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Salamanders

Whether it is the perfectly melted cheddar cheese on a hamburger or the browned cheese topping on a bowl of french onion soup, a specialized piece of kitchen equipment called a salamander broiler is probably responsible for it. Professional chefs use a salamander broiler for a number of reasons, from broiling fish to melting cheese to caramelizing sugar. Sometimes, a commercial kitchen will use a long salamander broiler as a 'pass through' between the kitchen and servers. This means the chef will prepare the dish on his side of the salamander broiler and place it inside. A trained server or assistant cook will remove it from the other side when it is ready to present to customers. A typical salamander broiler is positioned above the oven, within reach of the cook as he prepares the dish. For preparation of meat and fish dishes, a shallow metal plate is often used in the salamander broiler, then placed in a wooden or other heat-resistant holder for serving. Certain cookware such as soup bowls can usually withstand the heat from the salamander's upper burners, so they may go directly from kitchen to table. This is one reason why servers warn customers of a very hot plate - it may have come directly from a salamander broiler.