My new range has a 17000 BTU burner (natural gas). It my first gas range. I have the feeling it is not that hot.
-
I can barely keep pasta water boiling (8 cups of water) with the broiler on high. I expected I'd have to lower the heat in order to avoir overspils.
-
I was not able to burn hamburgers in a cast iron pan. Not that I wanted to burn them, but I again I expected I'd have to lower the heat. I kept it on high for several minutes without any serious damage to the meat.
Q1: How can I test if the burners are as hot as what they should be?
Q2: Can something be wrong with the connection?
Maybe my expections are too high after everone told me how amazingly hot and fast gas ranges are. The flames are blue so that seems to be ok.
Best Answer
BTU means British Thermal Unit. So:
lbs of water x temperature rise = BTUs required for one hour (British units)
(1 lb of water x 1 degree Fahrenheit) = 1 BTU for reaching temp in 1 hour (approx)
Let's do a simple calc:
1) Suppose a 30% efficiency (you are heating air and pot too)
2) Four lbs water
3) 70 F as water initial temperature (212-70 = 142 to boil)
So:
(4 lb water x 142 F) * 3.,33 (eff) = 1900 BTUs for reaching boil in one hour
17000/1900 = 9 (your burner output / required output to boil in 1 hour)
60 mins / 9 = 7 mins
So you could expect bringing to boil your 4 lbs of water in 7 mins in a 17.000 BTU burner starting from 70 F . Normal pressure and altitude, of course.
Here is a video of a 17.500 BTU burner working to compare with yours.
Keep in mind that many approximations were done in this calc. No evaporation, medium to heavy pot, etc.