Waring Pro SB30 1300-Watt Portable Single Burner

Comment: I purchased this hot plate to use while our kitchen was being remodeled. I found it sturdily-built compared to the cheaper exposed element types -- and it looks a lot better and is easier to keep clean. It also heats up fine and I cooked dry beans on several occasions (bringing the water to boil and then simmering for several hours). I always start with hot water from the faucet (even with my regular stove), so I can't comment on how long it normally takes to bring a pot of cold water to boil, but I could not discern much difference in bean-cooking performance from my regular stove.

When I was looking to buy this hot plate, I remember seeing several reviews about small hot plates in general not bringing large lobster pots to boil very fast (there may be similar reviews about this one -- I don't remember). However, if I was looking to buy an outside cooking element to boil lobsters or fry turkeys or something like that, I would not be even looking at small electric hot plates like this -- I don't think they're made for this purpose. For those types of heavy duty applications, I would buy a portable propane element. For normal cooking tasks in the home (to supplement/replace your regular stove), I think this hot plate does a great job!!

Comment: I purchased this burner because my home's stove is a flat top glass type. I am unable to use my aluminum 5 gallon brew kettle for doing home brews on this type of stove. So I was in the market for a single unit electric burner. Well I am currently 2.5 hours into the brew process and I have been waiting for my boil to start for 1.5 hours of this time. It seems this burner is not suited for getting a boil of 2.5 gallons of water with seeped grains with 13 pounds of liquid malt extract up to the boil needed to toss in my hops in a reasonable time. I have been stuck at 165 degrees for quite a while and it doesn't seem to be climbing at all. At the rate this burner is bringing my brew to a boil, this process, which normally should take a few hours tops (30 minute grain seep, 1 hour hard boil) has already taken 2.5 hours ( long time to get to 155 to steep the grainand I haven't even began the hour long boil yet).

To be fair, the burner is of nice quality, is well constructed (albeit a little on the inexpensive side), and has a nice min-5 burner temperature knob, but it's just not the right fit for my home brewing process. I'd say if you have to boil anything more than a gallon, don't do it in a large aluminum pot like mine. Maybe this is the perfect burner for those looking for an extra burner around the house for every day use (small pots or pans), but don't buy this product if you are a home brewer with a glass flat top stove looking for an alternative way to boil up your wert.

In the 5 minutes or so it's taken me to write this review, edit it, reword a few things, and get to this paragraph, I've raised 3 degrees. If I do the math right, this burner will get me from 170 to the 212 boiling point in another hour. NOT WORTH IT FOR HOME BREWERS!

Comment: It's a Waring. Heats up fast, large heating surface area with sensitive thermo control. This is my second hot plate and it is well worth the extra $15 for the larger pad, makes all the difference.

Comment: Ive had this for months now. I use it to fry fish and bacon in the garage to save on oders in the house. Gets as hot as my stove burner. It has boiled pots of water in a good amount of time.

Comment: received from amazon june 2009. my gas stove was on the blink soooo since you don't wait in new york, i purchased this unit. it is fantastic. it has a dial which goes from 1 to 5. i put a pot of water on, dial 5 and in 8-10 minutes the water is boiling like no tomorrow and ready for the noodles. turn down to 3 and your noodels are done. now put dial to the keep warm and it acts like a slow cooker....keep food warm for hours. it will cook anything in any pot just like a regular stove...but must faster. gas is slower than electric for heating pots. this is great for use at any time.