Hamburgers and Hot Sandwiches

 Cooking a hamburger patty on and electric griddle is one of the easiest things you can do, just preheat your griddle to 375°F and toss a hamburger patty onto it and let it cook for about 3 to 3 1/2 min. on each side. add a slice of cheese during the last minute of cooking if you would like to. You can also toast your hamburger buns on the same griddle at the same time and the same temperature.

 If you want to make a different kind of hot sandwich using a hamburger patty as the meat, here are a few ideas. The first one is called an old-fashioned patty melt. In order to make a patty melt cook the hamburger as above, and while the hamburger patty is cooking sauté a small handful of diced onions on the griddle in either extra light olive oil, butter or margarine. Then instead of using a hamburger bun place two slices of rye bread on the griddle with a slice of American cheese on each. When the onions are clear remove them from the grill with a spatula and put them on one of the slices of bread, put the hamburger patty on top of the onions put the other slice of bread on the hamburger patty and remove your sandwich from the grill.

 The second one is called a swish and mushroom melt. It is made just like the patty melt but instead of using American cheese, put Swiss cheese on the rye bread, and use sautéed mushrooms instead of onions. You can use either sliced canned mushrooms or sliced fresh mushrooms both are good and have just a slightly different flavor.

 The third is called the Swiss, bacon and tomato. Again cook the hamburger patty as above while it is cooking put two strips of bacon on the electric griddle by the hamburger patty,the bacon and hamburger patty both have the same cooking time. Then put two slices of sourdough bread on the griddle with a slice of Swiss cheese on each, then put two slices of tomato on the griddle, heat the tomato slices for about 30 seconds on each side just until they are hot. Using a spatula, put both slices of tomato on one of the slices of bread followed by the two slices of bacon then your hamburger patty and the other piece of bread and remove your sandwich from grill.

More than just breakfast

 The electric griddle is what most cooks in a restaurant call the grill.

 As a cook at the Kettle (if you have never eaten had a Kettle, it's like a Denny's or IHOP only better), most of the orders I prepare on and electric griddle are for breakfast items, but we do run a full menu 24 hours a day, that includes lunch and dinner items as well.

 Most people do not know that you can cook almost anything on and electric griddle. People order steaks, porkchops, fish fillets, hamburgers and grilled sandwiches all the time.

 I have my own electric griddle at home and cook almost everything on it, that's when I can be creative and try new things that are not on the menu at work. I have come up with several new ideas which include modifications of some of the menu items from work and ideas from everywhere else including things like Asian stirfry dishes, sautéing vegetables, browning Fujita meat and making hot sandwiches of all kinds.

 So although the number of good breakfast items that can be cooked on an electric griddle is almost endless, and a good cook with some experience will never run out of new ideas for just breakfast items, your electric grill is not in any way limited to the idea of pancakes, bacon and eggs.