Everyone needs food as a sustenance to live and we are long past the time of hunting and consuming raw food.
With the invention of technology, innovation, and development of human mind and intelligence, we have brought forth ways to consume food without the fear of having health problems from raw, unfazed, and unhygienic food.
Today, we use heat to cook and eat the food. Primarily, and widely, fire is used to cook food but we have figured out better, faster, and safer ways to cook food and handle heat.
Electric stoves are one of those innovations that we use today to cook our food converts energy from one form to the other.
We have learnt to convert one form of energy to the other and use it to our benefit, and in this case, the mechanisms in the stove, namely, the heating element, turns the electrical energy into heat energy and heats up food.
Electric Stoves are safer replacements of stoves that use standard fuel, that is, gas to operate. They are installed with electrical heated device to cook and bake. They take lesser maintenance and are safer because they are less prone to fire-hazards than gas stoves.
These stoves heat up fast and cook quickly to save time, and if the right kitchenware is used, cooks very evenly. On top of that, there is no fear of gas leaks.
Now, let us learn about the low, medium, and high heats on an electric stove, and acquire more interesting facts about electric stoves.
Medium, high, low heat on electric stove:
On a 1-9 electric stove, the low heat is 1, the medium heat is 5, which is approximately half of the range, while the high heat is 9. On the other hand, on a 1-6 electric stove, the low heat is 1–just like 1-9 stoves, the medium heat is 3–which is the middle of the range, and the high heat is 6.
Electric stoves mainly come with two types of dials in case of levels indicated by dials. Therefore, one stove comes with dial that ranges from 1 to 9, that is, a nine-numbered stovetop, and another stove whose knob starts at 1 and ends on 6, called the six-numbered stovetop.
As we are well aware about electric stoves which do have heating mechanisms installed in them and they are regulated with the help of a dial. The dial controls the wattage sent to the heating element present in the coils. It allows a specific wattage of electricity through, which then is converted to heat in the metal coils.
Here, the amount of heat is determined by the amount of electricity that passes through. This procedure is controlled by burner control switches, which is then controlled by the dials.
Besides, these dials have numbers painted on them or they point to numbers painted around them. Some stovetops have a 1-9 range while some has 1-6. The dials, when turned can be set in different levels of heat. They are elaborated below.
Medium-low heat or simmer:
The medium-low configuration means, the temperature is somewhere between low and medium. This temperature makes anything on the stove simmer. Simmer is when the food is below boiling point and gently bubbling.
On a nine-numbered stovetop, the medium-low heat ranges from 2-4 on the dial, while it is 2 in a six-numbered stovetop. Moreover, in the Fahrenheit scale, the medium-low temperature is 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the centigrade scale, it is 148.89 degrees Celsius.
Low heat:
When the dial is turned down to the lowest heat, the heat is called to be low. This is when the food just starts to simmer. Low heat is best when one needs to make a sauce or reduce liquid in a pan, meaning, this heat is best for cooking slow.
Low heat is when the dial is at 1 in both stovetops, nine numbered and six numbered. The temperature, when the heat is at the lowest, is 275 degrees Fahrenheit, and in Celsius scale, it is 135 degrees Celsius.
Medium heat:
This level sits stack in the middle of the range, approximately. Medium heat is said to be the safe level since the food is neither cooked too slow, nor does it burn, like they do in high heats.
That means, for a nine-numbered stovetop, medium heat will be at 4 or 5. And, for a six-numbered stovetop, the medium heat will be 3.
Temperature that is found when the stove is set at medium heat is 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the Celsius scale it is 176.67 degrees. This level is best for cooking rice, scrambled eggs, and so on.
Medium-high heat:
Medium-high heat is the level between medium heat and high heat. The dial ranges from 6 to 8 in the case of a nine-numbered stovetop and its set on 5 in a six-numbered stovetop.
The food starts to boil and this stage, starting to create strong bubbles. The temperature ranges from 400 degrees to 450 degrees in the Fahrenheit scale and 204.44 degrees to 232.22 degrees in the Celsius scale.
This level is normally used for frying, sautéing, cooking meat, or ground meat.
High heat:
This is the highest heat in a stove. When the dial is on 9 in a nine numbered stovetop, and on 6 in a six numbered stovetop, the stove is normally in high heat.
High heat is used for boiling. This is when the food and liquid is boiling and rapidly emitting steam. It is used when pasta needs to be boiled, or steaming vegetables.
Temperature ranges from 500 degrees till 650 degrees in the Fahrenheit scale while in the Centigrade scale, it starts from 260 degrees till 343.33 degrees.
Electric stove heat and temperature according to the numbers:
| Heat | Electric stovetop number(1-9) | Electric stovetop number(1-6) | Temperature (Celsius) | Temperature (Fahrenheit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium-low heat | 2-4 | 2 | 148.889 | 300 |
| Low heat | 1 | 1 | 135 | 275 |
| Medium heat | 5 | 3 | 176.667 | 350 |
| Medium-high heat | 6-8 | 5 | 204.44-232.22 | 400-450 |
| High heat | 9 | 6 | 260-343.333 | 500-650 |
What controls the temperature in an electric oven?
The burner control switch that is installed on the oven controls the temperature of the oven.
The oven has burner controls that is temperature-sensitive and regulates the temperature as needed. There are several heating mechanisms that are present inside the oven. Burner controls regulate those by allowing a specific amount of electricity to flow inside the coils. It turns them on and off as per the demand or necessity and that is how different levels of heat are gained.
The accuracy and sensitivity of these switches differ from oven to oven despite the mechanism being almost the same in every oven or stove.
Are all electric stove temperatures the same?
No, not all electric stoves temperature are the same.
Even though most electric stoves work with the same principle, they are not the same. Some have a big heating element whose temperature ranges between 1472 degrees Fahrenheit to 1652 degrees Fahrenheit.
On the other hand, some stoves come with a small heating element and their temperature ranges from 932 degrees Fahrenheit to 1112 degrees Fahrenheit.
Again, some stoves come with different electric ranges, for instance, there are stoves whose thermostat levels start from 1 to 9 while some start from 1 and ends at 6.
Thus, these stoves have four levels of temperature, namely, low heat (275 degrees Fahrenheit), medium-low heat (300 degrees Fahrenheit), medium heat (350 degrees Fahrenheit), medium-high heat (400-450), and high heat (500-650 degrees Fahrenheit).
Both those stoves have different heating mechanisms and elements. These have a way of affecting the cooking time, heat, etc.
Some stoves have thermostats that are more temperature-sensitive than other stoves and that creates a difference too, since the one with the more accurate thermostats lets the user control the heat better. As a result, the heat and time is more easily predicted.
Do electric stoves get hotter than gas?
Yes, electric stoves get hotter than gas stoves.
Moreover, upon turning the dial, the electricity runs to the coils and that heats up the metal coils. As a result, the more the dial is turned the hotter the coils turn but once the dial is turned down, it takes some time for the metal to cool down.
But, in a gas stove, the heat is not trapped inside the metal rather vented into the air. Again, upon the dial being turned down, the temperature goes down faster than it does in an electric stove, resulting the gas stove cooling down faster.
Final thoughts
To conclude, low, medium, and high heat differs with different knobs on different stoves. On a nine-numbered stove top, the low heat is 1, the medium heat is 5, while the high heat is 9. On the other hand, on a six-numbered stovetop, the low heat is 1, the medium heat is 3, and the high heat is 6.