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when you can't fire up the outdoor grill
grab a grill pan it can't replace the
flavor of outdoor cooking but a grill
pan makes tasty char grill marks on meat
fish or vegetables we tested eight pans
and these divided into two groups those
made of cast iron and those made of
aluminum with a non-stick coating some
pans were much better than others just
compare the grill marks on these two
sets of zucchini planks and RP Stakes
now here's what made the difference pans
with broad shallow ridges like this one
left weak grill marks bad ridges were
just 1.9 to 3 mm high and that's too low
cast iron pans like this one had tall
ridges four to 5 and 1 half millimet
high so they made the best grill marks
the food actually looks grilled with
nice distinct Char lines you can really
see the difference with this silly putty
that we pressed into each type of pan
but grill marks don't just look pretty
they also help create a flavor ful crust
and even more important the tall Ridges
of the pen let that food cook above any
rendered fat not in it now if higher
ridges perform better why wouldn't
nonstick pans have them nonstick
aluminum pans it turns out are stamped
from Metal Sheets which limits the
height those ridges can be if
manufacturers tried to make them any
taller the metal would tear and deform
but cast iron can be molded into much
higher Peaks and valleys by the end of
testing we had a winner the St 12-in
American Square Grill p and press it
aced every test with tall ridges that
kept food out of the fat and it made
excellent grill marks it had a roomy
cooking surface plus that great cast
iron heat retention with an enamel
coating that's easy to clean it even
survived 20 dishwasher Cycles finally it
comes with a nice solid panini press
that fits right into the pan with
matching ridges so you can make crispy
grilled sandwiches the St 12in American
Square grill pan and press is our Top
Choice for easy indoor grilling
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