Sheldon replied to Bob

>> Often one will see recipes that say "Cook on medium heat" or "Cook at a
>> low setting" ... in the last few days I've seen mention on a couple of
>> TV cooking shows that lead me to believe that the following may hold:
>>
>> Medium corresponds to 350 degrees F
>> Medium-High corresponds to 375 degrees F
>>
>> I have no idea if that's generally accepted or not. So, what's the
>> consensus here (right, like we're going to get a consensus!!) for:
>>
>> High
>> Medium-High
>> Medium
>> Medium-Low
>> Low
>> Simmer
>>
>
> Except for "simmer" (doesn't belong) those settings apply to oven
> temperatures, not cooktop temperatures. Cooktop settings do not
> correspond to particular temperatures, and with gas the flame burns at
> the same temperature regardless how low or high... with cooktops only
> the BTU setting is adjustable... which is why cook top burners do not
> have thermostats, with cooktops the cook needs to interpolate, which is
> one of the reasons gas is better, it's far easier to interpolate than
> electric. Ovens do employ a thermostat, and they cycle full on or full
> off, the oven BTU setting is not user adjustable.


Now let's put this in the context of an electric pan, where the temperature
given on the dial *does* correspond to a cooktop setting. "Simmer" would be
right around 212F.

If the reader is incapable of wrapping his head around that concept, he may
choose to continue to think of cooktop settings in terms of BTU's, though
good cooks wouldn't.

Bob