We’ve got a new-ish Samsung electric range - like this one - and I’m wondering about control of the heating elements on top. When you turn them on high, the heating element switches on and off, producing a lot of heat, but I’m wondering if there is a reason or pattern to how it turns on and off.
If it stayed on continuously would it damage the glass top? Overheat areas other than the designated heating areas on the cooktop? Anyone know?
When the control knob is set to “high,” the element should stay on continuously. No, there’s no harm in that and it’s the way it should work.
Less than “high” and the element will cycle between on and off to regulate the heat. As you lower the control, the element will switch on less, and stay on for less time.
It’s all controlled by the stove’s microprocessor.
I just purchased a new Samsung myself and I hate it.
Even on high the element may not stay on continuously. It will turn off when a limiting temperature is reached.
I’ve had two stoves like the OP’s (glass top electric) and neither of them cycle when the control is set to “High.”
It seems to me that bringing a skillet of oil back up to temperature after cold chicken is put in would take much longer if the element cycles. Perhaps other ranges work differently, but I would find that unacceptable.
When the control knob is set to “high,” the element should stay on continuously. No, there’s no harm in that and it’s the way it should work.
But since it doesn’t do that… I guess I’m not terribly worried about it, but it’s disappointing
The presence of dial-type knobs on the console suggest that this model uses old-school stove element controls rather than fancy digital circuitry. In this type of control, there’s a bimetallic strip that carries current in series with the main heating element. When you turn the knob on, the circuit is completed, and the bimetallic strip starts warming up. When it gets hot enough, it opens the circuit, cutting off current to the main heating element. The bimetallic strip cools down, closes the circuit again, and the cycle repeats ad infinitum.
Your adjustments to the knob change the duty cycle of this bimetallic strip. When you set the knob to “low”, you get short pulses of current separated by long zero-power gaps; when you set the knob to “high,” you get long periods of current separated by short zero-power gaps.
This is the exact same thing that happens with old-school electric stoves that have conventional heavy/exposed heating coils. You never notice this duty-cycle behavior on these because the element is much more massive and tends to maintain a more constant temperature (and state of glow) despite the intermittent current flow. In glass-top ranges, the element is much thinner/lighter, and so reaches full visible red glow (and full darkness) through the course of its duty cycle.
There are of course fancier models that replace these old-fashioned controls with all-digital controls and relays to manage the duty cycles.
I have a glass range too, and like yours, mine cycles even when set to high. It may be that a 100% duty cycle is too much. My owner manual warns against leaving a burner set to high without a pan on it that covers the entire burner, so I think they are indeed concerned about overtemp.
Note that the type of controller I described doesn’t know or care about the temperature of the element - just the time-averaged power delivered to it. You could submerge the element in liquid nitrogen, and the duty cycle in the controller would remain the same. OTOH, you could probably achieve 100% duty cycle (regardless of knob position) by submerging the controller in liquid nitrogen, keeping that bimetallic strip cold. It’s possible there’s a safety related overtemp switch (or more likely a thermal fuse) somewhere under the rangetop, but I wouldn’t expect this to be part of the normal operation.
Further clarifying this. The bimetallic strip is part of the control mechanism, right under the dial. It is not near the cooking element that heats your food. It gets hot because of the current flowing through it, not because of the temperature of the cooking element.
Our GE stove switches on and off no matter how high you set it. It usually turns off just as my wife has added the beef to her stir fry and she cannot brown it properly. This is so frustrating that she has threatened to take a sledge hammer to the stove.
From the user manual:
Radiant elements have a limiter that allows the element to cycle ON and OFF, even
at the HI setting. This helps to prevent damage to the ceramic cooktop. Cycling at
the HI setting is normal and can occur if the cookware is too small for the radiant
element or if the cookware bottom is not flat.
There is also a statement that running with the element uncovered may overheat the controls. It is not clear to me if this is because they are attached to the ceramic/glass cooktop (both words are used), or if there is another reason.
I’ve got a similar stove type, a Frigidaire. I’ve been able to brown meat on it and do other basic cooking. It takes a little longer to warm up than my old exposed-element Sears model. Sometimes a lot longer. Boiling a big pot of water, for example.
Good feature: that slick glass is easier to clean. But that’s about it.
You might have to change pots; most of mine are cheapo. Have never tried cast iron, I have one thickish alumimum boiler.
All my stoves are rentals in apartments, and CA doesn’t want anyone using gas ranges anymore (very sad face). I had no choice in the matter. Haven’t cooked on gas in 20 years. I don’t see master chefs cooking on electric, though, all the restaurants still use gas with huge flames shooting skywards.
Cooking on electric means having 2 burners on for every pot: the one to heat it up and the one that keeps it at the desired temp. A lot of swapping of pots around.
Made me wonder how fancy houses like in Jane Austen cooked meals before there was gas…
Just to add a data point, I have a glass-top stove (not my choice, it came with the house when I bought it) and it does cycle on and off even at maximum. But it boils a pot of water for coffee at least as fast as my previous traditional electric stove.
I don’t do any high-heat type of stir-frying, but when I sauté mushrooms and the like on medium-high, the heat is perfectly adequate and seems even. I don’t hate the glass top, but don’t see much advantage to it.
You might be well served by something like a heavy cast iron fry pan. Unless she uses a wok, which are notoriously lightweight, though often with heavy bottoms. They seem to work best with gas stoves, from what I can tell. I can appreciate the frustration. When boiling water, even though it goes pretty fast, when the element cycles off, the noise of the approaching boiling ceases, and starts up again when the element switches back on.
I hate them. Every time I crack an egg on the thing it cycles off. Then when I attempt to steam baste the egg by adding some water and cover, it cycles off again. I get a partially cooked egg in water.
It’s very clear that many people have experienced this type of stove top cycling. I don’t understand why there would be skepticism that this happens.
Wanders off to go give gas stove a friendly pat
Thanks all; Melbourne - that’s especially helpful - it didn’t occur to me to look at the online manual 
When I was a kid, I wanted to have a job like my dad, with a desk, a phone, and a filling cabinet. I’ve got a job like my dad’s, but all three items have been replaced by the internet.
That’s typical for commercial kitchen situations too, not the electric part, but moving pots and pans around to areas with different heat levels rather than constantly adjusting burners. Induction is the future of electric cooking. Not sure to what extent it will replace gas, but since virtually none of the heat is wasted it keeps the kitchen from becoming a sauna, and it’s crazy fast. Those are no small benefits, along with the easy-to-clean glass cooktop. Only thing is you can’t use aluminum or copper pots and pans.
Thanks for the explanation Machine_Elf. I’m surprised that the electric stoves have such course cycling. I suppose that there’s enough thermal mass between the element and the food that the temperature doesn’t vacillate all that much but why not use some sort of PWM control for the heat? It can’t be that much more expensive to implement, can it?
Yep, IME the thermal mass of the glass top (and pan) is enough to smooth things out pretty decently.
As for why they don’t always choose solid-state PWM controls: if it’s more expensive - even “not that much more” - you’d have to make a business case to justify that extra expense. One benefit I can think of is that you could use touch pads for user input, facilitating easier cleaning than mechanical knobs. Might also add some market appeal for being futuristic, high-tech. Though I suspect in this case the added cost might end up being more than you think: stoves with touch controls need a way to show what the current setting is, so now you have to add extra indicator lights and/or a digital display.
They are also a whole lot more expensive, as well as much more expensive to repair.
I loved my induction stove…