TO GRILL OR NOT GRILL!!
Salamanders, Griddles & Char Grills ~ explained
All are designed to grill yet offer chef quite different operational uses. I’ve highlighted their key advantages of each below.
Routinely wall mounted but more are been mounted onto work tables for a lower work height. Salamander grills give fierce top heat and are ideal for grilling meat, fish, toast etc, but are also used to brown, gratinate and melt.
Can be gas or electric, 99% have adjustable toasting and branding plates, wall salamanders have adjustable height systems and the increasingly popular are the Riser Salamanders allowing chef to raise and lower the heat source to control the cook.
Riser Salamander Grill.
Salamanders range from 60cm to 90cm wide and some can accommodate a full size 1/1 gastronorm tray.
Offers your kitchen a similar style of cooking to barbecuing. A must if your menu features grilled meat, fish and vegetables. The open branding bars give that distinctive branded appearance and affirms the meat has been grilled over high radiant or coal heat.
Blue Seal 60cm Gas Char Grill
Can be gas or electric and ranging from 30cm right up to 150cm in width. If your char grill needs to be wide, we recommend a grill with multiple burners. This allows chef to control zonal heat and reduce power consumption.
120cm wide Wolf Char Grill
Modern char grills are Radiant utilising fierce bottom heat from burners below. Slowly becoming obsolete are the lava rock style char grills with burners that heat up the rocks above. Some argue lava rock imparts more flavour into grilled foods than radiant grills, but alas lava rock dust can block jets and is not good for our environment.
Nearly all char grills are mounted onto a floor stand of some description, and some are mounted onto a chilled chef base allowing chef to select a steak, straight from the fridge and up onto the grill above. An ideal solution if your kitchen space is tight giving a 2 in 1 solution in one footprint.
Bonnet Char Grill above a Foster Chef Base
Very popular in the Piri Piri Chicken, steak and fast food sectors. Aside from the obvious use, we know chefs who use their char grill to toast pitta breads, simmer pans, keep hot food hot in tins etc etc. Therefore, a very versatile piece of kitchen equipment.
Stand mounted Gas Griddle
Still a bottom heat source style of cooking but chef cooks on a solid plate instead of open branding plates on a char grill. Griddles come into their own for fast grilling of burgers, egg dishes, fish and vegetables.
Can be gas or electric, but gas is the preferred medium as temperature recovery on gas griddles is much quicker than electric. The same rule applies to griddles as char grills in that the wider the grill, the more burners are desired. Zonal cooking control is important so having a cooler area of the griddle for toasting and gentle frying is as important as the fierce area for fast frying.
Griddles also allow chef to cloche melt whereby chef will place a melt mixture onto the steak, cover with a cloche to melt and heat up the mixture to the desired degree.
Burger cloche cooking
More griddles are found in café’s, fast food outlets, café’s etc because of their cooking flexibility. Easy to clean down and look after and the cook surfaces are available in cast steel, chrome or stainless steel. The latter two are becoming very popular because chef doesn’t need to season* the surface as one has to on a steel surface.
Nearly all griddle surfaces are flat, but some offer a half flat and half ribbed surface, allowing chef to cook steaks and fish with that attractive branded finish.
Half flat half ribbed griddle
Caterquip supplies unusual griddles for dishes such as Tapas. These are specialised designed griddles combining work surfaces, griddles and refrigeration in one.
A specialist Tapas Griddle
How can Caterquip help?
Caterquip supplies salamanders, griddles and char grills in every guise. Mostly gas but for the none-gas kitchen we have a limited supply of electric.
Caterquip supplies professionally reconditioned equipment, who’s key aim is to offer a viable alternative to buying eye wateringly expensive new equipment. Our niche is giving access to those premium brands that every chef drool’s of having. Average savings is up to 60% against new prices.
Give us a call if you require advice on any of the above grills.
01733 286 000 option 1
*See my earlier blog about seasoning a bratt pan here. A Bratt Pan is akin to a super-sized griddle with deep sides.
