Cuisinart Griddle Five Smoke Level And Peers

[STEbbq]

Before anyone asks, this is for the darling wife, who specifically told me she would only consider (not purchase) an indoor one as this is primarily for her use. So it has to be electric.

https://amazingribs.com/ratings-reviews/griddles/cuisinart-griddler-review/

This is the only electric one Max Good has looked at and he likes it.

We used to have a George Foreman maybe 20 years ago and one of those small tabletop griddles ($20 max I am guessing) and both were quite handy for bacon, breakfast, but strangely sucked at doing grilled cheese. Maybe someone knows why.

My primary concern is smoke levels as we have very sensitive smoke alarms. How much smoke will this produce doing a pound or so of bacon? Anything I can do to combat that?

Also, any indoor competitors worth considering or is the the best in a very small niche?

[STEbbq]

Alternatively, outside of the oven, what is the best way to cook a pound of bacon with no smoke inside?

[bbqLuv]

Simmer in water until water cooks off and crisps to the desired doneness.
I did this morning and worked great.

[Panhead John]

What’s wrong with cooking with it on the stovetop below your exhaust fan?

[STEbbq]

Skillets won’t let us do a pound at once.

[Panhead John]

I’m talking about placing the griddler on top of the stove.

[STEbbq]

Ah, well, our fan isn’t that great likely because it is not connected to the outside. So it just blows the smoke around the kitchen.

[Donw]

A rule of thumb concerning smoke alarms in your home or a system smoke detector is if you can smell it, the detector can see it.” So, any cooking of bacon is going to produce some smoke/smell. What you want is to reduce the particles contained in the smoke/smell to a level below the alarm threshold of the smoke alarm. Cooking under a strong vent hood helps a lot. An exhaust fan sitting in an open window does too. There are smokeless commercial units available for a price that combine a enclosed cooking space with an exhausted vent to the outside, but even those don’t always work well in small spaces, especially when you open the door to pull the food.

Cooking within a closed convection oven will help if the bacon is cooked on a rack above a bed of water to prevent further burning of the dripped grease. Still, turn on your stove’s vent fan when pulling the food.

[Panhead John]

I’m in the same boat as you Stephen, my exhaust fan is made into my microwave and it blows it straight back into the kitchen. Those grease filters in the microwave are totally worthless…. Unless you upgrade/change your exhaust fan, I’d say your SOL on the smoke front. Besides bacon, almost anything else you cook on the griddle is going to produce smoke/odors. My solution was to just move my smokey cooks out into the garage. I just set up a TV tray next to my entry door in the garage and use my portable single burner butane stove on top of the tray. If that would work for you, you wouldn’t have to worry about any smells or smoke at all inside the house.

[STEbbq]

I like the garage idea for the future for my own “griddle” or burner. I will keep that in mind. I’d have to rearrange things and do some organization to free up space but it seems possible Z

[Attjack]

I have one of those but I don't use it often.

[Histrix]

In my experience bacon smoke is only a thing when cooked with high temps. If you want no smoke just cook at a lower temp. Whenever I want/need to cook a pound of bacon at once I always do it in the oven. I use a lower temp than most folks might - 250°F-ish - and just let it cook for a few hours. Zero smoke and the rendered fat is very clean/clear (and I always save it). The length of time will vary depending on how you prefer the finished bacon to be - crunchy or chewy.

I'll occasionally do bacon in the microwave but that can be tricky as it takes some trial/erro to get it dialed in just right regarding time/power level/# of slices.

In regards to the Cuisinart I have one of those. It is an earlier model (about 20 years), sans the digital controls. It is a good machine but I have never cooked bacon on it. I have used it mostly as a panini press.

[bbqLuv]

DITTO. If you want no smoke just cook at a lower temp.
Such common sense you are making me look bad.

[RichieB]

I have a Presto electric griddle. I use it for bacon. As stated, low heat equals no smoke. I go for 250.

[STEbbq]

Alright. Thanks guys. The wife has signed off on trying a sheet pan with a layer of water underneath the bacon on a rack next time so we will see how that works for her. I will have to check to see if the stove even has a separate fan from the microwave one. The 250 idea is pretty good but she isn’t going to wait 3 hours for bacon she doesn’t eat.

[fzxdoc]

So you'll be cooking it in the oven after all (sheet pan/rack/water)?

Bacon in the oven is still the fastest no smoke route. Take a look at this topic:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/porknography-ribs-pulled-pork-ham-etc/1455670-how-do-you-cook-bacon

If you are indeed going the oven route after all, you don't need a regular rack (one less thing to clean) or water for that matter. I make a disposable rack with aluminum foil.

Just line the rimmed sheet pan with foil. Then take a second piece of foil the same size, crumple it and then gently straighten it mostly out and set it in the pan. It acts as a nice rack for the bacon. Cleanup is as easy as wadding up the two pieces of foil, once you've poured off and saved the bacon grease, that is.

Start the bacon in a cold oven for maximum rendering. Then set oven to 350-375°. Depending on the thickness of the bacon, it will be cooked crispy in 20-35 minutes or so.

Kathryn

Edited to add: I have that same Cuisinart double sided griddle, the one with removable griddles so they can be washed in the dishwasher. Among other things, it makes one heckuva Reuben sammie with home-smoked pastrami.

[STEbbq]

I will let her know about the foil trick too. And yea, she will try the oven at least one more time.

[STEbbq]

I am pleased to report that the water trick in a sheet pan with bacon test was completely successful. No smoke and perfectly cooked bacon. Yay! I did this experiment because well, I wanted some bacon.

[STEbbq]

Next attempt I will do fzxdoc ‘s crumpled foil approach.

[Max Good]

AND - we do have a few other indoor electric reviews. Although most of our electrics are outdoor models. https://amazingribs.com/grill-and-sm..._type=electric