Credit:
Thermador
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Credit:
Thermador
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This five-burner cooktop delivers high temperatures, even cooking, and a stylish look for your kitchen. You may find it a little tough to clean. Read More
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While most kitchens have a range—that is, a cooktop and an oven built into one unit, it is possible to buy and install a cooktop and an oven separately. Typically, it's more expensive than just buying a range, but it may make sense if you have a kitchen island where your cooktop can live, or if you prefer to mount your oven (or ovens) at waist height.
When it comes to cooktops, some people prefer electric or induction cooktops, but there are definitely those who prefer gas cooktops because of the ability to control the flame and the fact that the heat turns on quickly.
Models from upscale brands like Thermador, Wolf, and Miele promise neat features, better temperature control, and a sturdier build quality than their more affordable counterparts. Our tests show that high-end cooktops actually do perform better—which can’t be said for many other luxury appliances. Our favorite high-end, 36-inch gas cooktop is the Thermador SGSX365TS (available at Best Buy for $2,399.00) , because of its fast water-boiling, max heat, and wide-open arrangement.
This Wolf rangetop will elevate your kitchen with a professional restaurant feel.
This Miele cooktop excels at reaching high temperatures for searing.
Because cooking appliances are versatile products that can help you to prepare your food in a number of ways, we have multiple tests that help us to determine how well-rounded any given range, cooktop, or oven is when it comes to getting dinner (or dessert) on the table.
A cooktop's primary purpose is to help you prepare your food in a safe and timely manner. As such, the results of the performance tests are given the most weight when it comes time to decide whether we should recommend a particular range or not.
For example, a range may have a beautiful finish and lots of neat accessories, but if it takes 10 minutes to boil a pot of water, we may not recommend that product to our readers. Features and usability are definitely incorporated into a product's final score, but the performance testing is what really makes or breaks a cooktop.
Both gas and electric ranges have pros and cons that may make them more or less suited to your needs.
Gas stoves are generally more expensive than their electric counterparts, and can even cost more than induction, depending on what features are involved.
Keep in mind that this initial expense will be offset by a decrease in your electric bill—gas is much cheaper than electricity. If you need to install gas hookups to make the switch, however, the utility bill savings might not entirely cover the cost. Depending on where you live and your home’s design, installing a gas hookup can range from expensive or impossible: We recommend getting a quote before committing to a gas cooktop.
While induction ranges get all the accolades for being easy to clean—just wipe down the flat surface with a damp paper towel or sponge—that doesn't mean gas cooktops are particularly difficult to clean.
All of the grates are removable and washed individually. If you have any burned-on stains, you can scrub them down with a wire brush and a water and baking soda paste. While that's more labor intensive than a quick wipe-down, it's not any more difficult than cleaning a traditional electric range with coiled heating elements.
How much time you spend in the kitchen could influence the number of burners you need. When it comes to the cooktop, anything above the standard four-burner setup is a bonus. Some ranges can have five, or even six burners; however, the more burners a range has, the more difficult it becomes to fit large pieces of cookware, such as a spaghetti pot and a frying pan, on their respective burners at the same time.
Sometimes, those extra burners are specialty burners are designed to accommodate special cookware such as a griddle or a wok; other burners are bridge burners that are meant to keep food warm without continuing to cook it.
Another possibility is to have a dual-ring burner, or a burner that includes a stronger heat source wrapped around a weaker heat source. That way, on a single burner, you can choose to use just the smaller heat source for lower temperatures, but you can add the stronger heat source if you need higher temperatures.
In a nutshell, slide-in ranges are meant to sit flush with your countertops, while freestanding ranges are meant to sit on top of any surface. While slotting in and sitting on top of your countertop may seem similar, the main differences between the two involve finish and ease of cleaning.
Because freestanding ranges are visible from all slides, they have a more finished look; slide-in ranges are meant to have their sides hidden by the cabinetry, so the finish typically isn't as pretty on the sides.
Additionally, because slide-in ranges sit flush with your countertop, they're a bit easier to clean because they do not have a large lip around the edge. Freestanding ranges often have larger lips around the edge of the cooktop to corral any crumbs that would otherwise decorate your floor. Freestanding ranges also typically have a back-mounted control panel for the same reason.
While slide-in ranges will do fine in a freestanding arrangement, the reverse is less true. If your current cooking setup has the range sitting in a cabinet or countertop cutout, we recommend replacing that range with another slide-in range. Conversely, if your range stands alone in your kitchen, we'd recommend replacing it with another freestanding range to cut down on food debris spilling everywhere.
As we mentioned earlier, most freestanding ranges have back-mounted controls, but some slide-in ranges do as well.
Both arrangements have pros and cons; on the one hand, having back-mounted controls means you may have to reach over hot food to adjust the oven temperature, the controls are also far enough away that you would have difficulty hitting something on the control panel by accident.
On the other hand, front-mounted controls are easier to reach, but that convenience can turn against you if you brush up against a knob accidentally. Consider the ergonomics of using the range when it comes to picking a front- or back-mounted control panel.
Julia is the Senior Scientist at Reviewed, which means that she oversees (and continually updates) the testing of products in Reviewed's core categories such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and more. She also determines the testing methods and standards for Reviewed's "The Best Right Now" articles.
Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.
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