Heat Diffusers

LBoone

New member
I use a standard, modern gas stove to do my cast iron cooking and I don't run into too many issues with hot spots in skillets using up to a #9 pan but when cooking for a crowd with my #12 1930's Griswold I obviously have issues with having a centralized hot spot in the pan which is cumbersome, especially when cooking things that want to simmer with the lid on and should not demand a lot of stirring. I am aware of how cast iron is good at conducting heat but not sharing it nicely with the metal around it so we don't need to go down that road. (not that I expect to get a lecture from an aluminum pan evangelist in this forum) I have been looking at ways to "disperse" the heat, possibly with a "diffuser" of some sort although most internet chatter speaks to these "diffusers" being more for induction heating type stoves. One Amazon diffuser description mentions "evenly dispersing heat to avoid hot spots" but then says it "channels the heat to the center opening" which seems counterproductive to me and frankly running the ball to the wrong end of the field. Any suggestions for those of us not lucky enough to have a big fire box stove giving even heat who want to avoid uneven cooking and worse- Warping our treasured ancient cookware?
 
LBoon/Hilditch,
Page 270 BB. Think this is what was designed by Wagner to prevent those "hot spots" in reference. Griswold's solution was the "Het Regulator" pictured on P. 177 BB.
I have the WW piece and was bidding for the Griswold piece until the bidding got way out of hand.
Neither of these are likely to show up in the wild so probably the trivet may be the best solution.
 
Go to a machine shop and have one made if you do not have the equipment to make one. A couple of bucks
 
I have an electric stove and am concerned about warping a pan. I have tried several different options and both work different in different situations. For slow even heat use Bella Copper plates- http://bellacopper.stores.yahoo.net/copheatdif.html

The 10in plate will hold any size pan including a #14 which will sit with the heat ring on the corners of the plate. The small 6" plate will fit inside the heat ring on my #9 griswold allowing some of the heat to go around the outside of the pan and heat more evenly.

If I want more heat and faster preheating then I use the Camp Chef Flame tamer- https://www.amazon.com/Camp-Chef-FT10-Flame-Tamer/dp/B000PGG5BW
It looks a little different then the picture when you receive because it has 3 notches on the outer edge as well as the holes on the interior. The camp chef lets more heat through the holes in the middle and is much thinner. I ended up warping one by heating it too hot too fast on my electric coil burner. Which shows you that you could warp your iron if heating up too fast. Anyhow either one of these work for me depending on the situation.
These should work for you as I will also sometimes use them outside on my gas Camp Chef stove. My main purpose for using them is to protect my pans and the secondary purpose is heat diffusion.
Hope this helps,
Scott
 
KevinE,
You are correct they do exactly the same thing that a cheap steel plate can do just much more costly. As a matter of fact there is an issue if you heat them up to hot too fast they form a greyscale. They were one of the few things I came across when trying to protect my older pans from my electric coil stove, and I was duped into purchasing them. They work well and look very nice but not necessarily worth the money, depending on your point of view. Most people think it is crazy to pay $100 to $1000 for some of the rarer of the cast iron pieces. I like them best for slower and low simmering, they help to keep sauces from burning and sticking, if I would have found the camp chef flame tamer first, I probably would not have bought them.
 
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