Load on a glass top range [Cooking]

2009 Jan 20
Hey folks,

Anyone know if there is a load danger on a glass top stove.

I'm at my father's place and brought my pressure canner so I can make him a shitload of food to leave with him, but he's got a glass top stove and I'm wondering if I should be concerned here. I cannot find the manual for the stove.

I have a huge All American 935 pressure canner. Fully loaded it's got to be 30 lbs or close to it.

thanks,
-Alan

2009 Jan 20
Google found this so far ... just reading through it now

www.americastestkitchen.com

EDIT and this one :

forums.gardenweb.com

2009 Jan 21
We've got a glass top stove (glass top = ceramic) ie smooth and the elements light up? Anyway we've done our canning on it - so big old black pot filled with water and canning stuff and never had a problem from weight.

The problem we have is our canning pot is ridged on the bottom, and so heat does
not transfer well on flat top stove ... time to buy the propane burner for outside.

hope that helps.

2009 Jan 21
Zym - I don`t think the primary issue will be the weight, although it could be I suppose... I would be most worried about dropping something heavy from a height and chipping the cooktop.

Sourdough - The other problem with the glass tops is that they seem to be a pain to keep clean... and not so fun to get burned on stuff off of... they say use that special cleaner but even it doesn`t get everything off... and anything you use that is even the slightly bit abrasive scratches the surface. And of course the other problem is the possibility of cracking or breaking the glass top... it is very easy to drop something and chip it.

So although it is beautiful to look at... and a lot better than the coiled elements that we all grew up with (those under pans were a pain to clean too) I think there still has to be something better.

2009 Jan 21
I know I've said this before Food&Think, but I think the something better is a nice gas cooktop. Most of them now have sealed burners, and one piece overflow tray that make them pretty easy to clean and keep clean. And if you need more heat, you can get one with a center pot boiler burner with lots of btus.

I also had thought that glass tops were easy breezy to maintain until I spoke to a friend who had one, and hated it. A chacun son goût?

2009 Jan 22
PIO - You are probably right about the Gas Cooktops, unfortunately I have no experience with those. Although, I often imagine what it would be like to win a "Dream House" that came with a big honking (commercial?) gas range. Those babies are sweet to look at... and according to gas lovers, a dream to cook on.

2009 Jan 24
I'm pleased to report that everything worked fine with my All American 930 pressure canner. It's got a flat bottom so heat xfer was not an issue. I read in one of the links above that your pot should not be more than 2" beyond the edge of the element, and in my case it was about exactly 2 inches.

All went really well - I'll be writing up about my whirlwind can-a-thon for my dad, once I'm back in Ottawa. My wife and I put down an awful pile of food for him!