# Using canning equipment or cast iron on a GLASS TOP stove



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I was told this was a question on face book ( I do not use facebook).
That if you use cast iron or large canning pot on glass top stove, it is bad.
Someone said the cast iron would break(!?!?), other side the the glass stove will break.
Someone said it is from water on the cast iron on the hot stove.
What say you?


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Is a heat source just like any other but is glass and glass can be scratch by moving a rough pot like cast iron or crack by dropping something on the cook top, easier to clean than a regular burner stove, but not for me I use cast iron and heavy industrial pots and I`m what my wife calls it a mad cook, I’m always slamming pots around.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

the All American owners manual says explicitly do NOT use on glass top stoves. go figure... they don't want liability issues LOL! I don't blame them.


I've been canning for just over 2 years now, many loads per month and my new'ish glass stove top is just fine. I went into this eyes wide open, if the weight of the cannery, the food and jars breaks my stove... damn!!! and I'll jump off that bridge if I ever get there, but so far and honestly hundreds and near a thousand jars processed so far... no problem. YMMV. 

My advice is don't do it! (because lawyers love to sue people) but my stove top keeps plugging along! I've had no problems!


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Dakine said:


> the All American owners manual says explicitly do NOT use on glass top stoves. go figure... they don't want liability issues LOL! I don't blame them.


Yeah, the GraniteWare products say the same thing. Freaked me out at first!

Like Dakine, I went into it with my eyes open, knowing it was a weight issue. For canning I've only used a pressure canner, which uses less water. So maybe I lucked out there. What concerns me more is using the big stock pot - that weighs a LOT more (when it's full). But again, no issues so far.

It's weird, one of my burners is really big - bigger than a regular pot or skillet. It's just the right size for an uber-sized stock pot or canner. So if the cooktop can't handle an uber-sized pot (or canner), why the uber-sized burner? At this point I just figure that if anything happens to the cooktop, it's just an excuse to get the gas stove that I want.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I have, and have used the glass-top for canning but given an alternative (which I do have), I've moved on to what I believe is a better setup (for me). New setup is a pair of CampChef propane stoves (pictured below).

Some things I didn't like about the glass-top which was fixed/addressed by the CampChef:
1. Regulating heat. With the glass-top, it's hard to see what heat is being applied. You need to judge and trust that 1-10 scale. Trying to simmer, I lost a huge pot of sauce one time when it burnt it.
2. Not enough heat. When doing water-bath canning, it took forever to get water to boil.
3. Weight and size. When doing tomatoes in particular (as it's large quantities), I need to have room for 2 stock pots and 2 canning pots. There's not enough room on the glass-top. Weight is then also a concern.
4. Heat in the kitchen. Yea, I know... "If you can't stand the heat...". I use the propane stoves outside the kitchen so it's not raising the inside temperature.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

UncleJoe said:


> There's a thread dealing with glass top and heavy canner's somewhere. But I can tell you from personal experience, it's not a problem..


http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f35/new-stove-26295/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f36/canning-dilemma-17803/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f36/pressure-canners-glasstop-stoves-16576/


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

ZoomZoom said:


> Some things I didn't like about the glass-top which was fixed/addressed by the CampChef:
> 1. Regulating heat.
> 2. Not enough heat.
> 3. Weight and size.
> 4. Heat in the kitchen.


Ditto on all this.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Thinks for the posts.
I have a glass top stove with no problems.
Someone on face book said cast iron skillets would break on glass top stoves.
The skillet not the stove.
I did not do a search, because I thought this was a one time fluke.
I should have known better.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

crabapple said:


> Someone on face book said cast iron skillets would break on glass top stoves. The skillet not the stove..


Might be true of some of the new "green" (extremely unseasoned) cast iron skillets coming from China. 
Harbor freight used to sell a 3-pc set. 
I've no experience so I can't comment.

I do KNOW, that very *poor quality castings* 
with *poor iron* do crack very easily - - 
so I would say: "This myth is PLAUSIBLE"


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## PurpleHeartJarhead (Mar 23, 2014)

Dakine said:


> the All American owners manual says explicitly do NOT use on glass top stoves. go figure... they don't want liability issues LOL! I don't blame them.
> 
> I've been canning for just over 2 years now, many loads per month and my new'ish glass stove top is just fine. I went into this eyes wide open, if the weight of the cannery, the food and jars breaks my stove... damn!!! and I'll jump off that bridge if I ever get there, but so far and honestly hundreds and near a thousand jars processed so far... no problem. YMMV.
> 
> My advice is don't do it! (because lawyers love to sue people) but my stove top keeps plugging along! I've had no problems!


I largely agree with your response here. We canned on our glass top for 6 years with little in the way of a problem with the stove.

Our one problem was one of size of cannery versus configuration of burners and resulting steam impact on overhead cupboards. To address that issue, last year I bought a turkey fryer, and although it hasn't been used for a turkey yet, the burner and stand is more than adequate to support our 20-something qt water bath canning pot and our 41-1/2qt All American pressure cooker. (Bought that this year, it's AWESOME and very efficient for our needs).


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

ZoomZoom said:


> I have, and have used the glass-top for canning but given an alternative (which I do have), I've moved on to what I believe is a better setup (for me). New setup is a pair of CampChef propane stoves (pictured below).
> 
> Some things I didn't like about the glass-top which was fixed/addressed by the CampChef:
> 1. Regulating heat. With the glass-top, it's hard to see what heat is being applied. You need to judge and trust that 1-10 scale. Trying to simmer, I lost a huge pot of sauce one time when it burnt it.
> ...


I've been wanting one of those for a while now and it had slipped off my radar, thanks for bringing it up, and I could finally use both canners now! that would be sweet!



LincTex said:


> Might be true of some of the new "green" (extremely unseasoned) cast iron skillets coming from China.
> Harbor freight used to sell a 3-pc set.
> I've no experience so I can't comment.
> 
> ...


I didn't know about cast iron skillets cracking, it makes sense but that sucks! and HF does still sell that 3pc kit. I haven't bought from them but I see it there all the time.

I've purchased some Lodge brand stuff from Wally World, and I've been looking for an excuse to start using it. This has been a big year for me getting new tools and actually using them and learning stuff so maybe this is just another thing I'll start doing... pretty easy in the grand scheme and may as well, plus, I have an entire cast iron kit that I bought from costco many years ago, I need to go dig that out of the garage!



PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> I largely agree with your response here. We canned on our glass top for 6 years with little in the way of a problem with the stove.
> 
> Our one problem was one of size of cannery versus configuration of burners and resulting steam impact on overhead cupboards. To address that issue, last year I bought a turkey fryer, and although it hasn't been used for a turkey yet, the burner and stand is more than adequate to support our 20-something qt water bath canning pot and our 41-1/2qt All American pressure cooker. (Bought that this year, it's AWESOME and very efficient for our needs).


I like the idea of the turkey fryer and I didn't realize it would support that huge AA 941 I still think I'll go with the camp stove that zoom zoom linked because I can be up and running with that a lot cheaper and faster with my two AA 921's than buying a fryer+941, but that's definitely something I'm going to start considering for the future and if I didn't already have the 2nd 921 I would be seriously inclined to go this way now instead of later.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Dakine said:


> ...and HF does still sell that 3pc kit. I haven't bought from them but I see it there all the time.


Hmmm... They did get good reviews?
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-piece-cast-iron-frying-pans-44707.html

The finish in the pan does look pretty rough. It's too bad they don't sand 'em down good inside first.


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