Glass top electric range?

[Wayne02]

Anybody have a glass top electric stove? Can you use cast iron pot/pans on these glass tops?

Do the burners get as hot as the old style electric elements?

I guess the main benefit over the traditional electric element stove is the ease of clean up?

How fragile is the glass top? Can you slide a pan over it without scratching it up?

Thanks

 

[Iggy]

My wife swears by them.. You have to be a little careful about dragging stuff across the surface.

The top gets HOT and stays that way so be a little careful about where you put your hands.

Clean up is a breeze if you wait long enough not to burn yourself.

 

[sipowicz]

They're great...but if you have little kids around, they make models that cool down faster than normal...

 

[Spotteddog]

They really are a good product. We had one that we upgraded to in our last home. we left it as it was nearly new. When the time comes to replace ours, we'll have another one for the reasons listed (youngest is 40, and he has finally learned about hot stoves!). The only thing to watch is, whether there's any bevel or not on the pan's bottoms. The closer to dead flat they are, the better they'll act.

 

[Amici]

And now for something completely different: A dissent.

We have one of those stoves. It's garbage.

1. One would think it would be easy to keep clean. Well, it isn't. A white surface shows EVERYTHING and, being baked on, it stays on.

2. Being a fancy glass top, you have to use fancy cleaner to keep from scratching it.

3. Not quite top-related, but the computer keeps failing. I strongly suggest you keep purchasing the maintenance plan.

Bottom line: Electric stoves and cooktops are a poor substitute for gas, which heats immediately; cools almost as fast and provides immediate visual confirmation of how much heat is being applied.

 

[Mickey D]

3 to 1. Go figure.

 

[afriqueart]

Gas is the only way to cook.

 

[ricks1]

Gas has one advantage fast. That it, rest is history. Anyone can ruin somthing. I didnt know they made white but I wouldnt have white in a kitchen I used anyway. Cast iron is not good on them as a good cast iron is not perfectly flat. As said above the pan needs to be flat. The last one I put in was the "cool fast" it seemed to work good. I would sugguest the one that has a protection ring. Its a little harder to clean but will keep most of a boil over on the top and keeps you from chipping the edge

 

[29Wheelgunner]

Gas is the only way to cook.

As my fellow Navy brother stated.

 

[m1gunner]

Have had a glass top stove for 8 years and love it. No cast iron or copper bottomed cookware, some dead flat stainless cookware is made just for them.

Black cooktop on ours still looks like new.

I don't want open flames or fuel in my home, so no way would I have a gas anything in the house.

 

[BarbC]

We have a black cooktop on a beige freestanding stove for the exactly the reasons Amici stated. It's much easier to keep clean, although I can see brown scorch in certain areas after almost three years, which simply won't scrub off with the glass polish (but I think I might try that pink glass wax if I can find it, or maybe I'll apply a little RenWax to it and see what happens).

I had stayed away from using the cast iron but just the other day I used a Le Creuset type of enameled cast iron dutch oven to brown a chicken in olive oil before putting it in the oven and it worked out fine.

I wouldn't recommend sliding any pot across the stove like a JiffyPop tin. Pick it up and put it down.

We don't have "city gas" out here in the sticks. The choice is either electric or propane, and propane is the least efficient to cook with.

The best reason for not buying a glass cooktop is that if an element burns out on a regular electric stove, it's a lot cheaper and easier to replace.

 

[n4zov]

And now for something completely different: A dissent.

We have one of those stoves. It's garbage.

1. One would think it would be easy to keep clean. Well, it isn't. A white surface shows EVERYTHING and, being baked on, it stays on.

2. Being a fancy glass top, you have to use fancy cleaner to keep from scratching it.

3. Not quite top-related, but the computer keeps failing. I strongly suggest you keep purchasing the maintenance plan.

Ditto on everything above! My wife loathes the two glass topped electric stoves we've had. If you spill something and it gets baked on, it is very difficult to remove without using a razor blade followed by some of those special glass cleaning products. They also heat up much slower than conventional top stoves.

