Most ovens have broil a broil setting.
Broiling is a way to cook meats and other foods with desired browning or charring indoors without using a grill. Like grill foods the food is cooked using infrared radiation heat to the heat source but the heat source with grill is above rather than below the food. The temperature setting for broiling is 260ºC (500ºF).
In order to broil you need a two piece broiler pan. The food to be broiled usually meat or fish is placed on the top piece of the broiler pan that sits on top of the lower piece. The top piece has holes in it so juices from the broiling meat can drip down into the bottom pan without getting the oven dirty. There will be some splatter on the oven walls as the meat broils so either wipe the oven down after it cools or run the clean cycle. Wiping down the oven after broiling will lessen the number of times you will have to run the oven clean cycle on self cleaning ovens and lessen baked on build-up for manual clean ovens.
To broil move an oven rack to the highest level in your oven as pictured then select the broil setting on your oven. Place prepared meat or fish on the broiler pan. Place the broiler pan on the top oven rack and shut the door part way leaving it open by a couple of inches. Check food often to prevent excessive charring and turn when necessary. Broiling does generate smoke much like a grill does so turn on any ventilation system and open a window or door if possible.
A couple of nights ago we decided to broil a round steak for dinner. The weather had turned cold and raining so cooking indoors was a bit more appealing. At the same time cleaning up from the indoor grill did not sound appealing so rather than set that up we broiled. I have to admit the broil setting on our oven does not see a lot of use especially for beef mainly because the outdoor and indoor grills give better results. We use the broil setting mainly for fish.
The most notable difference is beef that has been broiled does not have the lovely grill marks. Charring is not as even either. However, the flavour and texture is still quite good. Round steak is quite a large cut so there was enough for two meals for two. I served the meal with steamed potatoes and asparagus.
I don't like the mess of broiling and I don't like playing with the gas BBQ outside. So I have a great pan which has raised grooves and cooks a steak on top of the oven. I just sprinkle some salt, let the pan heat well then throw the steak on. I have not tried this with chicken. Also, I have yet to figure out the right amount of time for the steak to cook as rare as I like them. I tend to have them too raw (versus rare) and then cook them more and end up with them overcooked for how I like them.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura :) Grilling is by far our favourite way to cook steaks. If you search the archives using the search box or check in the label grilling in the cloud in the sidebar there is the finger method for determining doneness. This method is easy to learn, costs nothing and is quite accurate. HTH
ReplyDeleteI'm concerned about the steak being tough using this method. Round steak is usually braised for a long period of time. Did you cook this rare?
ReplyDelete