Need new cooker/stove/oven/range thingy
 

The grill/broiler element blew up and it ain't a quick cheap fix and we wanted a new one anyway..... (we have a basic electric jobbie -the type you can get for about $300 although we inherited it with the house...)

We really sorta want gas 'cause we like it better but we would have to get a gas line put in and money's a bit of an issue right now (like this is the same pot the vacation comes out of and I know where my priorities lie....) but that said, we fancy spending a little more to get one of those fancy hi-fallutin' flat top ones that are easy/easier to clean. We have friends who have them and reports are mixed.... some say you have to have special cleaners and cloths for them and they're a pain to cook on. Is this true?

I think the induction cooktops look really interesting. The top doesn't get hot, you can adjust the temperature instantly, and they are very energy-efficient. But, they can only be used with ferrous pans.

These pictures illustrate that the pot gets hot but the surface doesn't.

http://theinductionsite.com/GRAPHICS/egg.jpg

http://theinductionsite.com/GRAPHICS/boiling-ice.jpg


You can learn more here.

We have a flat-top range (not an induction surface like HLJ is talking about though, just glass...) I love it. Much easier to clean. You still have to scrub at it to get the cooked-on smears off just like a regular stove, but it's easier. I've heard it will scratch if you go dragging things across it, but ours never has.

I had a flat top for several years and got rid of it in favor for one with the old style coils. Yes you need special cleaners and no they aren't easy to work with. They are either on or off there is no in between, just short bursts of intense heat. I hated it. Just my opinion.

We had a ceramic top at our last place. It was ok, but I much prefer gas which is what we have now.

I didn't find the cleaning that much of a difference really. In fact, I found with the ceramic top, I ended up half scrubbing off the guide lines around the heating area.

We have large gas bottles outside our kitchen which supply our stove. Is that what you mean by a gasline? In some areas you do have the option of tapping into a gas supply pipe which runs under the footpath (which is what I'm guessing is your option) but we don't have that here. We don't even have town water. lol

i hate those flat top stoves...they suck...they dont evenly heat

Well, I suppose it's true that they cycle on and off--but standard ovens do that too (on the inside of the oven I mean.) It has a temperature gauge so it's in theory keeping it at the range you set it for... Maybe the special cleaners are for some models but not others. I've always used the standard stuff on ours. Maybe I just mistreat my appliances and don't know it. :)

ETA: I just thought of something else--maybe the cookware factors into it. We have pretty nice cookware that distributes heat very evenly. So maybe that compensates for the cooktop, I don't know.

YMMV, but we got this one to replace our ancient one. It has a sealed surface around the burners, so stuff won't go under. (There was about 1/2" clearance all around the burners on our old one, and all manner of junk just slipped through and lay under the top.) The big thing that sold this was the middle burner griddle thingy. We really like(d) that.

Having said that, it was on sale when we got it before Christmas. Its current price would probably have knocked it off our list.

But thats gas Steve - thats "Da bomb" If you can get a gas stove you will NEVER go back to anything else.

Meh. I've used gas and I never liked it. I know it's supposed to be better, but... I'm just a fruitloop, that's all there is to it.

We have gas, but I still want the induction cooktop.

Gas is the only thing that really has true low, medium and high settings. Try to saute something on anything other than gas. :headshake

Hmmmm...I can't imagine using anything but gas ever again. I love the way you get instant heat and you can physically see when the flame is right and you can use it to light candles when the power goes out. :)

The only problem with gas though is when your jets get blocked. That can be a real bitch, and dangerous too if you're not paying attention.

yeah $1K is a little too rich for us....

thanks all, though. Very interested to hear the flat-top views.

We always had gas in UK, much more controllable.

Yes, ali, tapping into a mains gas line is what we mean. we have gas water heating and central hearing