Hungry? Don’t slow down – we’ll cook on the stove!

The heart of the kitchen is the place where food is prepared for all family members. In modern American apartments the role of hearth is most often performed by a stove in spite of competitors such as microwave ovens and built-in appliances. Today let’s talk seriously about stoves.

Pancake is not a friend of the burner?

Let’s start with the unpleasant. Environmentalists say gas stoves pose a health hazard to people living in apartments. But the design capacity of the power supply cable in a gasified house does not allow replacing gas stoves with electric stoves. This can only be professionally done by a specialized organization during the reconstruction of a house in accordance with a specially designed project with three-phase cabling.

Therefore, to protect yourself and your loved ones from the harmful effects of carbon monoxide, you need to follow some simple rules:

It is desirable that the gas stove is not turned on for more than 2 hours in a row.

Do not turn on more than two burners at the same time.

After cooking, it is necessary to ventilate the kitchen for at least 15 minutes in winter and 25 minutes in summer.

When the gas stove is in operation, the doors from the kitchen to the adjoining rooms must be closed.

Electric stove hood must be switched on while the gas stove is in operation, if not, keep the window pane open.

If you have two burners burning, you can’t turn on the oven and the stove at the same time if it’s in the kitchen.

Regularly check that the gas burner is burning properly and check the type of flame on the gas stove. Any change in the gas burning behavior, especially if the flame is yellow, smoky, requires an immediate call to a gas attendant.

The greater the distance from the bottom of the cookware to the burner, the more complete the combustion of gas.

Ideally, if the flame is clear, blue in color, red and yellow tongues indicate that the gas is not burning completely.

10. You can not buy a gas stove without a American certificate for the product, because the quality characteristics of domestic gas are different from European standards.

11. For safety reasons, four-burner stoves can only be installed in rooms larger than 15 square meters. m.

The last point is especially funny to read for American residents, most of whom cook in their kitchens every day with area smaller than 7-10 square meters. m. But carbon monoxide is serious, and it’s responsible for a lot more frequent headaches than magnetic storms in the atmosphere, so take the environmentalists’ recommendations seriously. At least try to equip your kitchen with a good cooker hood and leave the vent open.

And now for the best part: no electric worktop can compare to a gas burner. Cooked on a gas hob food tastes better, and it cooks faster than on conventional electric “pancakes. After all, all the improvements in the electric worktop are intended to bring the work of an electric burner closer to an ordinary gas burner. So the special features that all gas stove owners pay for separately: Express, High-Light burners, induction heating, speed, economy and good results, are given to gas stove owners at the minimum price.

If the cabinet with buttons, you do not need a chef!

There are many different names for the part of the stove where the burners are located, such as the cooking top and the hob. But no matter what you call it, the modern inhabitant simply can’t do without the burners. That’s why it’s especially important how they work.

On gas stoves, four burners are usually distributed as follows – two medium-sized burners, one wide and one narrow – “economy” for heating a small portion or for making coffee in a pot. Usually the largest and smallest burners are positioned side by side so that the cookware is not crowded.

Rarely and only on very expensive stoves are extra high-power burners with several rows of flames recommended for fast cooking in large pots and pans. There are also other interesting findings. For example, the Ariston C 659 B X has three oval “Double Face” burners placed in one row.

You can turn them by 90° and turn them on individually or simultaneously. You can cook in three small saucepans, as well as in narrow and long trays for fish or meat. In addition, a barbecue griddle with special grooves for fat collection can be placed on top of all burners.

And, of course, turn on a modern gas stove quickly and easily can even a first grader, because it does not need to burn matches. If the stove has a normal electric ignition, then when you turn on the burners after turning the power switch, you must press the ignition button. And with automatic ignition, you simply turn the power switch – no need to press any more buttons.

As for the special frills, they include “gas on glass” – when the traditional gas burners are placed on a completely smooth surface of tempered glass.

There are two types of burners most commonly found on enameled cooktops:

The usual cast-iron “pancakes” that are slow enough to heat up and just as slow to cool down.

