¿PARRILLA, PLANCHA O GRILL? ¿QUÉ PLANCHA DE COCINA ELIJO?

Elegir una buena plancha de cocina es básico si queremos que la carne, las verduras y el pescado a la plancha nos queden tan sabrosos y suculentos como cuando nos los comemos en los restaurantes. Aunque cocinar a la plancha tiene sus trucos y secretos, en realidad es una técnica bastante sencilla. Cuando la utilizamos, el sabor del ingrediente principal que utilizamos se convierte en el auténtico protagonista. Por eso es importante utilizar materia prima de primera calidad, y eso incluye también el utensilio de cocina que utilizaremos.
 
Para elegir la opción que mejor se adapte a tus necesidades y al tipo de cocina que más te apetece, debes tener en cuenta algunas cosas. Te las contamos a continuación.
 

¿La plancha de cocina debe tener la superficie lisa o estriada?

 
Aunque en realidad las palabras parrilla y grill son sinónimos, la palabra parrilla normalmente acostumbra a utilizarse cuando nos referimos a las barras de hierro que se colocan sobre las brasas. Y las palabras plancha de cocina, grill y plancha grill se utilizan para referirse a los utensilios de cocina usados para cocinar a la plancha, sean eléctricos o no.
La única diferencia entre una plancha de asar y una plancha grill es que la superficie del grill –o plancha grill- es estriada y la de la plancha de asar completamente lisa. Ambos tienen sus ventajas y sus inconvenientes. La elección final depende de las preferencias de cada uno, pero si no acabas de decidirte, a lo mejor podemos ayudarte:
 
. La plancha de asar es más sencilla de dominar y también más fácil de limpiar porque es totalmente lisa. Si no eres un experto en cocinar a la plancha, te ayudará a prevenir que los alimentos más delicados, como el pescado, se rompan a mitad de la cocción. Por contra, aunque el sabor que se consigue es prácticamente el mismo que el del grill, la plancha no marca los ingredientes con esas líneas que tanto nos gustan porque nos recuerdan a las barbacoas de los domingos. Pero le dará un tostado bonito y uniforme a la comida que tampoco tiene nada que envidiar a las marcas de un grill.
 
. La superficie estriada de la plancha grill ayuda a separar los líquidos de cocción de la carne y previene que se cuezan en lugar de asarse. También reduce la emisión de humos, cosa que puede llegar a ser muy relevante, especialmente en las cocinas pequeñas. Pero como ya hemos dicho, te costará un poco más de limpiar y no es lo más recomendable para cocinar pescado y ciertos tipos de verduras.
 
A partir de aquí, tú decides. Nosotros te recomendamos que, si puedes, tengas ambas piezas. De este modo tu cocina a la plancha será más variada y divertida. Pero si solo puedes tener una, a no ser que seas un fan incondicional de las marcas del grill, la plancha de asar seguramente te resultará más versátil.
 

Las planchas y grills de aluminio fundido y de hierro fundido son las más recomendables

 
Para cocinar a la plancha el utensilio de cocina debe alcanzar y mantener una temperatura muy elevada durante el proceso de cocción. El aluminio fundido y el hierro fundido son los materiales que mejor recogen, transmiten y retienen el calor. Por eso son los más recomendables para cocinar a la plancha. El acero inoxidable y otros materiales son útiles para otros tipos de cocciones, pero no son nada indicados para cocinar a la plancha.
 
Si estás pensando en comprarte una plancha de asar o plancha grill, nosotros te recomendamos los de aluminio fundido. Son menos pesados que los de hierro fundido y, por tanto, mucho más versátiles y fáciles de manipular. Además llevan recubrimiento antiadherente, para que puedas cocinar a la plancha casi sin usar aceite y sin que los alimentos se peguen. Así tus platos serán mucho más saludables y no tendrás que renunciar al sabor. También te resultarán mucho más fáciles de limpiar, tanto a mano como en el lavavajillas, y eso hará que no quieras parar de cocinar con ellos.
 

