Kitchen Aid Cook Top

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

Help Support :

B

bobbins

Active member
Gold Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Messages
36
Location
Victoria, BC, Canada
Several months ago I bought a Kitchen Aid Cooktop. I haven't installed it yet or used it. Still wrapped in plastic from Sears. Recently a good friend offered a hell of a deal for his 5 burner Viking Commercial grade cooktop...heck when he saw me soo excited with a Har# $n...he dropped the price even more and threw in high end cookware. He is buying an induction model. Now I will have two cook tops and wanting to sell the Kitchen Aid....I paid $675 (retail $950) and willing to accept $350 OBO + shipping. I am considering to put it on Ebay...or am I wasting my time?? Suggestions? Ideas?

Below is a sample of a picture what it looks like.

Bob

************************************

30" (76.2 cm) Ceramic Glass Electric Cooktop

Performance

* Control style: Knob controls
* Infinite-heat controls

Versatility

* 10" (25.4 cm) Round triple-ring expanded element; 2500W / 1800W / 900W
* 8" (20.3 cm) Round dual-ring expanded element; 2000W / 1000W
* 6 1/2" (16.5 cm) 1200-watt single element
* 7" (17.8 cm) 1500-watt single element
* Power-On light
* Hot-Surface indicators
* Total elements: 4

Styling

* Cooktop style: Traditional surface with speckles
 
I'm wondering why you bought an electric cooktop and now want to switch to gas. Your friend is definitely riding the wave of the future since even restaurant kitchens are going for induction in a big way. One thing you need to consider in your switch is how many people you normally feed at a meal. Unless it requires that you use large diameter pans, you will have to keep those big burners throttled back so that the flame does not engulf the pans. Remember also that gas burners are no more than 60% efficient while regular electric elements are over 80% efficient and induction is over 90% efficient. In practical terms this means that somewhere around 40% of each of those gas burner's input will be heating your kitchen; perhaps more since some of the commercial gas cooktops have such heavy grates that they pull heat out of the flame before it can reach the pan and some have the burners set so low under the grates that the flame has to be kept far higher than would otherwise be necessary. If you currently have access to both electric and gas surface cooking units, you might want to try a little test. Put water into a saucepan that covers an electric surface unit and turn the unit on to HIGH. While the water is heating, place your hands around the outside of the pan, closely, but not touching it, and lower them as far as the heat will allow. Then repeat this with a gas burner with the flame at the highest setting and then turned down so that its pattern is no larger than the base of the pan, but still high enough to heat the water as you would for a cooking task.
 
~some have the burners set so low under the grates that the flame has to be kept far higher than would otherwise be necessary.

Due to sealed gas burners, secondary combustion air no longer comes from beneath the cooktop. By necessity, the pot is now kept further away from the burner to ensure air can get to it. This is a safety issue to avoid incomplete combustion including a yellow flame(carbon)and carbon monoxide.

Here is one thing for certain- unvented gas-burning appliances certainly do not help the indoor air quality, either. Studies have shown that it can be more polluted and harmful than outdoor air.
 
Gas burners . . .

do need to be adjusted correctly to not produce smoke and pollution. I don't know about real restaurant burners, but Viking will give you a choice to have sealed or open "restaurant inspired" burners on some of their residential products.

I wonder about induction cooktops being the "wave of the future". They've been around awhile but never really caught on, for whatever reason. Perhaps it is because they don't work well with all types of cookware, and many good cooks I know are quite picky about their own preferences in cookware. For instance, I wonder how a wok works on an induction cooktop.

After many years in high end residential architecture I can tell you that selling homeowners on electric burners of any type is going to be hard. Most of them see electric burners as an apartment-grade solution and won't have anything to do with them. As a result, lots of custom homes built in the last 20 or so years don't even have a 220 outlet for the rangetop. Electric built-in ovens and dual-fuel ranges with gas burners and electric ovens are popular however.

Frankly I'm tired of the clunky Viking-Lynx-Dynasty "commercial" look stainless steel appliances from an aesthetic standpoint. It's not that they are ugly, but everyone has them and it's boring. The ranges are often very deep too which can screw up a kitchen layout. However, this is what people want so I plan for it.
 
~Is incomplete combustion like coitus interruptus?
Well yes, I'm guessing it can leave you quite dizzy and high, actually.

~I wonder how a wok works on an induction cooktop.
If a magnet sticks to your cookware you are golden. I'm guessing a small heating element to match the size of the bottom of the wok would have to be as powerful as possible.

~"restaurant inspired" burners:
Domestic features like a (pyrolytic)self-cleaning oven and sealed burners on a commerical-style "look" seem to be gettng more popular for domestic use. IIRC you can now even get for home use a gas broiler and electric overn in the same oven cavity.
 
