Common kitchen terms explained

Choosing a professional kitchen appliance these days is like visiting a foreign country: If you don't speak the language, you might get burned. Here are definitions of some of the most common technical terms to help avoid purchasing pitfalls.

Listed in alphabetical order:

--Auto defrost: The cooling element in a refrigeration or freezer appliance temporarily heats to prevent ice from forming. Appliances with this technology use more energy, and any food inside will experience the temperature change.

--Catalytic: A kind of surface found in self-cleaning ovens that helps break down food spills and splatters.

--Convection: A cooking method that circulates hot air around food to cook it faster than conventional ovens.

--Dual fuel: The appliance comes with two kinds of fuel for cooking: gas and electric, for example.

--Flame failure safety cut-out: If a gas flame blows out, but the gas is still on, this feature will stop the flow of gas to the burner.

--Hob: Another name for the cook top or burners, like gas, induction or ceramic.

--Induction: A cooking method that is faster and more energy-efficient than a traditional cook top, but requires the use of a ferromagnetic pot. The cook top itself is flameless, not hot to the touch and will not burn skin; only the pot is heated.

--LPG jets (liquefied petroleum gas): LPG is a product of crude oil distillation mostly containing propane. A jet is a small screw-in cap with a drilled hole that installs into a cook-top burner. LPG jets have holes twice as small as those for natural gas because LPG contains more energy.

--Trivet: Metal or ceramic structures above burners that hold pots above the cooktop flame.