my burners kill sauces

Well, since you can't get a new stove :p or replace all your pots with something super heavy :p the next best thing is to put something between the coil and the pot. Look around for a "Flame Tamer" or other heat diffuser (lots of sources on the Internet, in a wide range of prices).

You can even make one yourself, with a wire coat hanger (bend into a coil) or tin can (rinse, remove label, and flatten), but they are cheap enough to buy.

I'm no expert so take what I say with a grain of salt.
If the coat hanger and tin can tricks don't completely solve it here are some other thoughts.
1.If your dials have words, ignore them and only pay attention to the letters. The large burner on my electric stove will keep a large pot simmering between warm and warm. Usually I'll bring to an almost boil on med and then turn down the heat or if it's critical, move the pot to another burner preheated to a lower temperature.
2. As for pots. My experience is that while I can rarely afford the most expensive anything, it’s never more economical to buy the cheapest. For about the cost of one All-Clad sauce pan you could buy a set of non-stick Wear Ever heavy disc bottomed pots and pans with a lifetime warranty. Which of those would be the better choice is arguable but the $1.99 pan or the $19 set is not, at least in my opinion. If I was a 16 yr old with a serious interest in cooking, those All-Clad pieces (one at a time unless I had a rich uncle) would be on my Christmas list.
3. You don't mention what kind of sauce is burning. For a hollandaise, for instance, you might use a glass or stainless steel mixing bowl on top of your pot as a double boiler. This would trump both the electric stove and pot problem.
4. My stock has outgrown the pot. I used to use the 5-quart Dutch oven that came with the Wear Ever set mention above. Thanks to the corrupting influence of all these gourmands, last time I used an 8-quart stockpot I originally bought for 2.99 to use as a trash can. Pots don't get any chincier than this one, but even after more than 6 hours, while it might have overcooked, it didn't scorch or burn on an electric stovetop. If I haven't replaced it before the next time I make stock, to buy a little insurance, I'll use a cast iron griddle/Dutch oven lid as a heat diffuser.

It's probably your cookware and not the burners. If it's inexpensive cookware with a thin bottom, that's your problem.

Mark

Hi leftychef, have lived in many places with all kinds of stoves, mostly electric, and love to make sauces and, of course, need to make a roux.

I understand your problem.

After many years of frustration I realized you do not have to keep the pot directly on the burner. You can move the pot so only a portion is on the heating element. Sure, that area being heated will get hot, but if you stir and move the pot about a bit you can avoid scorching.

Just my approach. :D

AuntDot:

Sorry to be a voice of dissension but you shouldn't have to place any cooking vessel partially on a burner to avoid scorching. That approach can cause uneven cooking of the food and/or impair proper searing of the food, (such as when sauteing proteins).

The type of burner has no direct bearing on scorching sauces since any burner can be adjusted to the proper heat level.

Assuming the heat is not being set too high for the recipe in question, the most likely culprit is inferior cookware that has too thin a bottom. Thicker cookware absorbs and equally disperses heat. Thinner cookware has no "buffer" and thus very intense heat is transmitted directly to the food.

Leftychef also mentioned that his roux is clumping. This is not due to the stove's burner but the aforementioned cookware, or possibilities such as the flour to fat ratio, degree of whisking, type of flour employed, etc. The roux and the medium it's being dispersed in also need to be at different temperatures or it's Lumpsville.

Leftychef: Can you shed more light on your cookware and roux procedures?

Mark

Mark you are right.

In a perfect world all things are as they should be.

But have had to deal with less than that.

In one apartment had an oven that would only heat to 500 degrees F. Yep.

Learned to cook with it though.

Know of a great cookware place, and yes, I now only have pots with very heavy bottoms.

But there are times when a cooks gotta do something to make things work.

And was giving a suggestion. That is all.

And have had to do it, and have made it work.

You mean this isn't the perfect world?????

That **** Vulcan space-taxi dropped me at the wrong address again!!!

But seriously folks.........

Auntdot: Yes, sometimes we must be creative in the face of inauspicious circumstances.

Glad to hear your current cookware has some heft to it.

Mark