The Lie of "medium-high" heat (1 Viewer)

[Zack Lee]

I have a flat top, not one of the old ones with a metal coil that you put the pots on. One of the "burners" even has a "turbo-boil" setting, but that gets way too hot way too fast.

my mother has a flat top as well. After the first year it had all the same exact problems as coils. No way to get in between temps.

Unfortunately where I live now has the old coil type. So you figure out the temperament of each individual burner and learn how to wing it. But I love to cook and can do it well. And I have had gas stoves in several places I have lived. There is no comparison. None. Being able to fine tune your heat is almost as important as being able to fine tune your salt.

 

[jboss]

I use medium high mostly just for searing before broiling. Also use it briefly for shrimp (less than a minute) before making a stir fry where I reduce to about a four after adding the other ingredients. Only because I like to reduce the overall time and temp usually called for in stir fry recipes that include shrimp. Can't have rubbery shrimp and call yourself a southern Louisianian.

 

[HoustonSaint68]

Wait, wait, wait, wait...the OP identified his own problem. The solution is to just move to a place with gas.

I’ve done alright for myself now that I’m grey, but I spent a goodly portion of my younger life picking lint out of change to scrounge enough for a Liuzza’s schooner and a share of onion rings with similarly positioned friends. And only once have I lived in a place with an electric stove. That’s all it took. Get another roommate or a second job if you have to, but don’t even look at an apartment if it doesn’t have a gas burner.

 

[The Moose]

Just like recipe writers seem to be out of touch with how long it takes to caramelize onions, I think they also are out of touch with a normal household's stove heat output.

Caveat: I wish I had a gas stove, but I am stuck with an electric. But my findings have been consistent over the last 4 - 5 electric stove tops I have had.

Almost every recipe I read calls for cooking over medium-high heat. My stove goes from 1.0 (low) to 10.0 (high). So if 5 is medium then medium-high would be 7.5. If I cooked anything at 7.5 I might burn my house down.

In practice, I can simmer at 2.8 - 3.0. I can pan fry around 3.5. If I take it up to 4, the oil gets too hot and the food burns.

I caramelize onions at 2.8. I'll heat them up initially at 3.5 until they are going good and then drop down to 3. After a while even this is too hot and I'll drop them to 2.8. If left on at 3.5 or 4 they will quickly sound like I am deep frying a turkey.

Beans/stews/soups/chili can be brought up to simmer at 4.0, but then it better be dropped down to 2.8 or 3.0 or it will be at a high boil and make a huge mess.

The only thing I ever take above 5 is if I am boiling water for pasta. Once boiling I still have to drop it down or it will boil over. When making kids Kraft mac & cheese a 6.5 will hold a hard roiling boil. A 7.0 or above will definitely boil over.

So why does everything call for a medium-high heat? Perhaps the temperature of my 3.5 is considered medium-high in the culinary world. But if so, then why the heck are appliance makers installing potential death traps in everyone's kitchen?

Ok dude this one is simple.

Get yourself a Lazer thermometer.

They only tell you temp of the surface won't do water on the stove or anything like that.

But what you have now is what temp the burner really are. That would help a ton.

They are useful for all kinds of stuff like finding air leaks around doors.

Heck they are cheap and fun.

Get one.

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[Brennan77]

I stopped reading when you said you wished you had a gas stove. No one can cook on electric. It's terrible and there is no control.