Electric stove element repair

Perhaps check with the experts on s.e.j.w

From what I've seen the folks who insist that you have to cook on gas and that electric is terrible don't actually know how to cook. Real chefs just cook on whatever appliance they have in front of them and produce consistently perfect results regardless of gas, halogen, cal-rod, induction, etc. The gas envy thing mostly results from the fact that it is used in commercial kitchens largely because it is cheaper per BTU than electric and commercial kitchens use a *lot* of BTUs.

Thanks for posting it there! The thing I liked about gas is instant heat control but this electric DOES that! Gas leaves dirty, greasy, sooty spooge on everything.

My Mom always preferred electric - the problem I've had with it is, when you turn off the power to the burner, it stays HOT HOT hot hot beyond your cooking time, and you have to move the pan. I don't know how Mom did it, but everything always came out perfect, but that could be just because she was Mom. ;-)

I just got a tabletop gas grille for $25.00 new, and last Friday did four burgers.

They came out edible!!! :-) :-) :-)

Cheers! Rich

This thing is amazing! The element cools instantly, the quartz top is hot to the touch but cooking stops immediately. The element doesn't have different heat levels, it pulses the element on and off at full power; the higher the control is set, the more "on" pulses it receives. The pan heats up from radiant heat not transferred heat, if the pan bottom isn't perfectly flat, it doesn't heat correctly. Cheap pans work terribly, my Cuisinart pans are flat and heavy and work well as does cast iron.

I can recal the "Oldtimers" telling me that they used to repair electric heating elements made of resistance wire by putting a little borax on the broken ends, then touching them together while energized. The borax acted like flux. This memory is from at least 60 years ago.

Yes it is flux. The wires are normally brittle as all get out.

What I do is get some nichrome wire - wrap it in a loop and make it ~ width of the wire - then clamp or crimp a loop over the two ends - and paint the connections with Borax. Turn on power.

You can find Borax in the food store - be sure you get the mineral and not the soap!!! I use it as a flux on my furnace. Don't have the box anymore - I put it in a bucket I can seal. It makes a nice glassy layer on the metal.

In chemistry, this is used to make balls of material on a stick and then introduce a chemical. The white ball turns a unique color of the new mineral.

Mart> I can recal the "Oldtimers" telling me that they used to repair