# Boiling water on gas stovetop?



## speedster1

LOL. Yes I know how to boil water but this is really just a rant about gas stoves. As a kid I grew up with a natural gas stove but over the last 15 years I've used electric exclusively. During the last 15 years I've learned to cook and after purchasing a new home with a gas stove in december I've become hugely frustrated with the simple act of boiling water. Frying and other stove top cooking hasn't been much different, but I put a pot of water on to make pasta the other day and it seemed like it took forever to boil. I had the flame on it's highest setting and it looked like a pretty healthy flame. But it took like 15-20 minutes for that pot of water to roll. With my old electric range the same pot of water would've been rocking in 5 minutes or so. 

Is this common with a gas stovetop? The range is a GE range which appears to be about 10 years old. Still looks to be in good shape. But 15 minutes to boil water! WTH? Any tips on making teh water boil faster?


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## toeey1

speedster1 said:


> LOL. Yes I know how to boil water but this is really just a rant about gas stoves. As a kid I grew up with a natural gas stove but over the last 15 years I've used electric exclusively. During the last 15 years I've learned to cook and after purchasing a new home with a gas stove in december I've become hugely frustrated with the simple act of boiling water. Frying and other stove top cooking hasn't been much different, but I put a pot of water on to make pasta the other day and it seemed like it took forever to boil. I had the flame on it's highest setting and it looked like a pretty healthy flame. But it took like 15-20 minutes for that pot of water to roll. With my old electric range the same pot of water would've been rocking in 5 minutes or so.
> 
> Is this common with a gas stovetop? The range is a GE range which appears to be about 10 years old. Still looks to be in good shape. But 15 minutes to boil water! WTH? Any tips on making teh water boil faster?


I prefer gas cooktops but unfortunately I have electric. Perhaps your burner is faulty because 15-20 minutes seems very excessive.

Are you at a high altitude?


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## BJLower

*Natural gas or propane?*

Someone I worked with purchased the second best stove that Sears sold. He told me that several servicemen had come to his house to attempt to determine why the stove's front burners worked normally while the back burners shot out a large amount of flame. I asked him if he was using propane of natural gas. When he said propane I new what the problem was. I told him that propane had a lot more power than natural gas an tha the orafices on the rear burners ere made for natural gas and that was why they were shooting out so much flame.

His wife was needles to say a bit ticked that the Sears service had not been able to determin such a simple problem. They replaced the stove with the best model that they sold.

If you aren't hooked up to the correct gas for the stove you could be getting much less flame than your should. I've been electric for some time, but as I remember as gas burner of full blast will shoot flames about an inch or so above the grill


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## speedster1

BJLower said:


> Someone I worked with purchased the second best stove that Sears sold. He told me that several servicemen had come to his house to attempt to determine why the stove's front burners worked normally while the back burners shot out a large amount of flame. I asked him if he was using propane of natural gas. When he said propane I new what the problem was. I told him that propane had a lot more power than natural gas an tha the orafices on the rear burners ere made for natural gas and that was why they were shooting out so much flame.
> 
> His wife was needles to say a bit ticked that the Sears service had not been able to determin such a simple problem. They replaced the stove with the best model that they sold.
> 
> If you aren't hooked up to the correct gas for the stove you could be getting much less flame than your should. I've been electric for some time, but as I remember as gas burner of full blast will shoot flames about an inch or so above the grill


Thanks for the suggestions. As I said, the flame coming from the stove appears to be a nice strong flame. I've checked all 4 burners and with the naked eye they all seem to be the same strength.

If I use a frying pan to cook an egg or anything else the gas burner seems to cook at a comparable speed to my old electric. It's just the act of boiling things that seem to take forever. As long as I can remember I've already heard the gas stove tops were superior to electric electric stove tops and electric ovens were superior to gas ovens (hence the expensive duel fuel ranges available). I've baked bread and pizza in this gas oven and it seems to be on par with my old electric. It's just the rediculously long boil times thats getting on my nerves.

Is there a way I can measure the amount of BTU's being output at the stove?


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## AppleMac*Fit

speedster1 said:


> Is there a way I can measure the amount of BTU's being output at the stove?


Just find the model number of your stove (should be a sticker in the frame of the bottom drawer) and Google it. You should be able to find the owner's manual for your stove. That should list the BTUs.


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## Jacques

it's not you. on a 4 burner stove you have one high burner but unless it's a higher end model it will take forever to boil a large pot. if you replace the range look for one with high BTU burner.


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## Snav

You've been spoiled with your quick cooking electric! 
I have an electric and it takes 10-15 minutes to boil a 2-quart pot, 20-25 to boil a dutch oven.

But, the others sound right - a gas should be quicker than that, actually - my old cheap-as-it-gets gas stove in the other house would really crank up the heat.


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## DangerMouse

other variables could also be the size of the pan, amount of water, etc... if the burner is all the way up and the pan is smallish, the heat goes around the edges and will not boil as fast as it would if you lowered the heat so the flame is under the flat of the pan.... or use a larger pan.

DM


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## speedster1

I'm using the same two pots I used on my electric stove. One is a cuisenart 6 quart pasta pot that is stainless steel with a copper-clad bottom. The other is a heavy 6 quart Le Crueset enamel covered cast iron pot that I use for soups and stews. Both pots have bottoms large enough that the flame does not wrap up the sides of the pot.

I could understand a little if the cast iron pan took longer to boil water simply becuase it's heavy iron. But I'd think the copper clad pasta cooker would be abel to boil water faster.


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## DangerMouse

yeah, you'd think so.... hmmm

DM


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## Chucky Jesus

*Hottest part of the flame should just touch the bottom of the pan.*

Speed,

Remember from chemistry lab that the hottest part of the flame is at the tip of the cone inside of the entire flame. Too high or too low and you're not getting the best heat. Adjust the burner so it looks like this and you should get better results:


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## ojc

The wife and I purchased a new GE Profile gas range and it DOES take a long time to boil.

Although i love the chemistry bunsen burner pic, it seems that most of the flame blows out the side of the pan, unless you have a big bottom :thumbsup: (spinal tap anyone?)

ojc


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