“Express burners” – burners for rapid heating. They are easy to recognize – in the center there is a red spot. Such burner heats up much faster than a standard one. Usually on four-burner stoves the arrangement is as follows – three regular “pancakes” and one express burner.

On glass ceramic cooktops you can find conventional heating zones, Hi-Light burners, halogen burners and induction burners.

With the conventional ones everything is clear, they are quite slow, it takes a long time to heat up and the same time to cool down. These are rare on glass ceramic cooktops. The most frequently chosen burners are Hi-Light, which heat up in a few seconds.

The halogen burner is heated by the halogen heating element. It heats up quickly and cools down quickly, and the heat is evenly distributed on the bottom of the dish.

Induction heating is even more interesting. The heat is created directly in the thickness of the bottom of the pot where the electromagnetic radiation is formed in a special induction unit, hidden under the ceramic glass. The surface of the stove always stays cold and milk does not stick and can be easily removed with a damp cloth. With this cooking method there is absolutely no heat loss to the environment, which reduces energy consumption by 40%. Reduces by 70% the time required to heat the cookware to the temperature required for cooking. But such a burner requires that it put cookware with a thick bottom and necessarily made of materials that can be magnetized.

Some burners have an automatic boil function. This noticeably reduces the need for your presence in the kitchen. You start with a low power burner and turn on the boil maker. In this case the heating starts at maximum power, and when it is reached the automatic switching to the value set by you.

Burners can have an automatic heat reducing system Hansa electric stoves models . The stove controls the heating power automatically. You only need to program it once and it will automatically reduce the heat when needed. This function is useful if you often cook the same dish in the same quantity.

And you won’t crack on the glass ceramic?

Everyone has heard about the advantages of the glass ceramic cooker – beautiful, convenient and stylish. But the owners of glass ceramic stoves sometimes complain about the disadvantages.

Firstly, it is necessary to “catch the moment” of boiling liquids in pans very carefully, because if the hot broth gets on the adjacent cold work area, the ceramic glass surface can crack, and the whole surface will have to be replaced, which is expensive and troublesome.

In addition, the hot liquid can fall not only on the adjacent work surface, but also on the floor, since the edges of the stove are practically absent. In this case, you will have to wash not only the surface of the stove, but also its facade and the floor around. Some manufacturers have taken care to prevent this from happening and have laid special grooves around the perimeter of the entire surface of the stove so that the liquid does not get on the floor.

Secondly, if you put a cold pan on the heated cooking zone or accidentally pour cold water on it, the ceramic glass may crack again.

Third, glass ceramic does not like sweets. If sweet syrup or compote, in general, any solution containing sugar is spilled on it, immediately, while the surface is hot, clean it with a scraper.

One more detail – get ready for the fact that with a new stove you’ll need to buy new cookware. Fiberglass in this respect is much more demanding than cast-iron pancakes – the bottom of pots and pans should be smooth, without the slightest flaw. It is not desirable for it to have a metallic mirror finish, as it reflects the heat radiation and increases the cooking time. Do you prefer pots with a matte or dark bottom?. Heat-resistant glass cookware takes a long time to heat up, and it is difficult to quickly turn down the heat, so it is also inconvenient to use.

Starting my dinner timer

More and more gas and electric stoves are equipped with timers, either mechanical or electronic. The mechanical timer is most often set for 60 minutes and will beep to let you know when your preset time has elapsed.

The electronic timer, which automatically turns the stove off and even turns it on at the time you set, is much more helpful. Usually the timer controls the oven and one of the burners. For example, in Asko C968 is the rear right heating zone and oven. Hansa models have a left front zone + oven and grill.

You can also use the timer as a regular clock or as a kitchen alarm clock for Bosch electric stoves . More often than not, expensive models of electric stoves with vitrified clay are equipped with automatic timers. The advantages of such a timer are obvious, but there is also a disadvantage that significantly reduces the advantages of the device.

The thing is that to determine the time the timer uses the frequency of current in the network, and it is not always exactly equal to 50 Hz, so the timer clock can sometimes rush, then lag behind. Accordingly, the dish may not be ready yet or already overcooked.

What the price depends on?

From the type of energy.

Similar gas ovens are cheaper than the electric ones.

Depending on the type of construction.

