Anyone know anything about glass top stoves?

[David2U]

I just ordered new appliances for our kitchen, A in-wall oven, a drop-in glass / ceramic counter top stove and a dishwasher. All Whirlpool brand.

I didn't buy the cheapest models, but also didn't buy the most expensive. I had wanted stainless steel finishes on the outside.. but that would have added well over $100-$150 to the cost of each appliance, so I elected to go with a white porcelain finsh and use the money to get models with better features / funtions..

I've never had any experinece with the glass / ceramic top stoves. Anyone have much experience with them? How well do they hold up, are they easy to break? If you use cast iron skillets.. do you have to treat the glass like it is as delicate as a egg shell? Are they easy to keep clean?

We had a old gold color metal coil model for 25 years that had come with the home when we bought it. It and the other 2 appliances are ready for the scrap yard. Since we were up-grading to new appliances, we thought we'd give this glass top stove a try. But we don't know anyone locally who uses one.

We were told not to ever let any kind of sugar get on the hot surface as it pretty much melted it into glass and would have to be scrapped off with a razor blade. And I've heard stories about them showing scratches from sliding pans across the surface.

I chose the model shown below. I believe it has 1- dual 1,950 / 3,000.... 9" / 12" burner, 1- 10" 2,500 watt burner and 2- 6" 1,200 watt burners. I'm hoping it holds up well.

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The dishwaher has a stainless steel interior and nylon coated racks. And has 3 washing arms.. under the bottom rack, under the top rack and over the top rack. It is rated at 47 DB. Is that good / quiet for a dishwasher?

Our old one sounded like a idling farm tractor when it ran. You couldn't carry on a conversation in the kitchen when it was running. If there is enough room in the cabinet opening, there is a free sound proofing blanket that comes with the unit.. that they will install to make it even quieter than the 47 DB.

Thanks for any imput.

 

[dennishoddy]

We have had one for 15 years or so. Best dammed thing to cook on since fire was built. We uses cast iron exclusively, and there is no scratches. Glass is a lot harder than cast iron. What ever spills on it is easily cleaned up and a razor blade won't scratch it either. If you drop something heavy on it, it will break. Broke ours once because the wife wiped it down with a cool cloth while it was hot causing an expansion break. The new one is just the glass, the elements are put into the new top and your back in business.

 

[David2U]

Thanks, makes me feel a lot better about the choice. I definitely need to remember we probably should not bother wiping it down until all the indicator light showing a coil is still hot go out. The warning indicators are suppose to say lighted until the coil pad is cool enough to touch safely by hand. I liked the feature on these models that lets a person easily remove the control knobs and put them in the dishwasher for cleaning. We got really tired of cleaning that old open coil model. The pans & the rings. Soaking them overnight in Amonia to get the crud off. And using plastic knives to scrap the build-up from the groves around the raised heat control panel of knobs.

Just to be clear and make sure I understood you right, if the glass should happen to break.. all the repair people have to do is put a new glass panel on top of your old unit ..using the original coils underneath?

 

[dennishoddy]

Just to be clear and make sure I understood you right, if the glass should happen to break.. all the repair people have to do is put a new glass panel on top of your old unit ..using the original coils underneath?

That's correct. I did it myself in about 30 minutes.

 

[David2U]

Thanks, that is definitely a relief to know.

 

[Jeff T.]

We have had a glass topped range for about 12 years now. Ours is white. When something boils over, we use some glass top range cleaner from the grocery store, a moist wash rag, and a little elbow grease to get most of the spots off, 5 or 10 minutes if it is a big mess. Only rarely do we need to use a razor blade. Cheese and pasta water seem to be the hardest to remove. Haven't gotten any sugar on it that I remember. We haven't had any problems with cracks or scratches.


Live Simply, Love Generously, Care Deeply, Speak Kindly, Shoot Well, Leave the Rest to God.

 

[StealthESW]

The bset way to keep from scratching it is to use water and a drop of dishsoap when you scrap it with the razor blade. I usually mix up a batch of water with a teaspoon of dishsoap in a spray bottle when I clean our glass top, followed by Cerama Bryte on a Cerama Bryte cleaning pad. (Stuff is like a liquid buffing compound for the cooktop.) Also, cast iron is ok as long as it is porcelain coated, at least that is what it says in the manual for our glass cooktop.

 

[Scott Hearn]

I got a Whirlpool Gold double oven glass top stove a couple of years ago. So far it's been great. I use regular cast iron on it, just set it down like you are setting it on glass. We usually use the Lysol wipes in the round plastic container for cleanup after cooking. They clean quite well for just general cleanup but don't get the spots that are burnt on. Or just dish soap and water works too. When it gets too grungy looking the Assure stuff from Whirlpool (hard to find) or the Cerama Bryte that StealthESW mentioned make it look new again.

 

[David2U]

Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it.

Finally got the stove top installed. Works great. I was really surprised by how well it retains heat. It can take almost 10 minutes for the red 'Hot Surface' indicator light to go out after the burner is turned off. Even then it is still warm enough that keeping your hand on the pad is uncomfortable. Our old exposed coil stove would be cool to the touch in 4-5 minutes after the burner was turned off.

I want to keep the scratches down to a minimum as I do like cast iron skillets, so I'm gonna write to Whirlpool and ask them if it would hurt the surface if I used one of those silicon grill pads on the stove. The kind you see advertised on TV that you can put on a BBQ grill's grate. Those things are exposed to high heat and open flame without melting and transfer the grate marks to the steak...so it looks like it would work on a stove top too. I figure the worse that the Whirlpool techs can say is 'NO!, Don't do it!" I'll let you know if I get a answer.