I was mesmerized by diner cooks as a kid.I’d sit on a vinyl stool and drink chocolate milk from a carton, hunger gnawing as smells of bacon, coffee, and melted butter wafted across the counter.Through a thin haze of smoke, these cooks danced back and forth before a flat-top griddle, their spatulas singing against the steel as they deftly flipped piles of pancakes, fried eggs, and hash browns faster than seemed possible.This was breakfast to me: a ceremony, presided over by sweaty, apron-clad attendants standing before a searing-hot altar.My attempts to re-create this experience at home were always disheartening, if not sacrilegious. With my 10-inch pan, I had none of the speed, precision, or ease of a short-order cook.Everything changed when I discovered electric griddles.In my pursuit of the best version, I flipped more than 100 pancakes and logged countless temperature readings, and the Presto 22-inch Electric Slimline Griddle came out on top. With its large, quick-heating cooking surface and sturdy build, it’s the closest you’ll get to the short-order-cook experience at home. (And for an even more authentic experience, get a friend to bark their breakfast order at you.)