Aug · Long, slow cooking
How do I look after a Wolf French top?
Wash it, season it, and then clean it warm after every use. Wolf's routine is half an hour on Hi, a wipe of peanut or vegetable oil over the warm plate, and mild detergent and water once the cooking is done. If a zone stays cold through the full preheat, ring Wolf Repair Denver on (720) 575-1433.
Always cook in a pan on a French top. Unlike a griddle, the surface is not meant to take food directly — it is one large cooking surface with zones, and what you do is slide the pan towards the middle for more heat and out towards a corner for less.
The centre plate itself lifts out. Wolf supplies a hook for it, because the burner lives directly underneath and there is no other safe way to get hold of it; it comes out cold, never while anything is cooking on the top. Thirty minutes is the preheat Wolf asks for, and most complaints about a cold French top are really a top that was not given it.
How to do it
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Wash it down before the first cook
Hot water and mild detergent, rinsed and dried with a soft cloth. Then the ventilation on, and leave it on whenever the plate is lit.
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Thirty minutes on Hi, then let it cool
The knob has two positions, Off and Hi, so there is nothing to set. Push and turn it round, give it half an hour, then Off and let the plate come down on its own.
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Oil the warm plate, then wipe the surplus off
Peanut or vegetable oil again, wiped over evenly with a paper towel while the surface is still slightly warm. Once it has gone cold, take the excess back off. That is the seasoning done.
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Clean it warm after every use, and re-oil
Mild detergent and water over the whole surface while it is still slightly warm, rinsed and dried, then a little oil back on with a paper towel. Cold and left overnight is how a French top gets a mark you cannot shift.
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Strip the seasoning when it builds up
White vinegar and water onto the warm plate, scrubbed and repeated until the surplus oil has gone, then season it again. The front grate will go through a dishwasher if it needs it.
Past that point it is a tool-and-meter job. Call Wolf Repair Denver on (720) 575-1433 and we will bring the parts that fault usually needs.
Asked about this one
Why is my French top hotter in the middle?
Because it is built that way. The burner sits below the centre plate, so the surface is graduated: hottest at the middle, cooler as you work out towards the edges. You move a pan rather than turn a knob. If the gradient has gone flat or patchy, Wolf Repair Denver can look at the burner under it.
