Because the element is raised up off the stove about 1-2 inches, the red hot heat radiated out the SIDES of the burner can scorch most stoves. Mine is only 3 years old now, and when I didn't use the raised canning burner, the stove was so badly burned around the reflector ring that I had to use mild abrasives (Soft Scrub and elbow grease) to remove all the blackened stuff. It didn't mater how clean the stove was before I started either. The reflectors on my regular burners that were used with the canner have rusted badly now, and need replacement. I also use those disposable aluminium 'burner bibs', but they tend to vaporize after only one canning session. Because the canner is a LOT bigger than the 8 inch burner, there is a need to keep heat concentrated inside the burner area, as opposed to allowing the heat to project out and against that stove top. After all, you do not have any reflector bowl surrounding the burner anymore, as the burner is raised up well above the reflector bowl. As to the sockets, they should always be inspected and replaced if the burner has problems turning red (control set on high). I have already had to do that with the single burner I used prior to switching to the cannning burner. Once you remove/unplug the burner from its socket and it looks like its gray and oxidized, it should be wired brushed and the socket should be replaced. Unplug or shut off the stive breaker, unscrew the single screw that holds the socket in place, and remove the socket a little. It will be wired to to other wires using 'wire nuts'. These simply get unscrewed, and you untwist the wires. Reverse this process when replacing the socket and your good to go for a while. The socket are made of metal and Bakelite, which is somewat heat resistant to a point. Essentially, what your wanting to do is to raise the electric element high enough off the stove so it doesn't damage the stove surface, as well as helps to keeping the metal bruner support struts from softening and sagging when they also become red hot from all that continous heat. Consider this- have you ever brought something to a boil and allowed that hard boiling to continue for an hour or more? I doubt that anything other than a canner would need all that time and heat at the same time I agree that gas is a better way to go for home canning, but if its not piped onto your street, and your only option is propane, I would rather deal with the electric burners. I do miss my gas stove in the old rental apartment, as it was also great for getting a wok for stir frys nice and hot .

