Julia Child Seldom Used This Part Of Her Cutting-Edge Kitchen

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While many folks have been busy trying to perfect homemade smashburgers on their grills for the last few years, others have neglected their grills completely. If you're one of those people, you're not alone. Julia Child, everyone's favorite American French chef, actually avoided the very grill top (aka griddle) that plenty of home cooks can only covet for all of their thinnest protein needs.

Child made every meal a work of art with her restaurant-worthy equipment, but she didn't care much for her kitchen's grill, according to an excerpt from "In Julia's Kitchen: Practical and Convivial Kitchen Design Inspired by Julia Child" (via Literary Hub). "She rarely used it, and kept it covered with a specially made cover that was like a bench top," the passage reads. "She stored some utensils on it and often rested pans in that 'set aside' area."

"Grill top" might at first seem like a misnomer, as it often refers to the flat expanse taking up real estate on some ranges, rather than anything slatted, like the name implies. It is, instead, the ideal pancake, sunny egg, and, yes, super-slim patty-making surface that you want when you don't have it, and that you're loath to clean once you do. Child never opted for a sleek, modern kitchen, so it makes sense that she stood by simpler kitchen equipment.

A lot of stove ranges just aren't equipped with a nice little piece of metal, but there are plenty of uses for a griddle attachment. So if your kitchen has one, whether you sourced it in a fit of renovation ambition or it came with your home, you might as well make the most of it. There is something kind of decadent about cracking a yolk, grilling a cheese sandwich, or cooking more bacon at once right in the open air, absent any kind of pan.

You can, however, use that grill top more or less the same way you would your other cookware. Set it to the desired temperature, add whatever fat is necessary, and cook the food to completion. This flat surface can even make it easier to really put your weight in when trying to get thick burgers down to size, as its fixed position won't allow it to flip or slide with the sustained pressure. Many grill tops can be removed in one large piece that should fit right in the sink to wash with soapy water until your next wave of Julia Child-defying kitchen inspiration crashes in.