primitives discuss, laud, electric ranges

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x70066

Well, damn.

I got lucky today.

I came across a bonfire where the primitives actually show common sense, using electric stoves instead of explosive gas ranges.

trof  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 08:38 AM
Original message
 
OK folks...electric cooktops?

We're all electric, so please don't tell me how much better gas is.

Thank you.

Miz t. needs a new cooktop. Our old electric element one is giving out. Loose connections, etc.

She THINKS she wants one of them new-fangled glasstop models.

I don't like the limitations and drawbacks.

Only smooth bottomed cast iron (if at all).

So much for granny's old cast iron frying pan.

Careful of scratching and staining.

Etc., etc.

OK, what are your recommendations and why?

Many thanks.

supernova  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 10:59 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. I'm in the same boat with you and Miz T.

I have a late 70s/early 80s electric stove that needs replacing. I want either a glass or induction cooktop (also glass). They are much easier to clean than the coils and eye pans.

I really hope I won't have to get rid of my cast iron skillet. It's my favorite all-purpose pan.

flamin lib  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 12:12 PM
Response to Original message

2. I have a Whirlpool Gold ceramic cooktop and love it.

I've had gas and induction in the past and while I really liked the induction it's picky about cookware and doesn't like copper or stainless steel.

The new electric heats up really fast-not as fast as gas but damn near. It uses both radiant heat and conductive heat so it gets very hot very fast. Boil overs are a breeze to clean up, just hit it real fast with a terry cloth towel and keep on cookin'. No, it doesn't cool down as fast as gas either but sliding the pot to the side of the element does the job.

Yeah, you gotta' be careful not to scratch it with heavy pots but a little attention to technique and you'll find it isn't that big a deal, just lift the pan before shaking it to mix ingredients.

Mine is now five years old and has only the most tiny marks from wear and tear.

If you want to go really top end, there is an electric/induction combo that boils water in 90 seconds but it's $2k http://www.electroluxappliances.com/node30.aspx?categor...

Go glass and you'll never go back . . .

Go electric over natural gas, and you'll never blow up.

NashVegas  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. We Had a Ceramic Top When I Was a Teen

And I can't tell you how many times and how many of our family of 5-6 burned ourselves when the top looked cool. My mom even got a good 2nd degree burn once.

Stains were less of an issue; Barkeepers' Friend should take care of most.

My understanding is that induction cools down much, much faster. I have a set of alloy pans that were made for induction, but I use them on plain coils and love love love 'em (Aubecq).

The sparkling husband primitive:

Stinky The Clown  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 08:38 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
8. Induction never actually gets hot

The famous demonstration is to out a dollar bill on the cooktop "burner" and then put a pan on top of the bill with half the bill sticking it. Obviously it never burns.

Induction works by exciting the metal molecules in the pan, creating heat through their friction as the bounce around. It is very energy efficient as there is little wasted heat. The molecules get more or less "excited" pretty much instantly.

Also, the pan is all that gets hot. It then transfers heat the food within.

Induction is as responsive as gas and as clean as electric.

Grandma's best friend, the miserable primitive:

sazemisery  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 01:43 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. I am all electric and have tried 3 kinds of rangetops.

When we first moved to our present location (28 yrs ago) the house came with the conventional coil type burners. It was an old cheap stove and I hated it. It died shortly thereafter and we invested in a Kenmore Jenn Air knockoff that had the cast iron french burners. I hated it from day one. If you did not own the high end pans that were absolutely flat the burners would not heat up properly.

That stove lasted until about 5 years ago. I purchased a glasstop mainly because I liked the ease of cleaning it. I use all of my cast iron cookware on it with no problem. Of course my cast iron is very old and has flat bottoms. My Caphalon pans have warped on the bottom over the years but a well placed rubber mallet made them flat again.

As far as cleaning them, I have no problem. The best product is Bar Keepers Friend

after which a photograph of two Comet/Ajax imitators

It does not scratch and gets up all spills, baked on or not. For extra hard stains and spills just us the BKF with one of those scubbies designed for non-stick pans. I was introduced to this product back in the 1970's when I worked at a bar/restaurant. It is environmentally safe and they do not do animal testing. And it works on many surfaces.

http://barkeepersfriend.com

I hope this helps with your decision.

NMDemDist2  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 08:39 PM
Response to Reply #4

9. +1 on the BKF for cleaning and I liked my glass top fine in AZ

I used my cast iron (Grammy's stuff was mostly smooth bottomed tho...)

I learned about the BKF after about a year so it took a razor blade to get the cooked on goop off, but it worked fine and after that regular use of BKF made it a keep up.