~I can tell you that selling homeowners on electric burners of any type is going to be hard.

Well it's too bad that perople are still thinking of electric burners (hobs & coils) as they were 20 years ago. Once the convenience of smooth-top glass/ceramic is experienced (even with the lack of visual "clues" that gas gives as to heat level as well as getting used to the settings needed) it is VERY hard to go back to gas.

Ditto if you have asthma and or other breathing issues.

Electric stove-top cooking is:
Faster
Cleaner
Safer (fewer accident reported in this country which is, BTW majority electric in its residential cooking)
Cooler

Gas is:
Cheap,
Easy,
Visual
Intuitive. (Once you're past about 35 y.o. I'm not sure these qualities are all that desirable).
Polluting to indoor air.

I have both because both have their merits and disadvantages.

I look forward to trying induction. Sadi to be fast efficient and controlable as gas is. Today, unfortunately, it is still expensive. I'm liking the cooktops that have two induction units and two conventional radiant heat units!
 
Gas for home appliances was never an air quality issue years ago because homes were so "leaky". I just had a 50's home totally insulated to energy star standards and the contractors were very concerened about air quality. They tested, adjusted and futzed with the dryer,furnace,water heater and the gas range to make sure they were set for the lowest Carbon Monoxide output. If we were all electric, it would have been a non -issue. There IS something really organic, or chef like, with cooking with fire, however. If I were to build,or remodel, I would have a gas cooktop and seperate electric wall oven. My aunt set off her carbon monoxide alarm on Thankgiving with her gas oven going from 7am to 5pm. Everyone had to leave the house until it was ventilated and checked by the fire department.
 
To be honest sometimes sealing up houses really well becomes a point of diminishing return. I'm not arguing against it, but if the air starts to get stale then a lot of people will crack a window and forget about it, thus causing as much or more outside air infiltraton than in a less perfect home. Kind of like low-flush toilets that you have to flush twice to do the job.

I wonder how old your aunt's oven is . . . if it is old and/or out of adjustment then this will make the problem worse. The gas rangetop/electric oven combo is popular and works well.

Building codes usually require an operable window or an exhaust fan in a laundry room which helps matters with regard to gas dryers, but lots of old smaller houses have the washer and dryer in the garage anyway.

Modern gas furnaces are pretty good, especially the better grade condensing type ones which don't even need a conventional flue, but rather a condensate pipe. They are often in the attic or garage which minimizes the possibility of air quality issues in the house. Of course for any gas appliance to work correctly you do need adequate combustion air per manufacturer's recommendations, which is why pre-fab fireplaces have ducted outside air supplies.
 
My aunt set off her carbon monoxide alarm on Thankgiving with her gas oven going from 7am to 5pm

I am a firm believer in a good exhaust/extraction fan/hood for cooking in general, especially gas.

My mother used to open a window that was next to the stove. I tried to convince her to open a window in another roon to compensate for the air that was sucked out by the exhaust fan. She humors me, but does not understand the concept of an "air-sweep" cleaning the WHOLE kitchen of soured air.
 
~Whatever happened to those halogen cooktops, are they still making them?

I had a GE brand two-burner unit in Tempe, AZ in my hotel suite. Not sure if still made.

The heat settings are "indentations" in the control knob. Probably like the old two-coil fixed-heat GEs and Hotpoints This thingy here has thre heaters in one burner, a halogen one and two NiChrome resistance coils surrounding it. Here we thsee the halogne portion energized and glowing. I don't think the burner cycles to maintain a heat setting, but rather is steadily on.

I'm sure some sharp-shooter will correct me. *LOL*
 
I've always preferred gas myself to me, it's the best way to cook. Suprisingly, those viking cooktops throttle back very well. I've used one at the local rescue squad that uses it to prepare meals for all the crew members.

Here's the reasons why I like gas:

smooth, even heat with fewer "hot spots" on the di
faster, more responsive control
works with the electricity out (important around here!)
gets hotter faster
cheaper to run
 
I Love smoothtops. Very easy to clean an adjust and use. Gas is a PITA to me. SO is induction and those halegon tops..
 
Hydarlique, people pay a fortune to heat their homes in the northeast during the cold season, so they insulate everything they can, including the backs of the lightswitches and plugs boxes on outside walls. Opening a window wastes fuel when it is 10 degrees outside. It is still much cheaper to make heat with gas than electricity here. I agree, the diminishing returns come when you conserve money and fuel to the point of suffication/assifixiation, however. To Toggles point, a good vent hood to the outside would work well and should be code for gas stove operation in homes.
 

Similar threads

Chetlaham
Kitchen-Aid Long Final Rinse?
Replies
0
Views
6
Chetlaham
Chetlaham

Latest posts

Back
Top