Maintaining grills and griddles is important from a safety standpoint since grease buildup is a big fire hazard.

When choosing a grill, operators should determine what type suits the menu and operation.

Grills have heat sources located below the cooking grate, while griddle controls determine how much thermal energy is stored.

Countertop griddles can be small enough to work in a food truck or large enough to be the workhorses of major brick-and-mortar operations. Here are a few tips for maintaining these pieces of equipment.

Clamshell griddles, also commonly referred to asdouble-sided grills, have become critical to the foodservice industry, in part because they help operators expand their menus. Foodservice operators can choose from small tabletop panini grills to larger high-production floor models. These come in all shapes and sizes, are available in gas or electric, and have various cooking surfaces from stainless steel to glass ceramic.

Clamshell griddles simultaneously cook food on both sides, making this equipment a popular back-of-house option for high-volume foodservice operations since it can cut cooking time by more than 50 percent.

Service Agent Q&A with Marcin Zmiejko, associate principal at WC&P, Denver

When it comes to energy-efficient griddles, the energy-efficient part really varies by operation and need. "Griddles are heavily cost-driven and it's difficult to justify the strategies that make them more efficient," says David Zabrowski, director of engineering at the Food Service Technology Center (FSTC) in San Ramon, Calif.