May I Have Your Opinion Please.
 

Came home today to find my fridge had quit :( I just bought it in 2007 !! It was a Woods all fridge and I just loved it!
Well we are in the market for a fridge and a stove too..I think I will get a fridge with the freezer on the bottom but I am not sure of a stove. Have any of you the flat topped stove.(sorry don't know the proper name) Can you do pickling and preserves on it? Do you need new pots for it or can you use your regular ones? Do you need to use any special cleaning product on the glass top? Sorry for all the questions but I really don't know anythin g about that type of stove.

I don't have one, but I know my sister just finished canning and she used her flat stove.

I have a glass stove top. You can use your regular pots and pans as long as they are flat on the bottom. You cannot use a real abrasive cleaner and they do have recommendations, but I use what I have and it has been fine. You can do anything with this stove top that you can do with the others. I wanted electric and I liked the look of the smooth top.

I just bought a new side by side refrigerator and a glass top stove. Had to buy the smaller refrig to fit in the space that I had and wish it was bigger, not alot of room in either side of it. The stove I like, my husband is a great one for boiling things over and I would always have a mess to clean up a couple of days later cause he wouldn't tell me about his goofs. Now he has to clean the stove as he can't hid his mistakes.

Thank you so much....I do can and pickle and if I thought that I couldn't with the glass top I would go the burner route.....thank you!!!

I had a glass top stove for about three months, I hated it. It seems like it took for ever for it to heat up. I finally told my husband to take it back and get me one with the regular electric coil burners. So much better now.

Thank you..I got used to my all fridge and hate to bend down with the freezer on the top!

Glass tops are pretty good, much easier to clean. The only one I know of that needs special pans is the "induction cooktops". When we were buying our new stove, the guy at the appliance centre told us the "induction cooktops" do need the special pans and they also use a lot of extra electricity. We ended up with a glass top and are very happy with it.

As for fridges, I had an upside down fridge from Philips....best fridge/freezer combination I have had. Very deep drawers and very efficient. The only reason I don't have it now is that it was a small model....when I remarried I gained an extra 4 people (husband and his three boys) so we needed a bigger one.

I bought an electric stove with regular coil burners because I like my cast iron skillets. I was afraid of dropping it one day and breaking that glass top. I specifically asked the salesman and he said yes they will break and cast iron is just the thing to do it. My thing is the ovens never heat evenly.

Thank you, I figured if it was going to need babying that it may be better off in another home. :)

I will definealty ask questions about that..than kyou for your input.

LOL...I have no worry about dh doing that here.we have a system....I cook.. he eats! Thank you.

Thank you!! I am glad you told me that!! I will stay away from the power grabbing ones! In the winter I use my wood cookstove and I just love cooking on it...

I had a glass top stove and sold it with the house. It would NOT pop corn. The burners go off before the corn is done popping. I liked the fridge on the top but not the freezer on the bottom - maybe it was too small.

I also love my cast iron skillets...will have to ask more questions to the saleperson.....thank you for your input!

Why do the burners go off?? I will ask that question too!!

I have a flat cooktop (glass) and I love it. I also do alot of canning and as long as the canner and pots and pans have a flat bottom, you're good to go. I clean it with a cleaner for glass cooktops and after rinsing it a few times, I dry it with a microfiber cloth and it shines like new every time. I, too was concerned about canning on the flat top stove, and have not had any problems canning with it.

I have the freezer on the bottom and love it, too! Wouldn't have one any other way.
I had a flat top stove and yes, you can can on the new ones. I decided to go with burners again when we moved here. Not sure why, have been kicking myself ever since!!!!! If I had the money, I'd buy a flat top stove.

Have a fridge with the freezer on the bottom and the 2 wide doors on the top and love it!!!!!!

We've had our smooth top range (Sears) for about 3 months and I really like it. Our oven heats just fine and the top is easy to keep clean. Just let it cool down before cleaning it. Once a week, I use the cleaner that came with, also a scrapper(has a razor blade in it) to get cooked on stuff off. However, we do wipe it down daily.

There is a glass top stove at my Dad's where I stay now to take care of him. Mind you this is an older glass top stove but I really don't like it because of the way the burners go on and off and once you cut them off it takes forever it seems for them to cool down. The broiler is slow sometimes and quick others so you really have to watch what you're doing or things will burn easily. This is why I got one with the coils for the burners at my home last year. I didn't want to chance any of my grandchildren getting burned if they accidentally touched the stove after I cut it off.

YUCK FOOOEY!!! Did not like my glass top stove/range/ whatever they are called these days. Could never get it back to being shiny clean. Always seemed to have a burnt look to it. Doesn't cool down like quickly like a regular elect top. Too many bells and whistles that can go bad. Mine went BOOOOM! and nearly set the house on fire. I'm using an old one I got for $75 that came from an apartment building.

Fridge. I've got an over and under 20 year old Kenmore that I bought on time from the Power company when they hah a store. Much better than these newer side by side things. You can store a weeks worth of groceries in the with no problems. Never had a minutes trouble out of it.

By brother has a flat top stove and had to go buy all new expensive pots and pans since they HAVE to be flat. He said he would NOT get another. And my friend got a fridge with the freezer on the bottom and loves hers. Hope you find what you like.

My son had a flat top stove and hates the oven can not even cook a frozen pizza right in it, he does them in a frying pan on top.

