Front right for saut�, fry, etc. It is large and closest to my prep area. For large pots or for long simmering, the rear burners, one is large and one is small. Just gets them out of the way. That leaves the front left which is small and not overly useful. I don't like small burners. If I'm trying to get a super long low simmer of something easily scorched, I'll use a double boiler anyway. I'd rather have every burner be large.

Either the far right or the far left front burner (I have 6 total.) Those two are each 22 BTU and much faster than the other three which are 15 BTU. I never use the back left simmer one.

Jo

Funny you should ask :) I've often made fun of myself because the front right is my favorite. The back ones are my least favorite, I like to have everything close at hand even though I don't like the smaller left burner. I've always assumed it was because I am right handed & just automatically go for that one, but also, the right side has been best with my prep area. I also wish all mine were large burners, although not so much now that it is just me & DH. I use more of my smaller pots now.

I opt for the left rear almost every time! I don't know why exactly. I just do.

Leave it to you Bobby to ask that question!

Duane

Front right here!

Another "front, right" user here (basic electric stove).
Same reasons as stated above, prep area is to the right, large burner.
Second most used is probably the left rear (large burner) for simmering soups, boiling pasta water, etc.
The right rear burner is the exhaust for the oven heat and I use the oven pretty frequently and usually avoid putting anything over that one. Habit I guess when the oven isn't in use. When I put a pan on the small, front left burner and turn the handle around so it isn't hanging off the stove, it's in the way of the coffee pot and that just.... will. not. do!

If I'm canning.............then I use 'em ALL!
:)

Deanna

Front right, even though that is the High burner. If I really need the flame to be very low, I use the back right, which is the Low burner. That one is good for simmering. Don't use back left very much at all.

I can tell which burner is used the most because it has the most spatters on it, even after cleaning.

Right front, and I confess I often use it with small pots as well as larger. It's just more convenient, right next to my workspace which is a corner between the stove and the sink. What I wouldn't give for more counterspace! I wish all the burners were large, also. When canning, everything is used.

jude

I use the left front the most, and on my stove, the two on the left are both medium; on the right, the front one is high and the back one is simmer. This is similar to what I last had in Venice, except that the right and left are switched, and for my new kitchen, this is better. In Venice, the orientation was better for my layout there. In my kitchen now, I have a counter to the left of the stove, and to the left of that is the fridge. To the right of the stove is a larger counter that turns the corner to the sink. I use the large burner at front right for boiling pasta, and so it's more convenient that it is closer to the sink. I also use that burner for popcorn and for getting a stock pot up to the boil, after which I move it to the back right burner for simmering. I use the front left burner (medium) for sauteeing, making candy, cooking eggs, and pretty much anything that I use a saute pan or iron skillet for, such as quesadillas, pancakes, etc. When making pasta sauce or grits, I start it on the front left and then move it to the back right for a simmer. I really like the very low heat that I can get from that burner - it most cases it is just under a boil. The layout of my stove is exactly as I want it (and the one in Venice was also), but on my current stove, I do not like the way the knobs are placed. In Venice, the outside knobs controlled the front burners and the inside knobs controlled the back burners, which made sense to me. Now the left knobs control the front burners and the right knobs control the back burners with placement looking like FB 0 FB, with "O" being the oven knob. I liked it better with FB 0 BF, but then that just the way my mind organizes things, and I could be in a minority in this. I've noticed that my logical with regards to putting things in order is often not conventional. For example, on a bookshelf, for alphabetizing things, I start at the right with "A" and go to the left from there because of the way the titles are written on the spline. For English books anyway. English splines are printed so that when a book is on a table, the title on the spline is right side up. However, for German books, the title on the spline would be upside down, and so for German books, I order them on a bookshelf from left to right, and I do have that many German books. Perhaps I have German logic.

I don't use my back left burner much, unless I am making a lot of things at once.

