I got a griddle, what now?

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I said this:
"Anyway, one ILE, I was asking for some recommendations on what to cook with my new griddle (besides pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches), and Orbit kindly directed me to ILC. Anyone have any particular favorites?"

on the Hello thread, and I thought it might be better to give it its thread rather than derail that one. So here it is!

― Lingbertt, Friday, 31 December 2004 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Griddles are fairly specific. I tend to follow the Alton Brown dictum that a kitchen gadget or piece of cookware should be multipurpose to cut down on the clutter. If you're not vegetarian, you could use it to fry bacon or sausages. If it's a big one, you can make the whole breakfast fry-up on it -- shove some of the bacon grease to one corner to fry the eggs on.

Other options: potato pancakes (mashed or shredded), cornbread pancakes (there's a specific name for them, but it escapes me), crabcakes, all those things that get fried in a small amount of oil.

― I Am Curious (George) (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 1 January 2005 01:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Fritters, or corn oysters. Crumpets, which are like smaller, thick pancakes. French toast, made with thick slices of challah bread.

If you can get it hot enough, steak and burgers. (though you would also want a high-volume exhaust fan too)

― Jaq (Jaq), Saturday, 1 January 2005 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

It seems like you *could* use it rather unorthodoxly, to quickly cook thin slices of meat --sort of stir-fry style. Ottherwise, besides crepes and the suggestions above, I can't think of much to do with one that can't be done in a frying pan.

― Orbit (Orbit), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:35 (twenty-one years ago)

*astonished*

Oil skin-on fillets of fish and griddle them, skin side down for quick and easy piscine fun. Best way to cook skin-on snapper and bass I've ever come across, the flesh stays quivering and taut and the skin becomes a charred, crunchy treat. Or is a griddle something different in the US (I'm thinking of a ridged, cast-iron pan)? In which case, ignore me

― Matt (Matt), Monday, 3 January 2005 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't think of much to do with one that can't be done in a frying pan.

Yeah, I was actually kind of dismayed to learn this. I was all proud of myself for buying the griddle and making pancakes (I obviously am not a master chef), and when I told my co-worker about it, she said that she usually just makes pancakes in a frying pan.

Sooo....what's really the difference between a griddle and a frying pan, other than the fact that a frying pan has higher sides (I bought an 11 inch griddle that goes on the stove top, not one of those stand-alone electrical ones, if that matters)?

Matt, I think we're talking about the same kind of griddle.

― Lingbertt, Wednesday, 5 January 2005 02:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the main difference, besides the higher sides on a frying pan and sometimes a lid as well, is a griddle has a larger flat surface area. I have an enormous carbon steel griddle that fit over two burners of a gas range we had four houses back. I loved that I could cook a full dozen pancakes at once on it.

― Jaq (Jaq), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 04:30 (twenty-one years ago)

We have a griddle but since a disastrous episode with bruschetta, a smoke alarm, and a grumpy neighbour who looked at me like I was the world's biggest ponce, I haven't used it. I want to do tuna maybe though.

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 6 January 2005 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

so it's not that a griddle necessarily cooks any differently than a frying pan, it's just that its shape is more practical for certain things? It seems that all of my culinary knowledge from my 7th and 8th grade Foods classes has left my brain. sigh.

― Lingbertt, Friday, 7 January 2005 02:17 (twenty-one years ago)

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