How to choose a stove for a cauldron?
Kazan is a cast metal boiler, traditional for Asian countries, with a special semicircular bottom. Thanks to this design, food heats up faster and stays hot longer, and the thick walls prevent food from burning. If you have a stove made for a single cauldron for a small family, then there is no need for a stove. But if many relatives and guests often gather at your dacha or in a country house, then you will need several different boilers to cook classic oriental dishes. In this case, the question arises of purchasing a gas or electric stove for a cauldron.
Gas burners and ovens
The optimal source of heating for cooking in a cauldron is gas, since it does not require kindling, does not smoke the boiler and does not form smoke. Now in stores you can choose a special gas burner for a cauldron with high power and with an adjustable flame.
You should not buy burners without a ring for stable support of the cauldron and you should immediately take care of protecting the structure from the wind.
Gas ovens under the cauldron are cumbersome and expensive. But compared to burners, they are more reliable, heat saving and ideal wind protection.
Cast iron plate
Advantages and disadvantages
It so happened that the most common material for stove stoves has long been gray cast iron. This is primarily due to its cheapness. Balezinsky LMZ has been producing very high-quality cauldrons for more than sixty years. (foundry and mechanical plant).
Cast iron undoubtedly has a number of advantages in its application.
- High heat dissipation. With the help of such a stove, you can not only cook food in a cauldron, but also heat the room.
- Strength. Cast iron is resistant to various physical damage and deformation.Such panels do not corrode, since during the manufacturing process the cast-iron surface is coated with a special anti-rust agent.
- Resistant to temperature extremes. Thanks to this important property, the cast iron plate retains its original appearance for a long time.
- Long service life. Gray cast iron has a very long service life compared to other metals.
The disadvantages of a cast iron plate include its vulnerability to strong blows. Special care should be taken during installation and transport.
Design features
The cast iron plate for the cauldron is solid and prefabricated. The first is a solid cast iron sheet without burners or with one or two burners of a fixed diameter.
The prefabricated cast iron stove with removable rings is very convenient in that it makes it easy to combine the size of the burners with the dimensions of the boiler. This type of plate is less deformed and damaged during use and transportation. In addition, the prefab may have stiffening ribs that can withstand very high temperatures, speeding up food preparation and heating a large area of the room.
Electrical panel
If you decide to use an electric stove when cooking oriental dishes in a cauldron, then keep in mind that a cast-iron cauldron of a classical semicircular shape is not suitable for it. The ideal option for an electric stove would be a boiler made of aluminum and having a flat bottom. Moreover, eits volume should not be more than 8 liters, otherwise it will not heat up well.
It should be noted that aluminum is able to heat up quickly, but also cool down quickly, so food in an aluminum cauldron will not "languish" and, as a result, will lose its unique taste.
Useful Tips
In order not to spoil the prepared dish and not to disappoint relatives and friends, carefully read the recommendations of experienced chefs.
- When purchasing a cauldron, carefully examine its inner surface. It should not have roughness, gouges, chips or cracks.
- Before the first use, the cast iron boiler must be thoroughly ignited.
- The amount of carbon in cast iron should not exceed 2 percent.
- The cast iron panel should not be placed end-to-end in a brick oven, since, when heated, the cast iron can expand and ruin the brickwork.
- For rooms with a small area, a 520 x 520 cast iron plate is suitable, and for large rooms a 600 x 600 plate is suitable.
- A burner or stove is connected to a gas cylinder in the same way as a conventional stove.
- Kazans with a volume of 12 liters require the power of a gas burner from 5 to 8.5 kW, and for a 40-liter one - 20 kW.
- The diameter of the bottom of the boiler on the electric stove must exactly match the dimensions of the burner.
- Remember that splashing liquid onto the electric stove can result in a short circuit.
Kazan is an ideal dish for cooking such oriental dishes as shurpa, chanakhi, pilaf, lagman. In Russia, fish soup and porridge are often cooked in these boilers.
To make all these dishes tasty and healthy, you should take a very responsible approach to choosing a suitable stove for a cauldron, taking into account all the advantages and disadvantages of specific models.
For a video review of the plate under the cauldron, see the next video.
