While most foods that can be cooked on a griddle can also be cooked in a skillet, the griddle has the advantage of cooking more than one item at a time. A griddle can serve several foods such as sandwiches, pancakes, bacon, eggs and more can be fixed to feed at once with only one pan to clean afterward. A griddle is easily recognized by the flat surface and many have two sides. One side is flat, while the other has raised grill lines to give food the appearance of cooking over an open-flame grill. Some griddles have depressed ridges that allow grease to flow away from the food being cooked to a trench outside the edge. A griddle should be hot before putting the food or else the food will stick. Also, if you turn it too early, the food will stick. As you cook, it will at first stick then release itself by the time it’s actually time to turn the food. A smoking griddle is caused by too much oil or marinade on what you are cooking. For restaurant griddles, they first brush the griddle surface with vegetable oil, heat to leave it at that temperature of 400 F (200 C) for 5 minutes, then scrape excess oil off and cook. However, this procedure is not needed for non-stick, seasoned cast iron, or chromium surfaces. To clean a restaurant Queensland griddle, let it cool down to just warm, empty the well where the fat has drained, scrape surface with a scraper, spread water and soap over top, let sit for a few minutes, brush clean, and rinse. Some people like to use soda water in the cleaning. Griddles are among the largest energy consumers in the food service industry and energy efficient usage is an important way of reducing their operating costs in the food business.

Heat lost from a Queensland griddle warms the kitchen resulting to an uncomfortable environment for workers unless the cooling system removes the excess heat and these losses can add to overall cooling costs which is an important factor favoring an electric griddle over gas griddle. Even in un-air conditioned kitchens where cooling costs is not an issue, workers tend to suffer as the room temperatures rises, which increases the chances of total costs through lower worker performance and increased turnover. Many higher quality griddles are designed for enhanced energy efficiency. Nowadays, manufacturers increase griddle efficiency with newly developed griddle plate surfacing and these improved surfaces restrict the griddle’s normally excessive radiation of energy. Griddle inefficiency is most evident in light-load cooking operations, where efficiency generally ranges from 12-50 percent. Some griddles are equipped with a platen placed a few inches above the griddle surface to provide additional cooking from above. This additional feature cooks the top surface of the food by exposing it to radiant heat energy, where the food cooks faster and sealing in the flavored juices for improved taste and reduced in food shrinkage.