If you want your professional kitchen range to last for years to come, it’s important to understand the various parts that make up the appliance.

In this article, we’re taking a look at seven essential kitchen range parts.

7 Essential Kitchen Range Parts

When it comes to your kitchen range, you may take it for granted. You know it is always there in your kitchen. It cooks you hot meals when you need it and bakes some of the most delicious desserts. But, have you ever given any thought to the parts that go into creating these magnificent – and reliable – appliances?

For just a moment, think about this – how many times have you referred to it as a stove? Or, how about all those times you’ve just pointed to it, calling it an oven?

The stove and the oven are only two parts of many that make a range such a necessary kitchen appliance. Here are all the important parts of your professional kitchen range that you should be giving thanks for.

Here are seven essential kitchen range parts.

1. Burners

It does not matter what type of range you have, if you have a range, you are going to have burners. However, the type of burner will vary. Primarily, those that are designed as professionally-styled ranges will come with heavy-duty cast-iron grates or a glass top. Both have their own benefits.

Cast iron grates are what you will find with gas ranges. They provide a durable surface for cooking while still maintaining their superior look and quality and design.

Glass top stoves are a very common style of the electric variety. Whether they come as part of a range or a side addition by themselves, these are sleek and very aesthetically pleasing. They take away all rigidity when it comes to the appliances, leaving nothing by a shiny, smooth space.

2. Element

Have you heard of an element? Most pro-style ranges come with not one, but two elements – a bake element and a broil element. And, when it comes to the elements in your range, they have an extremely important job.

The element itself is the main source of heat in the oven. If it is the bake element, then this is the source of heat that you will find at the bottom of the oven. For the broil element, you will find this source of heat at the top of the oven. Depending on what you are cooking and how you have your controls set, the appropriate elements will be used for heating.

3. Drip Pan

The drip pan catches drips, of course! The drip pan is found underneath the burners on the stove. They are made of varying materials. Those pro-style ranges from Thor Kitchen, however, come with black porcelain drop pans.

The benefit of using porcelain means much easier cleanup. See, as you cook and things overflow from the pan, splatter, or drip as you serve your dish, this debris lands in the drip pan. If the area is still hot, it could continue to cook – baking itself right on to the drip pan. You will find that porcelain drip pans are the easiest to clean which means they always look nice – keeping your entire range looking nice. And, well, that’s important for your kitchen, right?

4. Convection Fan

The convection fan is found in the oven. And, while it doesn’t provide heat like the all-important element, it distributes the heat evenly throughout the space.

If you don’t have a convection fan, you will find that you will spend time checking your food throughout to make sure it is done. Often, this involves rotating the pan within the oven as it cooks. This is not necessarily the most ideal method for baking.

Just heating up space cannot ensure where the heat goes what it is released. But, with a convection fan, you can be sure that you are getting an even flow of heat throughout the oven – leading to perfectly even baking.

5. Broiler

Broilers are not a tricky way of cooking, but they aren’t used as often as regular baking. Broilers work on high heat. And, it comes from the top of the oven. This high heat works to cook your food fast – leaving it slightly crispy or crunchy, too.

Many people will often bake their dishes using the oven’s bake element. Then, as it is almost done, switch on the broiler element for that final tasty bit of crisp.

6. Knobs or Touch Controls

You need to be able to control your range. You have to be able to adjust the heat on your burners. Or, just turn them on, for that matter. You also need to manage your oven, heating it up in the manner and at the temperature required for whatever you are baking.

Knobs allow you to do this. Of course, depending on your range, you may have touch controls rather than knobs, but they all serve the same purpose – and are essential to using a range.

7. Range Hood

While a range hood is not necessarily a part of a range per se, it is definitely an essential part of owning a range. Here’s why.

Every time you heat up your stove and begin cooking, your kitchen heats up. A range hood pulls that heat from your kitchen, leaving you with a cooler space. This brings comfort and also means your air conditioning system doesn’t have to work as hard – saving you money.

As you cook, there are food particles, toxins, and other debris that make the way into your kitchen air. Yes, the very air that you and your loved ones breathe. A range hood will remove this dirty air from your kitchen, filter it, and replace it with much cleaner air to breathe. It is safer for you and your family.

Range hoods come in different shapes and sizes. Some mount on the wall while others mount under the cabinet. Some are vented outdoors while others are not vented but filter the air instead. It doesn’t matter what type you have, as long as there is a range hood above your stove.

Conclusion

Ranges are a necessity in the kitchen. The more you know how it works, the more useful it will be to you. Take time to familiarize yourself with all these essential parts.