I am looking at remodeling my kitchen and I plan to install a new gas cooktop. I would love your opinions on which would be the best stovetop to purchase. I love to cook and try to pretend I am a gourmet! I have wondered about a Viking, Wolf, or Bosch cooktop. Thanks for any help!
2007-01-19 07:21:38 · 5 answers · asked by flickgeekazoid 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
Best is a function of price and style of cooking you do.
I have a 50 year old Chambers with a DROP BROILER! Flame comes from the top not the bottom, and I literally could not live without it! But I don't know of any modern stove with this feature. [However I don't own an outdoor barbecue and if I did the broiler probably wouldn't mean so much to me.]
If you like Wok cooking, you will need a special burner to provide the extra BTUs you will need. Normal burners provide only 8-10,000 BTUs, not enough to do this style authentically. 20,000-30,000 should be sufficient but professional burners can have far more than that. Gaggenau has a good one.
There is also this new technology call Magnetic Induction that heats Stainless Steel and Cast Iron pots with no flame or hot surface. The glass surface of this stove stays cool to the touch while the pan gets hot. It also has a solid glass surface that cleans easily. Wolf sells a version of this.
Another version of glass top uses an infrared heat source. It does get hot, but heats and cools nearly instantaneously offering the speed of gas with the cleanliness and design possibilities of electricity.
If you were redoing the kitchen for resale, then I'd go with a brand everyone knows like Viking or Wolf, but since you are a cook I'd write down the features you most want as a chef. For me, I'd use the Wok burner several times a week. Maybe you have children just old enough for you to start teaching to cook themselves so the cool touch easy clean surface would be a big bonus.
They even have this wild electric steamer / pasta cooker that sits deep into your counter. It heats with a built in electric heat source. You fill it with water from a spigot over the top (like the pot filler style) and it has a drain out of the bottom. So there is no handling of hot pots of water. No dumping them. No steam in the face. No big pots taking up space on your stove. The food just lifts out in the included basket. Very Cool!
Summing up, you may not be looking for a single cook top, but modules / stations that do each job at their best.
Then I would suggest you take your cooking wish list and go to a appliance store dedicated to the high end remodeler. You can also search the web. www.AbtElectronics.com and www.Homeclick.com have tons of high end stuff.
2007-01-19 08:08:57 · answer #1 · answered by David E 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Are you sure you need gas? Some of the new glass tops are very, very nice.
As to brand, even Kenmore is good if it has all the features you want.
2007-01-19 07:28:18 · answer #2 · answered by MT C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have always like Frigidaire brand appliances
2007-01-19 08:31:25 · answer #3 · answered by dirtycaribbean 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Vikings are nice if you want higher-end appliances.
2007-01-19 07:26:33 · answer #4 · answered by Common_Sense2 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive heard the bosch is awsome
2007-01-19 07:35:05 · answer #5 · answered by lil pit cat 71 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