ceramic range tops

After struggling with coils, cleaning drip pans, etc for years, I
wouldn't trade my flat top range for anything. My one warning: keep a
dry dish towel handy to wipe up boilovers - that water or milk will
cook onto that surface in a few seconds. Not to worry tho, there are
special cleaners which'll remove the stuff. A bottle of Ceramabrite
(Home Depot) cost about 7 bucks, but I've had it for years.

I did not buy any special pots and pans. Just be careful not to drop
any cans on the surface, ( I store only lightweight stuff like cereal
in the above-stove cupboard.)

If you love cooking with gas, tho - you prob. won't be 100% happy. My
burners take quite a few seconds to cool down, so you must anticipate
and watch what's cooking a little more vigilantly.

val189 said:

After struggling with coils, cleaning drip pans, etc for years, I
wouldn't trade my flat top range for anything.

Ditto. I prefer to cook with gas, but if you are using electricity, a
ceramic range top is fantastic.

Becca

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Dolores JUDD) said:

Hello ,
I would like to know what all the cooks think about the ceramic ranges
compared to the coil type range. I also am confused as to what type of
cookware to use.At this time I have a ciol type range, but soon will
need a new range.

Thank you Dee

I adore mine.
SO much easier to keep really clean!!!

We spent the money on the double laminate and it's been well spent.

I use any type of cookware on it except you are not supposed to use a
round bottomed wok on it.

I even use cast iron. I'm just careful. :-)

Had mine now for about or 8 years.
Still looks like this:

1998GlasstopStove1.jpg
http://i13.tinypic.com/4c95bhz.jpg

Takes me about 5 minutes maybe to get it pretty depending on what got
spilled or splattered. I use glass cleaner, scrub/wipe it off, take the
razor scraper to get any hard deposits off, scrub a second time with
glass cleaner, then use a little glass top stove polish on a paper towel
to finish.

As for cooking and heating, it takes slightly longer for the top to cool
than a coil, but it's no big problem.

It's also handy dandy as extra counter/prep space. :-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

val189 said:

After struggling with coils, cleaning drip pans, etc for years, I
wouldn't trade my flat top range for anything. My one warning: keep a
dry dish towel handy to wipe up boilovers - that water or milk will
cook onto that surface in a few seconds. Not to worry tho, there are
special cleaners which'll remove the stuff. A bottle of Ceramabrite
(Home Depot) cost about 7 bucks, but I've had it for years.

Most gas stoves sold these days are the sealed burner version... drip
pans and burner grates clean up in the dishwasher if you like or can
easily be handwashed with dishwashing liquid and the cooktop has no
crevices, cleans as easily as a glass window... I clean mine with
windex. I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Sheldon

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Horseshit Sheldon. Grow up. Begin by learning this phrase: "I prefer cooking
on a gas range."

Nasty old half-witted [censored].

On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:58:47 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use any type of cookware on it except you are not supposed to use a
round bottomed wok on it.

Why? It seems like if you use a ring, it should be ok.

--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for the chicken, a lifetime commitment for the pig.

cybercat said:

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Horseshit Sheldon. Grow up. Begin by learning this phrase: "I prefer cooking
on a gas range."

Nasty old half-witted [censored].

I prefer cooking on a gas range too, because there is no substitute.
Thus spake Old Half-witted [censored] No.2.

I presently have a smoothtop electric, but only because it came with the
house. It's okay, beats the tar out of coils. But I long for a gas
range. Love them. Love them, love them. And the concept of sealed
burners puts me over the moon.

The only drawback to gas now is, on most models, when the power goes out
the gas supply is sealed off. It's a significant safety feature, if one
is a moron or has no sense of smell, sight or touch. I am looking around
carefully for constant pilot models.

"Pennyaline" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

cybercat said:

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Quoted message said:

I prefer cooking on a gas range too, because there is no substitute. Thus
spake Old Half-witted [censored] No.2.

I presently have a smoothtop electric, but only because it came with the
house. It's okay, beats the tar out of coils. But I long for a gas range.
Love them. Love them, love them. And the concept of sealed burners puts me
over the moon.

The only drawback to gas now is, on most models, when the power goes out
the gas supply is sealed off. It's a significant safety feature, if one is
a moron or has no sense of smell, sight or touch. I am looking around
carefully for constant pilot models.

I have the safety thingie on my gas range, but when there is no electricity
you can light it with a flame. You have to press in the knob and hold it.

--
http://www.judithgreenwood.com

Dolores JUDD said:

Hello ,
I would like to know what all the cooks think about the ceramic ranges
compared to the coil type range. I also am confused as to what type of
cookware to use.At this time I have a ciol type range, but soon will
need a new range.

