New Stove Adventures

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm sure I'm not the only one:  the "melt" function of this week's new stove melted a stick of butter all over the formerly pristine stovetop, the CSO, the range hood, the floor.  Some butter made it to the dining room.  After my customary mai tai I puzzled why the pot was empty.

 

Thankfully the CSO served somewhat as a windbreak.

 

Did I mention that the floor is slippery?

 

[gfweb]

what is a melt function?

[HungryChris]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

what is a melt function?

I'm with you. Never heard of a melt function. Maybe it is for steel working?

HC

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, HungryChris said:

I'm with you. Never heard of a melt function. Maybe it is for steel working?

HC

 This rattled a neuron or two enough that I left my first morning coffee to go and stare at the controls on my range. Sure enough there is a melt function.  I have never used it.  My range is induction and the melt function appears to have the same 10 levels as all the other controls.  I shall study the subject later. 

Edited August 19, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[ElsieD]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

 This rattled a neuron or two enough that I left my first morning coffee to go and stare at the controls on my range. Sure enough there is a melt function.  I have never used it.  My range is induction and the melt function appears to have the same 10 levels as all the other controls.  I shall study the subject later. 

 

 

Where is this melt function?  I looked at my induction top and don't see one.  Is it hidden in one of the controls?

[Anna N]

 

 The control panel. 

 

 

Close-ups of the right-hand side of the panel. 

 

 

 I read through the whole instruction manual and there is nothing that discusses this function. 

 

[Arey]

It's threads like this that make me appreciate my new GE  electric coil top basic model  stove that I bought in January.  It doesn't do a lot, but then, I don't ask a lot of it.  If only I had the space for a CSO.

[dcarch]

For melting chocolate, not butter?

 

dcarch

[chefmd]

18 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I'm sure I'm not the only one:  the "melt" function of this week's new stove melted a stick of butter all over the formerly pristine stovetop, the CSO, the range hood, the floor.  Some butter made it to the dining room.  After my customary mai tai I puzzled why the pot was empty.

 

Thankfully the CSO served somewhat as a windbreak.

 

Did I mention that the floor is slippery?

 

To quote the manual: "This knob may induce cook's meltdown".  Highly recommended to be used with mai tai

[ElsieD]

On 19/08/2017 at 8:57 AM, Anna N said:

 

 The control panel. 

 

 

Close-ups of the right-hand side of the panel. 

 

 

 I read through the whole instruction manual and there is nothing that discusses this function. 

 

 

Interesting.  I don't remember seeing a melt button when we had the induction range and there isn't one on my cooktop.  I do see that when the melt button is on L (for low?)  Is also on and I do have an L which I use go keep foods warm.

[Anna N]

52 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Interesting.  I don't remember seeing a melt button when we had the induction range and there isn't one on my cooktop.  I do see that when the melt button is on L (for low?)  Is also on and I do have an L which I use go keep foods warm.

I don't think the L in anyway significant. All the range top controls  have the option of the L or low mode. I haven't bothered testing it yet but perhaps the low on the melt maintains a lower temperature than the others?  

I have occasionally used the "warming" zone which has L M H options.  You can see this on the control panel just to the left of the melt control. 

[andiesenji]

I went over to my neighbor's last night, after I saw the earlier posts, taking my Thermoworks IR thermometer.  

She got an induction stovetop in February after her old stovetop died.  

 

Hers has the "Melt" function.  Is a Samsung 5 burner (she got a great deal buying the Samsung stovetop, dishwasher and a Samsung fridge at an amazing discount of 40% off for buying all three at the same time).  

It has a "single burner Melt function"   and after being turned on to the first click, "Low", a magnetic pan placed on it reaches a top temp of 110°F.  

The second click produces an "S" (Simmer) 150°F.  MAXIMUM for that burner.

All the other burners have a minimum temperature of 210°F  Three have maximum temps of 420°F

And the big burner has a maximum temp of 550°  for "searing" ... 

I did all the testing with her Tramontina stovetop cookware - she got a 9-piece set free for buying the appliances at Pacific Sales. (plus a couple of the anti-fatigue mats, a set of utensils and other goodies.  

 

The instruction book says the MELT functions is for chocolate.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by andiesenji (log)

[Anna N]

 Thanks very much. That was exactly the experiment that I had planned but not yet got around to.  I still might do it because I am curious about my own rangetop. 

[andiesenji]

She has not used the MELT burner for either chocolate or butter.  She uses it to keep milk warm prior to foaming it for her coffee or espresso drinks.  She doesn't like to use the steam wand because it is a "bitch to clean" so she uses a "cheap handheld mixer/frother" that her kids can't break like the "expensive" one she got for Christmas last year...  (I gathered she was still a bit pissed about this.)

Anyway, she says she doesn't like boiling milk in her coffee so this keeps it just warm enough and it froths better than when it is just out of the fridge.

She says she "highly recommends the Tramontina cookware"  especially the deep saute pan, 5 quart with lid.  She is short and finds it awkward to use taller dutch ovens and such so this is more comfortable for her to use for soups, stews, that are usually cooked in a deeper pot.

She said when she got the set, she did not think she would use this much but has come to rely on it frequently. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

A further question:  when the stove was installed the superintendent warned me about placing wet pots on the ceramic top.  So far I have been diligent but drying pot bottoms is a pain.  Anyone have advice?

 

[Smithy]

Have you a trivet they could be set upon until they dry? Or are you talking about setting wet pots atop hot ceramic? 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

Have you a trivet they could be set upon until they dry? Or are you talking about setting wet pots atop hot ceramic? 

 

Wet pots on cold, about to be hot, ceramic.

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Wet pots on cold, about to be hot, ceramic.

 

 I am really not sure why you were given the caution but I do know that on my ceramic induction range  wet pots leave a nasty grunge as the water boils off and leaves behind the minerals and that wet pots are slipsliding away!  

[Martin Fisher]

17 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

superintendent warned me about placing wet pots on the ceramic top

 

Ask him to elaborate,

[chromedome]

53 minutes ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Ask him to elaborate,

...'cause I do it all the time, and no harm done. 

 

So far the worst thing I've done to my ceramic is make kettle corn in my aluminum Wearever pot, which requires constant shaking and therefore leaves a molecule-thick (but surprisingly difficult to eradicate) aluminum sheen on the cooktop. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Ask him to elaborate,

 

He already had.  He said wet pots could cause the top to crack.

 

[Anna N]

22 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

He already had.  He said wet pots could cause the top to crack.

 

So what if the potatoes boil over?   It has been known to happen.  I don't know.  It sounds a bit far out to me. 

[Martin Fisher]

37 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

He already had.  He said wet pots could cause the top to crack.

 

 

Hmmmm! 

I would ask the manufacturer.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

Hmmmm! 

I would ask the manufacturer.

 

Well, I saw nothing about using wet pans in the safety section of the manual.  Then I reread the rest.  Buried down in the "For Best Results" pages there is this paragraph:

 

"Place only dry pans on the surface elements...wet pans and lids may stick to the surface when cool."

 

So I was given good advice but for the wrong reason.  I also read that the "melt setting will melt chocolate or butter".  Indeed.

 

[cdh]

If this is induction, how did the butter get everywhere if it needed to be in a magnetic pan for the heat to get to it?  You have cast iron flat butter dishes?