Kitchen Cooktops

There are a lot of factors to consider when selecting kitchen cooktops

Generally they heat using either electricity or gas. If you want to cook with electricity, don't miss seeing the induction cooktop option. Induction uses electromagnetic energy to heat only the cookware and requires specific cookware, but the stove top itself does not heat up. Our pick for induction cooking is the Thermador, Silver-Mirrored induction cooktop. If you will be buying a drop in cooktop, you might consider the downdraft vent style cooktop. In any case you will want to keep in mind the ease of cleaning of the cooktop. Gas ranges have burners that are either open or sealed. Sealed burners have no drip pans or tops to be lifted. These are easiest to clean as they only have grates and burner caps to be removed and cleaned. Electric ranges will either have exposed coils or enclosed glass-ceramic elements. You can expect to pay less for coil elements, but the are harder to clean. There's no disassembly to wipe clean a flat surfaced cooking surface.

There are other considerations when choosing your cooktop, such as found with the Whirlpool 30-inch freestanding Sabor range which is designed specifically for Hispanic-American kitchens. On this model, the central elongated fifth burner can be converted to a traditional comal or griddle used to prepare tortillas. Another feature to look for is a bridge burner. This is an element that spans the space between two elements creating one larger cooking surface for larger and odd shaped pans. Dual burners will be adjustable for different sized pans and are commonly found on electric cooktops. Some electric cooktops also have warming elements.

Pro-style kitchen cooktops are noted for their high heat output. They can provide 15,000 to 16,000 BTU while the average gas range provides 6,000 to 9,000 BTU. Keep in mind that the higher power of the pro-style cooktop requires an equally powerful range hood to remove the additional heat, steam and grease from the house. Generally, a standard kitchen range hood can move about 350 cubic feet of air per minute while a commercial or pro-style hood will move double that amount. The downdraft vent cooktop provides an exhaust system for the cooking heat and greasy smoke without visible hoods or ducting. Going Pro-Style for your cooktop and kitchen range hood package will add on about $1,000 to $1,500 to the price.