There is a whole category of people who want to cook but do not have a stove. Students in dorm rooms with a microwave and a mini fridge. Travelers with a camp stove and no patience. Office workers who would rather heat something real than eat another cold sandwich. For all of them, the Elite Gourmet EFS059 Personal Compact Electric Skillet is an answer. It is a 7 inch, 600 watt electric pan with a removable handle, a nonstick surface, a tempered glass lid, and an adjustable temperature dial, and it packs into a bag smaller than most textbooks. I cooked with it in a kitchen, on a campsite, and in a room without a stove, and I came away impressed by how much real cooking fits in such a small, affordable package.
Before the results, the standard note. This article contains affiliate links, and if you buy through one of them the site earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. That commission never changes what I recommend, and I only recommend gear I would actually use.
Design and Build
The EFS059 is small, and that is the whole idea. The 7 inch cooking surface holds roughly what a single serving needs, and the whole unit with the handle attached is about the size of a small frying pan. The black body is simple and functional, with a cool touch base that stays reasonable even while the pan cooks. The removable handle is the clever piece of engineering: it clicks into place for cooking and slides off for storage, letting the pan lie flat in a drawer, a backpack, or a camper's tote.
The nonstick cooking surface is smooth and dark, and the tempered glass lid fits securely over the rim, turning the skillet into a mini saute pan with a lid. The temperature dial on the side is simple and mechanical, with a range from off to high, and the indicator light tells you when the pan is heating. There is no digital readout, no presets, just a dial and a promise that the pan will heat up fast and hold its setting.
Key Features
The 600 watt heating element is the core of the machine. It is modest power, but the small surface concentrates it, so the pan heats quickly and reaches genuine frying temperatures. The adjustable temperature dial gives real control across a useful range: low for warming and melting, medium for eggs and pancakes, high for searing and browning. That control is the difference between an electric pan that just boils things and one that actually cooks.
The removable handle makes the skillet genuinely portable. With the handle off, the pan is a flat disc that stacks into a bag with almost no wasted space. The tempered glass lid traps moisture for gentle cooking and lets you watch food brown without lifting the cover. The nonstick surface means eggs, pancakes, and fried rice release easily, and cleanup is a few minutes with warm soapy water since the whole pan is compact and hand wash friendly.
For a current look at the price and the available colors, the Amazon listing for the Elite Gourmet EFS059 skillet is a useful reference before you buy.
Real-World Performance
I started in a kitchen, testing the everyday jobs. A fried egg went into the preheated pan with a smear of butter, cooked sunny side up with a clean edge, and slid out without sticking. A pancake bubbled, browned evenly, and flipped easily. Two eggs, a side of sausage, or a single pancake each fit the surface comfortably, and the adjustable heat meant I could drop the temperature between items without losing control.
Stir fry was the surprise. I chopped vegetables and a bit of chicken, set the dial to high, and cooked a single serving stir fry that had real wok style char. The 600 watts concentrated on the small surface got hot enough to brown, and the food cooked in minutes. With the glass lid on, I made a simple rice and vegetable dish that steamed gently without sticking, and the lid let me check progress without losing heat.
Then I took it outside. At a campsite, the skillet plugged into a power source and cooked a camp breakfast of eggs, toast, and sausage while the coffee brewed. The removable handle made it easy to pack, and the flat shape stored flat in the food bag. In a room without a stove, I used it to warm soup, sear a chicken breast, and melt cheese for a sandwich, all without any fire and with easy cleanup in a sink. The skillet genuinely replaces a stovetop for one person.
Two honest limitations. The 7 inch surface is single serving sized, so cooking for two means cooking in batches or accepting smaller portions. And because the pan is not deep, saucy dishes need care not to spill over the rim. The cord is on the shorter side, so you need an outlet within reach. None of these are failures for the price and purpose, but they set expectations.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Heats quickly to a real frying temperature
- Adjustable dial gives genuine heat control
- Removable handle packs the pan flat for travel
- Nonstick surface releases eggs and pancakes easily
- Tempered glass lid adds gentle cooking options
- Compact and light enough for dorms, offices, and camp
Cons:
- 7 inch surface is single serving sized
- Shallow pan needs care with saucy dishes
- Short power cord limits placement
- Not dishwasher safe, hand wash only
How It Compares
To place the EFS059 in the market, I compared it against two ways to cook without a stove: a larger 12 Inch electric skillet and a single burner hot plate with your own pan.
| Feature | Elite Gourmet EFS059 | Large 12 Inch Skillet | Hot Plate and Pan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking area | 7 inch, single serving | 12 inch, family | Full pan size |
| Power | 600 watts | 1500 watts | Varies |
| Portability | Excellent, handle removes | Bulky | Two pieces |
| Heat control | Adjustable dial | Adjustable dial | Adjustable |
| Cleanup | Single pan, easy | Single pan | Pan plus element |
| Storage | Fits a drawer | Takes shelf space | Several parts |
| Price | Low | Mid | Mid |
Against the large 12 inch electric skillet, the EFS059 loses on capacity and power, but wins on portability, storage, and price. Against a hot plate with your own pan, the EFS059 wins on simplicity, since one integrated unit is easier to pack and clean than a separate element and pan. For a single person who needs real cooking in a small space, the EFS059 is the most complete answer of the three.
Who Should Buy It
Buy the EFS059 if you live in a dorm room, a small apartment without a full stove, or an RV, if you travel and want to cook real food, or if you simply want a backup cooker that stores in a drawer. It suits students, campers, solo cooks, and anyone who wants a hot pan without a stovetop. It is also a genuinely useful office kitchen tool for anyone tired of microwaved lunches.
Skip it if you cook for a family and need real capacity, if you want a deep pot for soups and stews, or if hand washing a pan is a deal breaker. For everyone else, this is one of the most useful small appliances for the money. You can check the current price of the Elite Gourmet EFS059 on Amazon when you are ready to cook.
How We Test
I tested the EFS059 over two weeks in three settings: a kitchen, a campsite, and a room without a stove. I cooked fried eggs, pancakes, sausage, a vegetable and chicken stir fry, a steamed rice dish under the glass lid, soup, and a seared chicken breast. I tracked how quickly the pan reached temperature at each dial setting, watched the heat control across long cooks, and tested the removable handle repeatedly for a secure fit.
I also cleaned the pan by hand after every use to confirm the nonstick surface stayed easy to wash, and I packed and unpacked it to verify the portability claim. I did not test the unit in the dishwasher, since it is not rated for it, and I did not test it for large group cooking. For independent perspective on portable cooking gear, guides such as Wirecutter's guide to camping cook gear explain where compact electric cookers fit in a travel kit.
Elite Gourmet EFS059 Electric Skillet: Questions People Ask
How hot does the 600 watt skillet actually get?
The adjustable dial reaches a genuine frying temperature that browns eggs, pancakes, and stir fry, while low settings hold food warm without burning.
Is the electric skillet easy to clean?
Yes. The removable handle lets the nonstick pan wash easily by hand, and the tempered glass lid and body clean up in a few minutes with warm soapy water.
Can I cook a full meal for one person in it?
Yes. The 7 inch surface handles a protein, eggs, or a personal stir fry at once, and you can layer a quick side under the glass lid while the main cooks.
Does the removable handle make it portable?
Yes. The handle clicks off for flat packing, so the pan slips into a backpack, camper, or suitcase and travels far easier than a full stovetop pan.
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