I have only used it about ten times now. I bought it because there are several dishes I like to make which offend my wife’s sense of smell (think sauerbraten or cabbage) so I am regulated to the great outdoors. This performs better than the side burner on my gas grill and probably all of them as propane doesn’t have the btu’s of natural gas. It isn’t going to compare to an electric stove top for speed either but I have made big pots of food with it. It does what I expected.
I bought this because I wanted to be able to prepare quick meals without having to clean up the entire stovetop. It takes about 7 minutes to get to the green light on setting 5; however, I can put a pan of water on within a minute of turning on the unit on, and it begins to heat rapidly.
A word of caution: Once you turn off the unit, you should remove the pan or your food will continue to cook.
This burner works great. I am between stoves at the moment and needed a burner for a specific use. Although I have been managing with other electric cooking utensils, having this burner to use with an actual skillet or pot is fantastic.
I used this daily for 3 weeks when we were remodeling our kitchen. I like Cuisinart brand but was disappointed in this product. The cast iron burner rusted after 3 weeks and the unit was so slow to heat that I would turn it on, have my coffee, and then fry an egg. Cuisinart does not warrenty rust.