The French Plancha Explained

'Plancha' is a Spanish word used to refer to any flat heated surface, which in this context describes a flat metal plate on which items are fried. There are several related words such as fry-top, griddle and plaque, which all describe a flat plate on which food is fried.

 For our purposes, we will divide the ‘Plancha' into two groups.

1. The British Griddle/ Spanish Plancha - a simple type of heated plate on which a caterer can fry anything from eggs to meat and fish. It is generally (but not always) imprecise in its accuracy and control, and usually it is quite cheap; generally, the cheaper it is, the less control you have. The most basic type of griddle is a plate which simply sits on a burner and gets hot; it is normally less than 6mm thick and therefore suffers from hot spots and rapid cooling. 
2. The French Plancha - This is the type of unit we produce. It is highly refined and has much in common with the Planchas from French manufacturers such as Bonnet and Athanor. The French Plancha, which is very different to the common or garden griddle, gives a caterer similar results to pan frying but with improved consistency. Our Managing Director, Geoff Snelgrove, who previously worked as M.D for Bonnet, recalled a time that highlights the difference between griddles and French Planchas. ‘A chef from Bluebells restaurant in Bagshot went with a Bonnet salesman to Plateau Restaurant in Canary Wharf. They were met by Tim Tolley, a Master Plancha Chef, who demonstrated how well his Bonnet plancha cooked scallops and prawns. The Bluebell chef found they were cooked as well as he could have cooked them in a pan and decided that the new Bluebells kitchen should have a Bonnet Plancha. Bluebells decided to buy modular Bonnet cooking equipment, which incorporated a griddle (not a Plancha). The salesman who supplied the equipment thought that all griddles (or Planchas) were alike. This was a disaster as it meant the chef could not get the results from this griddle and had to revert to pan cooking for prawns, scallops, foie gras, etc. This story proved to Geoff how brilliant Planchas are and how different they are from a standard griddle.

There are many differences between the heating system of a plancha and the heating methods used in Spanish Planchas or griddles. For the chef, these are not important. The important facts are that griddles are a great piece of catering equipment for eggs and bacon, and a French Plancha made by us down in Kent will give results you could only achieve by pan frying at the hands of a top chef.

Other big advantages of French Planchas are:

• French Planchas give ultra-consistent results
• French Planchas give control to the exec chef using the labour of a commis
• French Planchas reduce pan quantities in the kitchen
• By reducing pan quantities, Planchas reduce washing up chemical use etc.
• Exec chefs have far greater indirect control over cooking than with pans
• French Planchas are energy efficient