So you’ve had a new gas cooker or hob installed and you now want to make sure it lasts as long as possible. Here are 15 things you need to know to get the most out of your new gas appliance.
Clean it well and clean it often. If there is only one thing you can do, it’s the dreaded oven cleaning. It’s easier if you clean it after every use as the grease and stains don’t get heated over and over again and harden and set in.
An unclean oven or hob can be a fire risk if there is too much fat. Stains and constant water can cause premature corrosion. Spillage into the gas injector will block it and you may end up being unable to use this burner.
New cookers often have a strong smell when used for the first time. This is normal. Just open the window. Some manufacturers recommend running the oven empty on a high fire for a full hour to get rid of this smell.
Make sure there is no traces of packaging and tape left before switching on the hob or oven for the first time or there may be a burnt smell too!
It might sound a bit silly but if someone is used to an electric or induction hob, the operation of a gas hob the first time may be unfamiliar. Those who have used gas hobs for many years can even find themselves getting stuck if they move on to a new model with a safety device.
To light the fire at a burner on the hob, press and turn the corresponding knob anti-clockwise past a quarter turn. At the same time, press the igniter button or apply a match or spark at that burnerto ignite the gas.
Now the key is not to release the knob immediately but to wait a few seconds for the flame to heat up a piece of metal called a thermocouple. The thermocouple sits in the flame and, when sufficiently heated, will keep the gas port open once the knob is released. This thermocouple acts as a flame supervision device (FSD), a safety device that automatically turns off the gas supply to a particular burner should the flame go out.
The knobs at the hob directly control the flame size. The oven knob on the other hand sets the temperature via the gas marks. It does not directly control the flame size.
Many people make the mistake of turning the knob to a higher temperature than what they need, thinking that the oven will reach temperature faster. If the oven is starting from cold it’s already heating up as quickly as possible to reach its target temperature. Setting a higher target temperature does not make it heat up any faster. So if cooking instructions say gas mark 7, set it to 7 and leave it there. There is a thermostat inside that will regulate the temperature.
This misconception arises because people are used to turning the knob at the hob to increase the fire and get more heat. The oven is just designed differently. If there was no temperature control, the temperature would go up and up and up due to the enclosed space, even at low fire.
An oven can be designed in one of 2 ways to light up and reach its temperature. The first one is identical to the hob operation: there is a thermocouple so the flame needs to heat it up first before the knob is released.
The second one uses a liquid vial flame supervision device and combines a thermostat. The flame will start in low mode and remain in low mode for a short time no matter how much you turn the knob. Once the liquid vial has been sufficiently heated, it opens up the gas port fully and the flame will go into high mode and will stay that way no matter how little you turn the knob, until the set temperature has been reached.
So don’t panic and think your oven is broken if you see a low fire at first that is unresponsive and which suddenly ramps up on its own and stays unresponsive again. It’s the oven safety mechanism working correctly.
Match the pan diameter to that of the burner. If the burner is too big, the flames will end up going up on the sides. Not only does it do the opposite of what you wanted – heating up quickly – but you’ll also cover the sides of your pan with soot.
By covering your pans, you’ll lose less heat, reach temperature faster and use less gas. Beware of covering the pot when boiling pasta though, the water will spill over! And for extra precaution, don’t forget to turn the handles away from the front edge of the hob even if there are no children around. Even adults can accidentally hit a pot.
Some people like to lay out aluminium foil all over the hob to prevent it from getting dirty. The aluminium foil then just needs throwing away from time to time instead of all the fatty spills having to be cleaned up.
Unfortunately with this, the foil can block the air intake at the base of the burner and can cause incomplete combustion, leading to carbon monoxide. So for safety reasons, never cover the hob surface.
Pay attention to any sooting. You will avoid damaging your kitchen furniture but most importantly, sooting can be a sign of incomplete combustion again and the production of carbon monoxide. Sometimes there might be soot marks on the wall if the biggest burner is at the rear and cooking is often done in a wok. The flames end up creeping up the wall due to lack of space. The soot you need to beware of is under the extractor hood as this suggests incomplete combustion and carbon monoxide.
Another sign of carbon monoxide build-up according to the Gas Safe Register website is excessive condensation being produced in the kitchen. That’s a hard one to judge as if you’re cooking anything with water, i.e. not frying, in winter with the windows closed condensation will happen very quickly on the windows.
Did you know you’re allowed by law to disconnect a cooker and to reconnect it? A cooker uses a special self-sealing fitting so you can disconnect the hose on the wall side to remove the appliance for cleaning behind. Once finished, you can then reconnect the cooker as it was. Mind you, you’re allowed to reconnect a cooker, not to connect it first time round! Big difference.
Make sure the electric cable behind the cooker is not damaged by heat or caught somewhere especially when putting the cooker back in place after cleaning behind. The thick black hose should also not be under any strain when you’ve put the cooker back.
It may be a good idea to check from time to time that your cooker is level otherwise you may burn some food while frying when all the oil goes sideways! This is especially important if you remove your cooker to clean behind it.
Never be tempted to use a cooker for heating. It hasn’t been designed for prolonged usage and could cause carbon monoxide build-up as the air gets vitiated.
If there is a grill, the door is usually left open during use. Some manufacturers even provide a deflection plate to protect the plastic knobs from heat damage during this time. However, check your manual to be sure how to use the grill function correctly.
CO is odourless, colourless and tasteless, so how do you spot it other than with an alarm? Even alarms should not be placed in the vicinity as they may be tripped unnecessarily.
A healthy natural gas flame will be a crisp blue colour and shape. It may sometimes be tipped in orange if it is burning carbon – usually from burnt food around the burner. However, if you spot a lazy, floppy, yellow-tipped flame, then this is a sure sign of carbon monoxide. Turn off the fire immediately, open the windows and leave the room.
Familiarise yourself well with your cooker or hob and you will make the best use out of it, from minimal wastage of gas to prolonging the life of the appliance and keeping yourself safe.