Heat Ring Question

[Kenny Davis]

As I understand it, the heat ring was designed to elevate the skillet off the very hot surface of a wood stove.  Why did the makers keep the HR past the woodstove era?  Is it just tradition?  I have read that some of you use HR pans on ceramic cooktops.  Does that really work well?

[Sandy Glenn]

Why did the makers keep the HR past the woodstove era?

I believe because they found HR's provided even heat distribution on the more modern stovetops, too.

Someone else will have to chime in on the ceramic stovetop question.  I know we have several here that use that type of range.

[C. Perry Rapier]

I HAD a ceramic top stove. A skillet with HR worked just fine on it and I used one on it all the time and never had a bit of trouble.

[mississippi_slim]

most of our skillets has heat rings and we have the black glass stove top...my wife just says PICK IT UP>>DONT SLIDE IT...

[Kenny Davis]

Great replys.  I will not  limit myself to smooth bottom pans.  This will open up my selection a lot.  My stove manufacturer says not to have an element on with no pan on it.  I tought maybe it would get too hot with nothing to draw the heat.  I assumed a HR pan may do the same thing.  Glad to hear otherwise.

[Sandy Glenn]

Somebody help me out here cuz I know very little about smooth-top cook stoves.  But don't some of them use induction heat?  And a pan with a HR wouldn't be suitable for that, would it?

[Chris Stairs]

Kenny,
  I have several heat ringed skillets which work well on my glass top stove.
  If there is a downward warp in the skillet, and it touches in the middle of the pan, there will be one wicked hot spot. I never damaged my stove when I tried these skillets, but I can't cook in them. These are skillets that sat flat until heated, then they rock (in a bad way).
 
Chris

[Kenny Davis]

Its funny how that works.  I have a skillet griddle that has just a bit of wobble cold, but flattens right out when hot.  I still wonder why the manufacturers kept the HRs after the woodstove era.  The traditional elctric eye would contact most pans inside the HR.  Would not do anything on a gas stove.  Actually the ceramic cooktop would be most like the woodstove top.

[Ray Benash]

Totally out of the box on this one, but could that heat ring provide some rigidity/prevent warping or distortion as a secondary benefit?

[miniwoodworker]

Different theory.......

I'm speculating there was still a demand for pans for woodstoves long after electric became available. It took a long time for electricity to reach rural areas. I'm guessing it was around 1952-3, when REA ran the lines on our farm. I remember Mama cooking on her woodstove. The new electric was sitting in the kitchen, covered with a pink bedspread, just waiting for power.

An older lady who lived nearby never converted from wood to an electric stove, even though she used electricity for lighting, ironing, etc.

Again, just speculating....

Lee

[mississippi_slim]

another thought..all the older people around here call it...the smoke ring..they said it kept the smoke under the skillet ...

[miniwoodworker]

Jimmy, that's been my understanding, as well.

Lee

[John_D]

So if the pan has a HR or smoke ring does that say that it is an older pan  :-/

[Jesse and Kim Dunfee]

Griswold Skillets were made with heat rings into the 1930s....

[Lee Sumner]

This might shed some insight on the origination of the smoke,heat, ring. This old thread is pretty interesting. BTW it's on the public side

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1213718589/24#24

[mississippi_slim]

i think i can sorta knock the thought in the head that the heat / smoke ring had anything to do with sitting inside the stove eye to keep from sliding..this # 16 that i have with a smoke ring..i have never seen a stove eye that big..another thought..how could a ring make a skillet heat better when the whole bottom of the skillet came in contact with a hot cast iron cooking surface ? best as i can remember most of the stove top was about the same temp..i would cast my vote more to the way of a smoke barrier in the later skillets..in the beginning it was to keep the gate from hitting the cooking surface..

[Jeff Seago]

I will throw in my two senses (tiny brain and loud mouth) and restate that the heat ring would still allow for more heat to remain under the pan thus allowing for a little better heat distribution.

Why did they switch from an outside heat ring to an inset heat ring?

I thoroughly enjoy confusing myself and everyone else around me!  ;D

Heck I have not idea why they kept it around but the electricity things seems very logical.

[Ron_Wheeler]

Well, sense we must revisit this subject I have my own thoughts.  I don't think it had anything to do with holding the heat in or as a smoke ring or fitting the stove eye lid.  I believe it had more to do with structural integrity to reduce heat stress from the expansion and contraction at the radius.  Even the new Lodge still has a ring but it is recessed.  That's what I think...

 :-/ ;)

[Sam Roberts]

Another possibility... Let's call it a heat suppression ring instead of a heat or smoke ring. Because of the burning properties of wood it is very hard to maintain a constant stovetop temperature. The heat supression acts as a buffer keeping the bottom of the skillet at a more constant temperture where if the entire bottom of the skillet made contact with the stove top you would also get those fluctations, burning more food than if a heat suppression ring was the only part to make contact.

[Jesse and Kim Dunfee]

seems like when a skillet gets to #10 in size a HR is put on it. Smooth Bottoms got to #10 but the HR ones go all the way to 20. My Small logo #12 has a HR so it would seem that its there for strength also