Vintage Cooktops

[Marky_Mark]

Hi guys

 

I am looking for a vintage electric cooktop to buy and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on which ones are best and which are to be avoided. 

 

Does anyone know how wide this GE model is?  Good performer?  I'd be interested to know the power of the largest burner.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thermador

These Thermador models look good.

 

My current cooktop is 36½" wide and 21" deep.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Jenn Air

I've seen a lot of 30" Jenn Air models but they are not wide enough to fill my hole (!).  Does anyone know the power and size of these coils?

 

Here is a nice 48" model.  I could enlarge my cutout but I am not sure how I could accommodate a smaller cooktop.

 

All thoughts and advice much appreciated.

 

Mark

[this post was last edited: 12/23/2022-23:37]

 

[circlew]

The first cooktop shown is a Hotpoint (a GE division). If I could find my 70s Hotpoint catalog I could give you the dimensions. Perhaps Lawrence (Pulltostart) has info on that model.

 

[pulltostart]

Mark,

The first one (almond) fits a 30" base cabinet.  It features a 3-in-1 "Power Saver" unit that can be a 4", 6" or 8" unit.

 

lawrence

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thank you very much, Tom and Lawrence.  That's a real shame, as it is for sale locally but is not wide enough .  Is it 21" deep?

 

Looking at the photos above, it looks to me like the largest Jenn Air coil is smaller than the largest on the GE and Thermador.  Is that the case?

 

Mark

 

[appnut]

I've had several friends with vario9us configurations of those Jenn Airs over the years. They are the standard 8" and 6" burners.

 

[sudsmaster]

When I bought this house in 1997, it had a Corning electric cooktop, with a flat piece of glass covering all the burners. I had the gas extended to that location, and then stored the Corning cooktop in the workshop. Unfortunately a year or so later it got tipped over and broke. It was no big loss, because it had burn marks, deep in the glass, underside, on at least one burner location. Still, I probably would have kept it. As it was, it went in the trash.

 

Now I have a five burner Frigidaire Gas-On-Glass cooktop that I've been quite happy with for the past 20+ years. If it were now, I'd probably consider an induction cooktop, except for the high price of electricity here. Gas has gone up as well, but not as much as electricity. Plus, I can cook with gas any time. Between 4 pm and 9 pm we get charged extra for electricity.

 

 

[combo52]

Best slightly vintage, electric cooktops

Hi Mark, of the three you have there the Thermidor is the best choice although it does have a built-in grill griddle so you need an overhead hood.

The second best choice is the JennAir but that needs to be vented down and out of your home that may or may not be possible

GE hot point is too small for your opening. There are ways to have a trim piece made out of stainless steel and put it in if you wanted the GE is the best built one of the three followed by a close second with the Thermidor in the JennAir is not bad.

All three cooktops have the same size burners. They have 6 inch and 8 inch burners. There’s no way a central difference in any of them all about the same power as well.

Happy holidays John give a call sometime Mark.

 

[petek]

With the Jenn Air you may be able to find an induction cartridge (if they were standard fitting for all years/models) Plus if you already have an overhead exhaust hood you wouldn't need to use the downdraft.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I got inspired enough last night to give the Frigidiare Gas-On-Glass cooktop a thorough cleaning. Much better now!

 

 

 

 

[Marky_Mark]

Thanks for the replies and all the good info.

 

Here are a couple of photos of my current cooktop, which is in an island.  I have a pop-up downdraft vent that is ducted through the slab floor and out of the house.

 

John, I might even be able to catch up with you in Beltsville during the coming year!  

 

[combo52]

Hi Mark, the Thermidor would come closest to fitting and would be a much much better cooktop than that Viking

Good friend of mine had that Viking and downdraft unit you have fortunately, he did not cook much, but that was a miserable cooktop to use to clean, etc.

You may also be able to put in some thing like a 36 inch GE induction cooktop if you like. And put a natural gas cooktop or stove outside to use when time of use electricity gets too expensive if you’re going to do a lot of cooking.

John

 

[Marky_Mark]

Regarding the power of the elements, I have seen some Thermador 8-inch replacement elements that say they are 2100 Watts.  Whereas some GE 8-inch elements say they are 3000 Watts.  I often bring large pans of water to the boil, so the extra power would be great.  If it turns out that the Thermador elements are 2100 Watts, could I replace one of them with a more powerful element?

 

I have found a Thermador cooktop for sale online in Montreal that I am considering buying.  I cook a lot and the cooktop is typically used for 3 meals per day.

 

I do have a 2-burner gas cooktop outside.  I'm excited about the prospect of replacing the Viking!

 

Happy New Year

Mark

 

[combo52]

Conventional coil element power

Hi Mark, the GE you pictured would have 2350 white elements for the large ones and probably 1325 for the small ones.

The Thermidor you pictured has 2100 W for the large 1500 W for the small

The Genaire cooktop pictured has 2100 for the large probably 1500 for the small or 1250 on this cooktop a cheesy to change the elements to 2600 W and 1500 watts

My brother, Jeff has a similar Thermidor cooktop and he was able to upgrade the power of the large elements by buying 208 full elements which jump the power up to 26 or 700 W on 240 V, I don’t think those elements would be readily available anymore but who knows

The GE would be hard to upgrade to, unless we found some used elements of higher power.

 

[sudsmaster]

What's wrong with the Viking gas cooktop? I'd probably be very happy with a six burner set up like that.

 

Of course you'll probably have to run a 220 volt connection under to the cooktop if one is not already there.

 

 

[sudsmaster]

PS-Nice bananas!

 

 

[combo52]

Six burner Viking Gas Cooktop

One of my friends had that exact set up, it was a miserable cooktop hard to clean the controls were in an illogical, not very powerful, etc.

Yes, it would need a 240 V line of course note there’s no such thing as 220 V in this country.

John

 

[sudsmaster]

"Yes, it would need a 240 V line of course note there’s no such thing as 220 V in this country."

 

Why on earth would a gas cooktop need 220 V?