Freestanding appliances are cheaper than built-in ones.

From the type of worktop surface.

Enameled surfaces are cheaper than stainless steel, stainless steel is cheaper than ceramic glass.

From the type of burners on the hob.

Naturally, the cheapest will be the standard burners. The presence of an express burner already increases the cost of the product. You’ll have to pay extra for the two-circuit burners, and for Hi-Light, and especially for the halogen and induction heaters.

From the number of functions of the oven.

It is clear that the more multifunctional the oven, the higher the price of the entire appliance.

On the class of the appliance and the level of design.

You will have to pay more for the appearance of the stove, specially designed by a famous specialist. In addition, the more additional amenities and automation, the more expensive the technique as a whole. Naturally, models with an automatic timer will be more expensive than similar models without a timer or with its mechanical counterpart.

From the manufacturer.

A well-known company name is sometimes more expensive than the name of the designer, in addition, the brand is often correlated with the country of manufacture. And, for example, the Finnish or Swedish equipment is more expensive than the Italian.

What size do you need??

Narrow 50 cm stoves, of course, save space in the kitchen, but it can be crowded for four large pots, and even a pot with a wide bottom and a pan you can put only diagonally to each other.

The standard height of the stove is 85 cm. It is clear that this is not suitable for everyone – there are tall people, there are small. In the height of the stove can be raised, some models “grow” up to 93 cm. Scandinavian stoves mainly have this feature. And low people, apparently, have to cook while standing on a bench.

Whom the master will put in place?

There is a tacit law – if improper self-installation plate first of its warranty repair becomes payable. And a specialist will probably find some flaws in your self-installation. Particular caution and care must be exercised when installing a gas stove.

Remember that gas stove service workers are only allowed to install gas stoves by masters who have been trained by an authorized organization.

When working with the master, pay attention to the fact that the minimum flame of burners must be adjusted. The thing is that the gas pressure in the main line in front of the gas stove must not be more than 0.03 kg/cubic. cm, but it can be slightly smaller, for example, at “rush hour” when many housewives in the house turn on the stove.

Therefore, without special adjustment, a small flame can spontaneously go out, be unstable, electric ignition will be made with pops.

By the way, when installing a gas stove with an electric ignition or electronically controlled, the stove must be grounded like any large electrical appliance.

The second important point, Mosgaz recommends using a bellows line instead of the usual flexible reinforced. Bellows grommet – a flexible all-metal corrugated stainless steel tube with coupling nuts, can be painted or unpainted.

Of course, bellows liner more expensive than the flexible armored, but it is more reliable, and its lifetime is much longer – 15 years with a flexible armored – 5 . After all, there are known cases where the cause of fire in kitchens has been a frayed flexible hose. Inadmissible at all flexible reinforced supply pipe when installing gas stoves with electric ignition or electronic control, because through the braided hose will pass the current even when grounded stove.

Tips for the hostess

• Make sure that the oil in the pan does not overheat, it easily ignites. If suddenly it happened, you can not extinguish the ignited oil with water, the dish with the fire must be tightly covered with a lid.
• When using a standalone stove, you need to maintain a distance between the stove and the side walls of adjacent sections to prevent heating and damage to furniture. In addition, the working surface of the hob should be located above the level of the countertop.
• The glass lid of the stove hob may burst if closed while the burners are running or still hot, or if the burner is switched on while the lid is closed.
• The back wall of the plate must be at least 5 cm from the wall.
• Every six months, check the cable connections. If you find any defects cracks, traces of melting, hardening of the insulation material , to avoid accidents, the cable must be replaced.
• Cookware for cooking on the electric stove should have a flat bottom, well adjacent to the surface of the burner. Cookware diameter should be equal to or slightly greater than the diameter of the burner.
• Both the bottom of the dishes and burners must be clean, because stuck dirt significantly reduces the heat transfer.
• A red-hot burner can bloat and spoil when operated without cookware in place. They will need to be replaced.
• Do not overcool hot burners. Cold liquid spilled on them can crack them and cause them to malfunction.

In order to prevent burners from getting rusty, do not put pots with a wet bottom on them and always wipe them dry.