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Surface Cooking Tips
• Use low or medium flame heights when cooking in vessels that are
poor conductors of heat, such as glass, ceramic, and cast-iron.
Reduce the flame height until it covers approximately 1/3 of the
cooking vessel diameter. This will ensure more even heating within
the cooking vessel and reduce the likelihood of burning or
scorching the food.
• Reduce the flame if it is extending beyond the bottom of the
cooking vessel. A flame that extends along the sides of the vessel is
potentially dangerous, heats the utensil handle and kitchen instead
of the food, and wastes energy.
• Reduce the flame height to the minimum level necessary to perform
the desired cooking process. Remember that food cooks just as
quickly at a gentle boil as it does at a rolling boil. Maintaining a
higher boil than is necessary wastes energy, cooks away moisture,
and causes a loss in food flavor and nutrient level.
• The minimum pot or pan (vessel) diameter recommended is 6”
(15 cm). Use of pots or pans as small as 4” (10 cm) is possible but
not recommended.
Surface Heat Settings*
*Note:
The above information is given as a guide only. You may need
to vary the heat settings to suit your personal requirements.
Heat Setting
Use
Simmer
Melting small quantities
Steaming rice
Simmering sauces
Low
Melting large quantities
Med Low
Low-temperature frying (eggs, etc.)
Simmering large quantities
Heating milk, cream sauces, gravies,
and puddings
Med
Sauteing and browning, braising, and pan-
frying
Maintaining slow boil on large quantities
Med High
High-temperature frying
Pan broiling
Maintaining fast boil on large quantities
High
Boiling water quickly
Deep-fat frying in large utensil
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Lighting Burners
All burners are ignited by electric ignition. There
are no open-flame, “standing” pilots.
Surface Burners-Automatic Reignition
To light the surface burners, push and turn the
appropriate control knob counter clockwise to any
position. This control is both a gas valve and an electric switch. Burners
will ignite at any “ON” position with the automatic re-ignition system. If
the flame goes out for any reason, the burners will automatically reignite
if the gas is still flowing. When gas is permitted to flow to the burners,
the electric igniters start sparking. On all surface igniters you should hear
a “clicking” sound. If you do not, turn off the control and check that the
unit is plugged in and that the fuse or circuit breaker is not blown or
tripped.
Within a few moments, enough gas will have traveled to the burner to
light. When the burner lights, turn the burner control to any position to
adjust the flame size. Setting the proper flame height for the desired
cooking process and selecting the correct cooking vessel will result in
superior cooking performance, while also saving time and energy.
Vari-Simmer
Simmering is a cooking technique in which foods are cooked in hot
liquids kept at or just barely below the boiling point of water. Simmering
ensures gentler treatment than boiling to prevent food from toughening
and/or breaking up. The size of the pan and the volume of food can
have a significant effect on how high or low a flame is needed for
simmering. For this reason, Viking range and rangetop burners are
engineered with a Vari-Simmer™ setting. The Vari-Simmer setting is not
just one simmer setting, but provides a variable range of simmers
settings. This variable range of simmers settings allows you to adjust the
flame height to achieve the best simmer depending on the type and
quantity of food being simmered. It is this ability that makes the Vari-
Simmer setting the most accurate and trustworthy simmer on the
market.
Surface Operation
Surface Operation
