What is medium-high heat on a stove with numbers? (2 parameters)

In this brief guide, we are going to answer the question, “What is medium-high heat on a stove with numbers?”, discuss the various heat levels of the stove and what to do if a recipe goes through different levels of heat.

What is medium-high heat on a stove with numbers?

Most of the stovetops display 9 numbers on their temperature dials and regard medium-high heat to be:

 In Fahrenheit (375 F-449 F)

In celsius (190℃-232℃) 

So if a recipe mentions medium heat, the temperature you should be going for is between 375 – 449 F. This heat is suitable for cooking vegetables, omelets, and for oil frying

Why we need heat?

We need heat to cook food because many foods are not edible without cooking them on heat. Heat changes the physical and chemical properties of food making it more tasty and safe to eat. Heat also helps us in killing the microorganisms present in our food. These microorganisms can also include certain bacteria that are responsible for food poisoning.

How to heat on an electric stove?

We can cook our food in the oven or on a burner but an electric stove serves best for this purpose. For an electric stove having 9 knobs, medium-low heat is regarded as the best to thoroughly cook the meal. The temperature of medium-low heat generally ranges from (140℃-160℃).

How to read the temperature scale on a stove?

If you assume “max” as high heat and “min” as low heat on the temperature scale of your stove, then anything in between will be medium heat. So, medium-low will be half-way towards “min”, and medium-high will be half-way towards “max”.

What do these heat levels mean?

The heat levels are basically used as a source of having an idea, which activity is to be performed at what heat-level.  There is no hard and fast rule to set these levels, but here you can have an idea as:

  • Low heat is the level of heat that is used when you want to simmer something.
  • Medium heat is the level of heat that is used when you are to do gentler cooking. This is where vegetables need to soften or you want a rapid simmer.
  • Medium-high heat is the level of heat that is used when you want to cook your food quickly but not so quickly that it starts burning. This is likely where you carry out sauteing, browning meat, and frying.
  • High heat is the level of heat that is used to boil something very quickly.

Other FAQs about Stoves which you may be interested in.

What does F2 mean on a stove?

How hot is the heat of your stove?

There is no exact method to determine the intensity of heat of a stove and we cannot directly know the temperature. But we can simply have the idea of heat by comparing the temperature and time required for cooking. For this, consider the following table showing different temperature and time for grilling:

            Heat         Temperature            Time 
Medium 350 F6-7 seconds 
Medium-high 400-450 F4-5 seconds
High 500-650 F1-2 seconds
Freakingly high650+ FSmoking stub

What number is simmer on the gas stove?

A low heat with very little activity in the pot is the best temperature for stewing and braising. The monitored temperature for simmering exists between 185 F- 205 F (85℃-96℃).

Are gas stoves better than electric stoves?

Yes! Gas stoves are better than electric stoves because they cook the food faster. The two major benefits of using a gas stove are:

  • Gas stoves heat both the bottom and the sides of the pan and the heat is distributed in a way that lets food cook faster.
  • Gas stoves allow you to change the temperature rapidly.

What happens if you cook food on high heat?

Cooking your food on high heat is always a bad idea because;

  • Foods that are cooked at high heat contain greater levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are more responsible for tissue damage and inflammation than foods that are cooked at a lower heat.
  • Foods cooked at high heat lose most of their nutrients.

What to do if your recipe needs different levels of heat?

Suppose you are following a recipe that needs different levels of heat. Like you are to boil something at first and then you have to take it to as low temperature as that required for simmering. In this case, you can try these way-outs to deal with such a situation :

  1. Use medium level burners of your stove and follow the recipe’s directions for high heat, medium-high heat, or low heat.
  2. Use different burners. For example, saute something, then turn it to low or bring something to boil, and then turn it down to a simmer. Start with one burner and then switch to another for the low part.

Conclusion:

In this brief guide, we answered the question, “What is medium-high heat on a stove in numbers?”, discussed the various heat levels of the stove and what to do if a recipe goes through different levels of heat.

Citations:

  1. What number on stove is 375 degrees? (findanyanswer.com) 
  2. Cooking 101: Heat Levels and Cooking Speed (balancedkitchen.com) 
  3. What Is Medium Low Heat? (Explained) – Miss Vickie 

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