Why did you choose your forum name plus photos of our kitchens

[johnro]

Uni I can jump in on this and you are 100% correct - this question is often asked by students when browsing through recipes in class   

[fundj&e]

thanks robyn. are you still in syd ?

[astarra]

Well I just learnt something new then - I alway thought broil was a spelling mistake for boil... and never used any recipes for broiled meat cuz I thought boiled meat sounded gross!!!! 

[dede]

Well I never knew that either

[obbie]

I did not know that either.

[andiesenji]

Some broiler ovens in the U.S. have the heat source, either gas or electric - mine is gas - on the top while the regular ovens have the burners on the bottom.
They have adjustable broiler pan racks that can be moved up and down, some also have rotisserie elements. 

Many combination oven/broilers have the oven with the burner in the bottom and a drawer underneath with a broiler pan which allows the oven burner to be used as a top broiler.  Not very efficient and difficult for many women to use because you have to practically stand on  your head to use it - not at all good for use during pregnancy and I speak from experience 

That Roper range, because of the number of burners, ovens and the broiler, required a larger than household standard gas line and unlike most kitchen ranges sold during that era, it was recommended a fireproof wall behind the stove - thus the tile - and an exhaust hood be installed a minimum of 36 inches above the stove top - mine was 42 inches and was copper - I have a photo of that end of the kitchen somewhere in my files. 
I also had a pot rack for my copper cookware and people who came to my home were often surprised to see them hanging out for everyone to see instead of hidden in a cupboard.  I remember one woman saying "your kitchen is so very French, country French of course."  I didn't know whether it was a compliment or a put-down. 
Many of the women in our group, wives of my husband's business associates, did not do their own cooking and probably thought I was a bit odd for doing so.  I had household help but did all the cooking and baking myself.

[gertbysea]

I have just noticed this thread. When I first came to Australia I could not find the broiler mainly  because the stoves I saw did not have one. Later I found some stoves with little griller thingys but yes broil is grill.

Andiesenji has an amazing kitchen and many wonderful things that belong in a culinery museum. Thank goodness for her keeping such things.

I rarely use my griller/broiler in the oven because who wants to clean it. My BBQ is very handy to my kitchen thank you.

Gert

[EmeraldSue]

Thanks for the excellent explanations. My oven has a top griller, so I suppose I have a broiler oven too! Who knew?

[gertbysea]

Thanks for the excellent explanations. My oven has a top griller, so I suppose I have a broiler oven too! Who knew?

There ya go Sue. 

Gert

[johnro]

Uni only just noticed your ? - with school term beginning Monday thought I had better be back so flew back Wednesday - apart from Friday, thanks to the Sydney weather gods the most perfect blue skies for the whole time !!!!!   

[andiesenji]

Back in the long-ago days when I took my first class in gourmet cooking, the chef instructor told us that "broiled" was meat, fowl or fish cooked with a heat source above the  item.  It was a restaurant kitchen and we had "salamanders" in which to broil things or top-brown them in the case of creme brulees, etc.

Grilling was done over a bottom heat source but could mean on an "open" grill with flames (wood or charcoal or gas back then) or some foods could be "grilled" on a "flat-top"  - what the restaurant industry calls a really big griddle.

Needless to day some of this was confusing to some in my class, including me and the chef being French, with a strong accent, we did not always get the gist of what he was about until he specifically demonstrated the various food types for the different applications.

Back then it was not desirable to have "grill marks" on a steak unless the customer specifically asked for it "grilled" so they were usually broiled in the salamander, which is very hot so it only took perhaps two minutes on each side of a 1 1/2 inch thick steak. 
Fish would take less than a minute total.

Now they have "table-top" electric grills - often mistakenly identified as "broilers"  also as "smokeless"  which work pretty well if one has no place for a barbecue. 

I have a countertop rotisserie/broiler that has the "overhead" broiler element.  As I recall, I only used it as a rotisserie a couple of times but used it as a broiler often, until I got my Sharp combination oven/microwave, that also works great as a broiler.
This was made prior to 1963 - before postal ZIP codes were used. 

P.S. It is larger than it looks in the photos.  It will easily hold a small turkey or large chicken or slab of ribs on the rotisserie.  The tray on which it sits is 15 inches by 21 inches. 

[mcmich]

I can imagine that would have been confusing. I grill steak or chicken on the bbq, heat source underneath but when you make grilled cheese on toast the heat source is above. So really from the French chefs point of view I have broiled cheese on toast?

[andiesenji]

Sorry the link does not work for some -
Here's the photo showing the heating element.

[Chantimama]

So my forum name is one that I commonly use for forums and things.  It comes from my childhood.  My camp name, used at Girl Scout summer camp while I was a kid and then as I got older and worked there as staff, was Chanticleer.  I've always been a "mothering" type of person, and often would become the mama of the group, so was often called Chantimama.  Easy peasy! 

[gertbysea]

So my forum name is one that I commonly use for forums and things.  It comes from my childhood.  My camp name, used at Girl Scout summer camp while I was a kid and then as I got older and worked there as staff, was Chanticleer.  I've always been a "mothering" type of person, and often would become the mama of the group, so was often called Chantimama.  Easy peasy! 

That is a charming  story Chantimama. Welcome.

Gert