They are a dime a dozen, or more precisely, .25 cents at Goodwill. Every new stove comes with a broiling pan and somehow, many end up at Goodwills and such.
I think I have at least 3 new ones in the basement for when I'm ready for them.

Broiling cook by infrared radiation (IR). IR can be reflected by reflective surfaces.

Therefor if you use a shiny pan, it will help reflect the IR ray and give you a slightly better (more even) cook.

Or put aluminum foil under the food.

The NYT article ,"---- (My broiler, on which all of my calculations are based, is 17,000 B.T.U., and is typical. Some broilers, including most electric ones, are closer to 10,000 B.T.U.)---" is incomplete.

Gas heating is mostly convection, and electric is mostly radiation. A 10,000 BTU electric element may broil better than a 17,000 BTU gas burner.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 18:14

thanks both! Off to goodwill for a shiny pan...

My new stove did not come with a broiler pan and it was almost top of the line.

Perhaps it's only the low end ones? I know the ones we buy for our rentals all have one.

I have a few somewhere. Have not used one in years if ever. My old RoyalRose gas oven in my vacation home has one somewhat built-in. Slides into grooves and i just use it as a base and slide cookie sheet or what-not on top of it. I do use my gas broiler almost daily in my wall oven. Use it more like a salimander for top browning/crisping.
Maybe they just became such a messy way to cook? Meats are less fatty and so much better cooked in marinades or their own juices.

I have 2 broiler pans one for regular oven and one for the toaster oven. The regular one is enamel metal wavy with slits in the bottom of each wave over a pan. The toaster oven one has a wire grate over a pan. The toaster oven one tastes more like it is from the BBQ. The reg oven one seems to steam the bottom not enough juice gets through or not enough cooking from the under side.

It seems not all new stoves come with broiler pans anymore. A friend doing a remodel got rid of her old pan, assuming her nice shiny new stove would come with a nice shiny new broiler pan. It didn't. Guess its just more fallout from the never ending quest to make goods cheaper.

This post was edited by seasyde on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 17:25