Lars

Dedtired, you and I may have the same kind of stove, as my front right burner is the largest and the back right is the smallest. The two left burners are the medium-est. I use the front right burner the most, I think for the same reasons as mentioned above, but also because I'm right handed. However, if I could rearrange my burners, my back left burner would be the largest, because I wish I could put my big pasta pot on it to come to a boil while I use the front left to get the sauce going. My medium burners just don't do the job, so I'm stuck having to do my sauce on the front left burner, which is inconvenient to the prep area. Oh, well. The one I use the least is probably the little one, the back right. I mainly use it for rice, or for simmering.

Sally

Front right..it's the biggest powered..and usually my kettle is on the back right one. I'm a righty all the way it seems. LOL

Front right (med/big burner) for sauteeing, active cooking.
Front left (giant burner) for giant pots and wok cooking.
Back right (small burner) for morning espresso and slow simmering.

I have a 3-burner stove. Most dinner prep, I use all simultaneously.

I usually have at least two if not three burners going at once when cooking dinner. I don't think I have a favourite burner.

Ann

If I am only using one burner, it is almost always the back left burner. The back, because it is beyond my 3 year-old grandson's tiny reach, and the left because it is closest to a corner of the countertop, also making it a further distance.

I don't have a favorite burner I don't think.. But right now the left side of my stove is what I use because the right side has totally died..so I now have two burners.. and I have not found just the right stove to replace it with at a price I am willing to pay. But if I lose any more burners, I won't have a choice.. and will have to bite the bullet and make a decision... I just hate to spend the money I think.. being the pennypincher I am.. LOL

Carolyn

Like Lars, Pam, and Sally, my high-output burner is front right, so I use that one the most for sauteeing onions and cooking burgers. The back right burner is for simmering, and I use it the least often. I cook potatoes and veggies on the left-side burners.

I prefer to cook anything that spatters on the front burners (to avoid cleanup of the back of the stove), and, of course, I use the front burners for anything that needs stirring or frequent attention. Therefore, the things that *don't* need constant checking (pasta, potatoes, etc) go on the back burners.

I wish I had two high-output burners and NO simmer burner!

Sue

Mine's the same as spacific, as we have the same range. Three burners means equal love, I suppose!

When I had a four burner range where all the burners were the same, I always kept a long cast iron griddle on two of them, just to extend my counter space as it seemed I never had enough. Because I got used to the little cast-iron ''counter'' on top of my stove, I now keep a large round cast iron griddle on the largest of my burners. It's always ready to cook on, use as extra counter space or a giant spoon rest, and comes off easily when I need the burner for a large stockpot or wok.

I do find the simmer burner to be handy from time to time. Making rice is one time I always use it.

CdL... I miss all those Lacanche threads. Yep, three burners still work for me. And the oven is still big enough for whatever I'm doing! (though I did get a convection/broiler/toaster oven that fills in when I need it too.)
A

Ann, I know! It seems there's just a few of us around here. I Love a three burner stove! It's funny but I've never used more than that...I do confess to having an extra oven though, and one with a window that satisfies any urges I have to peek in on things.

Wow, I didn't know they made full sized ranges with 3 burners. Neat idea. I seldom use more than two at a time anyway (and if I try, I burn everything). Interesting to read the reasons for using different burners :o)

Oh, there are occasions when I'm channeling my country cook late MIL that I use all 4 of my burners, my oven and my microwave, because I only have 4 burners. That's when I'm in the mood for lots of cooked veggies. Last week I had rice going on my simmer burner, a pot of beans on one burner, some sort of greens or something on another, and I don't remember what was on the fourth. Then, I decided we needed corn, too, so it went in the microwave. Fish was in the oven. I think I even made a salad. Needless to say I got carried away, but I was really needing all those veggies and such that day, I guess. I was wishing for one of those 6 burner stoves then, but it worked out.

Sally

I use whichever burner fits my pot or pan!

I have no idea if I have a high out put one or a simmer one. Like Ann I generally have at least two burners going for dinner most often three.

