Commercial Gas Griddles & Hotplates

. A thicker plate stores more heat and drops less temperature when cold product lands on it. If you're running a burger rush or dropping frozen product straight onto the surface, thickness matters more than burner rating. Thin plates are fine for low-volume café work and cost less.

Manual control is cheaper and perfectly adequate for burgers and onions. Thermostatic control holds a set surface temperature and is close to essential for eggs, pancakes, crepes and anything you're cooking to a consistent standard across a long service.

The cooking surface. A griddle is a solid flat plate, so food sits in full contact with the surface and cooks in its own fat and juices — this is what gives you a proper crust on a smash burger or an even sear on scallops. A char grill has open bars over a heat source, so fat drips away and you get bar marking and flame-char flavour. Different results, different jobs. Most kitchens running both burgers and steaks carry both.

Smooth is the most versatile and the right choice if you're only buying one — it handles eggs, pancakes, onions, burgers and seafood. Ribbed gives you grill-bar marking on steaks, chicken and halloumi but can't cook eggs or small items. Combination plates split the surface between the two and are a good compromise when you need both but don't have bench space for two appliances. Note that combination plates give you less usable area of each type than a dedicated plate would.

Neither is universally better. Mild steel seasons over time, gives the best sear and crust, and costs less, but requires disciplined maintenance to avoid rust. Chrome plate radiates much less heat back into the kitchen, cleans faster, and won't carry flavour between products — so a fish fillet doesn't taste like the onions from the last service. Chrome costs more and the plating can be damaged by heavy scraping or metal spatulas used carelessly. Breakfast and café operators tend to prefer chrome; burger and steak operators often prefer mild steel.