The vindictive primitive, who's looking for a hip transplant:

Vinca  (1000+ posts)      Mon Oct-19-09 02:05 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. I've been using one for about 10 years and I like it.

It does take some getting used to, though. I remember at first I thought it took forever for water to boil. Cleaning is a whole lot easier. Overall, I would buy another glass top range.

Stinky The Clown  (1000+ posts)        Mon Oct-19-09 05:50 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. Consider induction if you can affored the cost

That will soon enough be the number one cook top type. Costs are falling already. They look very similar to glass cooktops but work very, very differently.

Jazzgirl  (1000+ posts)      Mon Oct-19-09 07:25 PM
Response to Original message
 
7. I bought my house 8 years ago. It came with a ceramic top stove.

I had been using a coil electric stove and was skeptical. I quickly learned to like this stove. It cooks great! I have Calphalon, cast iron and ceramic cookware and this stove is great for all of them. Yes you do have to be careful about sliding back and forth across the grill. I definitely don't do it with cast iron but it heats beautifully and cools off just fine. The indicators tell you when an eye is still too hot to touch. This stove is 10 years old but I plan to buy another one to replace it when this one goes.

trof  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-20-09 08:25 AM
Response to Original message
 
10. I knew I could count on my DUers.

Thanks for all the info.

I guess we'll go glass.

Induction is a bit pricey for us.

Thanks again.

Y'all are the best.

ginnyinWI  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-20-09 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
 
11. Ooo I really appreciate this thread too!

I'm at the point of wanting a smooth top to replace my seven year old GE electric coil range. Although I do love it and it works great--it is fast and efficient. But when the rice boils over and the burner starts smoking and the smoke detector goes off and the cats dive for the basement like it's an air raid and I have to run with a dish towel and fan the smoke detector so it will stop screaming--I wonder if a smooth top wouldn't be better? 

I like to use my three sizes of cast iron frying pans, and I also have a stove-top metal wok. Does anyone know how well a smooth top would work with that? It sits on my electric coils and works fine--gets nice and hot. My main set of pans is a set of Farberware stainless steel with copper bottoms. (Got a great deal online!)

[The Village Idiot]

Common sense for those who want to shut down the power plants.

[JohnnyReb]

The primitives have learned our secret..............fire.

[NHSparky]

Coach, hate to disagree with ya here, but I live in an all-electric house.  I would KILL for a gas range.

[debk]

Coach, hate to disagree with ya here, but I live in an all-electric house.  I would KILL for a gas range.

6 burner gas range, with a built in griddle.

I LOVE cooking on it!!

After 20 years with an electric Jenn-Aire, the gas range is wonderful. I hope I never have to go back to electric.

[franksolich]

Coach, hate to disagree with ya here, but I live in an all-electric house.  I would KILL for a gas range.

Yeah, I know, I'm in a minuscule minority on this issue.

[The Village Idiot]

Yeah, I know, I'm in a minuscule minority on this issue.

There is electric here. I think the gas gave a better cooking situation but gas scares me sometimes. There was trauma okay?

Everyone forgets they have bacon cooking when a good cartoon comes on.

And... and.. who wouldn't put a grease fire in a pan under the faucet??

I bet they had to paint the ceiling.

[debk]

Yeah, I know, I'm in a minuscule minority on this issue.

The newer ones are much safer than the ones we had as kids, Frank.

They have electric ignitors and the knobs have to be pushed in and then turned counter-clockwise (at least mine does)... I don't worry about hitting it and having it turn on without knowing it.

[debk]

There is electric here. I think the gas gave a better cooking situation but gas scares me sometimes. There was trauma okay?

Everyone forgets they have bacon cooking when a good cartoon comes on.

And... and.. who wouldn't put a grease fire in a pan under the faucet??

I bet they had to paint the ceiling.

Want to know what happens to a large pot,  with oil in it for deep frying shrimp.....that's been forgotten on an electric stove?

A lot more than the ceiling needed to be painted.

I still won't eat fried shrimp over 40 years later....

[GOBUCKS]

Coach, hate to disagree with ya here, but I live in an all-electric house.  I would KILL for a gas range.

You got that right. My daughter and her family just bought a new house with a huge 6-burner Viking range. I'd do anything to replace our stupid glasstop electric thing with that Viking, but it just wouldn't fit. There's no comparison as a cooking machine.

[BEG]

6 burner gas range, with a built in griddle.

I LOVE cooking on it!!

After 20 years with an electric Jenn-Aire, the gas range is wonderful. I hope I never have to go back to electric.

