How To Pan Broil Anything

During your time in the kitchen, you’ve surely boiled, baked, sauteed, and maybe even shallow fried. These are all common cooking methods that enable us to make a variety of foods and meals. But there’s one you may have never even heard of, yet alone used: pan broiling.

Wait, what? Yes, pan broiling. Also potentially spelled pan-broiling or panbroiling. But no matter where you put the space or hyphen in its name, it refers to a special method of cooking.

As its name suggest, this unique method is related to broiling but, well, uses a pan in a specialized manner. Cooking this way is both exciting and yields super tasty results.

What Is Pan Broiling?

Pan Broiling is a dry heat cooking method in which food is cooked uncovered on a very hot metal surface – usually a pan – as its name suggests. And here’s where you might be thinking: Isn’t that just sauteing?

Well, no. The big difference between sauteing and pan broiling is that no – or very little – fat is put in the cookware for pan broiling. Ideally, for pan broiling, the pan is totally dry. If oil or fat is used, it’s usually just brushed on the surface of the food being pan broiled.

The results are a bit different, too. With sautéing, foods takes on a deeper brown color. With pan broiling, it’s more about the char. Since there is little if any protection on the food in the form of oil, you get a delicious, smoky sear on the outside.

As you may guess, this method of cooking is meant to mimic broiling, but it uses a pan instead of an oven. As a reminder, broiling is a method of cooking in which food is placed directly below a flame or heating element in an oven, or above a flame on a grill. With traditional broiling, food is cooked via direct, radiant heat, and takes on a nice char.

With pan broiling, food is cooked via conduction – the pan that’s conducting the heat – yet it yields the results that we love with traditional broiling – that wonderful char. And because we’re essentially broiling but in a pan, you have more control of ingredient placement. Additionally it can be faster and easier than having to deal with an oven broiler or light up a grill.

Best Foods For Pan Broiling

One way that pan broiling and traditional broiling are similar is in the kinds of foods most suitable for these cooking methods: And that is tender, thin cuts of  meat, poultry, and fish, along with vegetables.

Pan broiling, like broiling, is a quick cooking method, usually around 10 minutes or less. Meats such as thin sliced steaks, thin-cut chicken breasts, and thin cuts of fish and shrimp are ideal candidates for pan broiling. On the vegetable side of the equation, here again, any that would be delicious broiled can be pan broiled. Asparagus is one of my favorites.

You can also pan-broil pre-cooked meats to sizzle them up and add a nice char. Great candidates are ham and hot dogs. If you have ever just thrown ham in a hot pan, well, you were pan broiling and didn’t even know it.

Pan broiling can also be used as a technique for special applications in which foods need to be charred. For example, if you’ve ever made chile rellanos, you know you need to char the peppers so their skins are easier to remove. Instead of making a mess on an open flame or under a broiler in the oven, you can char the peppers via pan broiling, similar to charred shishito peppers.

Another special application where pan broiling comes in clutch is when making pho, that Vietnamese noodle soup whose intensely flavored broth is slurpily delicious.

To make an authentic pho broth, you need to char ginger and onions – yes, with the skins on. Pan broiling is a great way to do this because you can easily keep the ingredients confined and moving around.

The Best Pan For Pan Broiling

Now let’s talk about the best pan for pan broiling. If I could only name or have one for the application, it’s cast iron, like a Lodge cast iron pan.

As I’ve stated on the many videos I’ve made about cast iron on my YouTube channel, the stuff is just incredibly tough, retains heat, and can be used on a variety of heat sources, from induction to an open flame.

But it’s not the only pan you can use for pan broiling. Carbon steel also works, and even stainless steel will do the job.

One pan to avoid for pan broiling is a nonstick pan. I would urge you not to use a nonstick pan for this application for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, heating a nonstick pan dry is a big no no, as it can release harmful chemicals. And nonstick pans usually can’t take high heat.

As for enameled cast iron such as Le Creuset, yes, they can work, but they might leave some hard-to-scrub-off residue. Use at your own risk of heavy cleanup.

And it doesn’t have to be a skillet per se. You can use a griddle or really any cookware that is flat and can be heated on a range or over a flame.

Bonus tip: If you use a grill pan, that method is called – wait for it – pan grilling.

One final tip, and it’s an important one. I highly recommend doing this outside if possible. If you pan broil inside in your kitchen, be prepared for smoke alarms to go off. Pan broiling creates an immense amount of smoke. I personally pan broil on a Camp Chef two-burner grill, and it works wonderfully. You could also use a side burner of a gas grill, or even a portable burner that’s gas or electric.

How To Pan Broil

No matter what pan you use or where you use it. Here’s how to pan broil:

• Heat pan over medium heat for about five minutes
• Have food to be pan broiled out of refrigerator and lightly coated with oil. I usually let the food sit at room temp and marinate for about half an hour.
• Using tongs or a spatula, carefully place the food in the pan. Don’t overcrowd.
• Let the food cook undisturbed until the bottom is nicely browned. Carefully flip to other side.
• Cook until the food reaches its proper cooked temperature (for meat, poultry, fish, etc.) or is charred to your liking (for veggies, etc.)

Now all that’s left is to remove the food, plate, and enjoy! Congratulations: You just pan broiled like a pro!