Thank you Dee

Dissenting view. I loathe my ceramic range. It shows every
speck of anything on it, boilovers--even sputtering--is a
problem, as another person mentioned, and it constantly cycles
on an off. It also is very slow. I preferred the coil-type
range and ideally would have a gas range. (I should add that
my range is some years old....)

You might look at the induction ranges. Two of my burners are
induction, and I rather like that. Unfortunately the better
induction ranges were not available here when I got mine.

--
Jean B.

"Giusi" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Pennyaline" <[email hidden]> ha scritto nel messaggio

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The only drawback to gas now is, on most models, when the power goes out
the gas supply is sealed off. It's a significant safety feature, if one
is a moron or has no sense of smell, sight or touch. I am looking around
carefully for constant pilot models.

I have the safety thingie on my gas range, but when there is no
electricity you can light it with a flame. You have to press in the knob
and hold it.

Yes. The only thing you can't light is the oven. You can light the
cooktop.

nancy

In article said:

After struggling with coils, cleaning drip pans, etc for years, I
wouldn't trade my flat top range for anything. My one warning: keep a
dry dish towel handy to wipe up boilovers - that water or milk will
cook onto that surface in a few seconds. Not to worry tho, there are
special cleaners which'll remove the stuff. A bottle of Ceramabrite
(Home Depot) cost about 7 bucks, but I've had it for years.

Another warning: Some models can still be pretty hot and not show it.
A friend with a seriously bad knee was cooking on one some time ago
and was sitting on a stool while stirring something in a pot over one
element. She forgot one of the other elements had been "On" and stuck
her hand on the surface to help push herself up off the stool. Result
was a badly burnt hand just before lunch. (It's bloody hard to just
go "Ouch!" and withdraw if you've started to lean on the damn thing!)

However, another friend also has one of these gizmos, but hers has
some sort of residual illumination that stays on until the temperature
of the cooking surface above the element has dropped to 60C (IIRC).

Quoted message said:

I did not buy any special pots and pans. Just be careful not to drop
any cans on the surface, ( I store only lightweight stuff like cereal
in the above-stove cupboard.)

If you love cooking with gas, tho - you prob. won't be 100% happy. My
burners take quite a few seconds to cool down, so you must anticipate
and watch what's cooking a little more vigilantly.

Cheers, Phred.

--
[email hidden]

Pennyaline said:

cybertwat said:

"Sheldon" wrote

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Quoted message said:

Horseshit Sheldon. Grow up. Begin by learning this phrase: "I prefer cooking
on a gas range."

Quoted message said:

Nasty old half-witted [censored].

I prefer cooking on a gas range too, because there is no substitute.
Thus spake Old Half-witted [censored] No.2.

I presently have a smoothtop electric, but only because it came with the
house. It's okay, beats the tar out of coils. But I long for a gas
range. Love them. Love them, love them. And the concept of sealed
burners puts me over the moon.

The only drawback to gas now is, on most models, when the power goes out
the gas supply is sealed off. It's a significant safety feature, if one
is a moron or has no sense of smell, sight or touch. I am looking around
carefully for constant pilot models.

With gas stoves that have pizeoelectric ignition you can still light
the top burners with a match when the electric goes off. With
electric stoves you're totally out of business. And just because
there is no natural gas available there is no reason you can't have
gas cooking with propane.

Sheldon

In article said:

On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:58:47 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use any type of cookware on it except you are not supposed to use a
round bottomed wok on it.

Why? It seems like if you use a ring, it should be ok.

The manual recommends you not do that.
Something about uneven heat dispersion causing a risk of cracking the
top.

A new stove top is around $300.00.

We paid $800.00 for the stove.

I use all other types of cookware on it and am just careful to match the
pan to burner size. There are 4 sizes of burner on it. I know it only
looks like 3 but the big one has 2 settings on it's dial with a smaller
burner coil in the center of the larger one.

But, when it comes to appliances, I believe that you should get the best
you can afford, not the cheapest you can get.

We also paid $800.00 for our front loader washing machine about 10 years
ago and it's only needed one minor repair.

The last one (washing machine) lasted 25 years before finally becoming
impractical to repair any more. ;-)
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Pennyaline said:

cybercat said:

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't consider any cooktop but gas, nothing else is
cooking.

Horseshit Sheldon. Grow up. Begin by learning this phrase: "I prefer
cooking
on a gas range."

Nasty old half-witted [censored].

I prefer cooking on a gas range too, because there is no substitute.
Thus spake Old Half-witted [censored] No.2.

I presently have a smoothtop electric, but only because it came with the
house. It's okay, beats the tar out of coils. But I long for a gas
range. Love them. Love them, love them. And the concept of sealed
burners puts me over the moon.

The only drawback to gas now is, on most models, when the power goes out
the gas supply is sealed off. It's a significant safety feature, if one
is a moron or has no sense of smell, sight or touch. I am looking around
carefully for constant pilot models.

