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Gas is the best, but if it's not an option, then glass-top all the way.
A lot of people in this thread are complaining about nonsense issues.
-I've never been in a situation where something didn't heat up fast enough on my glass top.
-Cleaning problems are a myth. First, it's pretty easy for anyone over age 5 to not spill on it. If you spill something on it, it wipes off pretty easy.
-Scratching? My glass top is 10 years old and has no scratches.
-Cooking evenly? Not a problem. If you keep the pan in the center, what's the issue? Why would this be different than any other surface unless you are just looking for things to complain about? Uneven cooking issues would be operator error, it's not very difficult. All it requires is opposable thumbs and you are good to go...
Reminds me of when I read a recent review on a clothes washer. The "reviewer" said they were 5'1" and bought a large capacity washer and then rated the appliance as 1 out of 5 stars because they "couldn't reach the bottom of the drum". Let's not invent problems, people!
I'm so glad this thread was started as I was just going to buy a glass top. We have a Jenn Aire stove which has a gas top (propane due to rural living) and an electric oven with conventional and convection. The high cost of propane is getting to the point of making me think electric would be better. I might have to rethink that.
I currently have a glass cooktop that I purchased a year ago and absolutely hate. It takes around 10 minutes to boil pasta water and keeping it clean, even with the "proper cleanser" is a real pain. Coil cooktops seem so old school but since I cook a lot I like the fact they heat up faster and cook more evenly than glass, and cool down quicker which is nice in a place like Florida.
Oh, my... sorry I didn't open this thread sooner, since so many of you are having trouble with what many cooks consider the ultimate cooking method.
Here's a snip on the subject from Wikipedia:
"The high efficiency of power transfer into the cooking vessel makes heating food faster on an induction cooking surface than on other electric cooking surfaces. Because of the high efficiency, an induction element has heating performance comparable to a typical consumer-type gas element, even though the gas burner would have a much higher power input."
Seriously? Yes, seriously.
Other features of induction cooktops besides rapid heating and high power, are instantaneous temperature changes (like gas), cooler stovetop and cooler kitchen, most energy efficient cooking, safest, cleanest, shallowest installation space, etc.
Seriously? Yes, seriously.
So what is going on here? Well, assuming your induction cook top is hooked up properly (and that's a big assumption) it's almost certainly the fault of your pans.
You MUST have the right pans to use induction cooking. Aluminum pots don't work. Copper pots don't work. Glass pots don't work. And some stainless steel pots don't work.
Induction heating works by rapidly fluctuating a magnetic field in a ferromagnetic pot... plain cast iron, black iron (like French crepe pans), enameled iron (tinware) or enameled cast iron (like Staub or Le Creuset) work best... or ferromagnetic stainless steel. How can you tell if stainless steel is the magnetic kind? There's an easy test. Hold a magnet up against it, and see if it grabs on strongly. Not like just barely hanging on, but a strong grab.
And here's the thing, the magnet has to do that on the bottom of the pot, where it touches the glass surface. I've seen people checking the sides of a pot with a magnet, but the test doesn't count anywhere else but the bottom. I have a little 1qt pot I love to melt butter in, and the pot itself is made of good material for induction cooking... it tests fine on the sides... but when a magnet is held against the bottom, it only clings weakly, so it's no good for induction cooking.
What the heck is going on? Well, stainless steel by itself, surprisingly, doesn't transmit heat very efficiently. And a thin stainless steel pot over a gas flame or electric coils will have hot spots, which promotes burning and sticking. So virtually every pot company makes stainless pans for THAT traditional style of cooking (like my butter melter) by bonding a thick disc of aluminum, or sometimes copper, to the bottom of the pot to transmit the heat from the burner to the pot more efficiently and more evenly. Perfect for that kind of stove. Awful for induction stoves.
Pots made specifically for induction cooking usually say so on the pot, and have a thin stainless steel surface on the bottom, closest to the induction coil. They may have a thin layer of aluminum ABOVE the stainless bottom, and typically another layer of stainless steel above that (like the Alclad sandwich), but they will never have aluminum or copper on the bottom surface.
1. I would LOVE gas, but it's not an option.
2. The coil burners look ancient and are ugly.
3. I hate the flat, glass cooktop that we used to have, for the same reasons that you mention, mostly that they took forever to get hot -- IF they got hot. For some stuff that I would cook, the pan just would not get hot enough... ever.
Then we bought this house in MA. The house had been completely redone, complete with appliances in the kitchen that still had their tags on them. And then I saw it: the flat glass stovetop. FEH!
BUT!
It's terrific! As good as gas? No. But it's a thousand times better -- I'd even venture to say it's good! -- than the one in our previous house.
It's the Kenmore Elite.
It has two ovens -- top and bottom. One is big, one is flatter.
There are five boilers on the stovetop. One is only to keep things warm. One is huge and has three "ring" sizes so, when you place your pot or pan on that ring, you have to specify the size. And one -- are you ready? -- is "Turbo Boil." I can put a huge pasta pot on it, filled with water, and I cannot even believe how quickly it comes to a boil. It's like magic.
I'd highly recommend the Kenmore Elite. (And even *I* can't believe that I can recommend a glass top.)
