its quality. It seems to get mostly good reviews there, so that's something to go on. Does anybody have experience with this or other skillets? Any advice to share? Thanks in advance!

[BerryBaby]

I had an electric skillet for years that was a Rival. I use to do in-store demos and it worked like a charm. Recently gave it away as I hadn't used it in years.
However, I'd highly recommend it for durability.

[Food Network Fan]

I had a rival I received as a wedding gift, the plastic legs on it were broken during a move and I never replaced it. However it was an inexpensive model and it still did well. Heated evenly and non stick.
The legs were built into the handles and they broke rather easily in a packed moving box, but that's probably just because it was a low end model.

[Callisto in NC]

My Rival fell off the fridge, I glued it back together and it still works like a charm. I love my Rival. Apparently the movers that moved me to NC thought they were good too because they stole my original and the moving company had to buy me a new one. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.

This is the one I have Amazon.com: Rival Skillet with Glass Lid - 12": Home & Garden

This is the one I want: Amazon.com: Rival S16SG 12 by 16-Inch Digital Cool Touch Skillet: Home & Garden

[Chefnot]

I have to buy a couple for the Club, glad this was posted!

[bluejeanz]

This is weird that you'd mention electric skillets cause my grandson is moving into his first apartment and I just gave him my (ghastly) orange Sunbeam high-dome non-stick square electric skillet that I got when I got married in 1960. I used it quite often the first ten or so years but then I've only used it a handful of times over the years since then and the darn thing still works like new. I just never had the heart to get rid of it. My granddaughter was making something for a class in school last year and needed something she could deep-fry in so I gave it to her to use. She said it worked great so I guess it was a pretty good product. The actual cook well can be removed from the base for easier cleaning and the temp control was spot-on.

I don't have any other advice for you as far as which is the best brand. I know on a lot of websites they'll have reviews that people who bought the product have given. That may give you a heads-up on the pros and cons of a certain brand or style. Just do a lot of Googling and comparing and you'll be fine.

And good luck to you in your new kitchen!

[BerryBaby]

Electric skillets were all the rage when I got married as well, Jeanne. The one I recently gave away, was my second one and sat on the garage shelf for years.

I don't know why I stopped using it as it was great. Maybe my style of cooking has just changed?