Flattop Grill

A flattop grill cooks on a solid metal surface heated from below by a circular rather than side-to-side heating element, which spreads heat radially to create an extremely hot, even cooking surface; over time the steel surface seasons like cast iron cookware into a natural non-stick finish. The device traces to clay griddles used in nineteenth-century Mexico and Central America for cooking corn dough, later made of metal after Spanish contact and known as a plancha, with cooking food on it called cooking a la plancha. A flattop grill can perform sauteing, toasting, simmering, shallow frying, stir frying, pan frying, browning, blackening, grilling, baking, braising, roasting and flambeing, handling foods from delicate omelettes and pancakes to steaks and burgers, and it is especially valued in seafood restaurants and in Cuban, Chilean and various Asian cuisines for its consistent temperature and capacity.