How to Use Cookware on a Glass-Top Range

Glass-top ranges are sleek and easy to clean, but they can suffer serious damage if not used properly. The way cookware is used on a gas or electric coil range can cause serious damage to glass-top ranges, requiring costly repairs or even full replacement. There are a few basic rules for using cookware on glass-top ranges that can keep your range in good working order and avoid catastrophic cookware blunders.

• 1

  Use only cookware that is less than 1 inch wider than the burners. The surface of the stove around the burners is not intended to reach the high temperatures of the surface above the burners. Pots larger than the burners can conduct heat to these less heat-resistant areas and damage them.

• 2

  Use only flat-bottom cookware. Pans with bottom ridges cause uneven distribution of heat and will only heat food unevenly but also cause damage to the surface by overheating. Check the bottom of your cookware with a straight-edge ruler to see if it is flat enough for use with a glass-top range.

• 3

  Avoid cast iron cookware. Cast iron has many rough and uneven surfaces that can cause uneven heating.

• 4

  Use heat diffusers. Heat diffusers rest between the cookware and the surface of glass-top ranges. They help in spreading the heat evenly across the bottom of large, uneven cookware, preventing damage to the surface and uneven heating.

• 5

  Lift and place cookware on the glass-top range. Dragging cookware across the glass surface can cause scratches.

• 6

  Place cookware carefully on the surface of the glass-top range. Heavy cookware can crack glass-top ranges if dropped or placed too roughly on the surface.