To achieve optimum cooking performance, use heavy gauge, f/at, smooth bottom cookpots that conform to the diameter of the element (no more than one inch overhang). Proper cookpots will minimize cooking times, use less electricity, cook food more evenly and require less water or oil.
Cookpots with thin, uneven bottoms do not adequately conduct heat from the element to the food in the cookpots which results in hot spots, burned or underdone food. Using bad cookpots also requires more water, time, and energy to cook food.
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I Selecting Proper Cookware I
•Select heavy gauge cookpots. Usually heavy gauge cookpots will not change shape when heated.
•Use cookpots with flat, smooth bottoms. The two ways to determine if cookpots have a flat, smooth bottom are the ruler test and the cooking test.
Ruler Test: I
1.Place the edge of ruler across the bottom of the pot.
2.Hold up to the light.
3.No light should be visible under the ruler.
I Cooking Test: I
1.Put 1 inch of water into the cookpot.
2.Place cookpot on the element. Turn control to the HI setting.
3.Observe the bubble formation to determine the heat distribution. If the bubbles are uniform across the cookpot, the cookpot will perform satisfactorily. If the bubbles are not uniform, the bubbles will indicate the hot spots.
•Match the size of the cookpot to the size of the element. Ideally, the cookpot will be the same size or slightly larger.
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