Do you have a smooth top electric range?

Do you like it? I have to buy a new range; mine is literally falling apart inside. The top of the oven is disintegrating. I am thinking of getting a smooth top, but I would like to hear from someone who has used one before I jump in. Any suggestions?

I like mine to



lost

It's nice, but we're renting this house and if I had my choice I would certainly have gas. Gas is better for cooking. But as far as electrics go, this is a good-looking option. :)

Just a word of caution. Burnt paw pads are no fun.

They do jump up on the counter now and then even though we discourage it.

I'd much rather have gas.

I like it...just gotta remember that for quite a while after you turn it off, the heating surface stays hot, keep your towels and other stuff off of the rangetop or it will burn. Ceramabrite is a good product to use to keep it clean too, it's usually sold at the same place where you buy the oven. Also, make sure your pots and pans are flat, so things will heat evenly.

Carly

but as many have stated, would rather have gas. The smooth top is really nice, and much easier to clean up IMO which is important.

Would you choose the smooth top over coils?

the coils seem to be much harder to clean. No spilage on the coils. Mine has one burner that can be either a small burner or a large burner. Also, on mine, the coils don't stay on one temp, they come on and off to keep the temp where I have it set.

Yep, smooth top is the way to go if you have to have electric.

love it! I would recommend it highly. No cast iron or huge corn pots though- Iron can scratch it and the big corn pot we had overlapped the rings so we could not use it for some reason that escapes me right now.

Some of the larger ones are pretty heavy. I also have 10 and 12 year-olds who cook. Hmmmmm....... I would love the easy clean and the nice look, but I am beginning to wonder if we need the sturdy coil model. All of our appliances get a workout.

I like it a lot. Far easier to keep clean than the traditional "coil" cooktop. It can, however, get scratched, so you have to be careful of what you use to clean it. I use the products that are specifically for the cooktop and they work really well. You sometimes have to use a scraper to get up some of the spill over gunk.

I love my cooktop but I HATE my counter tops - they are 3 x 3 white tile. Can you say skeezy looking grout? Impossible to keep clean.

We can't afford a redo at the moment though. I wouldn't be thinking about a new range if the old one wasn't falling apart. I keep dreaming of the "we can finally afford to remodel" day.

I want new counter tops and a stainless steel sink, but we do not have the means to do that at the moment. I can dream though.

It came with our house. It is so old, but you would never know it. The best part is that rubbing your hands on it gets rid of the garlic odor!

I've tried cooking on flat electrics, and really don't like them. Induction might be a different story.

In fact, I'm getting rid of my sealed burner top and getting open, restaurant style gas burners. Hotter, more efficient though a bit more difficult to clean.

It was hard enough for me to learn to cook with the little numbers on the electric range.. I dont think I have the patience to figure out cooking by flame height

a slower, more gentle flame, and it's great. No more burned soup!

I've had both gas and electric and gas is so much better that I would not consider buying a house or condo with electric unless I could find a way to put in gas. When we redid our kitchen, I designed the remodel around the gas stove outlet. Luckily, we live in an older house on a gas line in the city of New Haven. Back in the day, no one had a choice...it was gas or nothing!

One of the complaints you sometimes hear is that it's a pain to keep clean, but I haven't found this to be the case at all. It's so much better than having those awful drip pans to contend with. I even like it better than gas. I was so excited when I I moved into my last apartment because it had a gas range. Most foodies I've known say they're a must. Meh. So not worth the hassles. I'll take a smoothtop any day. ETA I'm serious about cooking, and still have no complaints. It's just a matter of adjusting if you're switching from another type. I've yet to burn or undercook anything.

Couldn't control the level of heat - got tired of either burning everything or having to stand over a pot & stir for an hour. (And it wasn't just the one I had; just got back from my father's house, and the stove there has one of those evil smooth tops; it was just as bad.)

As someone said upthread, you're not supposed to use cast-iron, but I did; it just didn't work very well because the bottom of the pan wasn't completely flat. As for scratching the cooktop, I didn't care because I hated the damn thing anyway.

If you want a nice shiny surface that is pretty much useless in a working kitchen, go for it. But if you're serious about cooking, get a gas range :D

I wouldn't have mine. (My daughter's 20 and my cats don't jump up on the counters...)

The top scratches easily with very little counter space, I tend to use mine like an extension of the counter. The "burners" stay hot for a long time after they're turned off and it's not obvious they're still hot unless you notice the little light on up on the control panel. I've burned my hand a couple times. I've also put things on it that melted...

:(

A roomate melted a pan on it. x(

We bought this house five years ago with this kind of a range.