Detalles que cuentan: asas que no queman y mangos desmontables

 
Aunque la superficie y el material son los principales factores que debes tener en cuenta al elegir tu plancha de cocina, hay otros detalles que también cuentan. Por ejemplo, algunas planchas de asar tienen asas y otras tienen mangos. Elegir entre una opción u otra no influirá en modo alguno en el sabor de tus platos. De hecho la única diferencia significativa entre ambas opciones es que las planchas y grills con asas tienen una superficie más alargada, mientras que las que tienen mango son más cuadradas.
 
Pero esos pequeños detalles son también los que diferencian un buen producto de un gran producto. Si utilizas una plancha de cocina con mango desmontable ahorrarás espacio de almacenaje, optimizarás espacio cuando la laves en el lavavajillas, podrás limpiarla a mano mucho más cómodamente y, si te apetece, incluso podrás cocinar con ella en el horno.  
Por otro lado, uno de los principales inconvenientes de las planchas de asar y los grills con asas es que éstas queman un montón. ¿No preferirías que no lo hicieran? Nosotros creemos que este es un detalle muy significativo, por eso nuestras planchas de cocina –nosotros los llamamos asadores bandeja- tienen asas de silicona. Y puedes escoger si quieres que estén completamente integradas al asador o si, por el contrario, prefieres que sean desmontables. Y ya puestos, también hemos hecho que tengan las paredes un poco más altas de lo habitual, para que salpiquen un poco menos y para que también puedas usarlas como bandeja de horno.
 

¿Y qué pasa con las planchas y grills eléctricos?

 
Aunque algunos modelos están muy bien y son muy divertidos de usar en ocasiones especiales, para la cocina de todos los días nosotros te recomendamos los asadores y planchas grill convencionales que se colocan sobre el fogón o la placa vitrocerámica. Los modelos eléctricos ocupan mucho espacio, y muchas veces resultan un poco aparatosos. Por eso al final acaba dándonos pereza utilizarlos, y los dejamos abandonados en el fondo del armario de los utensilios de cocina que no usamos nunca.
 
Si de todos modos quieres uno, debes fijarte en dos cosas importantes. En primer lugar asegúrate que tiene potencia suficiente para calentar y mantener caliente la plancha de asar durante el proceso de cocción. Una plancha de cocina eléctrica con poca potencia hará que los ingredientes se cuezan en su líquido en lugar de asarse. Y en segundo lugar, asegúrate que la plancha sea de aluminio fundido o de hierro fundido y que, en caso de llevarlo, tenga un buen antiadherente. Si no es así, los alimentos acabarán por pegarse poco tiempo después de estrenarla, o también puede que la plancha se deforme con el tiempo y deje de cocinar los alimentos de manera uniforme.
 
Ahora ya solo necesitas empezar a cocinar. Cocinar a la plancha es muy fácil y saludable, pero como todo, tiene sus pequeños secretos. No te preocupes, son muy sencillos. Solo necesitarás buenos ingredientes frescos, el utensilio de cocina adecuado, seguir los consejos de nuestro post Secretos Para Cocinar a la Plancha y un poco de práctica. Y si por mucho que lo intentes, tu filete siempre te queda soso y duro como la suela de un zapato, sigue nuestros consejos para cocinar el filete perfecto.

THE PERFECT FILLET STEAK. TIPS TO COOK TENDER VEAL ROAST

Fillet steaks, T-bone steaks and tenderloin steaks we eat at barbecue restaurants are so tasty we are willing to cook them again at home. Apparently cooking veal roast doesn’t seem very complicated, is it? We only need few ingredients and meat. So we go to the store, we buy the most appetizing piece of meat and we get ready to cook it. As we don’t have barbecue at home, or we don’t have time to light it, at home we usually use frying pans, grills and griddles. We cook our steak with love but, when we finally taste it for the first time, we realize we are eating a disgusting tough to chew piece of meat.
 
If you don’t want this to happen again, follow our tips bellow. We will show you how to choose the perfect cut, how to prepare and season it properly, which is the perfect pan to roast and how to cook it until perfection for a tender, juicy and tasty result.
 

You must choose the correct veal to balance tenderness and flavour

 
There are different types of veal. In certain cooking techniques, such as stewing, this is not very relevant, but when we talk about roasting, you must make a good choice if you don’t want to eat dry meat.
 
