Cookware
To achieve optimum cooking performance, use heavy gauge, flat, smooth bottom cookpots that conform to the diameter of the cooking area. 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 cooking area to the food in the cookpot which result in hot spots, burned or underdone
food. Using bad cookpots also requires more water, time, and energy to cook food.
Selecting Proper Cookware
•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:
1.Place the edge of a ruler across
the bottom of the pan.
2. Hold up to the light.
3. No light should be visible under
the ruler. | I , I , /, I , i , i , i,_'_, |
1. Put 1 inch of water into the cook-
pot.
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2. Place cookpot on the cookingh area. 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.
•Do not use a small pan on a large element, Not only can this cause the element to require more energy and time, but can also result in spillovers burning onto the cooking area resulting in a cleaning chore.
Home Canning
Acceptable canning pots should not be oversized and must have a flat bottom. When canners do not meet these standards, the use of the HI heat setting becomes excessive and may result in damage to the cooktop. In addition, water may not come to a boil and canners may not reach 10 lb. of pressure.
The acceptable canning procedure uses the HI setting just long enough to bring the water to a boil, then lower the setting to maintain the water temperature.
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