Griddle - Safety

Safety

Some gas griddles come equipped with a flame-failure safety device, but like many pieces of kitchen equipment, griddles can pose a fire hazard if not properly maintained. Care needs to be taken to keep the griddle and the area around it free of grease buildup. Splash guards at the edges of the griddle can help prevent grease from escaping to the surrounding workspace, and emptying the grease trough often helps prevent grease overflow. Additionally, because portable griddles are easily moved from one location to another, care must always be used to ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the griddle location and combustible materials. Also, common household griddles should not be located in a place where the heat control of the appliance would be accessible to children and others unfamiliar with the griddles operation.

Commercial griddles are often required to have pilot protection (also known as “flame safety”) to prevent the unregulated flow of gas if the griddle pilot burners are somehow extinguished. This protection system can be electro-mechanical in nature, electrical, or electronic. All of these systems detect the presence of a pilot flame through a proximity sensor, which then allows or disallows gas flow to the burner valves based on the signal. Valves cannot then allow gas to flow to the burners if there is no pilot burner to ignite the gas, mitigating a safety hazard.