Cooking doesn’t mean to cook only for your family. But sometimes you need to cook for a party at your place, a family gathering at your house, and apart from this, if you own a restaurant then it is necessary for you to prepare food for customers who pay a visit there. All these different situations have one thing common and that is you need some bigger cooking appliances. Perhaps, having a griddle is one of the best ideas to manage this situation. It is a large flat cooking surface with a heat source underneath. If you need to cook anything crispy like a pancake, burger, hot sandwich, French toast, or hash brown for a crowd then the griddle must come in your use.
A cooking appliance always needs proper care and maintenance for longer use and better performance. To make this possible you need seasoning of your griddle perfectly. This made the food not stick to the metal surface and this will provide a coat of oil on the surface that can bring more flavors to your food.
How to Season a Griddle
Seasoning of Your New Blackstone Griddle
For seasoning your Blackstone griddle which is actually heated up with gas, you need to arrange some stuff, after that, you have to follow the procedures step by step.
Required Items
To season your griddle you need to collect- cooking oil, soap powder, Heat-resistance gloves, a bucket with full of water, and paper towels. At first, keep all these things by your side and then start seasoning.
Let’s Start
If you have a new Blackstone griddle you have to begin with soap. You need to add some soap powder in a bucket of water. Then stir the mixture with a stick and pour it on the griddle. After that, rinse the griddle with paper towels. But as for the old one you cannot use the soap water as it may damage your plate coating permanently.
Over Heating
When the cleaning process is over, you have to turn your griddle to the max and let it be darkened. In this way your griddle will be turned into a non-stick surface. Let the heating continue until the surface turns brown.
Wiping with Oil
The non-stick feature will add flavor to your food and now you need some oil for the cold-rolled griddle plate. Any kind of oil rich in fatty acids like vegetable oil, coconut oil, flax oil, olive oil are perfect for the seasoning. Pour any of the oil on the surface and spread properly with the help of paper towels. Just make sure no dry area left and no oil puddles seen on the surface.
Flaming
Now it is time to turn up the heat and wait for the surface become blacken. You’ll see smoke coming out of the plate. Wait for 30 minutes to let all the smoke be gone and then turn off the griddle.
Some Additional Steps
Following above-mentioned steps mean your seasoning is almost over. But still, there are some rooms left to improve the performance of your griddle. To make your griddle perform well for a longer time you have to keep repeating the whole process a once a week to make the surface dark brown as it is the best for cooking.
Also Read: vegetable oil
Seasoning of a Cast Iron Griddle
This kind of griddle has been in use since decent past. Because of constant use, tiny pores and cavities may be seen on the surface and only a proper seasoning can fill them and provides a non-stick smooth surface. To make this possible you have to follow the process.
- You may find a protective wax coating on the surface of the iron griddle which should be removed before use. You have to take some soapy scorching pad to scrub with the hot water until the coating is gone.
- Dry out the griddle with a clean dry cloth or paper towels. Even you can place it on a hob on medium heat to evaporate moisture.
- Place an aluminum foil on the lower rack of the oven to catch the drippings from the griddle.
- Take some vegetable oil to rub the inside, outside-both side of the griddle without leaving a corner.
- Set the griddle on the oven and heat it up to 375°F.
- Finally, turn the heat off and allow your griddle to cool.
- Once you finish the job, just repeat the whole process 3-5 times until your griddle surface turns to black color. It is perfect for cooking.
Also Read: How To Use a Wok On an Electric Stove
Seasoning of the Stainless Steel Griddle
This is a type of griddle that is mainly used for commercial purpose. It means this is extensively used in hotels and restaurants where you have to cook continuously versatile kinds of foods one after another. Therefore, the seasoning is compulsory to keep this working. This is to ensure you that your food won’t get stuck on the surface of the griddle and the flavor remains the same.
Unlike the new Blackstone griddle, this kind of griddle needs to be seasoned following this way step by step.
- Use a towel paper or lint-free cloth to rinse the surface for cleaning.
- While wiping you need to apply baking soda rubbing oil on it. After that, you need to heat the griddle to 350°F-400°F. In this way, your griddle is perfectly seasoned.
- When your griddle has reached the point, turn off the machine and let it cool.
You should wipe out excessive oil from the surface and repeat the whole process on a regular basis.
Whenever you think to cook something special, your kitchen appliances play a vital role. Without having them in perfect shape and condition it is not possible for you to get the desired result. Therefore, it is very important to take a look at your appliance before start preparing your favorite items. Seasoning is such a process that comes very effective to make your griddle surface ready to prepare some delicious, yummy, and crispy foods that are being appreciated by us. In short, season is the reason behind your success. So, now it is time to season the best griddle what you’ve already owned and start cooking all by yourself.
John DiBella is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, a cooking enthuthiast and a writer. When he’s not writing blogs about home kitchenware, he enjoys hiking, camping, sailing and cooking.