I have three cast iron and maybe 10 Vollrath pans,, all burn in the same place. Rotating is a temporary fix until it heats the pan again in the same spot.

It is possible the cast iron cast iron burner is slightly higher in the 5 0-clock position but it is so close. I stacked some quarters under one burner in the 11 0-clock position and will try again tomorrow. The burner now sits high at 11 and low at 5 0-clock.

My thought is because the burner measures ~6-7' from edge to edge it is exacerbated when off a little.. If it was a round burner it would not extend to the edge of the pan.

I think it is possible the manifold/orifices where the gas tubes connect are higher than they should be causing the tube to be higher at the front of the stove, pushing the rear part of the burner down a little making the front higher???

Does this happen on all of the burners or just one?

Checking the level of the burners and the grate inserts is the first place to start. Second would be to get a wire gauge set and check to orifaces.

"If it was a round burner it would not extend to the edge of the pan."

Yes. You'd have a hot spot in the middle and too little at the edges.

You may also be asking too much. Pancakes are notorious for difficulties with eveness which is one reason that good griddles are made with 1/2" - 1" thick steel or a water bath between two steel plates.

Put a large diameter pan with about 1" of water in it on the burner. Measure the depth of the water around the edges of the pan. You could use multiple toothpicks to compare water level marks.

ATK recently prepared Irish Stew. They were browning the lamb and commented, after 5 minutes we will rotate the pot because burners are not even…….or something similar.

It is definitely the burners not level to the grates... I have the leveling kit from bluestar.. before that it was worse... I am going to make a threaded insert in the tray so a bolt can be used to raise the 10 0-clock position..

It is a design defect from BS

SOLVED,

It is not the level of the burners,,, It is the additional 3 orifices for the ignigtor. Not in a million years would i think 3 extra flames could cause this.

The rear burner igniters are in the 11 O-clock position, 180 opposite of the fronts. The rear burners burn over the igniter just like the front even though that area of the burner is lower/farther away from the pan.

All of my burners, without an additional modification, site a little high at 5 o-clock and low and 11 O-clock. I originally thought it was the distance from the burner to the pan. This simple test demonstrates it is the extra BTUs for the ignition.

Look at the picture burner.1. Three pancakes on a cast iron pan, all loaded the same time. The little one in the bottom right is barely cooked while the top left corner is beginning to burn.

In the pictures, after flipping the burn is to the right. if you flipped it back over it would be on the left. This is a 100% burner design issue. There is no way anyone uses these ranges to cook crepes, french toast, pancakes etc without noticing it. I can not imagine a professional chef using these ranges unless they are being paid.

Chris

Professional chefs and many non-pro use griddles or flat tops for crepes and pancakes, not a fry pan on a burner. That said, you should not be getting extreme uneveness. We've not had that problem on our BS RNB nor have a couple of friends I've asked about it. You said it was for sure BS's fault due to not being level. Then you've said it was for sure BS's fault for burner design. What's BS's fault next?

Opaone,

Most people i know buy these things and don't really cook on then. Do you do pancakes? Cook one and post a picture. Maybe your burner design is different.

Originally I thought it was the levelness but realize after trial and error it is the orifices. BS knows there are some design issues. Why do you think they changed the burner support for the burners. Problem is they never reach out to previous owner to let them know there is a fix.

I plugged the holes at the igniter and the burn went away. It is not right but it works. No other range i owned burned like this one. As for the iron, I like using iron pans. No use for the built in griddle. They are too small, A round cast iron griddle on a round burner should be even.

Cheers.

With Wolf I would agree that many or most don't really cook on them. I think BS is different as people seek them out specifically for the functionality.

Do you know for certain the "BS knows there are some design issues"? Have they said that they are addressing these issues?

As to reaching out, I don't believe any company would ever proactively do that except for a safety issue. A very good company might reach out to people who have complained previously but I'd guess 99% of companies would not do even that. And there is no good reason for them to do so. If a customer has not complained about it, if they are happy with the product's performance as is, why incur the expense of sending them a part that they do not need?

"A round cast iron griddle on a round burner should be even."

Yes and mostly no. Some burners are certainly better than others and some pans better than others. A good burner should provide as even of heat as possible. But none (including commercial) do very well and in my experience BS RNB burners are better than any other consumer range (and many commercial) that I've used or tested.

A proper thermostatic griddle however will always provide much more even heat/cooking than a pan on a burner. They are designed specifically to do that. Just as you shouldn't expect to drive a nail w/ a screwdriver, you shouldn't expect griddle/flat-top performance from a burner + pan.

My burner solution for uneven cooking,

I finally had the time to solve this problem, After installing the burner leveling kit from BS it was better but i still had a consistent burn at the 5-o'clock position. The BS pilot/ignitor has three extra orifices stacked horizontally on the same radial and tight together at the 5-o'clock position. That is ~25% more BTU in one spot. Instead of having an ignitor reach the flame the brought the flame to a generic 5$ ignitor.

PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS,, I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS FIX. I AM NOT AN ENGINEER.

this worked for me and I am pleased, no more uneven cooking and lights much easier. I have not had one pop or ghost flame event since doing it over a weeks ago.

I welded shut the 3 extra orifices and ground them flat. I could not find an ignitor with a tall enough insulator to stop the spark jumping to the bottom of the burner so i brazed an extension onto the OEM ignitor.

There are universal fit ignitors that are to be cut and bent in the field but none have a tall ceramic insulator. When i find one I will change mine out... For now they work great.

Again,,,,,,,, I AM NOT RECOMMENDING THIS,,,, It worked for me and cost me zero $