Twitter Debates: Do You Have a Favorite Burner?

I think it’s fair to assume that regular readers or even casual dabblers of Kitchn spend more time in the heart of the home than your average human. Coming from a family of chefs, pastry pros, and gourmet lovers, I’m no exception. Yet, I realized only today, after 35 years of life, something about my cooking habits — after I read a particularly contentious Twitter thread.

Texas resident Andrew Armstrong (on Twitter as @donfrijole) mused about something adults don’t really talk about often: their stovetop burner preference.

In the original tweet Armstrong states, “One of the weirder things about being an adult is having a favorite stove top burner, yet no one talks about it.” (I would wager you just thought about your favorite stove top burner, too, yes? I totes did.)

Some of his Twitter feed disagreed right away with the accompanying image, implying that everyone’s favorite burner is obviously the front right (you know, since there’s a proliferation of red arrows pointing at it):

Still most people on the thread (and some off of it, like me) consider the front right as their go to burner:

And even those who want to be the biggest kid at recess by saying they use the stovetop as it was intended to be used:

And then there were the folks who need a visit from an electrician:

Then, complicating matters some, a few people interjected into the discussion and asked us all to consider the back burners, which consensus assumed are lower power:

But as in all Twitter threads, there’s always at least one person with complete common sense:

Twitter user @HigsyPigsy is absolutely correct, at least according to what a spokesperson from popular American appliance brand Kenmore had to say. “[The front right burner] has been the paradigm for cooktops in the U.S.,” Kenmore Brand Product Manager Anthony Lam said to BuzzFeed. “We purposely put the best burner in the front right because customers are used to having it in that location.”

Lam also explained that because of UL temperature restrictions (the guidelines that keep appliances like your stove, your toaster, or even your laptop battery from overheating or burning you), most gas stovetops have just one high power burner.

An unofficial poll taken by BuzzFeed also found that a whopping 48% of almost 20,000 participants (including yours truly) use the front right burner, followed by 31% that use the front left, and 13% who use “whatever best fits the pot I’m using.” Let us all thank ourselves that we don’t have a system as complicated as this guy:

I suspect the front right burner is the most popular one simply because most people either new or old to adulting are quite impatient (raises hand). The most powerful burner equals less cook time, which equals less time from pot of cold water to steamy bowl of your favorite pasta — which reminds me, I have a pan of chicken sausage gnocchi simmering on my stove to get to.