3 ms·

There's a lot you can do with an electric flat top, but there are flavor profiles that are literally impossible without direct flame. That smokey char flavor th

There's a lot you can do with an electric flat top, but there are flavor profiles that are literally impossible without direct flame. That smokey char flavor that you get on roasted chicken and beef and vegetables when the flames lick them for example. Part of the thing they are burying here is that because Chipotle has already switched to precooking so many of their food items off site that they are probably going to switch to adding the flavor artificially.

xapata 4y ago
Wok hei requires higher heat than they're probably using. And it's carcinogenic, anyway.
- hellisothers 4y ago
  Everything is carcinogenic, especially all the delicious things.
  - xapata 4y ago
    Not all. I think blueberries are delicious, for example.
cobalt 4y ago
most chipotles cook on a flat top anyway, so there is no direct flame
- legitster 4y ago
  It's been a bit since I have been to a Chipotle, but at the time they used an indoor grill to char their chicken.
throwway120385 4y ago
I would like to point out that you don't get those flavor profiles on a gas stove either unless you never cook with a pan. I've used a cast iron skillet on both gas and electric and I get the exact same flavor profile with both. The only difference I've noticed between the two is how concentrated the temperature gradient is. Gas puts a hot spot wherever the flame is whereas electric is pretty even, so you don't hit as high of a temperature on an electric stove even though you're dumping similar amounts of heat into the vicinity of the burner. The best electric stove I've ever cooked on was actually a cheap Ikea induction hot plate. That thing dumped so much energy into my cast iron it would heat up in seconds. Even on the lowest setting I could definitely sear a steak in it. It's way better than gas.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
  I think induction is great for like 90% of use cases. But there are a few techniques that involve sustaining heat while moving the pan that it’s not very good at. One classic use case is using a wok.
  - throwway120385 4y ago
    That's true, but the hardcore wok users I've seen just use big gas jets anyway so I'm not sure a regular gas stove gets hot enough for proper technique.
- legitster 4y ago
  For the context of a restaurant they absolutely use indoor gas grills. Cast iron is a good use case for an induction. But if you are trying to cook something delicate where you need really precise on/off temperature control (like a hollandaise sauce) it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get it right with an induction top (for a pan to work on induction it needs to retain a lot of heat). A wok stir fry is another example - a thin metal pan that you need to work the crap out of is a really bad time on electric.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
  Yeah, the unique flavor/aroma of flame grilled food comes from fats rendering and dripping down onto the hot burning coals, vaporizing, then adhering to the meat. Gas grills try to emulate this with a grate that allows the same vaporizing, but it doesn't work as well.
Spivak 4y ago
This is true but misleading. All of this stuff is driven by Chipotle having to deal with food safety issues at scale. They've had so many scandals that boil down to local managers skip food safety and they gave up and just made it impossible. Chipotle pre-cuts and washes basically all the vegetables for speed and so you can't not wash them. They also sous vide the steak for the same reasons. They still cook the chicken in-house because par-cooking the chicken actually makes it more susceptible to salmonella. The only one that isn't defendable is they stopped making the red and green salsa in house because they decided they were going to be a trade secret.

xapata 4y ago

Wok hei requires higher heat than they're probably using. And it's carcinogenic, anyway.

hellisothers 4y ago
Everything is carcinogenic, especially all the delicious things.
- xapata 4y ago
  Not all. I think blueberries are delicious, for example.

cobalt 4y ago

most chipotles cook on a flat top anyway, so there is no direct flame

legitster 4y ago
It's been a bit since I have been to a Chipotle, but at the time they used an indoor grill to char their chicken.

throwway120385 4y ago

I would like to point out that you don't get those flavor profiles on a gas stove either unless you never cook with a pan. I've used a cast iron skillet on both gas and electric and I get the exact same flavor profile with both. The only difference I've noticed between the two is how concentrated the temperature gradient is. Gas puts a hot spot wherever the flame is whereas electric is pretty even, so you don't hit as high of a temperature on an electric stove even though you're dumping similar amounts of heat into the vicinity of the burner. The best electric stove I've ever cooked on was actually a cheap Ikea induction hot plate. That thing dumped so much energy into my cast iron it would heat up in seconds. Even on the lowest setting I could definitely sear a steak in it. It's way better than gas.

SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
I think induction is great for like 90% of use cases. But there are a few techniques that involve sustaining heat while moving the pan that it’s not very good at. One classic use case is using a wok.
- throwway120385 4y ago
  That's true, but the hardcore wok users I've seen just use big gas jets anyway so I'm not sure a regular gas stove gets hot enough for proper technique.
legitster 4y ago
For the context of a restaurant they absolutely use indoor gas grills. Cast iron is a good use case for an induction. But if you are trying to cook something delicate where you need really precise on/off temperature control (like a hollandaise sauce) it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get it right with an induction top (for a pan to work on induction it needs to retain a lot of heat). A wok stir fry is another example - a thin metal pan that you need to work the crap out of is a really bad time on electric.
jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
Yeah, the unique flavor/aroma of flame grilled food comes from fats rendering and dripping down onto the hot burning coals, vaporizing, then adhering to the meat. Gas grills try to emulate this with a grate that allows the same vaporizing, but it doesn't work as well.

Spivak 4y ago

This is true but misleading. All of this stuff is driven by Chipotle having to deal with food safety issues at scale. They've had so many scandals that boil down to local managers skip food safety and they gave up and just made it impossible. Chipotle pre-cuts and washes basically all the vegetables for speed and so you can't not wash them. They also sous vide the steak for the same reasons. They still cook the chicken in-house because par-cooking the chicken actually makes it more susceptible to salmonella. The only one that isn't defendable is they stopped making the red and green salsa in house because they decided they were going to be a trade secret.