Entries in this section are made on a surplus 330w lab hotplate (Thermolyne 15515b), which is set from the factory to hold 750F on its surface. Temperature experiements may follow.
grilled cheese
Experiments, from best to worst:
- B. Grilled cheese sandwiches (second attempt). Saute pan on small grate on hotplate. Temp was better (lower) but still had problems buttering the bread before cooking.
- B-. Grilled cheese sandwiches (first attempt). Saute pan directly on hotplate. Had problems buttering the bread before cooking.
toast
Not enough heat. :-(
Experiments, from best to worst:
- F. Fail. The little hotplate struggled to get the base of the camp toaster up to 525F. I placed the toaster on the propane camp stove on lowest setting and that jumped quickely to 735F.
boiling water
I boil 2c of water fairly frequently for various cooking duties. The little hotplate doesn’t have a lot of oomph but will get the job done.
This calculator gives an ideal-world 8mins for ~280w of power to bring 2c of water from 80F to 198 (I’m at 7,000’ right now). Of course that doesn’t include losses to the environment, heating the container, heating the hotplate surface itself, etc.
When I performed the test in a 1.4L covered aluminum saucepot (Sam’s Club calphalon-like anodized heavy aluminum Members Mark pot bought at thrift) observed time to 198 was around 16 minutes. I think preheating the hotplate could knock a couple minutes off that time, and so would preheating the pot a bit but there is no harm in just letting it ride.
simmering rice
The hotplate doesn’t have enough heat to boil the water+rice quickly, and I think this this affects rice quality. I’ve started bringing the rice to a boil on a regular stove then simmering on the hotplate.
- setting pot on the hotplate resulted in a violent boil and overflow
- setting pot on flame diffuser on hotplate resulted in a nice simmer (15-20mins)