Seattle - Cooks at the Northern Lights Dining Room - 1952

A flattop grill is a

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

appliance that resembles a griddle but performs differently because the

heating element A heating element is a device used for conversion of electric energy into heat, consisting of a heating resistor and accessories. Heat is generated by the passage of electric current through a resistor through a process known as Joule heating. He ...

is circular rather than straight (side to side). This heating technology creates an extremely hot and even

surface, as heat spreads in a radial fashion over the surface. Flattop grills have been around for hundreds of years in various forms and evolved in a number of cultures.

History

The first flattop grills originated in the 19th century in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

for cooking corn dough. These flattop grills were made of clay. With the arrival of Spaniards, the griddles were manufactured of metal materials. Spaniards adopted these grills with the name ''plancha'', which means "metal plate". Food that is cooked ''a la plancha'' means “grilled on a metal plate”. For example, ''filetes a la plancha'' translates as “grilled beef fillets”.

Description

The flattop grill is a versatile platform for many cooking techniques such as

sautéing Sautéing or sauteing (, ; , , 'jumped', 'bounced', in reference to tossing while cooking) is a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Various sauté methods exist. Descr ...

, toasting,

simmering Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than ) and above poaching temperature (higher than ). To create a steady simmer, a liquid is brought to a boil, ...

shallow frying Shallow frying is a hot oil-based cooking technique. Pieces of food are cooked by partial submersion in hot oil. It is typically used to prepare portion-sized cuts of meat, fish, potatoes and patties such as fritters. Shallow frying can also be ...

stir frying Stir frying ( zh, c= 炒, p=chǎo, w=ch'ao3, cy=cháau) is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries ...

pan frying Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, ...

, browning, blackening,

grilling Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and v ...

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

braising Braising (from the French language, French word ''braiser'') is a combination-cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats: typically, the food is first Browning (cooking), browned at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot in cook ...

, and

roasting Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelizat ...

, and can also be used for

flambé Flambé (, , ; also spelled flambe) is a cooking procedure in which Ethanol, alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The word means "flamed" in French language, French. Flambéing is often associated with the tableside presen ...

ing. In addition, pots and pans can be placed directly on the cook surface, giving more cooking flexibility. In most cases, the steel cooking surface seasons like cast iron cookware, providing a natural

non-stick surface A non-stick surface is engineered to reduce the ability of other materials to stick to it. Non-sticking cookware is a common application, where the non-stick coating allows food to brown without sticking to the pan. Non-stick is often used to ref ...

. Almost any type of food can be cooked on this type of appliance. In addition to standard

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

fare like hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages, more delicate items can be cooked on a flattop grill.

Omelette An omelette (sometimes omelet in American English; see spelling differences) is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chiv ...

pancakes A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

, crepes, paninis,

yakisoba (, , ) is a Japanese noodle Stir frying, stir-fried dish. Usually, soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour, but soba in are Chinese-style noodles () made from wheat flour, typically flavored with a condiment similar to Worcestershire sauce ...

noodles, fried rice,

tacos A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filli ...

, quesadillas, grilled

steak A steak is a cut of meat sliced across muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally Grilling, grilled or Pan frying, fried, and can be diced or cooked in sauce. Steaks are most commonly cut from cattle (beefsteak), but can also ...

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

, flatbread,

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

, jerk chicken, crab cakes and sautéed

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s are just a few examples of the wide range of foods that can be prepared on a flattop grill. Flattop grills, as the name implies, is typically a flat piece of

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

but some are slightly

convex Convex or convexity may refer to: Science and technology * Convex lens, in optics Mathematics * Convex set, containing the whole line segment that joins points ** Convex polygon, a polygon which encloses a convex set of points ** Convex polytop ...

or crowned in the center which allows excess juices or grease to flow to the outside to be captured and disposed of. Many are powered by

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

propane Propane () is a three-carbon chain alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but becomes liquid when compressed for transportation and storage. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum ref ...

