Help! New apt has electric glass-top stove, I've never used one! (hamburger, skillet)

[matryoshka4811]

Hi all!

So, as a VERY poor college student I taught myself to cook rather decently on an old gas stove. It had no markings for high or low settings but I learned based on the flame and my cooking went from Hamburger helper to Julia Child in a couple years.

Now, out of college and in a new home, I have a (GE Profile) glass-top electric stove for the first time and I'm rather intimidated. None of the cooks in my family have an electric stove top so I desperately need your tips, tricks, and advice! Cooking is my 'thing' and I'm worried I'll burn everything I try on this new stove. On top of that, I also have a convection oven instead of a microwave, so that just adds to my not feeling up to the task of preparing a meal.

Have you switched from a gas to an electric over the years? What were your experiences? What would you like to share with an electric newbie like me? Thanks soooo much!

[OpenD]

First thing to determine is, what type of glass-top stove do you have?

There are three main types... the best are induction, in which the top does not get hot, but the pot does. Second are the halogen type, in which the heating elements are sealed inside a glass housing like a large light bulb. The third are the least expensive, thus most common, which have the same glowing flat coils as a conventional electric stove, but they're under a glass cover.

Convection ovens are simply an oven with a fan to circulate the hot air, which allows them to cook faster and more evenly. You can turn the fan off and it's just an oven.

[BuckeyeAtHeart]

We moved into a rental several years ago that had one of these glass-topped stoves. I had cooked with gas and the typical electric coil-type ones, though preferred gas. We learned to hover around the pots when cooking on that glass top. I cannot tell you how many times I turned away after adding something to boiling water only to have it boil over. What a mess! Hubby didn't like it because he could not maintain the proper heat level. You adjust and find a way to make it work, but give it time and pay attention.

[North Beach Person]

They take some getting used to. The main things to do are to clean the top after every use with a recommended stovetop cleaner (I use Weiman glass top cleaner) and scrupulously clean the bottom of the skillets and pots/pans you use.

[Dirt Grinder]

We have a glass-top stove and a convection oven. We would rather have a gas stove, but gas isn't available in my neighborhood. I've found that the glass-top stove doesn't maintain a constant temperature like gas will, so I have to use heavy-bottomed pans to prevent the high-temp peaks during the cycling of the electric element (sealed element).

Another negative is the fact that cast-iron can damage a glass-top range. However, there are as many folks who say cast-iron is no problem as those who say it cracked their tops.

Convection ovens are great for baking firm foods (roasts, turkey, etc.) and were the timesavers before microwaves came along. However, they can really mess-up bakery items because the dough/batter can get shifted from the fan blowing.

[jasper12]

Use Corning ware on stove top. Get a razor blade to clean it off, every time, scrape it.

Use lower settings, and basically turn it off once it is hot enough to cook, otherwise, your food will burn, the coils keep heat. Unlike gas, that once off is off...the electric stays hot.

The benefit of this, is that once you "get" this concept, food never burns, like rice, simmers, it gets to boil, and you turn it off to cook...rest of time.

[ukiyo-e]

We have no natural gas lines where I live, so when I had this little house built, I spent extra for a dual-fuel stove (propane cooktop and electric oven). I'm thinking of relocating in a couple years and plan to rent an apartment for a year before deciding in which neighborhood to buy, and when I see a photo of an apartment kitchen with a gas stove, it gets Bookmarked on my browser! I want instantaneous temperature control under my pots.

[OpenD]

Like I said... glass top is a feature, not a type of stove. Several distinctly different types of stove have glass tops.

Induction stoves are just as responsive as gas stoves to your changes in temperature setting. And they're very consistent and even in temperature, because they heat the entire bottom of the pan. The only downside is that you must use the right kinds of iron or steel pans with them, because they heat using a fluctuating magnetic field. They don't work with aluminum. But the stovetop itself stays very cool in comparison to other types, so it's easiest of the three to keep clean.

Halogen ranges like the Jenn-Air don't seem to be catching on well with the public, probably because they seem to have high maintenance costs. But they do heat more uniformly than coil types.

Conventional coil element types are exactly like traditional electric stoves, except that they have a piece of high temperature glass between the coils and the pot to give a more tidy appearance and make it easier to clean. They have all the same disadvantages as conventional stoves, like heating up and cooling down slowly, and heating pots irregularly because of hot spots in the coil element. When you are done cooking you need to remove the pot from the stove, even after you turn the control off, because it will still be hot. With induction types you don't need to do that.

With any of the different types, make sure the bottoms of your post are smooth, and don't slide them across the surface, because that can scratch the glass. Also be sure you don't drop things on it, because the glass can break. Cast iron, in particular, needs to be handled with care on all the glass tops.

Good luck! :OK:

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

...cycling of the electric element (sealed element)...

Actually, my Electrolux uses a ribbon coil - not a sealed element.

[Bideshi]

I hate those things (they call this "progress"). I look for the old ones with exposed heating elements.