Wipe up spills as soon as they occur to avoid cooking on soil. Acid spills can etch the enamel surface.

Turn heat down to the lowest temperature that will continue cooking process to reduce boil-over spills, save energy, and avoid discoloring the reflector bowls. When frying, use a cover if OK for cooking process; or a mesh grease-catcher cover for frypan to reduce grease spatters. Use ventilating fan to collect greasy soils instead of letting them deposit on surfaces in the house.

Reflector bowls need to be kept shiny and clean, not for appearance, but for even and efficient cooking, since they are designed to reflect heat back into the bottom of the cooking pan. Brown stains from burned-on food, or blue or gold stains from overheating make them less efficient.

Do not line bowls with aluminum foil unless manual says it's OK, as overheating may occur in some cases. In some gas burners foil may melt.

Oversize Kettles and Reflector Bowls Reflector bowls overheat and may discolor permanently when pans larger than the surface burner are used, blocking air flow and trapping heat under the pan. This often occurs when oversized kettles or canners are used for a long period of time, especially at high settings. Some brands with removable elements offer a large raised unit that allows air circulation underneath for canners and large kettles. Others offer special "Canning Kits" to use with canners. Without these, alternate burners for continuous batches, do not can all day, start canner with hot water to reduce time burner is on High, and never put canner on two burners at same time as this builds up more heat on enamel cooktop. Use only flat- bottom canners.

Overheating under large utensils can build up to 1200 F. and craze and chip enamel, and even burn out elements. They also overheat more with pans not flat on the bottom, such as warped pans, or ridged-bottom pans like water- bath canners. Use of abrasive scouring powders or pads will also discolor the bowls over time and should be avoided.

This article was written by Anne Field, Extension Specialist, Emeritus, with references from the Porcelain Enamel Institute and the Maytag Corporation.



MSU 2003