Gas cooktop / range questions

14 years ago

We are remodeling, and decided to get a gas cooktop. I have never cooked with gas before... I would like to have 2 high burners. Comparing different cooktops I see the highest ranging between 14,000 and 18,000 BTU, and the 2nd highest between 10,000 and 14,000. Can you really feel the difference between these? For low simmer some go down to 400 BTU, some to 650 BTU, some to 140 degrees. How do these degrees compare with BTUs? What design features and distance between burner and pot should I look for to get the most efficient burners?

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Comments (6)

59 Dodge
14 years ago
Curious, as you have never cooked with gas before, is there a reason you have not looked into induction, cept for maybe the need to flame chillis? With induction you dont need to worry about it getting hot enough for whatever, or low enough for simmer.I have both gas & induction, and there is NO contest about boiling water or heating something up fast----the gas hasn't even left the starting gate when the water is boiling on the induction.
Just Curious--Good luck with your choice!!!

Gary
riverspots
14 years ago
I think there's a thread that deals with amount of BTUs needed on either the kitchen or appliance forum. I don't have one of the newer cooktops yet, but as I remember reading, the advantage of the higher BTUs is that you can add something to boiling water and keep it boiling instead of having to wait. Apparently keep stuff like fresh pasta from going mushy. Searing and stir-fry is supposedly better with higher BTUs, too. I also remember comments that the large size of the higher BTU burners sometimes precludes use of a small pan because the flames go up the sides of the pot instead of heating the bottom.
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I'm like you: Pan space was my main criterion too when looking for an induction cooktop this year. If you can get a 36 inch cooktop, you'll be much happier of course. I couldn't reconfigure for a 36 inch cooktop, unfortunately. I got a 30 inch Wolf because it has an 11 inch burner to the far right side, and two 8 inch burners on the left that can also handle larger pots as needed. The controls are unobtrusive. The 8 inch burners bridge with a small gap in between & work well with my cast iron griddle. I can use my 12 cup stock pot or 8 quart Dutch oven or 12 inch skillets or 8x22 cast iron griddle in some combination to cook for a crowd. The GE cooktops have a similar arrangement, but the bridging burners on the left are only 7 inches in diameter -- so they're either closer together (crowded pans) or they have a bigger gap between them (bigger cool spot on a griddle). So I went with the Wolf. The Wolf 36 inch induction cooktop looks ideal: the four 8 inch burners on the left and in the center can be bridged altogether for a 13 inch or larger pan centered between the four burners. Or the 8 inch burners can be paired vertically or horizontally for using 2 griddles. And you still get the 11 inch burner to the far right. The smallest burner is in front so you won't have to reach behind a big pot if you need it. The other induction cooktop that looked good for pan spacing was Miele's. Besides the largest burner placed sensibly in the front left corner (makes lifting heavy stock pots easier), it has two burners arranged horrizontally in the back that can be bridged or used separately or can take a pot centered between them. So your large pots would be opposite corners. But Miele is pricey, and the bridge burners are only 15 inches long, IIRC, which is a bit short for my 22 inch griddle.
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jakkom
14 years ago
dodge makes some very good points about induction vs gas. Speaking as a long-time gas range owner, you have to take some mfg claims about burner power with a dose of skepticism. That said, yes, higher can be more efficient IF:
- you are cooking large amounts in large pans
- realize that open burners are more efficient in getting heat evenly to a pan/pot than closed burners, simply from a functional design standpoint

My modest Kenmore (closed burners) has 2 Powerburners: 1 at 15K and 1 at 12K. The 15K is noticeably more powerful than the 12K and thus more difficult to simmer well on - I often switch pans from one burner to another depending on whether I'm searing or simmering. I like having the two smaller burners as they work well for small pans, such as when I'm frying 2 eggs instead of 6!

You can stir-fry at 15K but only small amounts, and I'd use a really heavy wok to even out temps. My nephew has an 18K burner Bluestar (open burners) and the difference when stir-frying or boiling is very noticeable.

Induction has come on strong recently and depending on how you cook, might work very well for you. Anyway, HTH!
amcook
14 years ago
I'm going to get on my 'open burner' soapbox for a minute here. :) When comparing BTU rating for various gas ranges, please consider the difference between open and sealed burners. Open burners heat much more efficiently because the direct most of the heat to the center of the pan rather than the sides. The highest BTU consumer range I know of is Bluestar (22k) and, luckily, they are also the only manufacturer that produces a open burner drop-in cooktop. The problem of smaller pans on the higher power burner is usually caused by sealed burners than the BTU rating. I've used pans as small as 6' on the large 22k btu burners and it did have a bit of heat escaping up the side but not as bad as on my old Viking sealed burner. The idea of using anything smaller than a 12' pan on the large sealed burner would have been unthinkable.

I think the thread riverspots was referring to is the one linked below. Recovery (reheat) time is, IMHO the most important benefit of higher BTU. Nothing like doing a saute and getting a tongue of flame as you flip. I'd say 16k for the largest burner is the minimum I'd go. I would suggest at least 18k if you do any stir-frying.

With regard to induction. I've heard great things and am actually considering getting a portable hob for travel and such but for my main cooking, I'm just more use to gas. I'm sure I could use an induction cooktop but I have a hard time imagining it'd be better for wok or saute where the pan/wok is often lifted from the surface to flip the contents.

Here is a link that might be useful: BTU thread
pvrick
14 years ago
I have the Bluestar cooktop. 2 18,000 btu burners. They are fabulous to cook on and yes they do make a difference.

Go to Eurostoves web site. Trevor has a couple of good videos showing closed versus open burner comparisons and impact of the high power burner.

If you buy Bluestar, would highly recommend Eurostoves. They are near Boston and I am in So Calif and their price and service was great.

Good luck
amcook
14 years ago
pvrick,

Just curious... Which Bluestar cooktop do you have? I thought all Bluestar cooktops had their 22k burners. The only product they have that don't is the RCS ranges. You must be Bluestar owner from the pre "Nova" burner days.

Gas cooktop / range questions

Comments (6)

59 Dodge

riverspots

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jakkom

amcook

pvrick

amcook

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