(slightly OT) copper disc source?
bugbear
a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
For low heat simmering, gas is not ideal;
you need a head diffuser, or (very) thick
soled pan to work well.
My cunning plan is to make
a copper hotplate; a rather simple
piece of fabrication, comprising
a copper disc (slab!) around 6-8mm thick,
and around 7-8 inches diameter.
Can anyone advise on the feasibility
of this, and also indicate where I could
the material, and any guessed as to cost?
Of course this project is trivial
enough that a should a copper rod of
adequate diameter be available, a machine cut
slice of stock is the finished item...
BugBear
dave sanderson
for a quote you could ask www.metalsontheweb.co.uk
they list round bar upto 4" dia, but other stuff is available.
Id expect it to be spendy tho (~£100 as a guess)
Dave
John
source.
How about a cast iron plate? A suitable car flywheel can be machined
to suit and would cost very little.
Also remember that one of the major advantages of gas cookong is the
rapid response to flame change. A large heat sink will change all
that.
John
Dave Baker
"bugbear" <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote in message
news:9oudnWFL1eKj5o3VnZ2dnUVZ8qaqnZ2d@plusnet...
Well it's plate you're after not bar but anyway. Aluminium also has a very
high thermal conductivity and a slice cut out of a plate of that would be
much easier, and cheaper, to obtain. I doubt many people stock copper plate
6mm thick and fewer still would ever have a need for bar 7" in diameter. Any
firm that does laser cutting will have aluminium plate suitable for your
needs.
As an aside it's interesting that brass, despite being mainly copper, has a
relatively poor thermal conductivity. Not much higher than the zinc it's
alloyed with.
--
Dave Baker
Puma Race Engines
Peter Fairbrother
Peter Fairbrother
Oh, you might look for a copper gas kettle and cut the bottom off -
they have fins on the bottom to improve the transfer of heat.
-- Peter Fairbrother
bugbear
>> Of course this project is trivial
>> enough that a should a copper rod of
>> adequate diameter be available, a machine cut
>> slice of stock is the finished item...
>
> Well it's plate you're after not bar but anyway.
Yes - I suspect that cutting a circle from plate
is far more likely - I was being slightly facetious
with my slice-of-an-enormous bar concept.
> Aluminium also has a very
> high thermal conductivity
Indeed, but substantially inferior
to that of copper.
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=233
Auminium is my fall back option if my dream
of copper comes to naught.
BugBear
bugbear
> While copper is the best material, it's also the most difficult to
> source.
> How about a cast iron plate? A suitable car flywheel can be machined
> to suit and would cost very little.
> Also remember that one of the major advantages of gas cookong is the
> rapid response to flame change. A large heat sink will change all
> that.
Yes - but sometimes you want a slow, uniform simmer.
Whilst I can't make an electric hob quick,
my proposal makes a gas hob slow, giving
me (sort of) then best of both worlds.
BugBear
bugbear
Hmm. Given the cost of copper, and the laws
of physics, an Alu plate of twice the thickness
may be cheaper (and have the same heat conductivity)
as a copper plate.
It's the difference betweem heat conductivity
of an object and specific heat conductivity
of a substance.
BugBear (with options)
Roland Craven
>>> For culinary purposes, I wish to make
>>> a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about 3
years and cost a few quid.
They work well and for me at any rate I've got better uses for my time.
hth
--
Roland Craven
Nr. Exeter, Devon, UK
rol...@petternut.co.uk
www.petternut.co.uk
Neil Ellwood
Why make one when there are commercial ones available at only a few
pounds.
Have a look in John Lewis, Debenhams etc.
--
Neil
reverse ra and delete l
Linux user 335851
Cliff Coggin
"bugbear" <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> wrote in message
It does so at the expense of fuel economy. The bigger the lump of metal you
need to heat up before the heat permeates to the pan, the more fuel you will
use.
Cliff Coggin.
bugbear
On a 2 hour stock simmer, the extra (e.g.) 5 minutes
to overcome the heat capacity of the plate
seems a tolerable overhead.
BugBear
bugbear
>>> bugbear wrote:
>>>> For culinary purposes, I wish to make
>>>> a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
>
> Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about 3
> years and cost a few quid.
> They work well
They work "fairly" well; I'm on my fifth. They're £2.50
from my ocal (excellent) hardware store.
> and for me at any rate I've got better uses for my time.
Perhaps I haven't :-)
BugBear
Adrian Godwin
> They work "fairly" well; I'm on my fifth. They're ?2.50
> from my ocal (excellent) hardware store.
>
>> and for me at any rate I've got better uses for my time.
>
> Perhaps I haven't :-)
>
Would a slow-cooker work ? Or a standalone induction hob ?
-adrian
bugbear
Both have merit, but do different jobs.
With a slow cooker, if you want to pre-brown the
meat, you need a separate vessel.
Induction hobs don't work with all cookware.
(in passing, slow cooking is quite easily
achieved with cast iron cookware in an oven.
