Abstract: A gas stove including at least one burner, a gas supply conduit for supplying gas to the burner, a solenoid valve in the gas supply conduit, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a utensil on a burner and a control circuit responsive to the sensor to open the solenoid valve when the utensil is on the burner and to slose the solenoid valve when the utensil is off the burner.