Boiling on glass stovetop info

If you have a glass or ceramic stovetop, you may have heard that you should use a flat-bottomed canner, but you have been unable to find one! Or, you may have heard that you are not supposed to can on a glass or ceramic stove top. Here's what I've found out from the manufacturers:

One of my suppliers asked a stove manufacturer as to why they were unable to find one. The stove manufacturer told they that on a glass/ceramic stove there is a sensor so that the heat can not go above a certain point thus breaking the top.

This sensor does not allow the burner to maintain an even temperature high enough for a canner to work safely. By fluctuating the temperature the bacteria is not eliminated in the canning process. Unfortunately this is not something the salesmen will tell the customer when they are buying the stove and probably many of them are unaware of this.

A flat-bottomed canner alone would not solve this problem for all stovetops. If yours has the sensor, the heat will still fluctuate and it won't get hot enough to get the big canner full of water to a full boil.

Another problem is that canners that exceed the burner diameter by more than 1 inch can trap and reflect heat to surfaces of the stove that are not intended to get that hot, and thus crack the stove top.

If you have a ceramic or glass stovetop and still have the manual, look it up there.

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