"Stan Horwitz" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Dan Abel > wrote:
>
> > In article >,
> > Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
> >
> > > On Sun 01 Jan 2006 08:57:52p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Stan
> > > Horwitz?
> >
> > > > minutes later, meatballs are bubbling away, so I turned off the
heat. I
> > > > realized I was late picking up a friend from a nearby train station,
so
> > > > I asked my sister to check on the meatballs
> >
> >
> > Sounds like your sister didn't do a very good job of checking on them.
>
> Since I thought the heat elements were turned off and I told her so
> before I drove over to pick up my friend, she had no reason to doubt me
> ... until the burned smell started to waft through her kitchen!
>
[snip...]

How old is the electric range?

The reason I ask is because I have a Hotpoint electric range that has what I
consider two different safety features.

1. The dial has to be pushed in to move from the OFF position to any heat
position.

2. A red light on the dial console labelled Surface Unit lights up when any
of the burners is in any heat position.

As such, turning a burner off results in an audible click as the dial pops
out and locks in the OFF position, and the Surface Unit light turns off when
all burners are in the OFF position. By extension, if any dial doesn't click
out and lock, it's not fully in the OFF position, and the Surface Unit light
will remain lit.