Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?

I have recently (today!) purchased an electric ceramic top range
(a GE unit), and compared with my older electric-spiral Jenn-Air
unit, I find it takes quite a bit longer to bring water to a
boil.

I am using a Calphalon pot, which is reasonably flat bottomed
(with a ruler, I can detect 1mm of space between the ruler
and the center of the bottom, but I have not seen pots
that are better than this). I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
Is this normal? I notice that once the water is hot (but not yet
boiling), the "burner" cycles, perhaps 30 seconds on and 8 off.
This, I am told, happens when the pot is not perfectly flat,
but the Calphalon seems to be as flat as they come.

Is the cycling normal? Is the time reasonable?
I would also appreciate comparisons with the time people are
getting from gas ranges.

Many thanks,

Peter

(Peter Lampione) wrote in
om:

> Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?
>
> I have recently (today!) purchased an electric ceramic top range
> (a GE unit), and compared with my older electric-spiral Jenn-Air
> unit, I find it takes quite a bit longer to bring water to a
> boil.
>
> I am using a Calphalon pot, which is reasonably flat bottomed
> (with a ruler, I can detect 1mm of space between the ruler
> and the center of the bottom, but I have not seen pots
> that are better than this). I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> Is this normal? I notice that once the water is hot (but not yet
> boiling), the "burner" cycles, perhaps 30 seconds on and 8 off.
> This, I am told, happens when the pot is not perfectly flat,
> but the Calphalon seems to be as flat as they come.
>
> Is the cycling normal? Is the time reasonable?
> I would also appreciate comparisons with the time people are
> getting from gas ranges.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Peter
>

Good question... I can't accurately answer that because I never actually
time it, but my "perception" is that boiling water on a smoothtop range
is quicker than on a coil top. I have gone from coil to smoothtop to
coil (due to moves), and really wish I had that smoothtop back! Oh, the
smoothtop I had was also a brand new GE.

Wayne

Peter Lampione wrote:
>
> Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?
>
> I have recently (today!) purchased an electric ceramic top range
> (a GE unit), and compared with my older electric-spiral Jenn-Air
> unit, I find it takes quite a bit longer to bring water to a
> boil.
>
> I am using a Calphalon pot, which is reasonably flat bottomed
> (with a ruler, I can detect 1mm of space between the ruler
> and the center of the bottom, but I have not seen pots
> that are better than this). I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> Is this normal? I notice that once the water is hot (but not yet
> boiling), the "burner" cycles, perhaps 30 seconds on and 8 off.
> This, I am told, happens when the pot is not perfectly flat,
> but the Calphalon seems to be as flat as they come.
>
> Is the cycling normal? Is the time reasonable?
> I would also appreciate comparisons with the time people are
> getting from gas ranges.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Peter

Mine seems to take a long time--maybe because the heat is always
cycling on and off. Ack! Unfortunately, that cycling is normal.
--
Jean B.

"Jean B." > wrote:

>Mine seems to take a long time--maybe because the heat is always
>cycling on and off. Ack! Unfortunately, that cycling is normal.

Just remember...you are heating water with a light bulb.

"Bubbalicious" > wrote in message
...
> "Jean B." > wrote:
>
> >Mine seems to take a long time--maybe because the heat is always
> >cycling on and off. Ack! Unfortunately, that cycling is normal.
>
> Just remember...you are heating water with a light bulb.
==
Would you like to qualify that? My "lightbulb" is 2500 watts and boils water
faster than most gas ranges. To the OP: electric ranges have varying
wattage elements normally with the higher end units having higher wattage.
Check
your manual to find your surface wattages then compare that to other ceran
top ranges. Too, most ranges have varying watt elements for different uses.
You
may be using a lower watt element. On my Kenmore Elite, the on/off cycling
is very rapid--too fast for the
glass to cool. It is not possible to compare your boiling time with any
other range's boiling
time unless your wattages, pot, initial water temp/volume are virtually
identical. Everything else being equal, the higher wattage element will boil
water faster. The surface units on my Kenmore range from 800 (bridge
element) to 2500. I normally use an 1800 watt element to bring my pots to
boil and it is very rapid and still catches me off-guard ;-).
==
==
>
>
>

Peter Lampione wrote:

> Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?
>

Ack. this would drive me wild. My big gas burner (a Viking) does it much
faster than that, but I am impatient and use a good electric kettle. Boy
does that thing go!
blacksalt

"Peter Lampione" > wrote in message
om...
> Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?
>
> I have recently (today!) purchased an electric ceramic top range
> (a GE unit), and compared with my older electric-spiral Jenn-Air
> unit, I find it takes quite a bit longer to bring water to a
> boil.
>
> I am using a Calphalon pot, which is reasonably flat bottomed
> (with a ruler, I can detect 1mm of space between the ruler
> and the center of the bottom, but I have not seen pots
> that are better than this). I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> Is this normal? I notice that once the water is hot (but not yet
> boiling), the "burner" cycles, perhaps 30 seconds on and 8 off.
> This, I am told, happens when the pot is not perfectly flat,
> but the Calphalon seems to be as flat as they come.
>
> Is the cycling normal? Is the time reasonable?
> I would also appreciate comparisons with the time people are
> getting from gas ranges.
>


