what is the difference between cooking on a griddle & frying pan?
 

This is not a trick question, what is the difference between cooking on a griddle and cooking in a frying pan?
Thinking of getting griddle for my BBQ but seen a Youtube video saying it was no good and another one saying how good it is but the second one, poured oil on the griddle before cooking even thou he had seasoned it previously.

So, if you are going to pour oil on the griddle before cooking, I don't see the difference between griddle and frying pan.

macafee2

I would have thought that cooking in a frying pan the item cooks in its own fat. With a griddle wouldn't the fat just fall straight though :shrug::shrug::shrug:


PS. I'm not a cook. At least that's what my wife says.--;)

thats a grill. A griddle is a flat cooking surface with no edges.


A frying pan helps to keep the food oil fat etc in without spilling onto your cooker, coals etc.

Dont bother with a griddle on a BBQ, what would the point be? It I imagine be unwieldy to clean and store etc. In restaurants, I have used a variety of griddle/hotplates, which had built in areas to scrape burned on oils/fats etc into, making cleaning and maintenance easier.

My mother used to use my great aunt's griddle for making soda bread . Placed on all four rings of the electric cooker, 'twas divine. Apparently it was used by my great grandmother when she baked over an open fire. That would impart a flavour along with a nostalgic feel to cooking. A new one though on a BBQ, I would not be sure. Maybe onto all gas rings of a cooker perhaps for making potato and soda bread at home, then perhaps. Anything else I think would be messy.

As far as pouring oil in, with burger, I prefer to cook them on a dry pan, using its own fats to cook in (15-20% fat mince), likewise steak, I would cook it in its own fats too.

Am just contemplating this too, a griddle on a BBQ would take an age to heat up surely, unless using a thinnish one? Then you could get hotspots? I am trying to see a benefit to having a hotplate of any description for cooking. Keeping things warm, sure, but not for cooking, not meat anyway.

I was thinking of a griddle for cooking sliced onion and mushrooms which I currently lay on some "tin" foil. Never done fish on a bbq.

macafee2

That's a good question Ian! As clf says, one definition is that a griddle is a circular iron plate which, as you say, is little different from a frying pan or hotplate except that cooking oil won't be retained. The dictionary also says that 'griddle' is a variation of gridiron which is not a plate at all! I have a very shallow pan with raised ribs which produce the attractive scorch marks characteristic of cooking without added fat or oil. I've always called that a griddle pan!

What is a barbecue? It's for cooking food specifically flavoured by the red hot coals so it requires a gridiron. A solid plate of any kind would defeat the object.

A similar outdoor cooking appliance using gas flames is not a barbecue. This is the method favoured in America and to be fair to them they call it a grill, which it is, if you look at it upside down!

So there you have it Ian; confusion reigns!

Simon

Simon,
I have always regarded a BBQ as something that had coals or similar but it does seem that it is often nothing more then a grill with gas.

I have one that is gas with lava rock over the top but it is too bog for the caravan so got a smaller one. Alas it is nowt more then a grill but it is called a BBQ. I thought the "coals" would flavour the food better.
With the caravan I use the "BBQ" so I don't get cooking smells in the caravan and the fat as much as I can, is cooked out and the cooker stays clean.


macafee2

Or, you could just order a take away!

Th wife says.. Th only difference between grill pans and a griddle pans is the surface. Griddle pans have a flat surface and grill pans not.. Also th griddle (ideal for Aga cooking ie scones). It needs no liquid for cooking/baking.. Th grill pan has sides.

Griddle pans tend to be made of cast iron, the other ones aluminium. I had a Griddle pan but gave it away as it was too darn heavy to lift. Replaced it with an electric griddle machine which is superb.

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