Flat top electric stove advice

[saserre]

I thought I saw a thread about this recently, but can't find it, so maybe searching function is wonky, or I am.

My new house comes with an electric flat ceramic top stove. Neighborhood does not have gas line, so I would have had to get and bury huge gas tank half the size of my yard, so sadly I had to live with electric stove :-(

I've heard people have issues with cleaning these - any tips? Also, I'd like to use it as extra counter space for parties, is there any sort of a cover or something I can place over the cooking top so it doesn't get scratched or anything?

Only got two weeks left to wait for my pretty new kitchen :D

[lindrusso]

My new house comes with an electric flat ceramic top stove. Neighborhood does not have gas line, so I would have had to get and bury huge gas tank half the size of my yard, so sadly I had to live with electric stove

It may be too late to consider this, but I've seen many houses with small propane tanks - picture a grill tank, only much bigger - that they place somewhere near the house - hopefully hidden by a bush or in an inconspicuous spot. It can be a bit unslightly, but much better than a big old buried tank.

I hope to have an unsightly propane tank for a gas stove some day. ;) I can't stand my flat top electric stove! :(

[BucknellAlum]

My propane tank is buried in my yard, but it is only about 6 feet by 3 feet, I would guesstimate.

In my old house, I had a flat top and I didn't mind it as far as cleaning. In fact, it was pretty easy to clean, with that cooktop cream. I didn't worry too much about scratching the top when I used it as a surface to put pans on, etc. I think they are pretty durable. You just don't want to go and use a knife on it or something.

[IndyKF]

To get off burned on stains, I use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. Works like a charm and it's a lot cheaper than the special cooktop cleaners on the market.

[rosen]

I love my smooth cooktop! I am known as the Queen of boil overs, so I also love how easy it is to keep clean. You can buy bottles of ceramic cook top cleaners anywhere there are cleaning supplies. A bottle lasts a loooooong time since you only need to use a little bit. The brand I have now is Barkeepers Friend for Ceramic Tops. It's hard to scratch the surface, so don't worry about using it as extra counter space during parties.

[blazedog]

FWIW, CR did tests on gas versus good electric and found that EACH had advantages so it's not as if gas is a clear winner -- Electric stoves don't have the immediate cool down of a gas stove but most people learn to just move the pot off the cook surface for a few moments. :o

In terms of a cooktop, there are ones that have a ribbon burner which is a nice feature -- you can use two burners as one. The better ones also come with one or two burners which adjust in size (and perhaps heat -- it's been awhile seen ( researched).

The big danger to smooth tops is cracking if you have stuff stored overhead.

Cleaning is much simpler than a gas range -- if you have a black surface, it does show dust but generally doesn't bother most people unless they are truly compulsive.

[boisewinesnob]

I hope to have an unsightly propane tank for a gas stove some day. ;) I can't stand my flat top electric stove! :(

We will be getting a new stove in the future, and I am curious about this. What don't you like about the flat top?

[manda2869]

I grew up in the Midwest and I always had a gas stove..then moved to Florida for college and had to learn all about the electric stove. My first apartment had an older stove and so the electric swirls were all lopsided and nothing cooked even and the oven you had to make sure to turn the pan every 20 misn so the sides all cooked the same...and there started my hate for electric.

Then when I graduated and moved here to Orlando..electric it was again...and so I replaced the coil burner stove with a flat top. 1. I still like gas better because you can control the flame/heat and it's even. 2. if your stove is electric and it is NEW it's so far shown me it's just as even.

With the flat top I like hte fact that if you boil over it's easily wiped up and I LOVE that no matter what is spilled is on the surface and has not dropped down in hard to reach areas....however ther is the "burn" factor...I hate when stuff gets burnt on like if you boil over something besides water for instance. It's really hard to get all the way off if you don't hurry and running up with a wet sponge on a hot burner only makes a burning smelling sponge...but I see that someone posted vinegar and baking soda..I will DEFINITELY try that...I am so happy to see that posted...if that works for me..then in all honestly..I'm not hating electric anymore. The newer flat ones are really nice and super easy to clean (except the burns) and if that's all you gotta do to make it a piece of cake...then they are a-okay for me....cause I'm not moving up to the midwest for gas! Not when last week it was 80 all week...

by the way..the only thing i don't like about the electric is not controlling the heat...with gas you can turn it down and the heat is automatically lowered..however with the electric it still remains hot so I'm always sliding my pan over a little and when I'm busy cooking on 2+ burners nad cutting something on the other counter away from the stove...I don't feel like watching my boiling pans constantly...still getting used to it I guess though...

