I want to buy a pressure cooker but have heard that it's hard to regulate the heat when using a smooth cooktop electric stove. Has anyone else had problems using them on this type of cooktop? I have found an electric pressure cooker by Ultrex on HSN but am not familiar with their reliability. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-- P. Bailey (jbailey@indy.rr.com), August 10, 2001

Answers

No problema. Mine has "infinite" heat adjustment.

Also, I inherited a really cool stainless steel pressure cooker, which has a totally different pressure control thingamabob. It doesn't have the weight that dances around, like my old one, and the heat can be turned down, until these two little lines are both showing (hard to explain). Because of this, I can cook on a VERY Low heat setting,whereas with my old one with the dancing weight, I had to use a very high heat setting. This also means I can cook more food with less water. Way cool!

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 11, 2001.

When I went shopping for my new stove about 2 years ago, I really wanted one of the smooth cooktops. I went to 3 major appliance stores, Sears, looked at Maytags, and GE's. I was upfront and honest, I can alot, with both waterbath, and a pressure cooker, and also pasturize milk with an oversize stockpot twice a day. The salespeople all told me it was not a good idea. They explained that the smooth tops have heat sensors built in to the size of the burner, and anything bigger around would make them either turn off--with a "built in" wait before you could re-start the burner, or would make it so you couldn't turn the burner down...high, or off, no choice. Now, since appliance salesmen work on commission, and the smooth cooktop was considerably more expensive, I figured they were telling me the truth. I went with what I considered the next best option, and went with the drip-pans that were porcelin-clad, and can be either run through the dishwasher, or cleaned in the self-cleaning oven. To be honest, I have never used the oven, but run them through the dishwasher at least 3 times a week--I'm a messy cook, and when my sons cook--well, you don't want to know! But since you already have the cook top, I would give it a try--they never said it would hurt the stove, just that I would find it frustrating to use for that. If it works, please let me know--and then watch for me to advertise a 2 year old top-of-the-line Maytag stove here cheap! I hope this helps. Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@centurytel.net), August 11, 2001.

My sister has one of those cooktops like you mention. I would be afraid of the weight breaking it. Easier to clean, but... I was looking through the parts book for my Kenmore 4 burner range, and they make a special burner element for canning. It's a lot more expensive than a regular element ($70 vs $20), but it's designed for the weight. I tried canning last year on my regular element, and I was really nervous about it holding up to the weight.

-- Joan Murray (alandjoan@juno.com), August 11, 2001.

I hot water bath can on a smooth top stove every summer. I've had the stove at least 8 years and have never had a problem with it. I think it does take slightly longer to heat the canner initially but it maintains the heat much longer after turning it down than a gas or an electric ring type stove.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), August 11, 2001.

My house had a smooth top Maytag in it when I moved in. I hate it because none of my big pots or my water-bath canner have smooth bottoms. They take forever to get the water hot enough. I can barely even cook spaghetti or noodles, and I have given up trying to do any canning here.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), August 11, 2001.

I have found out that the Ultrex brand of PC has a smooth bottom and can be used on a smooth cooktop. They are sold on HSN.com. They also offer an electric model.

-- P. Bailey (jbailey@indy.rr.com), August 11, 2001.

For the ones that have the temperature sensors, would it be possible to get one or two of those heat diffuser discs? Maybe that would lift the pan high enough off of the surface to make it stop tripping the thermostat.

Just a thought.

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), August 17, 2001.

I have an Amana ceramic cookstop stove and use it for water-bath and pressure canning. My canner is cast aluminum and does take awhile to heat up, but once it's hot I can turn the heat way down and finish on low heat or even turn the burner off to finish. My pots are larger than the burners but my stove does not shut them off when using the over-sized pots.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), August 17, 2001.