The kitchen salamander is one of the most appreciated appliances by chefs. We will discover what exactly it is, how it works, and what it is used for in restaurant kitchens.
In professional kitchens, there are certain types of equipment that are essential for the proper functioning of the sequence of a lunch or dinner service typical of the best restaurants. These innovative pieces of equipment have been transforming kitchens and making them much more functional and comfortable, providing speed, quality, and efficiency in the tasks related to their work.
Along with appliances such as the oven or the essential gas stoves, there is the salamander, one of the most used kitchen equipment in restaurants. This has a simple explanation: it is an instrument that is easy to use, small in size and, unlike the oven or stove, it can be placed as needed to make it more comfortable for use.
What is a kitchen salamander?
The salamander is a professional catering equipment designed to finish cooking food. Specifically, the salamander in the kitchen allows you to heat, caramelize, gratinize, and keep dishes at a hot temperature for a long time. In the best restaurants, you can find salamanders that will only need a few seconds to heat a dish to more than 200 ºC.
How a salamander works in the kitchen
This distinctive kitchen appliance features a vault with a unique heat source. This type of “ceiling” emits intense and constant heat that allows food to be cooked and browned at high temperatures. The bottom of the appliance has a grid that is where the food is placed and that does not heat up. Therefore, heat diffuses only from the upper part, a height-adjustable roof. This mobile roof allows you to adjust the heat power you want to give to the food.
Before starting the salamander, it is important to adjust the grill with the movable roof according to what you want to prepare. Once the device is plugged in, the upper part will heat up and you will only have to regulate the heat by turning the wheel generally located on the lower right side of the device. In addition, a professional salamander also has removable trays that allow for much more efficient cleaning, providing greater hygiene in the kitchen.
Types of kitchen salamanders
There are different types of kitchen salamanders. The first criterion that we can use to differentiate them is their power source, which allows us to distinguish between electric or gas.
electric salamanders
Salamanders of this type work by connecting to the electrical network and are the most used because they are easy to install anywhere. In addition, they allow you to easily regulate and adjust their temperature, making them very easy to use. The resistors that act as a heat source are placed at the top. They are recommended when use is occasional due to their energy efficiency.
gas salamanders
As an alternative, there are salamanders that run on gas with a tubular burner that can be operated through a regulator. The great advantage of this type of salamanders is that they offer greater heating power. However, they are more complicated to handle. They are the best option when the salamander is used constantly.
Depending on their working mechanism, we could also talk about fixed or mobile roof salamanders, also called rising and falling salamanders.
Fixed salamanders
Fixed salamanders have a fixed structure without moving parts, so the ceiling is not adjustable in height and they only allow the temperature to be regulated by controlling the front part if it exists. Here the distance between the resistances that emit heat and the food is always the same. They can be both open – they have a single wall and three open sides – and closed – with a single wall through which to introduce food.
Mobile roof salamanders
Mobile roof salamanders allow the height of the resistances to be changed. By moving them closer or further away from food and dishes, they allow you to easily increase or decrease the temperature and therefore offer greater versatility. Its adjustable roof can be combined with temperature controls to better adjust the temperature. The usual thing is that they are open type.
What is the electric salamander for?
Installed in most professional kitchens, the salamander is basically used to heat, gratin, caramelize or finish cooking certain foods, both sweet and savory. For chefs, this is of vital importance since it makes tasks much easier when it comes to providing quick service. The salamander allows you to give a final burst of heat to the product before it leaves the kitchen or to keep it warm until just before leaving it.
Gratin
With the salamander, you can gratin all kinds of preparations, from lasagna or cannelloni to meat pies, broccoli, stuffed eggplants, potatoes and even Florentine eggs. In the same way, we can gratin creamy cheeses such as camembert or brie in just a few minutes.
Caramelize
If we want to caramelize any food quickly and powerfully, we can use the salamander since it can be used to caramelize meat after slow cooking, leeks that have been previously grilled or some onions for a garnish. It would also be used, of course, to caramelize desserts such as crème brûlée or crème brûlée where caramelization is essential.
Finish cooking certain foods
After having cooked any meat or fish in the oven or on the grill, the salamander can be used to finish cooking just before the dish leaves the kitchen. In this way it is possible to ensure that it comes out at the perfect temperature and at the optimal cooking point. It can also maintain all types of dishes at the ideal temperature for a long period of time.
Roast
Similar to a sandwich maker but with greater power, the salamander allows you to toast sandwiches, hamburgers or sandwiches in a very short time. Of course, they will only be toasted on the top, so if we want uniform toasting we will have to turn the sandwich or sandwich over.
What is the best place to install a salamander?
One of the advantages of the salamander in the kitchen is that it can be placed more comfortably for daily use. This can be on a work surface such as the countertop itself or fixed to the wall using a sturdy support.
It is very important to choose well the place where it will be placed within a kitchen to avoid risks and prevent accidents. The first thing to keep in mind is to choose a large and ventilated place that allows good heat dissipation in the event of an accident. Likewise, to prevent any food from remaining in the salamander for too long and potentially burning, consider placing it in an accessible place in the kitchen where it can be easily supervised.
Without a doubt, the best place to place it is next to the kitchen hallway, where the dishes are placed once they are finished and ready to be taken to the living room. Placed there, it allows any dish to receive a final touch of heat just before leaving the kitchen and at the same time has the direct supervision of the chef. Likewise, it is much more convenient to have the salamander fixed to the wall, at a height that is comfortable to put and remove dishes quickly and easily. In fact, an ideal height is one that allows you to review the dishes as if it were a window, this will allow greater control over the dishes.