[Peweh]

I always had gas stoves until I bought my house and was also dreaming of getting a propane tank in the long term. But I replaced my ancient cooktop with a newer (not ceramic) one and am pretty happy with the burner response time. And an unexpected surprise was that electric is (for me anyway) much better on a low simmer than gas. You know, when you want to simmer sauce all day but the gas can only go so low before going out, you need to keep watching & stirring to prevent bottom burning way more than with electric. And I've also heard that the ovens provide a more constant temperature.

I second what Manda said about the ceramics (DM has one) being pretty easy to clean as long as something doesn't spill over.
Good luck with your new stove & home!

[Cookin4Love]

I was also in dismay when I realized I was going to have to give up gas and go to ceramic cooktop. It's been two years, and I've adapted. Do I love it? No, but I don't really dislike it, either. There are advantages. I'd rather have a Viking gas range, but this is certainly easier to keep clean. You will adapt to cooking on it, and probably be fairly happy with it.

[manda2869]

Yeah I hate the old coil ones but I have to say the cooktops are easy to get used to and before long you won't be complaining that it isn't gas :)

i think my fave part of it is that I treat it like my counters when i spray a "all surface" cleaning spray over it all and it all wipes and thre isn't anything hiding under where the pan sits and all that. good luck!

[lindrusso]

FWIW, CR did tests on gas versus good electric and found that EACH had advantages so it's not as if gas is a clear winner -- Electric stoves don't have the immediate cool down of a gas stove but most people learn to just move the pot off the cook surface for a few moments. :o

It's really a matter of personal preference.

As for moving the pot - that's very hard to do when you've got more than one or two pots going at once. You only have so many places to put the pot and I find it very annoying to keep having to move the pot. I don't want to have to play musical pots when I'm cooking! ;)

We will be getting a new stove in the future, and I am curious about this. What don't you like about the flat top?

I love that with gas, when it's on, it's on and when it's off, it's off. See my above complaints about moving the pots around. Things boil over a lot more often on my electric cooktop - part of that is a learning curve problem on my part and but a very large part of it is due to the fact that the burners are not as responsive - when you turn down the heat, it takes several moments for it to actually register. With a gas stove, the effect is immediate.

As for being able to simmer on a low heat better with the flat top, I'm not finding that to be true with my stove. I have to nearly turn it off to get a low simmer. My gas stove was actually better for this - perhaps due to the differing BTU outputs for each burner? I don't know if the coils give you different boiling/simmering capabilities on an electric flat top.

As I said, it's a personal preference thing and I very much prefer gas. Not that you can't cook a perfectly good meal on a flat top. And yes, clean up is MUCH easier with a flat top. That's one thing I do like. But not the burned on stuff.......yuck.

However, there is one thing I would definitely recommend looking out for..........

With my flat cooktop, the edges are raised - there is a lip going around the entire cooktop. This makes using one of those double burner griddles very difficult because the lip prevents you from being able to center the pan over the burners - the left side ends up being quite a bit cooler than the right side. Very annoying. So don't get one with a lip if you want to be able to better center your pans!

I'm adjusting to my stove, but I hope to get that gas stove some day!

[MrsReber]

Nice to know I'm in good company! We moved in at the end of October- only electric. I had propane and I loved it, mostly because when I turned it off, it was OFF! This is hard to get used to- the pot still boils over when I turn it down. I hate that.

However, I have to say, it's not awful. I don't hate it and the oven warms up much faster than my previous gas stove. Someday, I'm hoping to have a double wall oven and an island with a cooktop in it. I still prefer gas, but I'm grudgingly finding that electric isn't all that bad.

I'm going to try the vinegar and baking soda cleaner. I, too, have a problem cleaning the stains off the top.

[saserre]

Thanks everyone!

I haven't had a gas stove since my parents house 12 years ago, so I'm used to electric now. I love hearing that the ceramic top is easier to clean, because I did always hate those nasty drip pans that have to soak overnight to clean. And guess I won't worry about using it as extra countertop during parties, will just be sure no one decides to set their Electric Sander on it :rolleyes:

IndyKF - thanks for the vinegar and baking soda tip, I'll keep that in mind.