, but there are

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

models as well. In addition, there are models made for indoor or

outdoor cooking Outdoor cooking is the preparation of food in the outdoors. A significant body of techniques and specialized equipment exists for it, traditionally associated with nomad in cultures such as the Berber people, Berbers of North Africa, the Arab ...

that can be fixed (built-in) or portable (wheeled or free-standing). Flattop grills can be contrasted with open-flame grills, which cook food over a grate with direct or indirect flame. Flattop grills avoid the problem of smaller or delicate food falling through the grate like open-flame grills. In addition, closed-flame flattop grills are more energy efficient because they capture the heat under the steel cook surface rather than letting it escape through the grates into the atmosphere. This design also requires less time to heat up and uses less fuel to cook a meal. Also, flattop grills release less

smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...

and

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

into the atmosphere because foods and juices are prevented from dropping directly onto burner elements, eliminating flare-ups and reducing smoke.

Use

Flattop grills are an equipment of choice for

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

restaurants because of temperature consistency, flexibility and capacity. In

Cuban cuisine Cuban cuisine is largely based on Spanish cuisine with influence from India, African and other Caribbean cuisines. Some Cuban recipes share spices and techniques with Spanish, Taino and African cooking, with some Caribbean influence in spice and ...

, the Cuban sandwich (ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese and pickles) is traditionally grilled à la plancha. In

Chilean cuisine Chilean cuisine stems mainly from the combination of traditional Spanish cuisine, Chilean Indigenous peoples in Chile, Mapuche culture and local ingredients, with later important influences from other European cuisines, particularly from Germa ...

, restaurants grill beef à la plancha and have a long history of cooking seafood on flattop grills. Flattop grills also share some characteristics with Asian cooking, including

teppanyaki , often called in the United States and Canada, is a post-World War II style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle to cook food. The word is derived from , the metal plate on which it is cooked, and , which means grilled, broiled, or ...

and Mongolian barbecue. Flatbreads from India (

dosa Dosa may refer to: Belief * Dosa or dvesha, a Buddhist concept of hate or aversion People * Bogoljub Mitić Đoša (1968 - 2017), Serbian actor * Csaba Dosa (born 1951), Romanian athlete * Dosa ben Harkinas, Jewish Tanna sage * Dosa ben S ...

paratha Paratha (, also parantha/parontah) is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. ...

, roti and chapati), the Middle East (

pita Pita ( or ; ) or pitta (British English), also known as Arabic bread (, ), as Lebanese bread and as kmaj (from the Persian ''kumaj''), is a family of yeast- leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Levant ...

), Africa (

injera Injera (, ; ; ) is a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, traditionally made of teff flour. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, injera is a staple. Injera is central to the dining process in Amhara community, like br ...

) and Jamaica ( bammy) are traditionally cooked on flattop grills.

Front-of-house cooking

In restaurants, flattop grills are sometimes used for display, or “front-of-house” cooking,In the foodservice industry, front of house can refer to the area where the general public eat, where diners can see, hear and smell the food being cooked in front of them. Unlike

butane Butane () is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane exists as two isomers, ''n''-butane with connectivity and iso-butane with the formula . Both isomers are highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gases that quickly vaporize at ro ...

burners or induction hobs which require additional equipment, the flattop grill can be used as a standalone cooking platform. Display cooking is a notable trend in commercial

foodservice The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafet ...

, where open kitchens are becoming part of the dining experience, and watching a meal being prepared live-action has become entertainment.

French tops

A French top stove is similar to a flattop grill, except that it is only used with pots and pans. A large flame underneath the metal plate serves as its heat source, and is directly covered by concentric metal rings. The French top's temperature is usually not changed by its user, instead the user moves his pot or pan to a side or edge of the hot plate for slower cooking.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flattop Grill Cooking appliances Barbecue Cooking techniques Stoves Kitchenware

History

Description

Use

Front-of-house cooking

French tops

See also

References