You don't want to get it super hot (the oil/butter should not smoke). Medium heat is fine. They do take a long time to warm up to a uniform steady state tempe

You don't want to get it super hot (the oil/butter should not smoke). Medium heat is fine. They do take a long time to warm up to a uniform steady state temperature though (this is both an advantage and a disadvantage, since it means the temperature stays stable as you cook). For instance, when making pancakes, my first step is putting the griddle on the range. Next, I start making the batter. Of course, you can set the range to high and heat it up really fast, but then you end up risking overheating it.