What is a Salamander Broiler?

May 16, 2016:

With the explosion of cooking shows on television and the phenomenon of the celebrity chef, today’s “foodies” have become savvier than ever on cutting-edge cooking methods, ingredients and appliances. In their quest to become the ultimate home chef, many of them have built kitchens that look like something out of a gourmet restaurant – with the performance and styling to match. These pro-style kitchens are usually centered on a powerful gas range like our Platinum Series, an equally capable hood, built-in refrigerators and sometimes even extra gas or electric wall ovens – and usually have such additional “requirements” like two sinks and multiple prep stations.

But sometimes it’s the extra tools – like a Salamander broiler – that can really make a kitchen stand out and give the serious foodie an edge when preparing restaurant-style meals for friends and family.

What is a Salamander Broiler?

The Salamander Broiler is a standalone appliance that can be located on a countertop or above a range that uses powerful infrared ceramic broilers for everything broiling perfect steaks to melting cheese on casseroles. Due to its higher heat capabilities vs. broilers located inside ovens, the Salamander’s performance far exceeds that of even pro-style ovens. Salamanders are also extremely convenient in a restaurant environment since they allow broiling or finishing to be done without taking up valuable oven space. For home chefs, the benefit of the Salamander is around enhanced power as well as precision. And if you’re wondering where the name came from, it’s derived from a 17^th century cooking tool that was used for many of the same things as today’s Salamanders but it just took a lot more work.

How does a Salamander Broiler work?

The Salamander’s power comes from two independently controlled 11,000 BTU infrared broilers that deliver ideal, easy-to-adjust heat, from gentle broiling to 1850°F of intense searing heat across the 215 square inches of cooking space. The four-position grilling rack and adjustable burners allow you to cook with a heat that is perfect for the dish you’re preparing. From “Pittsburgh rare” steaks, to crispy chicken, to delicately broiled crab cakes you will get perfect results in virtually half the time.

What makes an infrared broiler superior to electric or other gas broilers is that once the ceramic broiler heats up, it radiates a constant sheet of heat down upon the food your cooking producing optimum results.

Why is a Salamander a Foodie Must-Have?

Today’s foodie is looking to create the restaurant experience without ever having to leave their home. This appliance is a stunning addition to any kitchen and adds a special layer of high-performance, commercial quality not seen in many home kitchens. The Salamander’s infrared broiler can perfectly prepare a steak house quality medium-rare steak (without bearing the elements!) or delicately put the finishing touches on a Crème Brulee.

What do you do with it at home?

Restaurants utilize the Salamander mostly for a few reasons that would be valuable to any home chef. First, its high heat is extremely efficient at broiling and searing proteins such as beef or chicken giving them a steakhouse feel not achieved with an in-oven broiler. Secondly, its moderate and low heat settings are perfect for delicate items such as seafood, melting cheeses and caramelizing sugar on desserts. And finally, what may be the most important feature is that these items don’t take up valuable oven space when preparing the ultimate meal.

What makes the BlueStar® Salamander unique?

BlueStar® produces one of if not the only true Salamander broilers approved for residential use. What this means is that you will not need to install the costly safety features that are required for commercial units. The only requirement for this unit is that you have a ventilation system similar to that needed for any residential pro-style range or rangetop. The BlueStar® Salamander also fits seamlessly with our lines of ranges and rangetops and can easily be installed above any of these units. You can also give your Salamander the perfect finishing touch by customizing it to match your BlueStar® cooking appliance. There are over 190 knob colors and 10 metal trim finishes available to complete your kitchen design.

Fun celebrity fact: James Beard Award winning chef and BlueStar® All-Star Marc Vetri uses a BlueStar Salamander in his test kitchen, located above his flagship restaurant Vetri Ristorante, to develop and test new recipes to use across his family of restaurants.