When looking to upgrade your cooking skills, it’s important to know what to look for while searching for the right stovetop for your kitchen.
The kitchen is our getaway to creating the best dishes and our fondest memories. However, the vital part of your kitchen, besides the fridge, is the cooktop. The cooktop is the part of your stove that you use to put pots and pans on to cook. Here’s what to know when buying a cooktop.
How Hard Do You Cook?
This is a tricky question, especially if you aren’t sure how much to cook at one time. You want something that can fit as many pots as possible for bigger portions. If seasonal cooking is something you enjoy, you will like using a burner gas cooktop or an electric one. Most people can survive with a standard cooktop, but you might also have a restrictive lifestyle or space that requires you to get a specific style.
Do You Have a Preference?
If you have a preference, styles like induction cooktops might be good for you. The induction cooktop is innovative. It uses electromagnetic induction technology to make food, heating the vessels for a more effective and energy-saving cooking process.
Electric cooktops are different from gas cooktops. The primary fuels for gas cooktops are propane or LP gas. As a result, these cooktops produce open flames. Electric cooktops rely on electricity for cooking. They often have a heating element that looks similar to a coil or a ribbon.
Is a Good Cooktop Right for You?
Here’s something to remember: not all cookware will be compatible with each type of cooktop. This is because of the different materials manufacturers use to make them. Induction cooktops require magnetic cookware. If investing in that is horrifying to think about, consider gas and electric styles instead.
Cooktops and their related items can add up if you don’t watch what you’re spending. Go to your kitchen and look at what kind of cookware you have on hand. If you need to update or replace it for a certain cooktop, decide whether doing so is worthwhile. If you don’t want to replace your current collection, but you still want to invest in a good cooktop, talk with a professional who can help guide you.
Are There Any Special Features?
Many modernized cooktops have special features like child locks, timers, temperature controls, and even automatic shut-off capabilities. These are great to have, but you’ll also need to consider if they’re worth having for you. If you have a big family and young kids, it’s good to have that child lock function. In a scenario where something distracts you or where you forget you left food on the cooktop, it will automatically turn off.
All of this is what to know when buying a cooktop. Often, we fall into buying something that doesn’t fit our vision or our family size. So, figure out what you are looking for in a cooktop first, and then start browsing around.
