Many people think that cooking with an electric stove is the same as cooking with a gas stove – until they actually cook on one and disaster strikes and you end up with burnt food. There is a difference between cooking with an electric stove and a gas stove and it largely involves heat. An electric stove produces higher temperatures and the production of heat is more consistent. Follow the tips below on how to cook with an electric stove and you won’t end up with a food disaster.
1. Be aware of the electric stove’s dials
As you’re well aware, stoves that have multiple heating coils will have more knobs. Since the heating elements in an electric stove will heat up without any kind of physical indication that it is working, it is a normal occurrence for some people new to electric stoves to turn on the wrong knob then wait for the wrong heating element to heat up. They then think that the stove is not working, not knowing that another heating element is already hot. This is the usual cause of accidents. Be careful. Try to look at the knobs and the visual indicators in front to know which knobs turn on which heating elements.
2. Learn to control the heat of the electric stove
As previously mentioned, an electric stove produces higher temperatures than a gas burner. This means pans heat up more quickly and food boils much faster. Be aware of this when preheating a pan because you’ll run the risk of burning a pan if you leave it on the heating element too long. When cooking try to use the low to medium heat settings more often to learn how to control the temperatures.
3. Use the correct pans for electric stoves
Because electric stoves heat things more quickly, using pans that also absorb heat quickly can be tricky. For example, aluminum pans will absorb heat very quickly the moment you put it on the stove. This will result in food searing quickly when you put it on the hot aluminum pan. A cast iron pan or a pan with copper coating are more suited for electric stoves. Teflon coated pans are okay to use with electric stoves.
4. Use the correct cooking utensils for electric stoves
In much the same way that you should use correct pans, you should also use the correct utensils when cooking with an electric stove – and for the same reasons as well. Wooden utensils and those with a high heat resistance should be used. Metal utensils could conduct heat quickly while plastic ones could actually melt.
5. How to save energy when cooking with electric stoves
The heating element of the electric stove heats up quickly and at a higher temperature, but it also loses heat more slowly. During the last few minutes of cooking you can turn off the stove and the remaining heat of the heating element would be enough for your purposes. This is best done when cooking stews or when stir frying food. Of course, you shouldn’t do this when deep frying food.
Photo from myhomezine.com