Problem with Kenmore stove

[ratsrcute]

My landlord just installed a new stove. It's a Kenmore electric. There's no model number on the stove, but I think it's their cheapest model. It is not self-cleaning. It has the flat ceramic top (no visible burners).

Anyway, it has a problem. The burners take a long time to come up to temperature, or to cool off. For example, if I need to boil something, then set to low in order to simmer it, here's what happens. I set to "High" to boil it, then turn down to "Lo". Well, it keeps boiling furiously for up to ten minutes!

So then I tried boiling it on one burner, then transferring it to another to simmer. So it boiled, then I moved it to the other burner set on low, and here's what happened. It got completely cool, and took about ten minutes to come back up to a simmer temperature!

Then I tried "preheating" the second burner by putting it on high for a few minutes. Still, the dish cooled off too much, then took about ten minutes for the temperature to stabilize at a normal simmer.

The bleepin stove is a pain in the *** and almost useless like this. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior for a cheap Kenmore stove, or is there something wrong with it?

Mike

 

[Robo410]

Have used several glasstops over the past 10 years and none like you describe. Sounds like something is wrrong. Reort it while still under warranty

 

[sage™]

tell him to give you different one..lol That doesn't sound like it working right at all. Maybe some sort of thermostat prob. I have never had that kind of stove and it has been years since i have cooked on an electric stove. I know I probably had the cheapest electric stoves in apts I lived in and they never were that bad.

 

[jennyema]

Sounds also like it might not be that safe a situation for you, either. Point that out to the LL.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Ask the LL if their Fire Insurance is up to date!!

 

[DramaQueen]

My landlord just installed a new stove. It's a Kenmore electric. There's no model number on the stove, but I think it's their cheapest model. It is not self-cleaning. It has the flat ceramic top (no visible burners).

Anyway, it has a problem. The burners take a long time to come up to temperature, or to cool off. For example, if I need to boil something, then set to low in order to simmer it, here's what happens. I set to "High" to boil it, then turn down to "Lo". Well, it keeps boiling furiously for up to ten minutes!

So then I tried boiling it on one burner, then transferring it to another to simmer. So it boiled, then I moved it to the other burner set on low, and here's what happened. It got completely cool, and took about ten minutes to come back up to a simmer temperature!

Then I tried "preheating" the second burner by putting it on high for a few minutes. Still, the dish cooled off too much, then took about ten minutes for the temperature to stabilize at a normal simmer.

The bleepin stove is a pain in the *** and almost useless like this. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior for a cheap Kenmore stove, or is there something wrong with it?

Mike

There is nothing wrong with the stove. This is the way electric ranges work. I wouldn't cook on anything but electric, but I've been cooking on electric for 40 years. I tried gas for a couple of months and told Sears to take it back. I hated it. Takes waaay too long for anything to come to temperature.

Anyway getting back to your range, instead of waiting for it to come to a full boil, cut the temp back as soon as you see bubbles forming, it will come to a quick boil then settle to a simmer. If you need to turn it off quickly so as not to give your dish any more heat, simply take the pan off the burner.

I will tell you this, there is NO way in **** that it should take 10 minutes to bring a pot to boil or to cool down. It shouldn't take more than 3 or 4 minutes to bring a quart of water to a full boil, and another one or 2 minutes to bring it down to a simmer. If it does, you have a problem. You may have a very cheaply made range. It takes some patience to learn to cook on an electric range, but once you know how to manipulate the burners it is the best way to cook but that's my opinion. It's very clean, efficient and much faster than gas. It takes twice as long to boil a quart of water on a gas stove than electric. Heck, at my age I can't wait that long.

If you choose not to learn the basics of electric cooking, you should ask your landlord to replace that range with gas or a better quality electric. By the way, remind your landlord that cooking by electric is more expensive and if you're paying the bill it's costing YOU more.

I'm curious, did he replace a gas range with electric or did you have electric when you moved in??

 

[edo]

Well, I just moved into an apt. with an ancient electric cooktop. Yes, it does heat up fast (once I sanded the crud off the contacts), but so far for simmering, forget it! The water just merrily boil away, no matter how I approach the low temperature. I'll try some of the suggestions posted here, though I think that a stove where one has to "watch the pot" in order to go from boil to simmer is a bad design. Another thing I'll try is getting some sort of a griddle pan to use as a diffuser. In any case, any other suggestions will be appreciated! - edo

 

[babetoo]

have always cooked on a gas range, many different ones. i don't think electric is faster by any means. opps had one electric cook top, one of those with no burners. i hated it. electric is cleaner , but in this town gas is less expensive.

guess one can get used to anything , if u use it long enough.

babe

 

[ejleomon]

could be your cookware

I, too, have a Kenmore ceramic top (but mine is the top of the line) range. I found a huge...and I mean, HUGE!...difference in cooking times, ability to retain heat when switching burners or turning to "low," and simmering temperatures per the type of cookware. There is, however, a difference between the two large burners in heating. My range has a simmer-select mode for one large burner, whereas the other large burner has two set of elements (one for regular-sized pans and the dual burner setup for over-sized pans). These two burners do heat differently and, if I forget to switch the "simmer-select" mode off, that burner really heats slowly.

For one thing, the cookware bottoms HAVE to be completely flat to work properly on a ceramic top range. Interestingly, I have used two different versions of the same cookware (Farberware Millenium) and gotten different results in using them. The coated ("silverstone" or whatever they call it) cookware heats up much faster than the plain ole stainless "bare-ware." I would imagine that the better (heavier) quality cookware would perform even better on the ceramic cooktop. So, you probably cannot blame the range entirely for your heating woes.

However, since the range should still be under warranty, ask your LL to request that Sears send a service person to your home to check the range out. I have found that Sears is excellent in customer service per warranty--and, even, non-warranty--repairs.

 

[Maverick2272]

I have no love for electric, but then I have not cooked on any of the ceramic tops yet so I will withhold final verdict on that. But, from what I have been hearing here on the forum, the ceramic tops should not be performing as you described.
It sounds like something is not working properly and the temp is all or nothing with no settings in between.
If the LL just got it, it should be under warranty. If this is the case, I can't see the harm in calling the LL and having him get someone out (under warranty) to take a look at it for you. Worse case scenario, the tech tells you there is nothing wrong with it and gives you a quick lesson on how to use it.