A quality grill pan will help cook meat, fish, vegetables with roast stripes and ruddy crust without going to a picnic. Dishes on it turn out juicy, tasty and less high-calorie. To arrange a barbecue right in your kitchen, it is important to correctly determine the material, the inner covering, the shape and size of the frying pan.
What is the difference between a grill pan and a conventional frying pan?
Before choosing a grill pan, it is important to know how it differs from the traditional one. Such dishes have high walls and a characteristic ribbed bottom, imitating a lattice. Thanks to him, the dishes turn out to be low-fat and juicy. The product quickly comes to the ready by the heat coming from the walls of the product (the effect of the oven). Benefits of a frying pan:
- the possibility of frying without using oil, in it products with a hot surface practically do not come into contact. It is liked by fans of dietary nutrition;
- thanks to a ribbed texture, the grill pan directly fries the food - all the fat from the meat flows into the grooves between its ribs and evaporates there. In this case the steak is not steamed in its own juice. Appearing dark stripes appear on his sides, as if meat was roasted on a grill.
The cons of such dishes include the inability to please the hosts with the aroma of a haze that is so appreciated in a real grill, the need to use cooker hoods when cooking. Also, this rippled surface is not easy to wash. The products are suitable for frying large pieces that do not fall between the ribs at the bottom. But these shortcomings are swept away by delight from fragrant dishes that remind of the summer picnics to owners and guests at any time of the year.
Grilled frying pans - which is better?
A good grill pan - with non-stick coating, massive walls and a thick bottom. Then it will get very hot, and give the heat evenly. It is best to prepare the grill iron or cast aluminum frying pans. In thin-walled cheap dishes such delicious meat can not be made. What else to pay attention to:
- The height of the ribs at the bottom is important - it should be at least half a centimeter, or even more. In this case, the grooves are deep enough to collect all the fat and juice from the products and quickly evaporate them.
- It is advisable to choose a model with a spout that allows you to easily drain excess liquid during cooking without staining the stove.
- For frying, it is better to find utensils with a handle equipped with silicone or heat-resistant plastic protection. She does not get warm and will not bring any discomfort when she comes in contact with her arm. For roasting in the oven, models with detachable handles are designed, for storage, this option is also more convenient.
- The depth of the frying pan is important. Products with a low border are suitable only for fish, vegetables - products that are prepared quickly. Meat is better fried in a deep dish.
Grilled square frying pan
The size and shape of the frying pans are selected based on how many products will need to be cooked in it at the same time. Grilled square frying pans are considered universal, they are the most roomy, they can fry for one time the maximum volume of different products - meat, fish, vegetables. For a large family is ideal for this form of dishes.
Grilled frying pan
If the family is small and the kitchen needs a grill, deciding which is better, it is advisable to dwell on a compact round model. In it you can quickly cook one type of food - meat, sausages, poultry, fish. It is convenient to buy two pans of different diameters and fry several products at once - a steak and an omelet for breakfast. They are easier to use, easier to clean and more convenient to store. In addition, the round shape is perfect for glass ceramic and electric cookers - ideally, the diameter of its bottom should match the size of the burner.
Grilled frying pan with lid press
Most of the grilled pans are sold without lids. In this case, it is seldom possible to avoid splashing meat juices on the surface of the plate. The grill pan with a press is equipped with a heavy cover made of thick glass or metal, which in size and shape is suitable for laying directly on the bottom of the vessel. With its help, you can press meat, it will quickly release the juice and be fried better, and fatty hot sparks will not interfere with cooking and will not stain the surface of the plate.
Frying pan for an induction cooker
Before buying, you need to ask whether the product is suitable for the cooker that is installed in the kitchen. The documents for the dishes should be marked accordingly. Grill pans for induction cookers should have a perfectly flat steel bottom or double with metal inserts, otherwise there will be no heating. The main part of the dishes can be made of aluminum or cast iron.
Cast-iron frying pan
The material of the chosen product depends on its durability and ease of use. Cast iron frying pans are strong and serve for decades. They are evenly warmed up and slowly cool down, ideal conditions are created inside to induce the products under high temperatures. The appearance of cast iron does not deteriorate under the influence of oil and fire, it is easy to take care of. Handles on such frying pans make one-piece, withstand a large mass of vessels. By the minuses include the significant weight of the product and the metallic smell, transmitted food, left for a long time in a frying pan.
