Broiler Tips

[ha_asfan]

My Idle Hour Cookbook says to preheat the broiler for about 12 minutes..I thought that was nuts but, I followed the instructions and was amazed ! The broiler, after a 12 minute preheat is so hot that it sears the bottom of the steak beautifully eliminating and need to flip. I've used the broiler for all cuts of steak with tremendous success. I've found this broiler cooks very rapidly and it's flame distribution is flawless. My preferred method: preheat 12 minutes with broiler in highest position. Put meat on and lower to just below flame. Test after several minutes and if the tenderness is where you want it to be, remove.

[stoveman]

Hi Yall, This is something I've wondered about for a while. I have never broiled on the Chambers. Don't want to do the cleanup. Never used the griddle either. I've used stove top griddles on other stoves (O'Keefe&Merritt) and found that splatter goes all over the top of the stove and is a pain to cleanup. Another thought, I have had to straighten and flatten out lots of Chambers griddles and I know that they have been warped because of too much heat. So, I'm wondering, am I missing out on great cooking and food and do others share my reluctance to use? Another thought, I think that if I did use the Broiler for broiling, I would want to broil with the griddle removed. Broiling with the griddle removed would lessen the risk of warping the griddle? What do ya think?

[new chambers guy]

I use the griddle and broiler more than the other features - I cook breakfast on the weekends.

We have used the broiler for bacon while simultaneously making eggs, french toast or pancakes on the griddle. The broiler pan makes the best bacon because the grease can drain away. You just have to watch the timing so you don't overcook the bacon while waiting for the surface items to set up.

Another tip doing this is to wait until most of the griddle-top stuff is done before starting your bacon. If you keep the griddle burning with grease in the broiler pan you will set off your smoke detector - "Breakfast is ready!".

I think the warping would only occur if you over-heat the griddle for a lengthy period, or if the heat is uneven for any reason. We have done garlic bread with nothing on the griddle and the gas up full, but that doesn't take much time so we haven't seen any warpage issues.

Clean-up on the griddle has been elbow-grease intensive, but only because I start with oil on the griddle. It browns and sticks so the shortning mentioned above is probably better. I use SOS pads to scrub and it gets shiny. Oddly, a scouring sponge with dish soap scuffs the surface but that doesn't much matter to me. I haven't really had any problems with splatter since pancakes don't normaly do that.

Does anyone else have a broiler burner that whistles when the gas is set just right for pancakes, etc.? It's a piercing whine and I don't know if I can adjust it out or not.

[ha_asfan]

It's all true...especially the elbow grease clean-up. I took Todds word and invested in the Cameo Aluminum and Stainless Cleaner..it works better than anything else I have tried. If you are tired of cleaning the griddle, remember, the castiron Griswold #8 fits the Chambers. I think the "finish" of the pancakes, french toast etc is better with the aluminum.

[Todd W. White]

Cameo Cleaner is made by the Church & Dwight Co. - the people who make Arm & Hammer Baking Soda.

Their website shows it here:

[url="http://www.churchdwight.com/Conprods/Household/cleaners.asp"]http://www.churchdwight.com/Conprods/Household/cleaners.asp[/url]

Your grocery probably has it, or can get, but the Wal-Mart's here are too stupid to carry it.

[Eau]

Hello! I'm a brand new Chambers owner and have a few questions. First, it looks like conversion to propane is possible and I need to do that. Have any of you done this? The manual says something about removing pilots and filters. ????
How does one tell how far away from the broiler the broiler pan is?
The stove is a B maybe 15? It has a range cover and a high backsplash thing that holds the timer and salt and pepper shakers. Did this ever have lights?
I know I'll have more to ask, but this will help a lot for now.
Thank you!

[ha_asfan]

Determining the distance from broiler plate to flame requires a bit of peeking. The best method I have found is simply to place the meat, close the broiler and lower the broiler plate all the way. Next, I very very very slightly open the broiler, just enough to peek inside and raise the meat to the distance from the flame that i want. If you are too close and actually touching the burner, you'll get smoke right away...just turn it down a bit. The more well done you want your meat, the further from the flames you cook it. I hope this is helpful !

[Joe Pieweed]

Hey folks:

Yes, I agree with others that the boiler and griddle are very useful and easy. My model B's broiler pan (Sizzling Platter) is black because all I do after use is wash in sink with other dishes. The griddle is treated the same way, though I still (carefully) use it to warm our kitchen in the morning, and this causes it to loose some blackened coating so it is only 25% blackened. And I've been doing so for over three years, with no warping.

Just toasted English Muffins in the broiler yesterday. After destroying the first batch, I kept closer watch on the second and they turned out BEAUTIFUL.

Yes, cooking greasy stuff on the GRIDDLE can cause lots of grease splatters on the rest of the stovetop, but, if you're gonna make an omlete...

A good way that commercial cooks know, is to use a very thickly bundled wet cloth dishrag and rub it around on the stovetop area right after using the griddle. The surrounding area is just as blazing hot as the griddle, and the steam and friction lifts any backed-on grease spots pretty quick.

I find it very interesting that Chambers touts the broiler as "smokeless", and this seems to be true, compared to broiling in other gas and electric ovens. Any others notice this? Also, sometimes, I guess really only when I use the sucker at full flame, the flame does not seem to be getting enough oxygen, and peeking inside I can see that the flames kind of dissappear and meander around the burner. It never goes completely out and I never detect unburned gas, but it seems rather disconserting. Any other B owners notice this?

Regards,

Joe

[annnt]

Hi Joe;
Yes, my BZ does this, but I think I need to adjust my flame higher. Mine does this when it's turned up all the way. I did try adjusting once, but need to get back in there and try again.
Ann

[tmowens44]

I'm with Sam. I don't like cleaning up, especially something like the broiler. Did a little research and found that Dow Corning makes a high temperature Clear Silicone lubricant and food release spray called Molykote 316 (aerosol can). I tried all the local industrial supply houses but none stock it. Ordered a sample can and I'll let you all know how well it works when I get it.

Texasboy