I had something similar to that happen when I was lighting a deep fryer. I told my boss that I would not light it again until it was properly serviced as it nearly blew my face off. The next day, there was a repairman there and he said it looked like it hadn't been serviced in 20 years.

For crying out loud, did anyone read the original question? Thank god I wasn't holding my breath!

Hi Wistful,

You certainly have a point there:o Sorry if we got side tracked. I did read your origianl question and each consecutive answer and got caught up in the previous posts after your original.

I have cooked more on electric that gas stoves, but honestly can not tell you the answer to your temp's question. I believe KYH came as close to the correct answer as anyone.

I wonder if perhaps you could contact the mfg. of your particular stove and ask them for the settings on the thermostats for the burners, that might at least get you somewhere in the proximity of correct temps?

Once again sorry for the disregard to you original question, CCCathy

That won't help, particularly, Cathy, because the burners degrade over time, and do not produce near the Btus as they did originally. Besides which, will knowing that info help the average home coook at all? They'd just be comparative numbers, for the various burners on that stove.

Whoever said that the burners put out what they put out, and you have to get used to the particular stove, is right on the money.

Wistful, a common test for heat output is to see how long it takes to boil a quart of water. Keep everything as consistent as possible. If nothing else, this will give you comparative outputs of the four burners you have. Were it me I would do the test three times for each burner, using the low, med and high settings.

I've decided to hell with cooking, I'm going to eat out until I find a woman who knows how to cook and is willing marry a handsome, witty, greek-godlike, half-wit.