HOW DOES THIS COOKTOP COMPARE
Your new cooktop has electric coil surface units.
If you are used to cooking with gas burners or other
types of electric cooktops, you will notice some
differences when you use electric coils.
Type of Cooktop
Description
Electric Coil
Flattened metal
tubing containing
electric resistance
wire suspended
over a drip pan.
Radiant
Electric coils
(Glass Ceramic)
under a glass-
Cooktop
ceramic cooktop.
Induction
High frequency
induction coils
under a glass
surface.
Solid Disk
Solid cast iron
disk sealed to the
cooktop surface.
Gas Burners
Regular or sealed
gas burners use
either LP gas
or natural gas.
TO YOUR OLD ONE?
How it Works
Heats by direct contact with the pan and by heating the air under the pan. For best
cooking results, use good quality pans. Electric coils are more forgiving of
warped pans than radiant or solid disks. Heats up quickly but does not change
heat settings as quickly as gas or induction. Electric coils stay hot enough to
continue cooking for a short time after they are turned off.
Heat travels to the glass surface and then to the cookware, so pans must be flat on
the bottom for good cooking results. The glass cooktop stays hot enough to
continue cooking after it is turned off. Remove the pan from the surface unit if
you want cooking to stop.
Pans must be made of ferrous metals (metal that attracts a magnet). Heat is
produced by a magnetic circuit between the coil and the pan. Heats up right away
and changes heat settings right away, like a gas cooktop. After turning the control
off, the glass cooktop is hot from the heat of the pan, but cooking stops right away.
Heats by direct contact with the pan, so pans must be flat on the bottom for good
cooking results. Heats up and cools down more slowly than electric coils. The
disk stays hot enough to continue cooking after it is turned off. Remove the pan
from the solid disk if you want the cooking to stop.
Flames heat the pans directly. Pan flatness is not critical to cooking results, but
pans should be well balanced. Gas burners heat the pan right away and change
heat settings right away. When you turn the control off, cooking stops right away.
The best types of cookware to use, plus heat-up and
cool-down times, depend upon the type of burner or
surface unit you have.
The following chart will help you to understand the
differences between electric coil surface units and any
other type of cooktop you may have used in the past.
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