Our new house has a six burner Viking and it is a bitch to clean. Actually it's not so hard to get stuff off it but it's hard getting it to look perfect. I am a tad OCD and my appliances are a huge issue with me. I clean them almost everyday and always clean my stove after I use it. Thank God my fridge has cabinet inserts on it instead of SS like my old fridge.

My old stove was a really nice kitchenaid smooth top without knobs. It always looked brand new after I cleaned it. If something was a little hard to get off I used a razor blade (at a 45 degree angle) and scrape it off. It had so many settings (including a keep warm, melt and simmer setting) and would simmer perectly. My Viking doesn't simmer very well, even when turned all the way down.

[IassaFTots]

I have a glass top, and I use my cast iron on it so there.  I would prefer gas, but right now the house has electric, and so that is what I have.  I could tell you a story about steaming an artichoke on a coil burner electric stove, that involved wine, an episode of ER, back in the day, when it was good, and melted carpet fiber.  But, I will leave that for another day.

[Rebel]

5-burner gas KitchenAid. I love it. ....but most of my cooking is done on my grill.

[debk]

Our new house has a six burner Viking and it is a bitch to clean. Actually it's not so hard to get stuff off it but it's hard getting it to look perfect. I am a tad OCD and my appliances are a huge issue with me. I clean them almost everyday and always clean my stove after I use it. Thank God my fridge has cabinet inserts on it instead of SS like my old fridge.

My old stove was a really nice kitchenaid smooth top without knobs. It always looked brand new after I cleaned it. If something was a little hard to get off I used a razor blade (at a 45 degree angle) and scrape it off. It had so many settings (including a keep warm, melt and simmer setting) and would simmer perectly. My Viking doesn't simmer very well, even when turned all the way down.

I swipe mine off with those Clorox kitchen wipes after I use it. My cooktop all comes apart, so it's easy to clean. I don't use the griddle and it has a top that covers it.

The refrig is a SS SubZero, micro is a SS KitchenAide, and I replaced the SS Bosch dishwasher that came with the house, with a SSMaytag. Since it's only the two of us, fingerprints aren't a big issue, and I found some spray cleaner that was for SS only.

If anyone has ideas for keeping black granite shiny...let me know. I would never have picked it out, it also came with the house. I have entirely too much of it to replace...but it shows fingerprints, dust, waterprints from the wipes.....arghhhh! My friend has the ivory to camel to chocoate brown and all the shades in between....it always looks sooooo pretty and shiny.

[dandi]

My wife and I got a new house back in July that came with a pretty nice Frigidaire glass top in stainless steel. It's okay but I hope to replace it with a small Wolf or Viking in the near future and an upgraded exhaust system. The glass top heats up fast and cleans easily, but I just like the temperature control you get with gas.

BTW the Bar Keeper's Friend is good stuff, especially for cleaning stains off my steel clad cookware, but it's not the miracle product some tout it to be. Still gotta use some elbow grease with it. Also, it contains oxalic acid so don't get it in your eyes or mix with bleach.

[miskie]

I'm also in the gas over electric camp. We have a decidedly midrange GE that's about 10 years old now, with electric ignition. Its quite easy to clean. every now and then ill toss the racks, drip pans and burners into the dishwasher to get them spotless.

Black granite countertops.

There is little you can do to stop the fingerprint problem with anything black and shiny, while keeping sanitary for food use. --However, I have heard of people having some success with high quality car polishes-- though I'm not sure I'd trust applying such a thing to a surface that comes in contact with food.

[debk]

Black granite countertops.

There is little you can do to stop the fingerprint problem with anything black and shiny, while keeping sanitary for food use. --However, I have heard of people having some success with high quality car polishes-- though I'm not sure I'd trust applying such a thing to a surface that comes in contact with food.

I've heard about using Turtle Wax in the fiberglass showers, and it supposedly works, though I've never tried it.

I'm not sure that would be good to have around food...especially since I use antibacterial wipes or sprays on it all the time...I think they would just eat through the Turtle Wax.

The wipes/sprays might be what is dulling the gloss, but I'm kinda weird about my cooking areas being really clean.

Just seems like there should be something to put on them that's safe for food.....there's stuff for everything else.

Speaking of everything else.....I bought this Mr Clean thingamajig for cleaning the shower about a month ago. Had this little bootie thing filled with cleaner that slipped over the end of it, and it has a telescopic pole to reach higher on the walls for those of us that are vertically challenged.

Came with 2..TWO...little booties... that were not washable and reuseable.

I can't find the booties anywhere!!! ARGHHHHHH! I have tried Kroger's, Food City, Walmart and Target.

Has anybody ever seen or have one of these things....and where did you find the replacement booties?