What is broiling? I keep coming across it in Stephen King books and I don't understand what it is. I gather it's some way of cooking food?
There's probably a different term for it in the UK but I honestly can't work out what broiling is, so I can't even think of a British-English word for it.
The simple explanation, is that broiling is done with the flames on top of the food, and grilling is done with the flames under the food..
But... it's not as easy as it sounds.. so, as someone that has a chef for a husband and has been around food preparation for many years, I'll give you a more technical explanation..
Many stoves here - -I think they are called cookers in the UK?- - have two different flame burners inside the oven.. and two or more different knobs to turn them on..
Stoves also have the regular burners on top, where you can cook, boil, steam and grill stuff..
Regular Oven cooking:
Inside the oven, under the shelves, there is a solid cover (the bottom of the inside of your oven)..
Under that is your oven burner, which heats up the oven to a set temperature, and lets you cook and bake cakes, cookies and other food in a tray, pot or casserole..
Broiling:
On the inside of my oven, I have a burner right on the top of it, and when I use the knob to light it, the flames are directed downwards towards the food that I put on the top shelf, close to the burner.. The food "broils" here..
This is good for last minute preparation, like browning the top of a casserole.. for example..
I like to broil thin pieces of chicken, fish and steak this way.. :nod:
Grilling:
My stove has a bottom drawer with a tray that is covered by a perforated sheet..
This drawer uses the same oven burner that you use to make cakes..
When the oven is on, I can "grill" a steak on it, and on the last few minutes, I can move that tray to the top shelf to finish "broiling" and browning my steak.. :nod:
Although the flames here are directed upwards from the tray, it is still called a "grill drawer" and grilling..
You can also "grill" stuff on a skillet right on top of your stove burners... like a "grilled cheese sandwich"..
My old stove used to have a grilling unit right in the middle of the four burners, with a long burner, and covered by a solid tray, where I could grill all kinds of food, like they do in restaurants.. :cool
Now... to confuse you a little more..
When it's summer, and you want to cook steaks on your backyard, you use a "Grill" , a "Grilling Stove" or a "Barbecue Table"... That can be fired by charcoal, propane or wood..
That is called "Grilling" or "Barbecuing".. depending where you live..
When I was young, my father would just dig a small hole on the ground and burn wood until it was reduced to embers.. then grill the food over it..
Now.. a little more..
Many restaurants have a separate unit, made of iron or other material that can be made extremely hot..
That is called "The grilling and broiling unit"..
They have huge burners on top and bottom..
The top is called the "broiler", and you can "broil" any food there..
The bottom "table" is sitting on top of one of those burners, and most of the time it's divided in two parts..
One is solid and the other has a "grill"..
On the grill, you can cook things right over the flames..
The solid part is used to cook eggs, bacon, melted cheese sandwiches, grill vegetables, etc..
Are you more confused than when you started by now??.. :willy_nilly:
Aren't you glad you asked?..
:tongue:
