University of Illinois Agricultural Extension Service Circular
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ao 1ances Q.) SELECTING AND USING rlAPPLIANCfb RANGES, ~appllanct . 01qttf MICROWAVE OVENS, gAPP 01~~1._pp ';: AND RANGE HOODS ...._[5 ~ APPLIANCES ~ ~ § ·~ o_o::app&IIDCIS ;i ~,..... R i01 11\-)..' ~• ...._;a ~<:( 1\1? 1 · ~ GDft) ~~APPLIAN< COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE • UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · COOPERATIVE EXTEN SION SE RVICE CIRCULAR 11 3 5 This circular includes information on the various fea 5. Condensation may drip on the range from the bottom tures available on current models of ranges, microwave of the upper oven. ovens, and range hoods and gives hints on the use and 6. The door of the eye-level oven is in a dangerous posi care of the appliances. It is one in a series on buying tion as the door swings open. home appliances. 7. The oven is less efficient because it has less insulation. CONVENTIONAL RANGES- GAS VERSUS Ranges ELECTRIC Burners. Most cooking is done on the surface of a When selecting a kitchen range, there are many alter range. Homemakers generally have preferred gas burners natives to consider. Besides choosing between a gas range to electric units because the heat is immediately full and an electric one, you are faced with a variety of strength when the burner is turned on and may be cut range sizes, shapes, and styles. But that isn't all. Per off immediately. In addition, the heat control on a gas formance, price, cleanability, color, and other special burner is a dial that permits infinite heat settings. Newer features offer additional choices. electric units, however, are able to compete with gas burners. They, too, have dial control knobs, which allow SIZE you to select any heat level, and high-speed units, which heat fast because a double amount of electricity passes The size of a range is an important consideration, through them when they are first turned on. which needs to be dealt with fairly early in the selection Thermostatically controlled burners and units are process. The 30-inch-wide range is purchased most often, available on gas and electric ranges. A thermostatically but ranges vary from 20 to 40 inches in width. There may controlled burner or unit uses a heat-sensing disk to be four to six burners or cooking units on the range top. monitor the temperature of the bottom of the cooking In a two-oven range, the ovens may be side-by-side or one utensil. The disk, about the size of a silver dollar, is lo oven may be in the base and the other at eye level. cated in the center of the burner or unit and is backed The advantages of having an eye-level oven may out by a spring that holds it in contact with the bottom of the weigh the disadvantages common to an oven above the utensil. When the desired temperature of the utensil cooking surface. Homemakers view being able to see the has been reached, the fuel supply is cut off. As soon as the food without bending down, appliance appearance, and temperature drops below the selected temperature, the having two ovens in the wall space required for a one fuel is again supplied. oven range as advantages. Some of the disadvantages are In some electric ranges, the portion of the unit that as follows: heats up can be adjusted because the unit has three in 1. Heavy items have to be lifted from shoulder height. dividual electric coils. If a utensil is 4 inches in diameter, 2. Hot temperatures are right at face level. only the center coil is heated; the two inner coils heat 3. It is necessary to reach over the burners to use the enough area for a 6-inch utensil; all three coils heat oven. the entire unit for a utensil that is 8 to 10 inches in 4. Large pots may not fit on the back burners. diameter. Gas thermostatically controlled burners are available This range requires special utensils, which are purchased in two arrangements. Both are quite satisfactory. The with the range. Most other smooth-top ranges can be burner either cuts off completely when the selected used with any flat-bottomed, straight-sided utensil. temperature is reached as an electric unit does, or a small The efficiency of the standard smooth-top range with flame maintains the selected temperature. conventional heating elements is lower than that of a Ovens. Ovens in gas and electric ranges are about conventional electric range. It may take three times as equal in performance and convenience. The convenience long for a smooth-top range to heat 2 cups of water as it of gas ovens has been improved as a result of the Ameri takes a conventional electric range. The surface also can Gas Association's requirement that all gas ranges takes a long time to cool. have automatic ignition to receive their approval. Smooth-top ranges have printed designs on the surface Broilers. Broilers in gas ranges are usually located be that mark the location of the heat, but there is very little low knee level, although some are at waist height. The visual indication that a unit is hot when it is on. A "hot" broiler may be located in a drawer above the oven, below light that goes off only after the surface is cool enough the oven, in the oven, or in a separate compartment at to touch is a safety feature found on some manufacturers' the side of the oven. Broiling with gas is usually done current models. with the door closed. Electric broiling is done with the door open, except in some electric ranges that heat the INDUCTION RANGES by-products of broiling to a temperature high enough Another type of smooth-top range is the induction, that they turn into a clear gas, which is removed through or cool-top, range. On this range, the cooking utensil small holes above the broiler and out through a vent is heated, and it in turn heats the food. The range sur above the oven door. The feature that allows broiling face stays cool or at most only gets heat that is transferred with the door closed makes working at the range surface from the heated pan. while broiling food in the oven more comfortable. In a conventional range, a coiled wire (nichrome) Cost and efficiency. A gas range used in the home is heats up as it resists the flow of electricity through it. As approximately 40 to 60 percent efficient, compared with more electricity flows, more heat is produced. In the the typical electric range, which is 60 to 70 percent effi cool-top range, electricity is converted into a high cient. In other words, more heat is lost into the room frequency current that produces current in the bottom with a gas range than with an electric one. Although of any metallic pot or pan that has magnetic character public utilities can best quote the relative costs of gas istics. Steel and iron utensils are good for this purpose and electricity for individual localities, a testing organi and are commonly used on induction ranges. Heat con zation has suggested a rule of thumb for comparison trol is both very sensitive and immediate in an induction purposes. The rule is that gas for cooking will prove range. cheaper than electricity if the cost per therm (typically 12 cents per therm) is less than 12 times the cost of elec CONVENIENCE FEATURES tricity per kilowatt hour (typically 4 cents per kilowatt A rotisserie and an automatic meat thermometer add hour). In other words, gas is usually cheaper. convenience. A rotisserie is a built-in motor that rotates a spit inserted through the food. The heat source is the SMOOTH-TOP RANGES broiler. An automatic meat thermometer is a probe Smooth-top ranges are presently available in electric that is inserted into the meat and then connected to a control in the oven wall. The control is set to the desired models only, but work is continuing on the development internal temperature of the cooked meat. A bell or buzzer of gas smooth-top ranges. The glass ceramic surfaces indicates when the probe senses that the meat has on smooth-top ranges can withstand knocks and bumps reached the preset temperature. Temperatures above without breaking, have high heat strength, are scratch 325 o F. may damage the probe; the thermostat should resistant, and are resistant to most acids. be set no higher than for roasting temperatures when the Even though these surfaces are strong, hitting them hard enough can break them into splinters or cobweblike probe is being used. patterns. The surface should not be exposed to tempera tures exceeding 1,300° F., such as might occur when a CLEANING FEATURES utensil with a concave bottom traps air under the pan or Removable control knobs make it easy to clean the when a burner is operated with no utensil on it. Over a knobs themselves as well as the panels under and around period of time, scratches occur on the surface because of them. If the range has push buttons, it is better if there abrasion from cooking utensils. is enough space between them to clean with a cotton Another disadvantage is that the surface should be swab. cleaned after each use; otherwise, sugar may carmelize The oven in a range can bring no end of grief and and cause minute chipping, spillovers may stain the sur despair if a homemaker is extremely fastidious. This is face, and metal that rubs off pots and pans may soak into because manufacturers usually make the oven walls a tiny pores in the surface of the range.