Well, it used to be the front left burner, but the igniter has died (again) so now it's the front right burner. I have a DCS 5 burner gas cooktop with the middle burner being the highest output. I use that one quite a bit too. The rear burners get use too, but I like the two front and the middle the most.

OT, but not really, my DCS cooktop (now owned by Fisher Paykel but installed 2003) is a PIA with boil-overs playing with the igniters. I hate repairing just one, so I wait until there's another reason to call the repairman.

I have a cheap 4 burner gas stove and all the burners are exactly the same. I use left front the most because it's adjacent to my counter/work space. I have a tea kettle that sits on the back left burner because if I put it on the back right burner it covers the clock.

Like Deanna, when I'm canning, I use all four burners, same when I'm cooking for company. (One for the canner, one for the pan of simmering jar lids, one for the produce I'm canning and the last has the teakettle of simmering water for packing vegetables or refilling the canner).

Like Ann T, I mostly use a couple of burners, or maybe 3, but sometimes I just make an egg and some toast and then I use one pan and one burner.

If I warm anything in the microwave when I have a lot of items, I usually forget it until we're done with dinner. yeah, it's a family joke.

Annie

LOL Annie, we do that too with the microwave when we are doing a feast like Thanksgiving. OOpss..

The two front burners are the highest on ours and luckily they both have spots on right side of them where they shoot out a bit more gas so I like that. I'm usually looking for the hottest burners. I have two of those vintage vinyl step stool chairs, a red and a green one and I keep the red one next to the stove. I do a lot of my cooking sitting down since I can't stand a lot and it works for me. I have it tucked next to the right side so I use that right burner the most, but often use both front ones. On the back left burner I keep a couple of heavy metal burner tamers with the tea kettle sitting on it so when I need to simmer, the tamers are handy and I will use them.

Yeah Annie, ask me about our warming drawer...I hardly use it and might discover something fossilized when I next go to use it! LOL

Boy, am I glad it's not just me. I can't tell you how many times a vegetable side dish has been discovered in the microwave the next day.

It's a darned good thing I don't have a warming drawer, who knows what would happen in there, LOL...

Annie

I have a warming drawer/broiler, and I use it for storing my cast iron skillets and pans. If I want to keep things warm, I put them in the toaster oven where I can keep an eye on them. I can't really ignore my MW now because it is directly above my stove and contains the venting. If something gets left in, there will be blinking lights to alert me.

I had the igniter go out in my favorite burner (left front), and then I finally realized that I had put the cover on the burner off center, and the spark was being blocked. For a while, I was using toothpicks to light it, until I decided to deep clean the entire stove top - so far only the left side got the cleaning because I stopped once I got my favorite burning working properly again.

Lars

Another vote for front right :) Maybe because I"m short and right handed?

i have a 6 burner stove and its front right to left then back right to left. I am fairly sure its because I am right handed and nothing feels as comfortable when i am using my left hand

At "home", growing up it was the left front burner for proximity to the counter and sink - right side of stove was against the refrigerator (hated that setup). And usually the right side burners were covered with pots and pans for storage. Had a small kitchen with 2 small cupboards in it.

First apartment I started with the right front, since there was nothing to the left of the stove and the second apartment was reversed but I cooked on whatever. In the house I've used the right front primarily, front left is the second burner used and the back burners used for warming or when I needed additional burners only. Now the new stove has different sized burners but still is front right the larger, as is the rear left and the front left and rear right are small burners. But I use what I need and cook. This isn't like a gas stove that needs to match the pan size so much. My cookware distributes heat well and the 3 qt saucepan covers the larger burner fairly well too so I don't obsess over it. And the Nesco, convection oven, oven or microwave might also be in use so it's whatever gets the job done for me.

Depends on what I'm cooking.
Guess the right front gets the most use.
But the left rear if I'm making a big pot of soup or stew.

My stove has 4 burners, 2 large, 2 small.
They are plug-ins,
One is smooth, glass top,
The other is traditional electric coil burners.
In a built in stove top.
So it's easy for me to rearrange them if I'd like a different set up.

Rusty