French Plancha Explained

Plancha or griddle - The French Plancha explained

The Plancha explained - This article from our 2009 blog is still valid today.

Plancha is a Spanish word which in this context describes a flat metal plate on which items are fried. There are several related words such as fry-top, griddle and plaque which all describe a flat plate on which food is fried.

For our purposes we will divide the ‘Plancha' into two groups

The British griddle/ Spanish Plancha. This is a simple type of heated plate on which a caterer can fry anything from eggs to meat and fish. It is generally (but not always) imprecise in its accuracy and control, and usually it is quite cheap, generally the cheaper it is the less control you have. The most basic type of griddle is a plate which simply sits on a burner and gets hot, it is normally less than 6mm thick and therefore suffers from hot spots

The French Plancha. This is the type of unit we manufacture. It is highly refined and has much in common with the Planchas from French manufacturers such as Bonnet and Athanor. Charvet and Rorgue also supply Planchas but I am not convinced they give the same results as the Bonnet, Athanor and Control Induction planchas. The French Plancha is a totally different animal to the common or garden griddle. The French Plancha gives a caterer similar results to pan frying but with improved consistency. The best example I can give of the difference between a Plancha and a griddle is based on an experience I had with a chef at Bluebells Restaurant in Bagshot whilst working for Bonnet. The chef went with one of my salesmen to Plateau Restaurant in Canary wharf where Tim Tolley, a Master Plancha Chef, showed him how well his Bonnet plancha cooked scallops and prawns. The chef found that they were cooked as well as he could have cooked them in a pan and decided that the new Bluebells kitchen would have a Bonnet Plancha. Bluebells decided to buy modular Bonnet cooking equipment which incorporated a griddle (not a Plancha) and to cut a long story short this was a disaster. The salesman who supplied the equipment thought that all griddles (or planchas) were alike. The end result was that the chef could not get the results from this griddle and had to revert to pan cooking for prawns, scallops, foie gras etc. What this story proved to me was how brilliant planchas are and how different they are to a standard griddle.

There are many differences between the heating system of a plancha (call us on 01622 872821 and we will be happy to explain) and the heating methods used in Spanish Planchas or griddles. For the chef these are not important, the important facts are that griddles are a great piece of catering equipment for eggs and bacon and a French Plancha made by us down in Kent will give results you could only achieve by pan frying at the hands of a top chef.

Other big advantages of French Planchas are:

French Planchas give ultra consistent results
French Planchas give control to the exec chef using the labour of a commis
French Planchas reduce pan quantities in the kitchen
By reducing pan quantities Planchas reduce washing up chemical use etc.
Exec chefs have far greater indirect control over cooking than with pans
French Planchas are energy efficient

Plancha stops the Chef's nightmare

Four meals at the pass, two perfectly cooked fillets of bass, two overcooked steaks. Three choices:

Nightmare 1. The expensive choice – scrap all four dishes, cook again.

Nightmare 2. Compromise your service quality – Serve the fish and make two of the party of four wait and watch their two friends eat.

Nightmare 3. Compromise your food quality – Hot hold the fish, serve again when the meat is cooked, or some variation on this solution.

We will try and explain what causes the problem above and how the French Plancha goes a long way in solving this problem.

A skilled chef always has his pan at the correct temperature or as close to it as he can. This is not easy, even a small scallop can cool the area of pan under it by as much as 100°C. The better the pan, the less temperature drop and the quicker the pan will recover to optimum frying temperature. The skill of the chef is in not letting the weakness of the pan spoil the quality of the cooked product. Whether he does this consciously or not, a good chef uses multiple skills listed in the process below to constantly control the pan temperature. He may use an oil that just smokes at a certain temperature, he then adds food to the pan knowing that the cooling effect of the food product and moving the pan to higher or lower heat will give him a good result. He can use some or all of the senses. Sight, smell, touch and sound, can all help him. If he gets this process wrong the results are below optimum.

The pan frying process

1. Heat pan to a temperature such that the food introduced does not take the oil too far below optimum frying temperature (indicated by greasy smoke)

2. Add food to pan and move pan to higher heat. As pan temperature recovers move pan to lower heat to avoid taking the oil in the pan past the optimum temperature.

3. Cook at optimum temperature for correct period.

4. If turning of the food is required repeat 2.,3.

5. Take perfectly cooked food to the pass.

6. Receive pat on back from head chef, you deserve it!

This is not easy, many chefs never truly master the pan frying process and many master it and don’t analyse it. Bright chefs and restaurateurs buy clever kitchen equipment to reduce the problems caused by poorly cooked food….. enter, the French plancha.

Quality and consistency:
The French plancha, is the natural way to avoid the problems caused by failure to follow the steps above, yes skill is still required but the head chef can set the plancha correctly and his chef only needs to control the timings, numbers 3 and 4. on the list above. This extra control the French plancha gives the head chef, is what improves the quality and consistency of food coming out of the kitchen.

The French plancha delivers a much more consistent frying temperature than a pan by virtue of its rapid heat recovery without risk of overheating. In addition to this, and unlike a pan, the head chef knows exactly what temperature surface his chef is cooking on. The head chef can also see the food his chef is cooking, because the sides of a pan are not obscuring his view. With this control of the cooking surface temperature head chef does not totally delegate the cooking process, only the timing and food handling part of it.

The end result is that apart from not having dozens of (often grubby) pans around the kitchen, we have that magical thing that chefs love.

CONSISTENCY
That is why many chefs rave about the French plancha.

Contact Details

info@controlinduction.co.uk

Control Induction, Unit 17, Platt Industrial Estate, Maidstone Road, Borough Green, Kent, TN15 8JL

01622 872821