I grew up with a gas stove and I do agree that they have their
advantages when it comes to heat control, but I have this paranoia about
a flammable liquid being pumped into my home. I specified all electric
when I was looking for a house. ;-)

But that is a personal thing... I have nothing against gas stoves, I
just don't want one.

YMMV.

The price of LP has also made it difficult for some people in recent
years with gas appliances.

Note please, if you DO have gas appliances, especially a hot water
heater or furnace, please please PLEASE install a carbon monoxide
detector! They are not expensive and well worth having.

If I have a power outage for any long period of time, I do have a wood
pile and a backup propane camping stove to use outdoors. So far I've
never had to resort to it, but we no longer live in Colorado where we'd
have 7 day power outages so I can see in some areas where gas would be
good to have, or at least a good wood stove.

I've cooked on one of those too in the past. <g>
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Phred) said:

However, another friend also has one of these gizmos, but hers has
some sort of residual illumination that stays on until the temperature
of the cooking surface above the element has dropped to 60C (IIRC).

Mine has a little orange light next to the burner knob that stays lit
until the top cools to a reasonable level.

I've gotten into the habit of sliding a pan over the burner as a heat
sink to cool it off faster after it's turned off. I keep two pans on the
stove. My cast iron skillet and my pressure cooker. I rarely use both at
the same time so alternate between them to cover the hot spot.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Sheldon said:

With gas stoves that have pizeoelectric ignition you can still light
the top burners with a match when the electric goes off. With
electric stoves you're totally out of business. And just because
there is no natural gas available there is no reason you can't have
gas cooking with propane.

Sheldon

Or wood...

We had some neighbors that ran on a rough month and got water and power
cut (in the summer no less!) They cooked on the BBQ and we ran a water
hose over to them so they could fill buckets to flush the toilet and
have some water as needed.

Fortunately they had plenty of wood, not that it's hard to get around
here! You can get all you want for free if you go pick it up off the
ground.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Phred) said:

However, another friend also has one of these gizmos, but hers has
some sort of residual illumination that stays on until the temperature
of the cooking surface above the element has dropped to 60C (IIRC).

Mine has a little orange light next to the burner knob that stays lit
until the top cools to a reasonable level.

Hah! That starts to ring a bell. I think that's what she has too.

Quoted message said:

I've gotten into the habit of sliding a pan over the burner as a heat
sink to cool it off faster after it's turned off. I keep two pans on the
stove. My cast iron skillet and my pressure cooker. I rarely use both at
the same time so alternate between them to cover the hot spot.

I do things like that to cool the coil elements on my antique stove
too, so I don't inadvertently burn or melt something. (Especially me!)

Cheers, Phred.

--
[email hidden]

On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 14:44:00 -0400, [email hidden] (Dolores JUDD)

Quoted message said:

Hello ,
I would like to know what all the cooks think about the ceramic ranges
compared to the coil type range. I also am confused as to what type of
cookware to use.At this time I have a ciol type range, but soon will
need a new range.

Our landlord replaced our coil electric stove with a ceramic one... I
thought I'd hate it but they're much improved from a few decades ago!
(my aunt had one of the old glass ones, and it chipped, scratched, and
the paint wore off...) After six months I really like the ceramic
stove it's very easy to clean and I like that you can sit hot stuff
like oven trays on it without worrying about balancing them... the
only negative is how long the plates hold the heat. It takes about
half an hour to cool down all the way after you switch it off, so it's
not very safe around children (there's a little red light that says
'I'm hot' but kids might not notice it.)

Omelet said:

The price of LP has also made it difficult for some people in recent
years with gas appliances.

Note please, if you DO have gas appliances, especially a hot water
heater or furnace, please please PLEASE install a carbon monoxide
detector! They are not expensive and well worth having.

If I have a power outage for any long period of time, I do have a wood
pile and a backup propane camping stove to use outdoors. So far I've
never had to resort to it, but we no longer live in Colorado where we'd
have 7 day power outages so I can see in some areas where gas would be
good to have, or at least a good wood stove.

I've cooked on one of those too in the past. <g>

I've baked bread in the oven of a wood burning kitchen stove. Lemme tell
ya, I never complained about oven temperature control again, gas or
electric!

I also got good at baking bread. Most of my appreciation for the
mechanics of good cooking was acquired banking and tending that monster.

I've been told that many of the newest gas ranges have supply shut off
to all burners in the event of power outage. If they told me wrong, I'm
relieved. Many times, manually lighting the burners has saved the bacon,
as it were.

We already have CO monitors upstairs and down because of the wood stove
in the living room, so when I replaced the old piece of [censored] electric
water heater with an sparkling-new gas one, we were covered. Why on
earth anyone installed electric appliances when gas lines were already
there is beyond me. The neighbors tell me the previous owners laid out
scads to electricians for appliance service lines to their blessed water
heater and kitchen range. Idiots!