ETA: In terms of cleaning the top, get yourself a can of "Barkeeper's Friend." Amazing!
I would have to say our ceramic top stove is almost as good as gas. Like you said, everything cooks quickly, and evenly. For cleaning I use the cleaner I get at WalMart, probably similar to yours.
I just checked, ours is a GE, deluxe and I am guessing it is about 8 years old. We have lived here for just over 4 years, the previously owner was here about 2 years and the house had been re-modeled not too long before that. The two glass tops we had before this one were still much better than the coil kind, but not as good as gas...I use every kind of pot on it, mostly stainless steel, but I have used Alum as well.
First of all since you are purchasing the appliance, I am going to assume that you are a home owner rather than a renter. Having said that, there is no reason why gas is not an option. You can always have a propane tank set in your back yard. If your back yard is small (or you live in a condo) you can get a small tank since all you are going to be doing with it is cooking.
If you are hell-bent on buying an electric range, my choice would depend on whether or not you do any canning since, if you do, you cannot have a glass top. Although they are easier to clean, I suppose. My understanding is that you have to buy special cleaning solution for them or they scratch badly.
Personally, I'd go with the tank.
20yrsinBranson
Branson, that is easier said than done: in some regions propane isn't something that is as readily available as in other areas. There still has to be lines run, not to mention city regulations. I know when we lived in NM this would never have been an option. That being said, yes, you do have to buy special cleaners for the glass top stoves, it isn't expensive and lasts forever. I think I pay about $3 for a bottle; it will last a couple of months. You don't use it daily, you can use basic soap and water plus a plastic wipe. I think those who find them hard to clean or say they cook unevenly might not have the newer ones. Maybe I have been lucky, but I love mine....The only draw back, as someone mentioned you do have to make sure the pan is placed evenly on the burner, but isn't that the case with any stove and any burner? The difference is, having the smooth glass top sometimes makes it a little harder to realize when your pot isn't placed evenly...
Branson, that is easier said than done: in some regions propane isn't something that is as readily available as in other areas. There still has to be lines run, not to mention city regulations. I know when we lived in NM this would never have been an option. That being said, yes, you do have to buy special cleaners for the glass top stoves, it isn't expensive and lasts forever. I think I pay about $3 for a bottle; it will last a couple of months. You don't use it daily, you can use basic soap and water plus a plastic wipe. I think those who find them hard to clean or say they cook unevenly might not have the newer ones. Maybe I have been lucky, but I love mine....The only draw back, as someone mentioned you do have to make sure the pan is placed evenly on the burner, but isn't that the case with any stove and any burner? The difference is, having the smooth glass top sometimes makes it a little harder to realize when your pot isn't placed evenly...
Living in rural Missouri, I guess I did not realize that propane was not a readily available option everywhere. That having been said, you can always buy propane at places that cater to RV and campers, since most RVs do operate their stove (and refrigerator) on propane. It is just a question of knowing where to look.
As for "regulations", you can always put your propane tank inside (which is not really, the best option, safety wise), but lots of people do (usually in the basement). You just have to be really careful that there are no leaks!!!!!! I do not know of any city regulations that does not permit natural gas, of course, the natural gas companies have lobbied, I'm sure, to get propane "outlawed" to cut down on the competition. LOL
In my lifetime I have had only one or two electric ranges and I would never have another one. I am very blessed to live out in the country where nobody gives a darn what I cook with.
If you are hell-bent on buying an electric range, my choice would depend on whether or not you do any canning since, if you do, you cannot have a glass top.
This is a misconception. You just have to have the right pot. First, it has to be made of the right ferromagnetic metal (see my previous comment), and second, it has to be flat bottomed, and not cover the over-temperature sensor. You can usually get a list of recommended canners from the cooktop manufacturer.
No it doesn't heat evenly at all. Just last night while cooking, I was noticing how only one spot in the pan as actually simmering (and this was using some really good cookware). I had to keep moving the pan around on the burner.
Unless the cooktop is defective, this is almost certainly due to using the wrong cookware. It's not a question of quality, it's a question of the way it's made, and of what material. Personally I like cooking with Calphalon Series 1, which is heavy duty hard-anodized black aluminum, but it's useless on an induction range.
See my previous comment about the kind of cookware needed... which will give you a more even heat than either gas or coil.
While my first choice of cooktops has always been gas ... if it's not an option, then I'd put in one of the halogen ranges.
I get to cook a lot of meals at a friend's house with a Kenmore halogen cooktop. 5 burners, three of which have the small/large cooking area. We use everything from cast iron to glass to porcelain to aluminum cookware on this and it is as easy to control as my gas range. It changes temperature easily, and the thermal sensing in the stovetop maintains a set temp very well; you can simmer gently, hard boil, or saute with it with excellent control. We use a big aluminum pot for blanching veggie's for freezing, and they use an aluminum or stainless steel pressure cooker for canning.
The main drawback is keeping it clean. Anything on the surface will show, so it does take a wipe-down after use when it cools off. But it does clean up easily with a sponge and BonAmi.
The other drawback seems to be lifespan of the unit. Their first one cracked after 5 years of hard use, and the second one failed after 4 years. Out of warranty, it was expensive to replace and because the cabinetry was custom fabricated for the stovetop, it was best to use the exact same replacement.
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