Help me broil for the first time!

[yorkshirepud]

I am now able to broil which I have never done before so I have a few questions to help me make dinner tonight.

First things first, I will be using 2 chicken breasts (I'd said they are medium sized). Is it is a convection oven.

Okay,here we go with the questions!

(1) What is the difference between broiling and just throwing them in the oven? Does it give them a different texture (i.e. crisper outer layer)?

(2) What temperature should I broil at?

(3) How long should I broil the breasts?

That's if for now I think!

Cheers as always.
YP

[Jewel]

Broiling is different from baking in that the heat source is ONLY coming from the top. When you bake or roast, generally the heat source is at the bottom and heat rises, so it fills the entire oven with heat. When broiling, the heat comes down directly on the top surface of the food only, so you have to turn the meat halfway through cooking time. It's kind of 'reverse grilling'. Generally, there is no choice of temperature for broil. Broil is just broil! One heat fits all!

Depending on the cook, most of the time you raise the oven rack a bit when you broil also so that the surface area of the food is closer to the heat source; generally about 5 or 6" I believe! That's one of the reasons you have to watch broiling food closely!!

[sneezles]

You mentioned that it was a convection oven. Do you have the choice of maxi- or mini-broil? It's pretty much as Jewel said (like grilling outside) just the heat source is on top. If they are just regular skinles, boneless breasts they would take longer than ones that have been flattened (more surface faster cooking); so 4" from heat source would take about 4-6 minutes per side.

[sunberst]

i have broiled many times, but not sure if the way i am doing it is ideal or not.

first off i have 2 options-
1) "broil high"
2) "broil low"
i just discovered that i had the low option a few months ago. usually when i turn the knob to broil it just says "high", but then if you turn it back a notch, it goes to low.

secondly, i never know if i should place my rack on the-
1) top rung (which places the food 2" from the flame)
2) second from top rung (which places the food 4" from the flame)

now i have done it both ways. sometimes i use the top rung, i just have to watch it more carefully. sometimes i use the next rung down. i almost always use the "high" heat setting. have not really noticed a big difference in the end result, atleast not a major one that i can tell.

my question is, what does everyone else do?

[d_ferrero]

Originally posted by sunberst
i have broiled many times, but not sure if the way i am doing it is ideal or not.

first off i have 2 options-
1) "broil high"
2) "broil low"
i just discovered that i had the low option a few months ago. usually when i turn the knob to broil it just says "high", but then if you turn it back a notch, it goes to low.

secondly, i never know if i should place my rack on the-
1) top rung (which places the food 2" from the flame)
2) second from top rung (which places the food 4" from the flame)

now i have done it both ways. sometimes i use the top rung, i just have to watch it more carefully. sometimes i use the next rung down. i almost always use the "high" heat setting. have not really noticed a big difference in the end result, atleast not a major one that i can tell.

my question is, what does everyone else do?

Depends on what I'm broiling, and how well it takes heat. Chicken and beef can *usually* go on the top rung on high (although if the marinade is high in sugar, I usually move it away from the heat source a bit to avoid burning. Bread (for crostini), fish and nuts I typically broil on low on the second or third rung. But I could be doing it wrong too...

[TerriS]

In my current oven, which is electric, I have the "hi" and "lo" options and just sort of think of what I would do if I was grilling...high or low heat?

In my old oven, there was one choice for heat - high - and one choice for how far the food was from the heat source - because it was on the bottom of the oven.

To answer YPs questions, broil them for about as long as you'd grill them. Watch out to make sure they don't dry out or burn. It is very easy to burn things when you broil.

[BeachBum]

Does everyone else leave their oven door slightly open? I do, but I don't know why. Can anyone tell my why people do this?

[Sami]

i think you leave the door open so the item doesn't bake, just broils. I do it because the instructions manual said you should. I bet I have a low broil and never knew it. I will try it when i go downstairs. You learn something new every day.

Sami

[adoty]

I broil with the door open so I can keep a closer eye on the food. Particularly important, since I don't have a window in the door. If I closed the door it would be too easy to forget about it until I had little piles of ash in the broiler pan.

[ISAIAH30_18]

Now I'm curious why you choose to broil over bake? What is the difference in the finished product? I've always wanted to try broiling but never knew when to do one over the other....

[yorkshirepud]

Old thread.

Seems I can't broil anyways, or maybe I can but as my oven is old, I think that function is perhaps broken or I just don't know how to do it (i.e. set it up, that **** thing is weird).

[tbb113]

I don't know why you broil with the door open vs closed. But I do know that with electric ovens the door is supposed to be open, gas ovens tell you to close the door. Maybe for heat circulation?

Also, broiling is more like grilling (I really like the reverse grilling comment). So you would broil the same types of foods that you would grill over direct heat. Indirect heat grilling is more like roasting and then you would bake. But this is off the top of my head...I could be completely wrong

Tyra