Smooth-top or coil range???

[LostinVA]

I can't decide!!!! I've had both, but still can't decide.

Both Kenmore models I'm looking at are the same price and both are CR Best Buys.

[Chan790]

1. I've heard smooth is better, but I hate mine...

so take that for whatever it's worth.

[AwakeAtLast]

23. I don't like mine, either

but I'm stuck with it for a good while. :(

[Guava Jelly]

2. I would go smooth

I think it would be easier to keep clean and that pots and pans would be more stable on them.
Man I miss good ol fashioned flame.

[LostinVA]

3. I would LOVE to have gas -- that would be my first choice

But, we don't have gas on our street.

[Chan790]

7. That might not mean you can't have gas.

My house when we moved in had a tank (I wanted to keep it but I was outvoted), the gas company would come and fill it on schedule-plan every three months...that might be available to you as an option if you call the gas company. I have no idea what the tank will set you back or if it's included in the service contract.

They tend to discourage it in populated suburban and urban areas though because it's basically a 80-gallon sized grenade in the case of a house-fire and unlike gas lines they can't turn it off from the street.

[KitchenWitch]

4. I love our smooth top!

[Mabus]

16. I miss my smooth top

I got mine back in the mid-90's and I've loved it. I've have never had any problem with it and I don't think it is anywhere as delicate as people seem to think. Mine is back home in Kansas and currently being used by family.

[LeftyMom]

5. If you can't get gas, get the smooth top.

FWIW, Bon Ami works great for cleaning them without scratching.

[LostinVA]

6. We want a smooth-top, but we read they don't work well unless you have certain cookware

We finally got the security deposit back from our scamming landlords -- we are getting a dishwasher and range -- the appliances in the house were, quite literally, garbage.

[LeftyMom]

8. You just need to make sure you have nice smooth bottoms that won't scratch.

Any cookware that won't damage the stove works fine. I got one for my Dad's house, and they're totally not fancy cookware people. Works great.

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Son sez (appliance repair biz owner)

Glass cooktops are a pain because one chip can weaken the whole top, making it crack from heat, undue pressure, or something falling on it.

Go with the coil. :thumbsup:

[LostinVA]

10. The more I read, the more confused I am

We think our cookware won't work on a smooth-top, and what your son said is something I've read a few times, and that replacing the elements are more $$$.

*whimper*

I respect your, KW, and LM's opinions.

[KitchenWitch]

12. We do not have fancy cookware either.

We even use our cast iron skillet on it with no problems.

[InvisibleTouch]

11. I personally don't like the smooth-tops...

...because I tend to use my stove as extra counter space in the kitchen - dishes piling up waiting to be washed, dog bowls, etc. A smooth-top stove seems so impractically delicate that I'm always afraid I'm going to put something on it that will damage it irreperably (relatives have a smooth-top ... I'm afraid to even touch the damn thing). So, while the coils and drip-pans are a bit of a pain to keep clean, I prefer them to having to tip-toe around the alternative.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Both are suckass pieces of useless crap fucking shit garbage which I hate utterly

and abhor to the depths of my soul.

If a stove ain't gas, it's a mostly useless fucking piece of crap.

Oh, sure, I can cook a hell of a meal on an electric stove, because that's what the fucking landlord put in this place, but I could cook an even better meal on a gas stove.

Because gas stoves are actually designed to cook, instead of just ruin shit, overheat it, burn it, and otherwise make cooking a hatefilled chore of near-futility.

[LostinVA]

14. Believe me, if I could, I would have gas

I LOVE cooking with gas. It's wonderful.

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. I've used a smooth top. I'd rather never cook again than have a smooth top.

Coils suck, but at least they're something.

If I moved into a place with a smooth top, it would become storage, and I would go out and buy one of those little electric burners.

[TommyO]

25. Induction rules, it has the instant control of a gas stove

and the convenience of electricity.

[GOPisEvil]

17. My main complaint about my smooth top was that it was slow to heat.

That is because the coil underneath has to heat the glass top. That said, aesthetically, I like the smooth top better. I used all kinds of cookware, but I was careful not to slide anything across the top.

[LuckyTheDog]

18. Go with coil. Easy to fix. (nt)

[libnnc]

19. When the time comes for us, we're staying with coil

[NMDemDist2]

20. smooth top and BarKeepers friend

a match made in heaven

[PeaceNikki]

21. I adore my smooth top

And I use copper-bottom stainless steel pans.

I, too, prefer gas but have no gas service in this house.

[Kingofalldems]

22. If you get a smooth top, never stand on it

I know from experience.

[Zavulon]

24. Coil.

My landlord has gotten us a coil range after two of the smooth tops actually cracked. The smooth tops simply have more things that can go wrong.

[1]

26. just from my own experience...

the "coil top"...

a low-tech device that has been proven over the years. it puts the heat under any pot you throw on it and does its job without complaint. in my experience, to clean it you just yank the coil from its plug and scrub away at the metal surface below (maybe clean the coil if soiled), plug the coil back in and you are good to go. you can lay tin foil below the coil if you know you are cooking something that might slop over the pot to reduce your cleaning time even more. if a coil goes bad, you drive down to the home depot and buy a new one off the shelf for a very few dollars.


the "smooth top"...

a high-tech device that must be treated with great respect. you have to be oh so careful when cleaning it, the smooth top abhors scratches. it will not accept all pots, some scratch its dainty surface. some don't work at all. and if your meal slops over your cooking pot then that sauce (or whatever) infuses itself onto the glass surface in such a way that cleaning is all but impossible (you can get get most of it, but not all of it. heh! or maybe i'm just a sloppy cook.) heaven forbid you ever drop a pot or somesuch on its delicate glass surface as it will crack. if your smooth top cracks your are looking at some major repair bills to replace the smooth top surface (i just happened to drop a metal flashlight on it during a power outage the crack is visible, i just hope it doesn't grow.)


my current cooktop is a smooth top. if i could rewind time i would purchased the coil top. i have so many things to be afraid of hurting in my life, i don't need the added stress of a smooth top.


just my experience. i am sure there are arguments the other way also.

i always wanted a gas cooktop with those big grates and that huge fire below them. damn, i'd bet cooking on those would be such fun...

[unpossibles]

27. gas nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

28. burp

sorry :yoiks:



























another one here for gas :thumbsup: :D