Grilled frying pan with marble coating
The marble frying pan - grill is provided with a non-stick coating with the addition of stone crumbs, which makes it more durable and resistant to scratches. It is lighter than cast iron, quickly and evenly warmed up. Unlike ceramics and ordinary Teflon, the surface slows down more slowly, less afraid of accidental falls, sharp objects. The service life of the dishes depends on the number of layers of the coating - they should be more than 3, and preferably 5-6, then the product can be operated for a long time. For cooking, you need to stock up silicone or wooden spatula.
Ceramic frying pan
When a grill pan is needed in the kitchen, the question of how to choose a good cares most of the housewives. Products made of ceramics are able to withstand high temperatures and can be used for cooking dishes in the oven. Spray resistant to overheating, easy to clean, has a high thermal conductivity and does not emit harmful substances when heated. Food on this surface does not burn. But the ceramic grill pan is fragile and short-lived, requires careful handling. With a significant mechanical impact, it can crack and become unusable.
Frying pan - aluminum
In addition to cast iron, aluminum frying pans are popular. All of them have non-stick layers, light weight, they are easier to care for. Due to the high thermal conductivity, such dishes are heated faster than usual. The best grilled aluminum grills are made of cast metal, they have thickened walls and a bottom, they will last a long time. The handle at such utensils should be protected by an insulating material - it will allow not to burn hands at cooking. To non-stick coating is not erased, you can not use scrapers for washing, metal spatulas, spoons to turn food.
Double-sided grilling pans
A well-designed two-way grill pan has an improved design consisting of a pair of identical halves connected together. Inside the vessel when cooking, the effect of the oven is created. Thanks to the design, you can fry food by simply turning the frying pan on the other side, closing the lid tightly. The product helps to save time for cooking. At the same time, due to the interlayer between the halves and the magnetic locks on the handles, the dishes will not open, neither fat nor juice will flow out of it onto the plate when turning over.
Most models have a low weight, because they are made of aluminum, covered with a reinforced non-stick layer. Inside, a special compartment for liquid is formed, into which excess moisture drains during frying. If you need to prepare a large number of dishes, you can separate the parts of the dishes and cook in two separate containers.
Best grilled pans - rating
Now a lot of brands are engaged in the production of grilled pans. To buy a quality product, it is worth familiar with the popular manufacturers of such dishes. The best grill pan is the most common brand:
- BergHOFF - Belgian brand, makes dishes of high quality. Pans are made of cast aluminum, coated with non-stick coating Ferno Ceramic, with high and low walls, for different types of plates.
- Gipfel is a German brand of cookware, it is popular all over the world, the main direction is the production of cast-iron grilling pans. Offers several options for dishes in sizes of 24 and 26 cm, weighing about 1.3 kg, the models differ in color and type of coating. You can choose a three-layer non-stick surface or ceramic spraying.
- Lodge is an American brand, the leader in the sales of cast-iron frying pans with non-stick coating in the middle price segment. Most models have a size of 26 cm (in diameter or side), if necessary, you can find the dishes and 30 cm.
- Tefal - the French brand of dishes, the ancestors of Teflon non-stick coating. The products are made of cast aluminum. The Tefal feature is a unique heating indicator that allows you to determine in time that the surface is already hot for cooking.
How to use a griddle?
After buying, you can start an exciting frying process. General rules of preparation:
- The grill pan is non-stick, so a brush dipped in oil should only lightly coat the ribs at the bottom.
- To disclose the taste of the dish, it is kept in the marinade, and then not salted.
- Turn the meat or fish with special forceps, but infrequently, so that the grill strips become darker.
- Before frying, the grill pan should be heated to a maximum temperature.
- Meat and poultry are cut into pieces in the thickness of 1.5-2 cm, slightly repulsed, marinated, fried for 2-3 minutes on each side until the appearance of strips.
- Fish and seafood before cooking can simply be rubbed with spices and salt, sprinkle with lemon juice. Fry pieces for 1.5-2 minutes on each side, placed diagonally on the ribs, so that the meat does not fall apart.
- Vegetables cut at a thickness of 1.5 cm, fry for 3 minutes on each side. Potatoes must be cooked in advance by semi-preparedness. When cooking vegetables, you can pour a little water on the bottom of the pan.
- After frying the frying pan needs to cool down. Then it should be washed without abrasive agents, wipe dry, wipe with a damp cloth dampened in vegetable oil, put on storage.