Chargrills and Griddles, Picking the Right Grill for Your Menu

A grill section does more to shape a menu, and to ticket times, than almost any other part of the kitchen. Chargrill, flat griddle, contact grill and salamander all produce different results from the same protein, and they place very different demands on extraction, cleaning rotas and staff.

Getting the choice right at the design stage saves arguments later, when the canopy cannot cope with the grease load or the pass cannot turn tables fast enough. This guide works through the main options and where five real units, from small contact grills to full-width chargrills, actually fit.

Chargrill, griddle or contact grill: what changes on the pass

A flat griddle cooks by conduction from a solid plate, giving even colour across eggs, bacon, pancakes and smash burgers. A chargrill uses open flame under bars or radiants, marking the food and adding a smoked, charred flavour that a griddle cannot replicate. A contact grill presses the food from both sides at once, cutting cooking time roughly in half compared with a single-sided plate.

A salamander sits apart from all three. It is an overhead grill used for finishing, browning a gratin, melting cheese on a burger, or holding a plate under gentle heat before it goes out, rather than for primary cooking. Where kitchen space is tight, an operator has to decide which of these jobs the menu actually needs done, rather than trying to fit all four.

For counter service, cafes or a small kitchen adding a grilled item without much space to spare, a compact single unit does the job. The Lincat LCG Single Head Contact Grill is a straightforward single-head contact grill suited to that kind of limited footprint, where a full chargrill run would be overkill.

Radiants, lava rock and what they do to the canopy

Radiant chargrills heat metal or ceramic radiants over gas burners, giving direct, intense heat and strong char marks with less flare-up than an open flame bed. Lava rock chargrills sit fat and drippings on a bed of volcanic rock, which holds heat well and adds its own smoky note, but the rock needs more frequent attention as fat works into it over service.

Whichever bed a chargrill uses, it puts more grease and smoke into the air above it than a flat griddle or a contact grill ever will. Canopy extraction and filters have to be sized with that in mind, and grease trays need clearing more often than on other grill types. A full-width unit such as the Blue Seal G596 900mm Gas Chargrill suits a dedicated grill station cooking steaks, burgers and chargrilled vegetables at volume, provided the extraction above it is matched to that load.

Contact grills for speed without the extra smoke

For sandwich bars, cafes, or any kitchen adding a quick grilled line without wanting to add to the canopy's grease burden, a contact grill is usually the more practical fit than a chargrill. The Spidocook Spidoglass Single Smooth Contact Grill Digital gives digital control over a single smooth plate, useful where consistent results on panini or toasted items matter more than raw throughput.

Where the same style of cooking needs to happen at higher volume, or two items need to run side by side without doubling the footprint, a double-plate unit adds capacity in the same rough space. The Spidocook Spidoglass Double Smooth Contact Grill Manual is a manually controlled double-head grill built for that busier counter, where two grilled items are moving through service at once.

Sizing the grill to your covers

Chargrills are sold across a wide range of widths, and the temptation is to buy the biggest one the kitchen can physically fit. That is not always the right call. A narrower chargrill can sit alongside griddles, fryers and ranges on the same line, giving a kitchen the option of chargrilled specials or a signature dish without dedicating a full run of equipment to it.

The Blue Seal G592-B 300mm Gas Chargrill is an example of that narrower format, suited to a kitchen that wants genuine chargrill flavour on part of the menu rather than committing the whole grill section to it. A wider unit only earns its place if the menu genuinely has enough chargrilled covers to justify the extra floor space and the extraction it demands.

Cleaning down and grease management

Chargrills carry the heaviest cleaning burden of any grill type, and that has to be built into the staffing plan, not treated as an afterthought at closedown. A typical daily routine covers:

• Emptying and washing grease trays before they overflow into the cabinet below
• Scrubbing radiants or bars once they have cooled, removing carbonised fat build-up
• Checking and cleaning canopy filters on a schedule that matches actual grease load
• Wiping contact grill plates between services, since residue affects the next item cooked
• Keeping salamander elements and drip trays clear so finishing work is not slowed by smoke

None of this is optional. A chargrill left uncleaned loses heat transfer, smokes more into the pass, and becomes a fire risk faster than most operators expect. Contact grills are markedly quicker to clean between covers, which is part of why they suit high-turnover counter service so well.

How Advantage Catering Equipment can help

Choosing between a chargrill, a griddle, a contact grill and a salamander is really a decision about menu, covers and extraction capacity, not just about which unit looks right in the showroom. We work through that with operators before anything is ordered, so the grill section that gets installed actually matches the kitchen around it.

We supply, install and service chargrills, griddles and contact grills from Blue Seal, Lincat, Spidocook and other established manufacturers, and we can advise on extraction and gas supply requirements as part of the same design process.

Call 01304 827272 or email sales@advantagecateringequipment.co.uk.