The ideal teppanyaki temperature: Things you need to know for grilling

Author: Joost Nusselder, author of The Essential Japanese meal planner cookbook Updated August 26, 2022

You might’ve seen some performative art done at Japanese restaurants where teppanyaki chefs toss ingredients and grill them up for you. But now, you can easily bring Japanese cuisine to your home by using a teppanyaki grill.

One interesting thing about the teppanyaki grill is that it has a larger cooking surface, which allows you to cook several things at the same time.

This is one of the best grills for people who prefer cooking several meals simultaneously!

Because of the special surface, you might be asking: what’s the ideal teppanyaki temperature?

As the grill heats up, its center sinks, and this allows it to hold oil, sauce, and everything you want to cook.

The center of the teppanyaki grill (some great ones reviewed here) can reach 430 degrees Fahrenheit, and this is the ideal temperature to cook meat fast.

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What’s the ideal temperature for a teppanyaki grill?

• For preparing the grill, you need to heat the griddle to 300 F (or 150 Celsius).
• Then, you have to rub 30 ml of vegetable oil per foot of the griddle space using a soft cloth. This helps seal the surface and makes the grill non-stick.
• After applying the oil, you can gradually increase the heat to around 430 F (220 C) for meat or 390 F (200 C) for vegetables.

Ensure that you wipe away the extra oil, and repeat the process until the surface looks shiny.

In addition, ensure that you preheat the grill 10 minutes before you start cooking.

Also, cut up your food before you start cooking, but don’t do it directly on the grill’s cooking surface.

Check out our post of essential teppanyaki tools as well

How long does it take your teppanyaki grill to warm up?

For the grill to reach its base warm-up temperature, you need to set its switch to number 5. This will only take the grill 5 minutes to warm up.

Please note that you should always warm up your teppanyaki grill before you set its ideal cooking temperature.

How long does it take the grill to reach the ideal cooking temperature after warming it up?

This depends on the cooking temperature you’ve set on its 1 to 10 dial.

But the higher the cooking temperature, the longer the time. It should be around 2 to 3 minutes after you’ve warmed up the grill.

Can you cook big steaks on a teppanyaki grill?

Absolutely! You only need to follow the set rules for cooking steaks on the grill:

• Remove your steaks from the fridge at least 30 minutes before you start cooking. Use cracked pepper and sea salt to season the steaks to taste.
• Now, rub your steaks with oil.
• Next, set the grill’s cooking temperature to either 9 or 10.
• Once the grill’s reached the ideal cooking temperature, grill the meat for about 2 to 3 minutes on every side, depending on how thick the steaks are.
• Reduce the cooking temperature to 7, and then cook for about 3 to 5 minutes to the desired tenderness.
• Allow the cooked steaks to rest on the grill’s warming area before serving.

What temperature do I need for vegetables?

• Preheat the grill over medium-high heat, to a temperature of around 400 F (200 C).
• Coat the grill with some oil, and then place garlic on the grill to cook, as well as to add some flavor to the oil.
• However, you should be extra careful not to burn the garlic; remove it when it turns brown. Keep it, as you’ll need it later.
• Now, add mushroom and onion, and some salt. Allow them to cook for some minutes until soft.
• Next, add peppers and let them cook until they become tender and crisp.
• Lastly, add scallions, and let them soften.
• Add some oil, which is needed to ensure that the vegetables are moist.
• Now, when the vegetables are fully cooked, add some pepper and salt to taste.

Remove to serve and add the browned garlic for some flavor.

How about my favorite dish, bacon and eggs?

For bacon and eggs, you need to set the temperature on your teppanyaki grill to 8.

However, you need to have preheated the grill to 5, which is the ideal temperature for cooking eggs and bacon without burning them.

You should start with the bacon, and let it sizzle for some time. Let one side cook for around 10 minutes, and then flip it to allow the other side to cook.

Once the sizzling’s decreased, and you start smelling the bacon, it means that it’s well cooked. Now you can add the eggs.

Before adding the eggs, ensure that you’ve removed the excess fat from the bacon. However, you should leave some fat on the grill to ensure that your eggs cook to perfection without sticking.

Now, you should cook the eggs for 4 minutes on one side before flipping them over. However, you can flip them after 2 minutes if you prefer them medium/easy.

Add some pepper and salt to the eggs for seasoning.

Cook your meals with the right teppanyaki temperature

The teppanyaki grill is ideal if you’re hosting a dinner party, preparing a simple meal, or even hosting a barbeque. You can also use the grill to prepare stir fry food.

If you own a teppanyaki grill, you can use it to prepare dinner. It’s the perfect grill for entertaining your guests.

The grill can be used safely both indoors and outdoors, because it doesn’t have an open flame, and it uses electricity rather than gas.

Since the grill needs power to operate, you just need to plug it into the power source, turn on the heat, and you’re good to go.

Now you know what temperature you need and how long it’ll take to get there. So you’ll come fully prepared for the best dinner party!

Check out our teppanyaki buying guide for home grill plates and accessories.

Check out our new cookbook

Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.

Try it out for free with Kindle Unlimited:

Read for free

Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.