We went with the Whirlpool line when we bought the house I've got the matching four burner range top (flat top) and in 6 years we've had them not one problem. My DH bless is dear heart he's fine cooking outside on the grill but I try to avoid him in my kitchen, he has a tendency to boil water over or dry, lol So yes they clean up fine and if you get something that kind of sticks get the Vileda scrubbing pads it's got a smooth side and a rough side and they do not scratch the glass surface.

The fridge is great it's got lots of room and adjustable shelves that clean up really easy and it's got the freezer on the bottom. Now I shop and freeze lots of meats so for us I found the bottom might not have been as large as I wanted it to, but we've got a small deep freezer downstairs. Other than that no issues - we got ours from a furniture store not from Sears, and when we bought ours you paid regular price for the fridge but the range was 1/2 price, and the other thing with the oven is it cleans itself! Bonus, I can't be around strong chemicals helps this helps

I bought a Frigidaire glass top stove at Lowe's last year. It has a convection oven and 5 burners on top. I use the special cleaner for the top. My cooking pans were not completely level on the bottom so I had to buy some new ones, but I had had the old ones for decades. I LOVE THIS STOVE! It heats very, very fast. The oven is super large. The convection oven is super fast and browns evenly. I can't say enough about how great this stove is.

I love my fridge on top freezer on bottom (french).
I hate my glass top stove, you must be very careful it takes a long time to cool down.

I had a Whirlpool ceramic top stove and when we sold our house, I let the stove stay. I loved the stove. Only problem I had is that I was told that you can't use cast iron pans on it as you risk breaking the top because of the weight of the pans themselves and then once you have food in them they are extra heavy and you chance dropping the cast iron accidentally and breaking the top and to replace the top is just about the same price as buying a new stove. I personally didnt know about having to have flat bottomed pans. But all of my pans are flat bottomed...only because I just went and checked to see. LOL. When we move again I am going to get me another ceramic top stove and hopefully it will come with a bonus.....A MAID....oh and I did use that specail cleaner for glass tops. A little bit goes along ways and it was also a self cleaning oven bad thing about that though is it takes HOURS to clean. :)

Thank you everyone for your quick replies. Today is the day!!I will ask all kinds of questions and I will cringe at the money going out for an appliance that would have snowed me under in fabric...lol
I must admit it will be nice to get my kitchen back in order though.....once again thank you!!

I hated my stove when I first bought it (glass top), but now I'm ok with it. The only problem I had with it was keeping it clean. The cleaning supplies recommended were very costly. I finally found advice on the internet to use "Bar Keepers Friend". It looks abrasive but is not. Great stuff. You can cook anything on your stove but I threw out alll my pots and pans (copper bottom not recomended). But regular P & P are fine as long as they are flat. Another warning is pot lids. If you are boiling anything, do not remove the lid and set flat on the stovetop, you can shatter the whole thing. I place the lid a little on the raised edge of the top. Lastly, be very careful about spilling anything on the front edge of the top as it will slide between the oven doors which in my case are glass and ruin the look of the glass because you cannot clean inside the glass panels. PHEW is that enough warnings!! I'm not positive I would buy another one but it is easier to clean than a standard electric stove once you find the right product. Good luck

I use a counter-top induction unit at present and have an induction cook-top waiting to be installed, whenever DH gets around to doing our kitchen. Yes, you may need more amperage, but induction is more efficient and doesn't heat up the kitchen in summer. Also, nothing gets burnt on so clean-up is a breeze.

We bought the counter-top unit to test out induction and have rarely used our regular cook-top since we got it. We both love it and would never go back to anything else.

I have a ceramic top. Stove made in USA. One day when cooking the left rear top make a loud pop and cracking. I quickly
removed the sauce pan and with the sauce pan came part of the glass burner stuck to the bottom of the pan.

i dont like glass tops and if you do any pressure canning the high heat and the weight off the pressure canner can break the glass. i had one for a while and it was white and it discolourd so quickly i wasent happy with it and took it back and got a gas stove i realy like gas stoves.

It's only 4 years old and it quit? I would call the manufacturer and ask for the Office of the President, and then carry on until I got a replacement. They don't want bad publicity on your blog, do they??

spelling
 

I had a flass top rhat the top looked kind of speckeled...kind of a chocoal color. It was great in that it cic not show smears after uou wiped it down. When it finally died last spring i got a new one with a shiney black surface. I fyou just wipe it dowm with a sponge it gets all smeary . The only way to keep it nice and shiney is to use the special cleaner/polis every time. Since that is a pain in the butt, it slaways looks smeary LOL


Excuse my spelling! I usually check before I send a message. I guess I should say excuse my typing

When we did a kitchen remodel at our old home, we got a smooth top stove, because we thought it would be better, but if I get a chance to buy a new stove again, it won't be a smooth top, just my opinion. I don't know about pickling and canning on them, it should be okay, just don't let anything boil over on it. They recommend a special cleaning liquid for the smooth top.

I like the freezer on the bottom.

I have to agree with dd about the cast iron skillets. I did some research earlier this year because I had to purchase a new stove. I do can every year and my pressure cookers are huge and heavy. I was really worried about breakage on a glass top stove. Most manufacturers don't recommend canning on one due to heat build up (something to do with pot being bigger than the heating surface). Canning takes several hours on the stove and the heat does build up. I ended up with the coil burners again (gas not yet available out here in the sticks LOL). Just my 2 cents worth. Good luck.

Have had glass tops for several years would never go back! I have a Samsung with 2 Quick heat burners. One is a small or large size quick heat depending on which way I turn the knob. I don't can or preserve now, but make lots of big pot stuff for the freezer. Works great!