Cooking For Engineers

[222fbj]

I am a new owner of a glass cooktop. One thing I've learned is pans need to have (very) flat bottoms to heat efficiently. Rounded bottom edges/corners are also not good.

I have a few old pans I'd like to keep using - but they do not work well because they are not flat. Mostly these are small/oddball things like butter warmer sized pans.

I was wondering if placing a metal disc on the glass would help these old pans heat up better? Any advice on what I should buy and where to find it?

I looked on amazon for metal/disc/trivet/cooktop but came up empty.

Thanks

[GaryProtein]

^^^^^Nope, sorry. Those metal disks are really for gas stoves to be used as a heat diffuser so a saucepan could simmer very gently or be kept slightly warm. The ceramic (CERAN) cooktops are already flat, so adding a flat disk to it won't really do anything for you.

If you can, and the pots and pans you wish to keep are aluminum, try what my father taught me when I was a kid. This won't give you a perfectly flat bottom like a premium cast or thick bottomed spun aluminum pan, but it helps a lot. Turn the pan upside down on a strong, preferably wood covered surface, but not your antique walnut dining room table. Make sure the handle overhangs the edge of the table so the pan sits flat on its rim. Take a 2X4 and place it on the bottom of the pan across its diameter, then whack it with a hammer. Then, turn the wood 90 degrees and whack it again, then every 45 degrees, then alternating to every 22.5 degrees. THEN, you can turn the pan right-side-up and use the end of the 2X4 and gently hit it with the hammer until the bottom is even flatter. Finally, turn the pan upside down again and tap the 2X4 as before to refine the surface.

For a very small pan, you might want to use a smaller piece of wood, like a 2X3. You get the idea.

Good luck. With patience, you can get the old pans pretty flat.