 

[ladder13]

I don't want open flames or fuel in my home, so no way would I have a gas anything in the house.

Some folks heat/cook with propane, usually rural areas with no natural gas lines. Over my career, I saw many explosions, sometimes with deadly consequences, as a result of propane leaks. Propane, being heavier than air, has the tendency to "pool" and will seek low lying areas such as basements or garages.
We once had a motel leveled around here because of a propane leak. The motel had been closed for a few months because the owner was having some zoning issues with the town. Unknown to the management, during this time, one of their propane tanks (for cooking) had sprung a leak. The tanks were outdoors but apparently the fumes found their way into the basement thru breaches in the wall. The day prior to the reopening the cleaning crew comes in to vacuum up the rugs and as soon as the vacuum started, . 3 dead, and a big stickpile. There was ALOT of propane in the basement, filled up to the first floor.
No propane for me, seen too many tragic results.

 

[mstuhr]

Another -

I'm with Amici and N4ZOV,
I use cast iron and Revereware on it but it is a bugger to get clean.
I cook for the extended family a couple of nights a week so it sees heavy use. I'd never even consider another one.
Also, here is a big heads up. When it was new it didn't take long to figure out it was a pain in the butt to keep clean. I had the bright idea to put aluminum foil between the top and the cast iron skillet.
It ruined the top. The aluminum somehow cooked into the surface of the range.
This thing was new and my wife still quite proud of it. I called Marzuco (Dealer) and told him come out and replace it. What ever it cost, just come out and replace it before the wife gets home. God bless Marzuco's. They not only came out at once, they slipped it through as a warranty job and advised me not to use the aluminum foil.
Anyway, I hate it. Ours is a big job and hard scrubbing to keep clean.
Thanks
Mike

 

[BarbC]

I had the bright idea to put aluminum foil between the top and the cast iron skillet.
It ruined the top. The aluminum somehow cooked into the surface of the range.

I had the bright idea to put aluminum in the bottom of the oven, as I always did with my electric stoves. However, this oven bottom has the hidden element and when I turned on the oven, the aluminum foil melted and was a shimmering liquid on the oven floor. I had to call Sears to get a replacement oven shield and the parts person said, "You put aluminum foil on the bottom, right?" Well, not for nothing, if it's such a common mistake which ruins the oven, why wasn't there a warning sticker in the oven, instead of burying the caveat on page 37 of the manual??

 

[mtgianni]

Gas has one advantage fast. That it, rest is history.

Well if you like cooking by numbers. I can adjust the burner to the exact flame size I want and have it cooking at that heat level now. I turn it down and don't have to wait. My wife made me replace the slick top when we bought this house with gas as, per her, you could not use a canner on it nor any cast iron. Cook in a power outage and the knobs are out front. Electrics advantage is that you can leave it and not expect the heat to vary. I don't leave a burner on and let something stew for 8 hrs but use a crock pot for that. Most professional cooks use gas, walk into any commercial kitchen and see what's there.

 

[The Big D]

Love mine! There is some cookware that is not compatible; check labels on both range top and cookware.

Very easy to clean...and you can use dishwashing detergent as well as specialized products.

One obvious "fact" is that one should address spills and drips ASAP before they become part of the cooktop. That said, it's very easy to do.

The sole drawback is the cool down time but mine has a light that reminds me that it's still hot.


BTW, mine is litreally "instant on;" every bit as fast as a conventional electric range and only marginally slower than gas.

Be safe.

 

[fas111]

We have had one for nine years. It works fine and is easy to clean but my wife still would have rather had gas. They now have an induction type of smooth surface range. The burners do not get hot only the pans and they require a special type of pots and pans. Of course the advantage is no chance of burning yourself on the stove top and by the way they say they have the same heat control as a gas range.

 

[Chik a Boom]

Another vote for gas cooking. I have scorched many meals on an electric burner that I didn't realize was still on.

