Answer
Sep 25, 2025 - 04:23 PM
A BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating indicates a gas burner's heat output, affecting cooking speed and efficiency. A hotpoint gas range will cover your basics with a range of between 5k and 13k BTU's. However, higher end models, such as GE Cafe, Monogram, Forno, or NXR can go up to 18k or 21k, great for boiling water quickly or pan-searing on your griddle. In other words, your pan gets hotter faster. BTU is a measurement exclusive to natural gas, and can be roughly compared to an electric cooktop's wattage at a ratio of approximately 1 watt per 3.5 BTU's. Radiant heating elements on an electric cooktop will generally range between 1200 watts, and, at most, 3600 watts, making electric radiant heating unable to compete with high BTU gas burners. An induction heating element with the same wattage rating will perform much better, however, because far less heat is lost in transfer to your pots and pans.
