Who knows which way to turn now???
We were thinking of doing a kitchen remodel, a few years back, and at first glance they were thinking that since the gas line’s entry to the house is pretty far from the kitchen, this wouldn’t work. Well, it could, but would require tearing up the entire ceiling of one room.
Of course, we’re looking at a furnace replacement soonish and perhaps something could be done then, depending on how things are configured. The furnace itself isn’t all that far away from the kitchen, horizontally (it’s on a different floor of the house).
I cook a lot. Three meals a day, and 99% from “ingredients”, nothing pre-made or pre-packaged. I had a gas stove for 15 years and the best day in my life was the day I got the induction cooktop installed.
I use Le Crueset on it. I use Lodge cast iron. I use All-Clad, cheap stainless rice pots, and my best pan is a $10 steel comal from the Mexican market. I even found magnetic skillets at Marshall’s with teflon. Buying cookware for induction is not a problem.
Using a 110 volt induction hotplate is NOT the same as a 220 volt induction cooktop and will not give you an accurate feel for the awesomeness of induction.
The very best place on the web to talk about appliances is at the Appliance forum on gardenweb. Very very busy forum with all the information about gas/electric/induction and which brands are the best. I very highly recommend it.
Lightlystarched, do you mind if I ask what model induction cooktop you got and how much it cost?
Think of it as forum pancake-flipping. Cafe Society, you know.
(Sorry Twickster!) :o
Actually, I think I see what my mistake was. I was referring to the flattop cooking surfaces, not the electric coil ones. I kept typing “induction” even though I knew that wasn’t the word I was trying to use and somehow just electric came out instead.:smack:
Electric coil burners aren’t bad to clean, I don’t think they’re ideal for cooking on, but flattop cooking surfaces with the infrared burners are the worst things ever.
I have a glass-top electric stove. It’s about 8 years old and was here when we bought our place. I hate it with the passion of a thousand burning gas eyes.
The only good thing I can say about it is that it’s easier to wipe down than exposed-coil or gas burners. Not easier to get CLEAN, just easier to wipe down because there are no nooks and crannies. I, like others in this thread, now have black rings around the burners which are impossible to remove.
And it tried to kill us by spontaneously turning the biggest burner to HI. It turned out to be a recall issue - they came and replaced the circuit board. It was pretty scary though. We spent weeks turning off the breaker for the stove circuit after we cooked because we couldn’t trust it to stay off.
The owner’s manual of our flat glass top stove (it’s actually ceramic) suggests using an SOS pad to clean it. I didn’t believe it 'til I tried it. Works great at getting those dark rings off and it doesn’t scratch.
The only thing they say to avoid is burnt on sugar, like when making homemade candy.
Step 1: buy online at AJ Madison or ApplianceConnection. Most appliances are hundreds cheaper, even thousands. I’ve bought six major appliances from them, not a problem yet with purchase, delivery or condition.
A gas cooktop uses about 8-10 gallons a year. A gas oven varies a lot more but I was told most people go through about 40-45 gallons a year with a gas range.
As much as I like the gas cooktop (massive understatment) I’ve never had good luck with gas ovens, so I prefer separate units or a dual-fuel range. Had separates for years, have had this range for almost two.
See if online pricing puts a good dual-fuel within your price range.
I have the GE Profile 30" cooktop. Purchased about 4 years ago for iirc $1,500. I think they have come down a bit since then.
Like I mentioned, I use all kinds of cookware on it, and its never scratched. I shouldn’t say that - there are probably micro scratches all over it, but nothing you can see.
The nice thing with induction is that the cooktop itself does not heat up. The cookware heats up. Now, the top will get hot, as it is in contact with the hot pot/pan, but it is no where near as hot as the pot itself.
Cleaning it is easy - I wipe it down with my dish sponge. Sometimes I’ll dry it with a microfiber towel.
There is a learning curve. I learned very quickly to never walk away with anything on “H”. Boil overs happen quickly. In fact, H is too hot for most cooking. A nice boil is like 7 or 7 and a half.
I can make hollandaise, or melt chocolate directly in a pan as the low temperatures are very low and consistent.
I find I don’t use the crockpot or microwave nearly as much as I used to, because doing stuff on the cooktop is just faster/easier.
