Description
Are you making lefse, or are you making breakfast?
This is a specialist tool wearing the label of a general one, and getting that straight decides the whole purchase. A 16 inch round griddle at 1450 watts with an uncoated aluminum surface is the classic format for lefse, the thin Norwegian potato flatbread that is rolled paper thin and cooked dry at high heat. The round shape matches the round flatbread. The absence of a nonstick coating is deliberate, because lefse is cooked with flour rather than fat and a coated surface changes how it behaves.
If that is what you are making, or chapati, tortillas, crepes, injera or any other thin dry cooked flatbread, this griddle is built around the job and there is not much else on the market that is. The Bethany name has been associated with lefse equipment for decades and the product listing dates back to 2009 on this record.
If what you actually want is a general purpose electric griddle for pancakes, eggs and bacon, think carefully. A round surface wastes space that a rectangular griddle uses, fat runs to the middle of a flat round plate rather than to a grease channel, and an uncoated aluminum surface is unforgiving with eggs. For that job an indoor grill such as the Starfrit The Rock with its nonstick plate and drip tray is a better tool, and the wider electric grills category covers the alternatives.
The two specifications that define it, and the many that are missing
The griddle is 16 inches in diameter and draws 1450 watts, which is a high power density for that area and is what allows a flatbread griddle to recover heat between rounds. The body is aluminum with a satin finish, the handles are wood, and the whole thing weighs 6.94 pounds. The listing states plainly that it has no nonstick coating and that it is not dishwasher safe.
Beyond that, this record has very little in it. The description field simply repeats the product title. The single feature bullet also repeats the product title. There is no temperature control specification, no thermostat range, no cord length, no assembly information and no statement of what is in the box beyond a repetition of the title again.
The set question
The product title begins with the words Creative Kitchen Lefse Set. A lefse set traditionally means the griddle plus a turning stick, a pastry board and a cloth cover, which are the tools the process actually requires. But the Included Components field on this listing names only the griddle itself, using the same repeated title text.
So it is unclear from this page whether you are buying a griddle or a set of equipment, and that is a substantial difference in both price and usefulness. Ask the seller before ordering. It is the single most important question on this listing.
Two other fields are placeholders rather than data. Model Name is recorded as five dots. Warranty Description is recorded as the single word Warranty, which tells you nothing about the term or what it covers. The part number is 730, which is the useful identifier here.
Living with an uncoated aluminum griddle
Bare aluminum behaves differently from the nonstick surfaces most kitchen appliances now use, and the habits are worth knowing before the first use rather than after a frustrating one.
It needs conditioning. A new aluminum griddle is usually wiped with a light film of oil and heated before its first proper use, which builds a thin polymerized layer that food releases from. That layer builds over time, which is why an old lefse griddle works better than a new one, and why washing it aggressively sets you back.
It is not dishwasher safe, and the listing says so. Aluminum in a dishwasher discolors and pits from the detergent, and a wooden handle in a dishwasher will crack. Cleaning is a scrape while warm and a wipe, with as little detergent as the job allows.
Heat control is the open question. Nothing on this listing describes a thermostat, a dial or a temperature range, and 1450 watts through a 16 inch plate with no control would be difficult to work with. Most griddles of this type do have a probe thermostat, but this listing does not confirm it. Confirm it before ordering, because it is the difference between a usable tool and one that only runs at full heat.
Storage is easy in one respect and awkward in another. At 6.94 pounds and 4.1 inches thick it slides into a cupboard without difficulty, but a 16 inch circle does not sit neatly beside rectangular cookware, and the cord and handles need somewhere to go. Most owners end up giving it a shelf of its own or hanging it, which is worth planning if the kitchen is already full.
The wooden handles are a genuine advantage: wood does not conduct heat the way metal does, and on a plate this size the handles get used every time it comes out. They are also the part that will not survive being soaked.
The listing records 57 customer ratings averaging 4.0 stars, a first availability date of May 2009, and a rank of 94th in electric griddles. Fifty seven ratings across sixteen years is a small sample and reflects a niche product rather than a poorly received one.
What would send you elsewhere
If flatbread is not what you are cooking, almost anything else in this part of the kitchen serves you better. A contact grill such as the George Foreman GR0040B handles chops and burgers on a nonstick surface that cleans in seconds. A sensor grill such as the Tefal OptiGrill takes the timing decisions away entirely.
If the interest is baking bread rather than griddling it, a bread machine covers a completely different part of the same craving; the Zojirushi BB-PDC20BA is the thorough version of that. And the electric griddles category is where to look if a rectangular griddle with a grease channel and a nonstick surface is closer to what you had in mind.
Who this griddle is for
It is for someone with a specific flatbread tradition to keep up, who understands why the surface is uncoated and wants the round 16 inch format that makes lefse and similar breads work. On those terms it is a well established piece of equipment with a long history and a light 6.94 pound body that stores flat.
It is not a general purpose griddle, and buying it as one leads to disappointment with eggs and bacon. Before ordering, settle two questions with the seller: whether the listing is for the griddle alone or for a set, since the title and the components field disagree, and whether a thermostat is fitted, since nothing on the page mentions temperature control at all.