Further, saucepans that are simply MADE of copper
are available, and very good, but monstrously
expensive)
With my (indulgent) idea, I can brown the meat
in a "normal" pan, and then slow simmer on my
copper-plate.
It's just a whim, and cheap enough that
I may well indulge it.
BugBear
bugbear
Yuck. Further reviewing of that page
reveals that many common Alu alloys
have heat conductivity far inferior
to pure Alu.
BugBear
Austin Shackles
<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> enlightened us thusly:
>Roland Craven wrote:
>>>> bugbear wrote:
>>>>> For culinary purposes, I wish to make
>>>>> a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
>>
>> Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about 3
>> years and cost a few quid.
>> They work well
>
>They work "fairly" well; I'm on my fifth. They're £2.50
>from my ocal (excellent) hardware store.
we've got some, but they go rusty and crappy-looking rather fast. Copper
plate would be nicer. I was thinking about a solid steel one.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Travel The Galaxy! Meet Fascinating Life Forms...
------------------------------------------------\
>> http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ << \ ...and Kill them.
a webcartoon by Howard Tayler; I like it, maybe you will too!
bugbear
> On or around Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:23:18 +0100, bugbear
> <bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> enlightened us thusly:
>
>> Roland Craven wrote:
>>>>> bugbear wrote:
>>>>>> For culinary purposes, I wish to make
>>>>>> a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
>>> Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about 3
>>> years and cost a few quid.
>>> They work well
>> They work "fairly" well; I'm on my fifth. They're £2.50
>>from my ocal (excellent) hardware store.
>
> we've got some, but they go rusty and crappy-looking rather fast. Copper
> plate would be nicer. I was thinking about a solid steel one.
Ah - I missed that; my little perforated ones are aluminium.
http://www.cookability.biz/kitchen-craft-simmer-ring/b_982.htm
BugBear
Austin Shackles
<bugbear@trim_papermule.co.uk_trim> enlightened us thusly:
Alu would make more sense. I shall invest, I suspect. the steel ones
looked nice initially but whatver they're coated with is not gas-fire-proof.
Roland Craven
"Austin Shackles" <austinDITCHTHIS...@ddol-las.net> wrote in
message news:0i34149kvi90g7sof...@4ax.com...
>
> Alu would make more sense. I shall invest, I suspect. the steel ones
> looked nice initially but whatver they're coated with is not
> gas-fire-proof.
Aah but if you slather them with cooking oil then burn it off they last much
longer :-)
ttfn
Peter James
(in article <1vCdnTs-9vKuPY3V...@eclipse.net.uk>):
>>> bugbear wrote:
>>>> For culinary purposes, I wish to make
>>>> a heat diffuser for my gas hob.
>
> Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about 3
> years and cost a few quid.
> They work well and for me at any rate I've got better uses for my time.
> hth
>
My perforated double-skin steel heat diffuser cost me about £4 five years ago
and is still going strong.
newshound
> Most kitchen shops sell perforated double-skin steel ones that last about
> 3
> years and cost a few quid.
> They work well and for me at any rate I've got better uses for my time.
> hth
> --
> Roland Craven
I was going to say the same thing. But they get rusty. Given the relatively
low price of chinese stainless (e.g. collanders) it's a shame they don't
make a stainless one.
Steve R.
"newshound" <news...@fairadsl.co.uk> wrote in message
news:67errfF...@mid.individual.net...
Why not just bite the bullet, and buy a new set of stainless steel cookware,
with a copper plate on the bottom? A few years ago, I did just that. A
discontinued set was found at a substantial discount for a bit over 200
dollars CDN, or about 100 quid. Well worth it too! I got 40 years of daily
use out of the last ones.
Steve R.
--
Reply address munged to bugger up spammers
bugbear
>>
>
> Why not just bite the bullet, and buy a new set of stainless steel cookware,
> with a copper plate on the bottom? A few years ago, I did just that. A
> discontinued set was found at a substantial discount for a bit over 200
> dollars CDN, or about 100 quid. Well worth it too! I got 40 years of daily
> use out of the last ones.
One can do even better; copper cookware (not just a base plate)
with a stainless steel lining (not the traditional, and
has-to-be-renewed tinning).
One might alternatively view this as a stainless
steel item with a head conductive cladding.
But they're "a little" pricy for me.
http://www.metrokitchen.com/mauviel/
BugBear
bugbear
> My cunning plan is to make
> a copper hotplate; a rather simple
> piece of fabrication, comprising
> a copper disc (slab!) around 6-8mm thick,
> and around 7-8 inches diameter.
Followup:
My thanks to Peter Fairbrother for the
eBay pointer.
I now have my copper slab, 155x200x6 mm
and first signs are ... impressive.
Placed over a tiny flame, I was unable
(by fingertip) to notice any difference
in temperature between the centre and
the corners as it heated up.
Which is nice :-)
I need to add some "lugs" to keep it
in place on the hob before using it in anger,
and possibly some means of lifting it/moving it when hot.
BugBear