The flame is immediately visible and immediately on or off with the switch. Plus, I believe it cooks a little more evenly than electric.

 

[mkk41]

Gas is the only way to cook.

Gas stove cook with fire.

Electric stove cook with magic.

Fire = GOOD , magic = BAD!

 

[BE Mike]

We've had the glass-topped stove for a couple of years now. It is a black topped one. I love it. Compared to our old electric range it is far less trouble to keep clean and no burner rings to replace. If you are coming from a standard electric range to a glass topped range, you will love it. We aren't real careful about the types of pots and skillets we use and so far so good. Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope.

 

[oldfella]

One more vote for gas - can't go wrong.

Pete

 

[AKA-plinkster]

My wife REFUSES to even look at the glass top ranges because you can't use Cast Iron cookware on them (the pans get and stay too hot and crack the glass surface) They look nice, but for someone like my wife who can really cook, gas is the way to go, followed by traditional electric burner

 

[enfield]

Pluses:

*Easy to clean up (mine has a black top)
*Heats just fine
*Can use cast iron skillets
*Top can double as a work surface (as long as it's not hot).

Minuses:

*Heat retention - stays hot a long time after turned off and you have to move pots off of the burners to stop cooking.
*Can't use some pots as the bottoms are warped concave or convex and don't contact the surface well.
*Can't make popcorn on it.
*Doesn't work during a power failure.

 

[mkk41]

Can't put a lead pot on an electric burner either. Use the other burners to keep moulds warm.

 

[ladder13]

One more vote for gas - can't go wrong.

Pete

Wasn't too many years ago when a crew of firefighters were blown to bits, perhaps KC or somewhere in OK. Check that it was a dynamite explosion, I don't want to be like MSNBC , but here's a few propane fires:


STATter 911: UPDATED: Buffalo firefighters killed this morning are Lt. Charles "Chip" McCarthy & FF Jonathan Croom. Fireground audio of mayday.

Firefighter Killed in Toronto Propane Explosion was Radio Amateur

Two Firefighters Killed In Store Collapse - KTLA

Part of the job some would argue, and the propane itself did not start the fires, but propane tanks make nasty projectiles.

 

[rondo]

I have a blacktop and hate it. Not because it's hard to clean (it isn't) or because you can't use cast iron (you can), but because it's electric. Sure do miss natural gas, but have no choice - no gas here and don't want a propane tank.

The electricity here in the middle of nowhere has problems with spikes and outages, and I have had to replace the "brain" in the thing twice in only four years. Not a cheap, btw.

If you have a woodstove, I have found the glass cleaner for woodstoves to work better than the glass stovetop cleaner. Even better is woodstove ash. Just wet a paper town and dip it in the ashes (not hot ashes) and scrub the stovetop, then wipe clean.

 

[ladder13]

Sure do miss natural gas, but have no choice - no gas here and don't want a propane tank.

I miss NG too, but don't want a 100lb keg of dynamite sitting near my house. I do have a regular grill with a 20lb bottle though, but it's kept a distance from the house with no chance of fumes finding an ignition source.

 

[Farmer17]

I build houses and always use gas for heat, hw, and cooktop if its available. I have a built some houses and used large underground propane tanks because NG wasn't available and that worked o.k., but not quite as well. For me personally I would go all electric if I didn't have gas available, since most people(even master chefs) can get used to electric tops after a short time of use. When you meet a plumber ask him to tell you some stories about the negatives of natural gas, and if he doesn't have any scars to show you he can probably tell you about some people that do.

 

[sonny]

My wife loves it; I like it. She cleans it with a razor-blade and some Sears scouring stuff. Sometimes there is a small faded ring around a burner; just depends on how hard you rub to clean it. No holes that anything will drop through. I think it's great. The glass burner area stays hot for quite a while after turning off the heat, but there is a red warning light... but yeah, watch out for little ones' hands.
Cooks just fine. No scratches, as glass is a heck of a lot harder than any steel or aluminum pot. My wife just agreed.
sonny