judo_and_peppers -- Assuming that the "different part of the kitchen" has 208/240v outlets, a pair of 2500 watt induction burners (standard, single phase 240v) would work very well. They would be about 25% faster at boiling the water-bath kettle than the big coil burner and would give you more even heating across the base of your sauce-cooking pans (which I'm assuming are probably 10" diameter 8-to-12 qt. stockpots). Also will give you a lot more flexibility in arranging your workspace and much easier to clean (and keep clean) than the top and burner wells of a coil burner stove. That Caso portable induction that you linked to --- well, it is probably too wimpy for your production work. Its effective power for waterbath canning will like be about 60% - 70% of an 8" diameter burner on a coil-burner stove. If you went for a higher-powered 120v unit (say, an 1800 watt Max Burton), you'd be closer to the effective power of a coil burner, but still slower. Also, almost all of the residential/portable induction burners have induction coils of 7" diameter or less, which is slightly smaller in diameter than the standard large coil burners (normally 8" in diameter.) Might or might not be an issue when cooking your sauce. (Do realize that comparing wattage ratings for coil burners and induction hobs is more than simply looking at the wattage ratings. The rule of thumb is that starts with the U.S. DOE ratings for efficiency in how much of the burner's energy goes into a pot. DOE says it is about 85% for induction burners and 60% to 70% for coil burners. Mutliply those factors by the rated burner wattage and you'll get some numbers for a rough comparison. Thus, in theory you get 1750 watts going into a pot on an 8" 2500-watt coil burner and 1275 from that Caso 1500 watt induction burner. In contrast, a 2500 watt induction burner will yield 2125 watts. Again, this is just a rule of thumb, but it may help think through what you want to do.) Following up on what hollysprings said about restaurant units, some commercial/restaurant induction equipment uses standard 120v, some models use standard (single phase) 208/240v, some use 3-phase 240v, and some use 3 phase 400v. The 3-phase equipment is massive --- 8000 watt stock-pot ranges for 20 gallon pots, rangetops with six 3500 watt burners, etc. For anybody who might be interested, check out the Cooktek product page on the Dvorson's web site and see the whole gamut of products. The link is below. For what judo_and_peppers wants to do, however, the monster three-phase units are way beyond overkill, but the 2500 watt units would be very serviceable. There are significantly less expensive units, too. First, Consider that a good coil burner range can be had for about $500 --- much less if you buy a used one --- although it would be worth spending another $70 to upgrade the 8" burners to canning elements (much beefier supports for handling big kettles). The least expensive, 2500-watt semi-pro portable induction burners that I know anything about are Eurodib (found at Katom.com) and Sunpentown (at AJ MAdison) which run around $400 each. They are NSF rated and so are acceptable for use in commercial kitchens. The potential concern with these units is that they are not really designed to be serviced if anything wears out or breaks, and may not be up to the wear and tear of production cooking the NSF rating, notwithstanding. However, I've read of people using them in commercial settings. There was a recent posting on Chowhound discussing the Eurodib units being used in a chocolate business by the poster's son. (IIRC, the poster's screen name was Swissair if you want to search for it.) Sunpentown has been around for a relatively long time and Chowhound has postings going back the better part of a decade. (Also, maybe egullet.com "Kitchen Consumer" forum might have info on them, as well.) Fully commercial-rated, 2500-watt induction burners from the recognized commercial brands (Cooktek, Garland, Vollrath) will run about $1k per burner. I am only familiar with the Cooktek units, having used one for a while a decade or so ago. Very durable, very precise. Made in Chicago and built to allow service and repair (which is available via mail-in), the Cooktek units likely will hold up better with pots even larger than water-bath canning kettles. IIRC, the induction coils were something like 9 inches in diameter, so well-suited to larger stockpots for making the hot sauce if heating the bases evenly matters. There are two lines: "Heritage" ($$ with 25 heat settings or temperature settings and a rotary knob control interface) and "Apogee" ($$$ with 100 steps or temps and all touchpad interface). I believe www.Websterauntstore.com carries a brand called Avantco which has a 2500 watt unit for something like $180. I know nothing about this brand or the unit. Might we worth checking into. Here is a link that might be useful: examples of commercial induction This post was edited by JWVideo on Mon, Aug 11, 14 at 18:49

Super Glue?

"I would like to do a version of either the OTK or sort of a vintage kitchen (not a museum reproduction). I would like to use IKEA Lidingo cabinets." That just about describes my new kitchen, except we got the IKEA Ramsjo white cabinets. We do have white appliances, except for the black/SS ceran cooktop (sorry I couldn't help there!) I do get that you want something a little less mainstream, go for it, we need variety!! I just liked that particular appliance in those colors, plus it has all-metal knobs, and they are at the front. It's a pet peeve of mine that most electric ranges/tops (except slide-ins) have controls at the back or side, so you can get a nice burn reaching over or next to a boiling pot. (Yeah, I know there are no flames to worry about, but still.) My previous range, which I'm still using for another week, on a dolly no less, is a white range with a black glass top. For budget reasons, we did not switch to gas, and we learned to cook on the glass (for 14 years) and so decided to stay with it. I splurged on the counter, floor and vent hood. Anyway, my personal appliance theory was, the vertical appliances (fridge, d/w, wall oven) are white, but the cooktop is horizontal, so it's OK for it to be different. Talk about different: around here, the OTK is different; the standard (practically required) kitchen is cherry/granite/stainless/tile floor. Apron sinks are just starting to catch on. You can't find a sample kitchen with white appliances at any local showroom, although I did drool over a gorgeous Bertazzoni range in cream at Plesser's. Nobody does IKEA cabs, either, in fact the store is in the next county. Other than my splurges, I don't have any bells and whistles (pot filler, etc.) but I do have more than triple the storage space I used to have, and I'm still wandering around in awe of all my counter space. Here's a link to the work in progress. Here is a link that might be useful: Sorta OTK