Method · Hot and dry
Broil
Use the grill you already own: the one in the top of your oven.
The broiler is a grill turned upside down. The heat comes from above, very hot and very close. It browns in minutes, which makes it the fastest tool in the kitchen and the easiest one to burn food with. The whole skill is distance and attention.
This lesson is free, start to finish. So is every other one.
At a glance
- Best for
- Thin cuts, fish fillets, finishing skin and cheese, charring peppers
- Heat
- The top element on high
- Time
- 2 to 10 minutes
- Level
- Easy, if you stay in the room
What you need
- A heavy rimmed sheet pan or cast-iron skillet
- Metal only. Glass dishes can shatter under a broiler.
- A wire rack
- Lifts fatty food out of its own drippings.
- Good oven mitts
- The pan comes out very hot.
- A timer
- Set it for one minute at a time.
Why it works
A broiler cooks with direct heat from a glowing element, the same as coals, only from above. Because the heat comes from one side and so close, the top browns long before the middle of anything thick is cooked. So you broil thin things, or you use the broiler to finish something that is already cooked through.
Rack distance is the dial
- About 4 inches from the element: fast and fierce. Thin steaks, charring peppers, a quick crust.
- About 6 inches: the everyday spot. Fish, chicken cutlets, melting cheese.
- About 8 inches: thicker pieces that need a few more minutes to cook through.
- Move the rack before you turn the broiler on. Then preheat for 5 minutes.
- Check your oven’s manual for the door. Some broil with it shut, some want it cracked open.
The broil, step by step
- Dry the food and oil it lightly. Line the pan with foil for easy cleanup.
- Lay the food out in one layer. Thin, even pieces work best.
- Slide it under and stay there. Look every minute.
- Turn the pan around halfway. Most broilers are hotter at the back.
- Flip thicker pieces once. Thin fish doesn’t need a flip.
- Check the temperature and get it out. Under a broiler, done turns to burnt in under a minute.
The finishing move
This is where the broiler earns its place. Roast chicken with pale skin: two to three minutes under the broiler. Soup with cheese on top, a casserole, a tray of nachos, the sugar on a grapefruit. Cook it the normal way, then give it a minute or two of fire from above. Stand there and watch.
When it goes wrong
- Burnt top, raw middle
- Too thick, or too close. Lower the rack, or cook it through first and broil only to finish.
- It caught fire
- Fat hit the element. Turn the broiler off, keep the door shut, and let it die. Use a rack and trim fat next time.
- Brown at the back, pale at the front
- Normal. Turn the pan halfway through.
- Smoke alarm
- Old grease on the pan or oven floor. Start with a clean pan lined with foil.
- Dry fish
- It stayed in too long. Pull it when it just flakes. It keeps cooking on the hot pan.
Practice on these