The oven is one of the most convenient and useful appliances, one that practically no home is without. It allows you to cook a wide variety of foods in a variety of ways, thanks in part to its diverse functions that allow you to achieve different cooking methods. One of the most useful is the broiler, a special function that allows the oven to emit a powerful heat diffused from the top of the appliance; the symbol is a sort of serpentine, or wavy line.
What's the purpose of the oven broiler? It allows you to cook faster, because the heat from the broiler cooks the top of the food at a very high temperature, also drying out excess fat and oil. It's particularly suitable for cooking meat or vegetables, but more generally, it's used when you want to achieve a nice golden brown, toasted, and crispy surface of food. Create that irresistible crust, like the one on lasagna or vegetable gratin.
The broiler is a truly useful tool, but you need to know how to use it well because the risk of burning food is very high since the heat reaches the food with great intensity and at a rather close distance. It's best to avoid this, not only for reasons of flavor (who likes a recipe that tastes burnt?) and appearance, but above all for health reasons, as eating burnt food is bad for you. Here are the most common mistakes that lead to burning food when using the broiler.
1. Turning The Broiler On Too Early
The first and most important rule of using the broiler function is to respect the timing: to avoid burning the food, this function should be activated only when the cooking time is almost over. When you activate the broiler, the heat reaches very high temperatures in a very short time, so just a few minutes are enough. And remember, monitor the cooking because the difference between a succulent crust and burnt food can be as small as a few seconds.
2. Not Respecting Cooking Times
In addition to constantly checking the food while it's cooking when the grill is active, it's also important to respect the cooking times required for each type of food, as they aren't all the same, and using the same cooking time for each recipe increases the risk of burning everything. Be especially careful with meat or any high-fat foods, as this is precisely why they tend to burn quickly if left under the broiler for too long. In general, remember to set the broiler to the highest temperature if you're cooking a thin cut of meat or if you want it rare, and set it to the lowest for a well-done cut. Vegetables cook much faster than meat, even with the oven's broiler. If you're preparing a meat-based main course with a vegetable side, it's best to do two separate cooking sessions, or add the vegetables to the oven about halfway through cooking the meat. Cooking times generally range from 10 to 15 minutes (although it depends on what you're trying to achieve; a gratin, for example, requires more cooking time than sliced eggplant). After the first ten minutes you can turn the vegetables, but remember to check often because they are very delicate and it takes very little for them to burn.
3. Not Lining The Baking Pan
Whatever food you're cooking, there's one rule you should always follow: line the pan, grill, or baking dish you're cooking it in with parchment paper. This serves a dual purpose: first, it prevents the food from coming into direct contact with the utensil you're cooking it in, reducing the risk of it sticking. Furthermore, the paper retains any liquids that might leak or drip during cooking, potentially causing the food to burn.
4. Placing Food Too Close to The Broiler
The broiler function activates the upper part of the oven, specifically a part called the heating element, which is the electrical element that produces heat through radiation, spreading it throughout the appliance. A mistake that leads to burning food 9 times out of 10 is positioning the grill or pan with the food too high and therefore too close to the broiler element: the heat emitted is very intense and powerful; if the food is too close, it will burn quickly, especially on the surface. Generally, the oven manual will indicate the correct height to position the grill when using the broiler to prevent the food from coming into excessive contact with the upper heating element.
5. Leaving Food Residues
When you cook, fats, sugars, liquids, and even actual food particles can build up on the oven walls and heating elements. Leaving these residues unremoved increases the risk of ruining your recipes when using the broiler (and not only that, it applies to any cooking method). When the temperature reaches a high level and the oven is very hot, these residues will burn, creating smoke and unpleasant odors. This is why it's essential to clean your oven regularly, after every cooking session or at least twice a month. Not sure how? Follow tips to make it sparkle using only natural methods.
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