Veal meat is classified according to its age. The most common one comes from 8 to 12 months old animals. It’s a very young and tender meat, rich in water and poor in fat. For an even more tender steak, we could choose milk calves meat. If tenderness is our priority, these are our best options. But you must take into consideration these are also the less tasty ones. If you prefer some more flavour, baby-beef – slaughtered at between 12 and 24 months- is the best option.
 
Next age categories are bullocks, heifers and adult bovine (young bulls, cows and older bulls). Adult bovine tenderloin steaks and T-bone steaks can be even better and tastier than young veal meat. But we recommend using veal and baby-beef meat for the everyday fillet steak.
 

Which is the best veal roast cut?

 
Well, if this is your first time in the kitchen or you have plenty of money for everything, the best you can do is buy tenderloin, short loin and sirloin. These are the most tender parts and will give you no troubles. But as most people can’t afford eating only T-bone steaks and tenderloin steaks, there are other good options for our everyday cooking. We recommend you the top part of the round.
 

Which is the perfect thickness?

 
This is also very important, especially for our everyday fillet steak. If the cut is too thin, the result can be too dry and tough. We recommend you to ask your butcher to give you one centimeter and a half cut. This is the perfect thickness to easily cook the steak at your own taste avoiding complications. You don’t need to be strict with this with T-bone steaks and tenderloin steaks.
 
On the other hand, we also recommend you to buy fresh meat in the butchery and avoid packed meat. Packed meat usually has more water and some added substances than the fresh one and it also comes with a big useless plastic pack. Added substances are not quite healthy and water excess is not good for roast meat, as we will see below.
 

Before cooking: preparation and seasoning

 
One of the biggest veal roast mistakes is cooking it directly from the fridge. In fact this is one of the main reasons your steak is dry and tough. You must take it out from the fridge with plenty of time and cooking it at room temperature. You must also ensure meat is completely dry. Liquid excess must be removed before cooking it. If not, if will boil. Use kitchen paper to remove liquid excess.
 
Oil must be put in the meat, not in the pan. Use a kitchen brush to spread oil on both sides of your steak. And use the minimum quantity as possible. This is important for two reasons. First one is we usually use too much oil when we poor it in the pan, and we want to roast it, not to fry it. Second one is roasting requires the pan to be very hot. If oil is in our pan it will get burned before cooking, which is both very unhealthy and bad for meat taste.
 
Finally the salt. There are many theories about this subject. Some people prefers salting when meat is cooked, some other when turning the meat and there is even a third group who recommend salting just before roasting. Al options are correct. The important thing is to salt at the very latest moment.
 
Meat roast doesn’t need anything else to taste great. But if you are bored and looking for new experiences, you can use herbs and spices. There are unlimited great combinations and no extra calories will be added.
 

Which pan must I use? Can I use a frying pan? Or should I always choose a grill or griddle?

 
There are many ways to roast. You can use a barbeque, the oven or even the spatchcock technique. But everyday fillet steak is commonly cooked in frying pans, grill pans and griddles. The only difference between them is some are plain and some are grooved. The choice depends on your preferences, but you must take into consideration pan material, quality and thickness. This is very important because veal roast requires cooking at very high temperature. You can find more information in our post Grill Pan or Flat Griddle Pan.
 

It’s time to cook

 
First step is heating up the pan. We must heat it slowly. We must never heat it at maximum temperature and wait until it’s very hot. If we did it, pan could be damaged and also the non-stick coating. We must use medium heat and increase intensity gradually until it reaches the required temperature. This way pan heats uniformly all around the cooking surface so veal is evenly roasted.
 
We must turn steak only once. If we have already asked our butcher for 1.5cm cut, we must cook it during one minute each side if you like medium rare fillet steaks. T-bone medium rare steaks require 3-4 minutes each side. Go to Secrets to Grill Like a Chef for more information.

GRILL PAN OR FLAT GRIDDLE PAN? WHICH ONE DO I CHOOSE?

If we want to eat at home the same tasty, juicy, and tender grilled meat, vegetables and fish we eat at restaurants, we must choose a top quality griddle. To master this cooking technique is not very difficult, although it has some tricks and secrets. When food is grilled the flavour of the main ingredient becomes the center of the recipe. For this reason we must ensure using the best raw materials. And this also includes the pan we are going to use.
 
