Commercial Benchtop Gas Griddles

A griddle gives you one flat plate for crispy bread, pancakes, bacon and melted cheese, all going at the same time. Benchtop gas griddles, as with any gas cooktop, heat up quickly and recover fast when a cold load hits the plate.

Benchtop cooking appliances use bench space rather than floor space, which suits a kitchen with no room for another freestanding unit. Commercial benchtop gas griddles come in a range of plate sizes, from small plates for a cafe line up to wide plates for a busy kitchen, so you can buy the size that suits your business at its current size, then size up as your business grows. They scrape and wipe clean at the end of a shift.

Same appliance, smaller footprint. Both are fuelled by LPG or natural gas and both give you a flat stainless steel plate to cook on. Keeping the griddle on the bench leaves the floor for larger appliances like a deep fryer or combi steam oven, depending on what is on your menu.

Start with the space. Measure what you can give the griddle on the bench, including room for the gas supply, and work out the plate size from there. Both LPG and natural gas heat the plate the same way, so the question is which one the site can supply.

Then look for flame failure and drip trays. Flame failure cuts the gas off if the flame blows out, so gas cannot keep escaping. Drip trays collect the grease and oil, which keeps loose oil off the bench, cuts the risk of a grease fire and makes the end-of-shift clean quicker.

Gas recovers faster under heavy load; electric holds a steadier temperature and installs without a gas connection.

Both LPG and natural gas work well, though it is worth checking which you can get access to before ordering a benchtop gas griddle. For bigger volumes, the freestanding units in commercial gas griddles take over from the benchtop range.

When you order a gas griddle you get care instructions from the manufacturer, and they are worth reading before the first clean.

To start, wait until you’ve allowed your gas griddle to cool down. If it’s still a little warm but there’s still some food residue left baked onto the stainless steel, you can begin to scrape it off with a special steel tool like a griddle scraper or spatula to make the cleaning easier. For those stubborn spots that won’t come off with manual scraping, you can then add your usual food-safe cleaning products, or simply apply a paste of baking soda and water to break down the grease. Give it a gentle scrub, wipe it down and the griddle itself is clean. You’ll also want to remove the drip tray, empty it and give it a thorough clean.

As with any gas appliance, checking that the gas source plumbing is up to scratch periodically is worthwhile. If you’re unsure of what to look for, or notice a drop in cooking efficiency, we recommend getting a gas specialist to come and have a look.

Yes. One plate, one control per burner and nothing to assemble, so a new starter can run it on their first shift. It cooks a range of menu items and can stay on through the day.

They need a stable, non-combustible surface at working height. A gas cooking equipment stand is the usual answer, with storage below. For larger volumes, freestanding commercial gas griddles replace benchtop units, and electric griddles suit sites without gas.

Extraction is generally required over gas cooking; see commercial kitchen exhaust hoods.