Bonus stuff with induction: my hood/cooking space is much cleaner than with the gas. There seems to be much less splatter. Not sure why. Also, the induction doesn’t heat up the kitchen as much as a gas cooktop.
I sound rhapsodic about it, but dang, induction really is the best.
Siemens/Thermador has an induction cooktop in which there aren’t the four fixed circular cooking areas. Instead, you can just put four cooking pots anywhere on the surface. That sounds cool (although the price is going to be almost $5,000).
For those who have completely outgrown their Wolf and Viking restaurant stoves, there are now $100,000 hand-built stoves from Electrolux.
Grew up with natural gas range, through age 32 or so. Had to switch to electric and promptly forgot how to cook anything. Moved to own place and installed a glasstop range. Big Mistake – Hated It. Moved to Alaska; continued with dreaded regular electric range + microwave + toaster oven. Moved to crummier apt. with (leaky, dangerous) natural gas stove. Cooked a little more. Relocated to the rocky coast of Maine where the only “choice” was electric. New spouse (The Chef) paid big bucks to install the propane line into the kitchen and a great big Bosch 6-burner top/regular & convection oven; matching vented overhead microwave.
BINGO! THIS is the way to go. Damn the price.
My opinion/ranking:
1–gas if you can get it
2-electric
3-propane
OP-Propane does not burn as hot as gas, and in my opinion you will be disappointed if you go that route. I also opted for a downdraft and the two people who had propane downdrafts found that the flame would often go out on the side where the draft was!
As you mentioned, Gas is not an option, so you by default I think are stuck with electric. I had the same issue as I live in a very rural place where natural gas isn’t an option. I looked in to propane but decided against it after seeing the heating issues with it.
I opted for a downdraft range with a ceramic on one side and electric coils on the other side. That way I could use my cast iron and not scratch the surface of the ceramic (I also have an additonal ceramic for the other side but haven’t installed it as I found I enjoyed the option). You might look into that option and it wasn’t as expensive as a dual fuel option.
I’ve only ever known electric stoves…both the standard coil style and the glass-top. When I was a kid, my parents purchased an early glass-top just for the ease of cleanup. I can’t remember them having any complaints about it at all, and cleanup was always a breeze – use the scraper to remove burned-on stuff, wipe down, then polish with Cerama-Bryte. My current glass-top is no different; I vastly prefer this style to the exposed eyes with the fussy little drip pans that have to be replaced after too many boil-overs. For what it’s worth, both glass-tops were made by GE.
One drawback I’ve found to the glass-tops…your pots and pans have to be perfectly flat on the bottom. That’s why I had to replace all of my beaten up cookware when I moved into this house.
Probably not. It’s unlikely you can tap off that line and still meet code. Expect to have to run a new line from the meter.
Oh, and I’ve had all three types. I didn’t really mind the electric coil so much, although gas is better. I did not like the glass top at all.
I actually found that boiling a pot of water for, say, pasta was quickest on the electric coil. Gas not far behind, but a little slower.
Moved into our house, thought that it was plumbed for gas as well as the electic. I wanted gas, having cooked on electic for years in the rental houses overseas and hating it. Hired a plumber to plumb the gas and run a line for an outside BBQ. I was so happy,then we ended up after seven months back overseas where the kitchen had an induction stove…hated it. I recommend gas.
You’ve got it backwards.
That happens all the time with natural gas ranges. It isn’t a function of the fuel used.
Induction does sound interesting!! I’d heard of them but never really thought of it. Certainly easier to install one of those than to run a gas line, as in we could probably do it ourselves.
As a data point: at Sears, the cheapest induction cooktops right now are 1,149 and they go up to 2500 (for a 30-inch model, there’s a 36 inch model for more than that).
The cheapest coil-type cooktops start at about 230.00. The most expensive one I saw was about 450.00.
The cheapest radiant one is about 475, and the most expensive one is about 1400 or so (there are a number that don’t list prices).
I love AJ Madison and will most likely buy from them. Boughtr a range hood from them and it was 25% less than anywhere else. Great inventory to pick from.
Just looked and dual is $1700 minimum and only 3 models under $2000; plus I still have the $650. investment to get gas service.
Your gas use looks about right. In speaking with propane people, they advised that 100 gallons is more than a years worth for most families. I cook a lot.
Never minded baking/ roasting in a gas oven. It’s the broiler that’s the problem with gas.
Thanks for your advice!