How to Get Your Griddle To the Proper Temperature

Another trick to getting the proper temperature on a four burner griddle is to not use all of the burners.  Sometimes I’ll just turn on the middle two burners to medium or medium low.  The heat will still push out to the two outside burners so they will be warm but not hot.  I will then use that as an area to keep food warm.  For example, let’s say I was doing peppers and onions for a chicken quesadilla.  I might do the peppers and onions first, then when they are almost done move them to the outside warming area.  They can sit there staying warm but not cooking while I cook my strips of chicken in the middle which is still hot.  

Finally, don’t be afraid to use water to bring the temperature down.  Water is obviously great for melting cheese and used for cleaning your griddle at the end.  However, you can also use your squirt bottle of water to bring the temp down if it is just too hot.  I do this a lot on breakfast cooks when I’m trying to do my eggs.  Often times I’ll have all the meat, potatoes, and pancakes done and when it’s time to do the eggs last my griddle will still be too hot.  I will squirt down some water in the area where I want to cook my eggs and this actually serves two purposes.  First, it will clean that area so your eggs will be nice and pretty and not covered with black bits of food.  Second, it will bring the temp down to where we want it so the eggs will not burn or get too brown.