…… Glass-Ceramic Cooktop is Cracked

The cooktop on our Maytag Gemini stove is cracked. We contacted a repairman 2 days ago and he is trying to get a replacement cooktop. No word from him yet. He said it would probably be very expensive to replace. I bought the stove new in 1999 and I love it. DH, OTOH, would like to put in a gas stove. I would hate to trash the stove if we could fix it.

Has anybody had any experience with this? What kind of price range should we expect for a replacement cooktop? Thanks for your help.

You may want to check Habitat For Humanity or a like kind of place that may have used cooktops. Craigslist could also be a good resource. I've never replaced one, but I would imagine they way people remodel and throw out/donate perfectly good items you should be able to find one. Good luck!

No experience with it but we have have a glass top too - it's been fine for over five years but we miss gas (especially when canning). We know the $1200 POS won't last forever - we figure when it goes then back to gas it will be. This way if the power goes out we can still cook.

Good luck with the fix but really consider gas again.

Heh. Coppertopmom slammed a bag of frozen broccilly down on ours a few years back when she got mad at the kids... opps... cost about ~$2-300 as i recall for a used replaceement, but that was 8 years ago or so... up in Canada as well. YMMV

Lurker said:

.... we figure when it goes then back to gas it will be. This way if the power goes out we can still cook....Good luck with the fix but really consider gas again.

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ancient old "prep" story, but when Hurricane Frederick destroyed Mobile Alabama Sept 1979, my sister had the ONLY gas stove in the neighborhood. No electricity for almost a month. The stove stayed open and available for most of the neighbors for a solid month for cooking. (some of them lived in tarps on the carports since the roofs were collapsed from tree damage. And it was some very rich foods. Chest freezers filled with crabs or shrimp to community feed the block of families rather than spoil. I think the neighbor said they paid as much as $20 for a gallon jug of water in those first days. and Ice was priceless


Took the Red Cross a week to notify us (in Germany at the time) that she was OK. This was long before internet/cell phones/skype and when long distance AT&T collect cost a half months income.

I really hate gas. Uneven cooking and a general PITA.

And here I always thought the Maytag man was just waiting around for something to do.

We have an electric glass top stove and love it. Even though DS in his cooking wisdom put a towel on a burner that was still hot, not realizing it and some of the towel melted onto the top. It took a lot of scrubbing to get it off, but I did.

Also, you need to watch yourself and resist the temptation to put things on top of the stove as you are prepping. Its been pretty tough so far to withstand my family, but I know the day is coming, especially with a professional chef in the house when someone is going to put something that doesn't belong, or too hard onto the top and crack it.

Once we move, I want a viking gas stove. Better yet, I want a second kitchen with an old fashioned Amish wood cooking stove...just in case.

Lurker said:

No experience with it but we have have a glass top too - it's been fine for over five years but we miss gas (especially when canning). We know the $1200 POS won't last forever - we figure when it goes then back to gas it will be. This way if the power goes out we can still cook.

Good luck with the fix but really consider gas again.

Click to expand...

Lurker I am in the same boat.

About 5 years ago I remodeled the kitchen with new everything and the wife Wife had to have this state of the art Maytag glass cook top with a massive electric convection oven to replace a NG 4 burner stove/oven.

I wanted a new NG stove with BBQ grill burners on the range so I could grill a small pig in the comfort of my kitchen but the wife wanted to be able to cook 6 sheets of cookies and a turkey at the same.

Now the $1500 stove is out of warrenty and the glass cooktop has lost it markings or they were scrubbed off trying to remove burn spot from the glass.

And getting the range to heat a pot for cooking is so hard for my wife regulate it is damn near impossible for her to keep a pot from boiling over!

I kind of have it mastered because I am a guy and we can do things like this but its tough imo you can't turn your back on the beast or it will bite you...

The convection oven is great! I can cook a frozen pizza to near perfection in 12 minutes or Thanksgiving Turkey and stuffing in a few hours.

The wife over cooks or burns everything she puts in the oven, she won't admit it to me but I know hates it!!!

My question is there a stove out there that has a NG gas range with electric convection oven or a NG range with NG gas convection oven.

When we purchased this last stove NG convection ovens were not onthe market.

SIRR1

Samsmom said:

The cooktop on our Maytag Gemini stove is cracked. We contacted a repairman 2 days ago and he is trying to get a replacement cooktop. No word from him yet. He said it would probably be very expensive to replace. I bought the stove new in 1999 and I love it. DH, OTOH, would like to put in a gas stove. I would hate to trash the stove if we could fix it.

Has anybody had any experience with this? What kind of price range should we expect for a replacement cooktop? Thanks for your help.

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359 to 400 dollars for the part plus shipping.
All you have to do is go to partsselect.com and put your model number in.
If thats all thats wrong with it, either you or your husband could replace it if you are reasonably good with handtools and have some basic electrical knowledge.
If you have someone else come do it, I imagine it will cost another 150 or so for labor at least.
jIf it was mine, I would fix it myself, but I have over 20 years experience with electronics and have fixed my own appliances for the last 40 years.
You have to do what you feel comfortable and safe with.

Same thing happened to us. I got up one morning to see a big crack running across my cook top.
We went to lowes and bought a new one. We bought the cheapest one they had. I think they may offer a payment plan if
it is over a certain amount of money on a Lowes charge.
I never want to clean another burner pan as long as I live.

SIRR1 said:

Lurker I am in the same boat.

About 5 years ago I remodeled the kitchen with new everything and the wife Wife had to have this state of the art Maytag glass cook top with a massive electric convection oven to replace a NG 4 burner stove/oven.