First chance I had - when we replaced the formica top with a stone surface - I got a gas range.

First, for a smooth top you need special cookware to get good results. Second, I never knew where the burners were if they were not on high and then you need special lotion to clean it.

Personally I prefer gas range so this may have been the problem. An acquaintance recently bought a new house with this type of range and the realtor said that it was more for appearance than for serious cooking.

I'm afraid of scratching it. On the plus side, the controls are all touch-sensitive, so there are no knobs or buttons. And they can be locked. There's a "hot burner" light that stays on until it cools down, even if the controls are locked. It seems to heat and cool pretty quickly. Oh, and it beeps if the kitties decide to walk across it.

I'm still getting used to it. I've also noticed that if you don't use really good cookware it will warp when it's on the burners.

and frankly I hate it. I do a lot of sauteing and cooking that requires a great deal of pan movement across the heat source. Nothing like the sound of metal scratching across the cooktop. Also, the top of the model she has remains heated for a period of time after cooking -- with many animals in the house, I don't like having to keep an eye out for their safety like that.

I have to go for the coils. I think the negatives outweigh the positives for me. Man, I miss having a gas stove! Thanks a ton for your help.

They really are far superior to coils. If you can't have gas, they're the way to go. I switched a few months ago, and boy am I glad I did. I had some reservations because I'd heard some of the complaints in this thread. But I found they weren't true for me. I think some of those problems were more common with older models, but the new models out are excellent. I will never have coils again.

I am unemployed at the moment after dropping a load of cash on a grad degree and I can't afford to get a nice range. It has to stay under $500 and it will still be a major pain to pay for. I had originally planned to get propane installed and get a gas range, but the old one just can't make it.

on my ceramic cook top and have vastly improved my cooking skills. Once you get the hang of the temperature, food almost cooks itself. And, it looks so much cleaner and nicer.

They have touch sensitive controls and microprocessors.

I have just gotten rid of a dual fuel range that had all the bells and whistles: Two timers, Start and stop cooking time, self cleaning oven, clock, etc.

Gas top, electric oven, gas broiler.

In the six years I've had it, it's had two brains, three control panels, oven locking motor and an ignitor for the broiler.

Today I bought a range that is essentially a big box of fire. All gas, open burners, electronic ignition (which if it fails can be lit with a match) and a old style thermostat.

The moral: Microprocessors are great in cameras, computers, DVD's, TV's and things you can keep relatively dry and away from heat extremes. Stoves and refrigerators - not so much.

My favorite kind of stove!! I like being able to at least cook food if the power is out. I've used my grandma's big money smooth top, and man o man, I hate that thing with a passion! I'll take my shitty apartment gas stove any day.

The new house we may buy has a gas range, a type I've never used. Learning should be an adventure.

I like it better than the old coil-type electric stove--easier to clean up spills, it heats more evenly and quickly. We have a Kenmore and have never had any problems with it.

But, it cannot compare to a gas stove.

Smoothtop is lower maintanance, easier to clean. Also easier to forget it's still hot and burn yourself. (or pets, as somebody else mentioned) So the question is are you more forgetful or more tired of cleaning underneath the burners? :)

I think I could deal better with messy burners than burnt cats, or kids or ME!

When they first came out, everyone I know that has an extra buck, bought one.

all new construction at the time seemed to include them around here.

I rent the farmhouse I'm in. It has one and it's terribly scratched. I like it better than coils, but am so absent-minded that I'm always sitting something on a hot spot and either burning it or melting it. :(

no suggestions, i just bought the cheapest one, but i like

Takes a long time to heat up, and retains heat way too long after being turned off...that's a lot of heat energy wasted. If I wasn't broke that damned contraption would be in a scrap metal yard and I'd have gas like I had in my little bachelor house. My wife doesn't mind it too much (she does more cooking than I do) but she'd enjoy a gas range too. I really, really miss my gas stove. :(

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

It's a love/hate thing with me. Easy enough to clean, and no cooking goo runs down into the burners, but the temp control is really not that good. Plus you really need to have a nice set of pans and skillets that conduct the heat in a superb sort of way. When I attempt to boil a big pot of water, for say, pasta, it seems to take forever to boil the water. You have to be really careful with the surface too. You can't put lids down onto the surface of the stove. Some how a vacuum can get created and crack the surface. I've never seen it happen, but I've read about the dangers elsewhere. I clean mine with a razor-blade and Cermabrite like was recommended, and it looks really nice after it's cleaned. I think gas is the best, and most controllable stove to cook with...