I am not about to get out a stopwatch, but that seems in line with what I
experience on my Dacor. The cycling is normal too - as you probably know it
is to prevent the burner from getting too hot and damaging itself. You have
also seen that not-perfectly-flat pots are perfectly usable on a flattop
range even if not quite as efficient as one that is perfectly flat. Given
that metal expands when heated it is probably unrealistic to ask for a pan
that is flat when cold and when hot.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"gini52" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bubbalicious" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Jean B." > wrote:
> >
> > >Mine seems to take a long time--maybe because the heat is always
> > >cycling on and off. Ack! Unfortunately, that cycling is normal.
> >
> > Just remember...you are heating water with a light bulb.
> ==
> Would you like to qualify that? My "lightbulb" is 2500 watts and boils
water
> faster than most gas ranges. To the OP: electric ranges have varying
> wattage elements normally with the higher end units having higher wattage.
> Check
> your manual to find your surface wattages then compare that to other ceran
> top ranges. Too, most ranges have varying watt elements for different
uses.
> You
> may be using a lower watt element. On my Kenmore Elite, the on/off cycling
> is very rapid--too fast for the
> glass to cool. It is not possible to compare your boiling time with any
> other range's boiling
> time unless your wattages, pot, initial water temp/volume are virtually
> identical. Everything else being equal, the higher wattage element will
boil
> water faster. The surface units on my Kenmore range from 800 (bridge
> element) to 2500. I normally use an 1800 watt element to bring my pots to
> boil and it is very rapid and still catches me off-guard ;-).

To liken a flat top range to a lightbulb is just plain dumb. Where do people
come up with these notions? You might as well say that you make toast with a
lightbulb or broil steaks with a lightbulb.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Thank you for all the replies!
I have some Lagostina pot (also somewhat flat, but less flat than the
Calphalon) that takes 18 mins... so the time seems to be highly variable.
I will experiment with various pots, in the hope of getting finally a
"fast pasta pot", but overall I am now quite happy with the GE range.

Peter

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message om>...
> "Peter Lampione" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Is 13 minutes normal for bringing 3.5 quarts of water to a boil?
> >
> > I have recently (today!) purchased an electric ceramic top range
> > (a GE unit), and compared with my older electric-spiral Jenn-Air
> > unit, I find it takes quite a bit longer to bring water to a
> > boil.
> >
> > I am using a Calphalon pot, which is reasonably flat bottomed
> > (with a ruler, I can detect 1mm of space between the ruler
> > and the center of the bottom, but I have not seen pots
> > that are better than this). I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> > It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> > Is this normal? I notice that once the water is hot (but not yet
> > boiling), the "burner" cycles, perhaps 30 seconds on and 8 off.
> > This, I am told, happens when the pot is not perfectly flat,
> > but the Calphalon seems to be as flat as they come.
> >
> > Is the cycling normal? Is the time reasonable?
> > I would also appreciate comparisons with the time people are
> > getting from gas ranges.
> >
>
>
> I am not about to get out a stopwatch, but that seems in line with what I
> experience on my Dacor. The cycling is normal too - as you probably know it
> is to prevent the burner from getting too hot and damaging itself. You have
> also seen that not-perfectly-flat pots are perfectly usable on a flattop
> range even if not quite as efficient as one that is perfectly flat. Given
> that metal expands when heated it is probably unrealistic to ask for a pan
> that is flat when cold and when hot.

In article >,
(Peter Lampione) wrote:

> Thank you for all the replies!
> I have some Lagostina pot (also somewhat flat, but less flat than the
> Calphalon) that takes 18 mins... so the time seems to be highly variable.
> I will experiment with various pots, in the hope of getting finally a
> "fast pasta pot", but overall I am now quite happy with the GE range.


I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> > > It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> > > Is this normal?

In the Feb 2002 issue of Consumer reports they state "all coil and several
smooth tops brought about 6 quarts of water to a boil in 12 minutes". You
can use this as a frame of reference as to whether the performance you see
is acceptable or not.

Roland

> I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> > > > It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> > > > Is this normal?


Hi. Here the power output varies from 1kW to 1.8kW from one model to
another. Also how well pan and ring contact makes a difference. So
yes, its fair enough.

Long ago, cooking rings were often a bare coil of live heating wire
with an open grid over the top. And they were generally rated at 500w.
It took 20 minutes to boil, lemme guess, 1 to 2 pints anyway. And if
it boiled over your cooking was all over the live element, connecting
it to the metal case and thus to the pan. Nice. They're still common
in Japan, despite being none too safe.

Regards, NT

"N. Thornton" > wrote in message
om...
> > I fill it with 3.5 qt of water.
> > > > > It takes 13 minutes to bring the water to a boil.
> > > > > Is this normal?
>
>
> Hi. Here the power output varies from 1kW to 1.8kW from one model to
> another. Also how well pan and ring contact makes a difference. So
> yes, its fair enough.
==
Oh my--I would not have the patience for your range. My water boiler element
is 2600w.
It is very fast.
==

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message news:60gib.47690
> To liken a flat top range to a lightbulb is just plain dumb. Where do
people
> come up with these notions? You might as well say that you make toast with
a
> lightbulb or broil steaks with a lightbulb.
>

Or bake a cake. Oh, wait. That's been done already.