Griddle vs. Grill: What’s the Difference?
Griddles will never replace grills, but they do involve many of the techniques we love about grilling: spice rubs and marinades, for example, high heat searing, maillard effect, and even wood smoke. Yes, Steven has figured out how to smoke on a griddle. (The technique stays secret until April 29th—you’ll just have to buy the book to find out!)
The fact is, there are many foods you just can’t cook on a grill—at least not well. The short list includes breakfast foods, like hash browns and eggs (try Steven’s “dirty fried eggs” with a palate-blasting rush of garlic, scallions, chiles, and cilantro). Fragile foods, like sole and flounder fillets (too delicate to cook on a conventional grill). Small foods, like shrimp, that are tedious to grill; and even smaller foods that are impossible to grill, like fried rice. Plus, foods you’d never dream of grilling—from johnnycakes to noodles—that actually taste phenomenal hot off the griddle.
Which brings us to steak. Yes, steak. Steven’s adventure with griddles began with a steak—one of those super expensive, hyper fatty A-1 wagyu steaks from Japan that are so well-marbled, they look like white lace over a red tablecloth. Try grilling one of those on a conventional grill and you’ll wind up with a conflagration. Cook it on a hot griddle and you’ll be rewarded with a crusty exterior and meltingly soft, buttery center—some of the best steak you’ll ever sink your teeth into.
What is Project Griddle?
The third of Steven’s “Project” series (following the bestselling Project Smoke and Project Fire), Project Griddle tells you everything you need to know about griddling. How to buy and season a griddle. How to use it to cook amazing breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. How to turn your griddle into a Spanish plancha—with a whole chapter dedicated to tapas. How to griddle like a Japanese teppanyaki master and make a meal worthy of Benihana. (You’ll also learn about Steven’s stint as a Benihana chef!)
So why griddles and why now?
- Griddles are big. You can cook a lot of food on them. You can cook a whole meal on them.
- Griddles are versatile. You can use them to cook every major food group, from dairy to meat to veggies to sweets.
- Griddles are easy to clean and maintain. No grill grates to scour or multiple pots and pans to wash and dry. Just scrape the griddle clean, re-oil it, and you’re ready for the next meal.
- Griddles boost flavor. The close contact of the food with the hot metal triggers the Maillard reaction, with all its flavor boosting caramelization of animal proteins and plant sugars.
- Griddles reduce fat. You use a fraction of the oil for griddling than you do for sauteeing or deep-frying.
- Griddles are safe: No open flame or flare-ups—no more explosive ignition or singed arm hair or eyebrows.
- Griddles are stick-resistant—perfect for cooking delicate or stick-prone foods, like fish fillets, French toast, or eggs over easy—provided that the griddle is properly seasoned.
We like to think of griddles as the alter-ego to grills. You’ll now find both at Barbecue University and at Steven’s home.
Top Griddle Recipes from Steven Raichlen’s Project Griddle
So which recipes will you find in Project Griddle? The short list includes smash burgers (inevitable), the BED (bacon, egg, and doughnut breakfast sandwich), polpetti po’boy (smashed meatball sandwich), chicken fingers for grownups, an onion volcano, and black pepper pineapple. If you like fried seafood, Steven’s snapper sandwich takes crisp fish to a whole new level. To wet your appetite, here is one of Steven’s favorite recipes from Project Griddle below.
The official publication date for Project Griddle is April 29, but you can pre-order your copy now.
Project Griddle. Because, sometimes the best outdoor cooking doesn’t require a grill at all!
Recipe
Check out our 1000+ Recipes section here on Barbecue Bible.Com
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