Do you use your broiler?
It wasn't until we started doing all these batches of roasted tomatoes and peppers that we realized how rarely we use ours. Now we're addicted!
Weekend Project: Get to Know Your Broiler!
In case you don't know (and there's no shame in that!), the broiler is located in the ceiling of the oven, although it's sometimes a separate compartment below the oven in older models. It creates heat and cooks from above - as opposed to the stove top, which cooks from below, or the oven, which creates heat all around.
There will be a separate setting on your oven specifically for the broiler. Ours has both a "high" and "low" setting. We use the high setting for things like our roasted tomatoes and weekend frittatas - anything that requires a relatively quick blast of heat from above. The low setting works well for things like toasting slices of bread for bruschetta or melting the cheese on top of prepared dishes.
With a broiler, we get many of the advantages of the oven - high, consistent heat over a large surface area - without needing to heat the entire oven (or the kitchen). It only takes a few minutes to pre-heat the broiler, and we can adjust the intensity of the broiler by moving the oven rack closer or further away.
Here are a few broiler-friendly recipes from our archives. Give them a try this weekend!
Broiled Grapefruit
Parsley and Garlic Frittata
How to Broil a Steak in the Oven
Broiled Sardines with Gremolata
Salmon Burgers
Roasting Tomatoes Under the Broiler
How to Roast Peppers
What are your favorite recipes that use a broiler?
Related: Good Question: What Should I Eat on Busy Weeknights?
(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
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i know this is silly...but i haven't used my broiler EVER. i once turned it on to make something and the whole oven/stovetop started smoking, so i promptly turned it off. i imagine it's just burning off whatever's stuck in the oven or under the stovetop, but it freaked me out! even sillier...i haven't used my self cleaning feature because of the same "smoking oven" fear. i want a real cook to come here and slap me silly.
view kdkaboom's profile
I have one of those older models where it is below---in general the food burns before it browns because it is like 1/4 inch from the flames so not very useful. I appreciate the picture because I always thought only electrics had and broiler in the ceiling, good to know.
view sally599's profile
you can usually adjust the distance from the heat, so things needn't burn.
alton brown once pointed out that a broiler is an upside down grill. Once he said that, I started to use it a lot more often.
view budino's profile
I'm really not sure if we have a broiler. Our oven looks to be 60s or so. After 500F, there's a setting called "grill". Wonder if that's it?
view sphinxie's profile
I am terrified of the broiler. Mine is a scary drawer-looking thing underneath the oven. It has strange racks and pieces that I don't know how to operate. The last thing I want is to burn down my apartment by putting something in there that i can't get out. It was just replaced by my super a couple years ago, so it's new, but I'm sure it is a very cheap model. I just don't trust it.
view kkf's profile