Suggestions on buying a new gas range needed

[k15n1]

I had time to run into Home Depot while dh went into the cell phone store nearby. I knew it wasn't likely going to have much selection, but I just wanted to see some stoves and get a visual. The online pictures are all black stoves or tops and impossible to see what I am looking at.

Anyways, I narrowed things down a bit. Sheesh, I have expensive taste.

I MUST have cast iron grates and a cast iron griddle. The enamelled grates look so flimsy and will get chipped the first time I use them, I'm sure. The cheaper stoves had non-stick griddles, and I won't use teflon.

I MUST have the fifth burner!!! Ooo-la-la!

I can live without the simmer burner, right? Although it seems they all have them. Why not just turn the gas down really, really low? It seems like that would limit the use of one burner. Maybe?

The lady in charge of the appliance department claimed to know her stuff, then said she'd never heard of a simmer burner! I had to show her.....I asked about the higher grates and the handles getting hot, and of course, she was clueless. I had her call GE and the person she talked to "had never heard of such a thing!" Well.

So I could not get an answer on how the high grates would be described in an online description, so I don't know how to screen for that in my research. Any ideas?

My understanding is that you can't fake the simmer feature. The flame is actually farther from the pan, making possible lower temps than a normal burner turned down low. I don't know if it's needed for canning, but if you need the low-temp simmer, I don't think there's a work-around.

I have a 4-burner ceramic-top stove and I frequently use all of the burners, or at least 3. Sometimes I can't fit my pots and pans on the stovetop at once. Check the spacing of the burners. I think it won't be a problem if you're going to purchase a larger size range, but it might be worth checking.

 

[animalfarm]

I have a large 6 burner gas/propane stove (I use propane). 36" wide.

Stay away from as much electronic crap as you possibly can. Uses up electricity and when it fails its expensive to fix. Last year I had the famous locking oven happen as well. I was very lucky that it locked up before I got the turkey into it as it was 3 weeks before it could be opened. That would have been nastier then the Chinese buffet we ended up eating for christmas dinner. Brand new stove and the first time to use the oven, and boy was I saying some un Christmassy things.

Even though I have 6 burners, I can only get 2 canners on it at a time. The reason is that the 3 back burners are too close to the 2" high riser vent at the back of the stove, and the canners won't center on the burners because of it. That means I can only use the front right and left burners at the same time for canning. Not enough space to squeeze a third canner in between on the middle burner. If you don't want to can a barge load of food at one time, this is a non issue, but my stock pots are as big or bigger then my canners and its burning me up that such a large stove cannot accommodate 3 large pots. Point of the story is; can you fit your personal pots on the stove you are considering and use them in the combinations you need? Haul them into the store and try them out if you have to. Its a real eye opener.

My stove produces 19000 BTUs so I have to use a simmer (heat diffuser) plate for the delicate stuff or when using smaller pots. You can either get a small aluminum one at cooking supply store or if you have a cast iron griddle, you can put that on the burner and set your pot on that. It will diffuse the heat and keep things from burning on the bottom. You want your griddle to approximate the size of the pot bottom. A little larger is ok.