The best option depends on your needs. Before making your choice, you must take few things into consideration. We explain them below.
 

¿Grill surface or flat surface?

 
The only difference between grill pans and a griddle pans is the surface. Griddle pans have a flat surface and grill pans not. Both pans have some pros and cons. Although the choice depends on your preferences, if you are not sure which one will suit you best, maybe we can help you:
 
. Griddle pans are easier to use and clean because its surface is completely flat. If you don’t master grill technique, using a flat griddle pan will help you prevent the most delicate ingredients to break or stick in the cooking surface. On the other hand, flat griddle pans doesn’t mark food with those lines we love, although flavour is almost the same. Anyway, flat griddle pans toast food uniformly and visual final result is also quite beautiful.
 
. Grill pans surface separates food cooking juices from the ingredient itself, which ensures food is grilled, not stewed or poached. It also reduces steam, which can be especially relevant in small kitchens. But, as we have previously mentioned, it’s a little more difficult to clean and not the most recommendable pan to grill delicate fish and vegetables.
 
The choice is yours. We would recommend you to have both pans. This way eating grilled food will be more funny and diverse. But if you can only have one, unless you are an unconditional grill pan fan, flat griddle is probably a more versatile piece.
 

We recommend cast aluminium and cast iron grill pans and griddle pans

 
To grill and griddle food properly requires cooking at very high temperature, which means pans must be able to reach and keep high temperatures during all the cooking process. Cast aluminium and cast iron are the materials with best heat retention and distribution. Consequently, they are the most recommendable ones to grill and griddle. Stainless steel and other materials are good for other cooking techniques, but we don’t recommend them to grill and griddle.
 
If you are considering buying a grill pan or flat griddle pan, we would recommend you a cast aluminium one. Cast aluminium weight is lighter, more versatile and easier to use and maintain than cast iron. Cast aluminium pans also come with non-stick coating, allowing to cook with less oil and avoiding food from sticking on cooking surface. You will get healthier results without renouncing to flavour. Cast aluminium grills and griddles are also easier to clean, both by hand and in the dishwasher, so as you will never want to stop cooking with them.
 

Details than count: cold touch handles and removable long handles

 
Although cooking surface and manufacturing materials are the main issues you must take into consideration before buying a grill pan or a flat griddle pan, there are other details than count. For example: some griddles have side handles and some other long handles. Both options provide the same taste results, but griddles with side handles have stretched cooking surface and griddles with long handles have square cooking surface.
 
Anyway, these small details are the ones that set the difference between good products and great products. If long handles are removable, you will save storage space, you will clean them easily by hand and in the dishwasher and even use grills and griddles in the oven.
 
On the other hand, one of the main inconveniences of grills and griddles with side handles is they burn a lot. Wouldn’t it be better if they won’t? We really think this is a very significative detail. For this reason our griddles with side handles –we call them Flat Tray Pans- come with silicone side handles. And you can choose between integrated side silicone handles or removable side silicone handles. We have also increased side walls height to reduce splashes and also to allow you using them as oven pans.
 

What about electric grills and griddles?

 
Even though some are really nice and fun to use in special occasions, conventional grills and griddles are better for the everyday cooking. Electric ones take up a lot of space and they are too much showy. At the end this leads us to feel lazy every time we think about using them, so we abandon them in that cupboard we use to store all those kitchen utensils we never use.
 
Anyway, if you really want to have one, you must focus on two important issues. First of all, ensure it is powerful enough to heat and keep griddle warm at high temperature during the whole cooking process. Low power electric grills will stew or poach food instead of grilling it. Secondly, ensure the cooking surface is made of cast aluminium or cast iron and that it comes with a good non-stick coating. If not, food will stick on the cooking surface soon after using it for the first time. Or it can even lose its shape and stop cooking food uniformly.
 
Now you only need to start cooking. Grill cooking is very easy and healthy, but master this technique requires some practice and knowing some secrets. Don’t worry, they are very easy. You will only need fresh food, an appropriate grill pan or flat griddle pan, following the tips of our post Secrets to Grill Like a Chef and to practice a little bit. And if you are always unable to cook a tender fillet steak follow our tips to cook perfect tender veal roast.