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Mistakes to avoid when cooking with a plancha

2022-08-03T04:35:56.684Z


Ingredients that are too greasy, incorrect thermostat settings, risk of fire... To avoid the worst, Denny Imbroisi and Juan Arbelaez join forces with three-star chef Gérald Passedat to establish a checklist to memorize before igniting more than of reason with his plancha.


Easy to use, offering both healthy and fast cooking, the plancha is used by many chefs on a daily basis.

"It allows simultaneous cooking of several products, between 4 and 6 at a time. The plancha is very interesting for caramelizing juices", appreciates Gérald Passedat, chef of the emblematic Petit Nice (1) in Marseille (three stars in the Michelin guide) and the Brasserie Lutetia (2), in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

"The advantage of this cooking method is that you can sear the ingredients on the plate using very little fat, adds Denny Imbroisi. You grill, or you color at high temperature."

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Grilled octopus, vegetables and fruit: everything goes on the plancha of Ida (3), the restaurant of the former candidate of the show "Top Chef", located in the 15th arrondissement of the capital.

His former friend, Juan Arbelaez, is also a fervent follower;

he is also at the head of an establishment in Boulogne-Billancourt, called Plantxa (4).

Drawing on their experience in this area, the three chefs review the most frequent mistakes made at home, in order to help us use our plancha according to the rules of the art.

Ignore safety instructions

Whether you work on an electric, gas or charcoal griddle, it is essential to follow a few safety instructions.

You must use the machine on a flat surface, do not move it if it is still hot and ensure that there are no children around, in particular for a plancha that is used on a barbecue at coal.

Moreover, "it is important not to light the fire with alcohol or gasoline, insists Denny Imbroisi. After use, do not forget to put water on the embers to extinguish them", continues -he.

"If it runs on gas, check that the supply hose is disconnected from the plancha," adds Juan Arbelaez.

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Cooking with the wrong utensils

According to Denny Imbroisi, there are two essential utensils to get, especially when you are a novice: "A glove and tongs! It's more practical for turning food and you burn yourself a little less", he jokes. .

But you still have to choose them correctly.

"Especially not plastic because this material can melt on the hot plate, argues Juan Arbelaez. Always favor wood."

Stainless steel isn't bad either.

Which plancha to choose?

If professionals tear themselves away from stainless steel gas planchas, ordinary mortals will be satisfied with an electric plancha in non-stick cast aluminum at a good price-quality ratio.

Denny Imbroisi recommends another form of plancha, namely a plate that is placed on the grill of the charcoal barbecue: "They are ideal and give food a slightly woody flavor".

Cooking too early on a cold griddle

This is the mistake that offends Juan Arbelaez and all lovers of plancha cooking the most: "Often people don't wait for it to be hot enough. The product on it is spoiled because it's boiled and not seized. The people who do this have obviously not understood the basis of the technique of the plancha", laughs the cook of Colombian origin.

"The process is the same as that of the barbecue or the fireplace. If you use charcoal, you light the fire 25 minutes before cooking and then wait until the charcoal is gray or red. Only then that we can place the products on the plate", explains Denny Imbroisi.

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Set your thermostat too high

It is very important to start cooking at the right temperature

Gerald Passedat

“It is very important to start cooking at the right temperature”, advances Gérald Passedat.

Indeed, the most frequent errors are often due to poor management of the plancha thermostat.

"You should never adjust it to the maximum", certifies Denny Imbroisi.

"If we do it, it's because we have large quantities of meat to cook. In any case, we must be careful that the heat is spread over the entire plate", recommends Juan Arbelaez.

Cooking with foods that are too fatty

"Everything can be worked on the plancha, I particularly enjoy cooking vegetables, oysters and molluscs there", explains Gérald Passedat.

There would therefore be no food to proscribe for an experienced chef.

For others, Denny Imbroisi recommends avoiding certain foods that are too fatty.

"Marrowbone and anything flammable like eggs. In contact with embers, they can be dangerous," he says.

In the same way, do not soak the plate with fat and throw your food on it.

"Upstream, you can massage the fish or the meat with a little olive oil or even use a brush so as not to put too much on it. For a steak, you can even marinate the meat before, "continues the chef Italian.

cooking food too long

Red mullet on the scale a la plancha by Gérald Passedat

"I start cooking the red mullet on the scales with a little olive oil at a thermostat of 170°C on an electric plancha. To finish cooking, I leave a little time to rest under a bell jar, plancha off."

Cooking on the plancha is fast but adapts to each food, because overcooking happens quickly.

"For the meat, it all depends on the size of the piece. A rare rib of beef is cooked after 10 minutes on each side. A flank steak in 3 minutes. A vegetable in 1 minute, like a prawn, explains Denny Imbroisi. As for the scallops, 30 seconds are enough to color it without denaturing it."

For fish, it's like for meat: the searing time depends on the size.

"A 600 g sea bream cooks in 7 or 8 minutes on each side. For a sea bass or line-caught bass weighing more than 2 kilos, count around 20 minutes per side", adds Juan Arbelaez.

Wash your plancha with household products

Gérald Passedat himself agrees: "There are few disadvantages when you start a plancha apart from cleaning".

First of all, it is necessary to wait for the temperature of the board to go down.

Then, do not use household products in the first place.

"If the plancha is still lukewarm, the gases that evaporate are very bad and this damages the plate. The best thing is to add a few ice cubes on top. The water that is created and the thermal change will soften the juices of You just have to wait a bit to peel them off with a spatula,” says Denny Imbroisi.

If this is not enough, we scrape lightly with a little vinegar.

"Only at the end, you can add a dab of soap, take a small sponge,

(1)

Le Petit Nice

, 17 rue des Braves, 13007 Marseille.

Such.

: 04 91 59 25 92.


(2)

Brasserie Lutetia

, 45 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris.

Such.

: 01 49 54 46 92.


(3)

Restaurant IDA

, 117 rue de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris.

Such.

: 01 56 58 00 02.


(4)

Plantxa

, 58 rue Galliéni, 92100 Boulogne-Billancourt.

Such.

: 01 46 20 50 93.

*Originally published on July 20, 2019, this article has been updated.

Source: lefigaro

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