Best Results! Broil with the Oven Door Ajar

Emma Christensen
Emma Christensen
Emma is a former editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer. Check out her website for more cooking stories
published Mar 23, 2010
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Heather Solos of Home Ec 101 explains that keeping the door ajar while broiling helps in two ways:

1) It helps vent steam, so the oven environment stays dry and hot – just the way you want it when broiling. Steam also prevents the food from building a good crust!

2) It helps keep too much heat from building up. This will bake your food instead of just cooking the surface closest to the broiling element and could also cause the heating element in your stove to turn off.

Heather’s advice is for electric ovens, but we really think this is a good method to try with gas ovens as well. In either case, the owners manual for your oven will explain the best method for broiling.

Do you broil with the oven door ajar?

Check Out the Full Post!
• Why Do We Leave the Oven Door Ajar While Broiling? from Home Ec 101

Related: How to Broil a Steak in the Oven

(Image: Emma Christensen)

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