Commercial stove or griddle?

[fan-of-fans]

I was wondering what that black topped item is? Is it a griddle or a flat top stove of some kind? It looks like it might be gas.

 

[stevet]

Gas fired Add-A-Foot

That particular item you are asking about is a 12" gas fired "all-purpose" cooktop.
It can be used as a griddle but can you imagine the mess with the grease everywhere?

More often, they were used as boiling plates where you could put a pot or pan on top and boil water, cook soups, or cook items in large heavy duty chafing style pans.

Most often they were seen as a triple unit on top of a 36"range and came in different configurations. All the major manufacturers made and still make these cooktop ranges.

These small ones would sometimes fit between 2 different items in a cook line but as a 1 ft unit, their versatility could hardly be realized. The nice part about these types of griddles was the heat retention of the griddle surface. Once you got your food boiling, you could throttle back the gas or electric and cook at a nice even rate.
The picture below illustrates the Hobart CR-40 which is no longer made. The 12" model was the CR-44 just to give you an idea of what the electric model looked like.

Rule of thumb on griddle heating is they heat up a degree a second and cool off a degree a minute.

 

[toploader55]

OK...

 

My first guess is that is a Flat Top Stove. Because of the 2 Chrome Gas Valves on the Front.

 

Although it could be a Griddle. I don't know why a Griddle that small would have two controls. And it seems to be lacking a "Grease Drawer/Catcher underneath the valves that's why my first choice is a Flat Top. The Brand looks like SouthBend or American Range. I'm going with a Flat Top

 

Now, being it's next to the Fryers, It could be used for grilling/toasting Rolls or Buns.

 

The Unit to the left of the Flat Top looks like a Vulcan Electric Commercial 2 Burner Range.

 

The Fryers are Keating.

 

So after all of that I wrote... I'm not exactly sure.  LOL

 

[toploader55]

Hey Steve. We were posting at the same time.

 

You Win !!!

 

Didn't know about the rule of thumb Griddle Physics.

 

[alr2903]

Makes sense on the griddle physics. That's one thick ole piece of SS.  Art

 

 

 

[fan-of-fans]

These aren't actually installed here, but just sitting next to each other in storage. They were taken out of schools and being auctioned.

That description of how the gas range was used makes sense as being in a school kitchen they would use it to cook large pots of food most likely.