I wanted a new NG stove with BBQ grill burners on the range so I could grill a small pig in the comfort of my kitchen but the wife wanted to be able to cook 6 sheets of cookies and a turkey at the same.

Now the $1500 stove is out of warrenty and the glass cooktop has lost it markings or they were scrubbed off trying to remove burn spot from the glass.

And getting the range to heat a pot for cooking is so hard for my wife regulate it is damn near impossible for her to keep a pot from boiling over!

I kind of have it mastered because I am a guy and we can do things like this but its tough imo you can't turn your back on the beast or it will bite you...

The convection oven is great! I can cook a frozen pizza to near perfection in 12 minutes or Thanksgiving Turkey and stuffing in a few hours.

The wife over cooks or burns everything she puts in the oven, she won't admit it to me but I know hates it!!!

My question is there a stove out there that has a NG gas range with electric convection oven or a NG range with NG gas convection oven.

When we purchased this last stove NG convection ovens were not onthe market.

SIRR1

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Yep, there is a cornucopia of duel fuel stoves. Just finished replacing our old gas range whose igniter bar died (repair $300!!!all that fresh bread!!), we chose an all NG GE Premier series with 2 speed convection and OTR microwave..list over $3k got them as floor displays at local Scratch and Dent for $800 including install. There's deals out there, gotta look though, took us 2 mo of hunting, but worth it.

For what its worth, we had the same situation last year (cracked cook top). We replaced the electric unit with gas and my wife is happy with the change.

FD

TerryK said:

359 to 400 dollars for the part plus shipping.
All you have to do is go to partsselect.com and put your model number in.
If thats all thats wrong with it, either you or your husband could replace it if you are reasonably good with handtools and have some basic electrical knowledge.
If you have someone else come do it, I imagine it will cost another 150 or so for labor at least.
jIf it was mine, I would fix it myself, but I have over 20 years experience with electronics and have fixed my own appliances for the last 40 years.
You have to do what you feel comfortable and safe with.

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Thank you, TerryK! That is what I was looking for. All I could find were places that just wanted to sell you a new range or a new freestanding cooktop. We will still probably have our repairman do it, if we decide to go this route. We know him and trust him to do a good job. Plus, he likes to barter his labor for fresh goats milk, which we have plenty of!!!

We have a propane stove in the summer kitchen in the barn that we use for pressure canning. We use the electric one in the house for water bath canning. We could just bring up the propane stove and hook it up.

I just love my electric range, though. I love the 2 ovens, especially when company comes over. I use the small oven most of the time, however, for just DH and I. We usually use an electric skillet or griddle to do most of the cooking anyway because it takes too long for the cooktop to heat up. If we did switch over to gas, I would like to keep the electric range around for a backup oven.

I thank everyone for your replies. I knew you all would give me some good advice!!

Dennis Olson said:

I really hate gas. Uneven cooking and a general PITA.

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I think electric is more uneven than gas. Electric burners go on and off, while gas stays steady. I hate the smell of gas. Electric is so much more cleaner.

My mom and dad have a gas cooktop and I can't get it hot enough to sear or do stirfry, it just makes mush. My electric top range does very well for stirfry and searing, not sure why gas doesn't.

You might think about getting one of those invection plates that heat up metal pots but not the unit itself, they were the rage here a few years ago and about $100, I still want one but haven't bought one yet, was hoping they'd come down in price a bit.

I cracked my stove after using it for less than 6 months. It's just over one back burner so we'll wait until another cracks before replacing. They told us at Lowe's it is easy to replace yourself; just snap it in.
These new flat top burners are not a favorite. I like using cast iron and its too heavy to use on it.
I miss the old stoves of about 30 years ago.

We just had the same thing happen to us! Our 11 year old Kenmore Elite dual fuel had a crack around the gas grate to my power burner. It had a glass top sealed burners. I had a canner load of corn relish on the stove humming away then-CRASH!!!****

The whole thing shattered and fell inward towards the center....It scared the crap out of me and I was able to run and grab the canner before it tipped over-whew!

It was a complete mess. MY FIL who is a master plumber and inspector said he had never seen anything like that in his life.

We just got another dual fuel range-a GE with a stainless top-no more glass for me! Never again! It was not worth fixing.

LeViolinist said:

I cracked my stove after using it for less than 6 months. It's just over one back burner so we'll wait until another cracks before replacing. They told us at Lowe's it is easy to replace yourself; just snap it in.
These new flat top burners are not a favorite. I like using cast iron and its too heavy to use on it.
I miss the old stoves of about 30 years ago.

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We heard that you can't use cast iron on glass cook tops because they will crack.

The crack in our stove started by the back right burner and I didn't realize it. I fried bacon a couple of days ago, using the front right burner, and I heard a loud pop. I thought it was the bacon popping but didn't see any splattering. Afterwards I saw where the crack had ran down over the burner I was using. So be careful. If any liquid seeps down thru the crack, it could short out the stove.

CapeCMom said:

We just had the same thing happen to us! Our 11 year old Kenmore Elite dual fuel had a crack around the gas grate to my power burner. It had a glass top sealed burners. I had a canner load of corn relish on the stove humming away then-CRASH!!!****

The whole thing shattered and fell inward towards the center....It scared the crap out of me and I was able to run and grab the canner before it tipped over-whew!

It was a complete mess. MY FIL who is a master plumber and inspector said he had never seen anything like that in his life.

We just got another dual fuel range-a GE with a stainless top-no more glass for me! Never again! It was not worth fixing.

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Wow! That would be a dangerous situation! You were fortunate to catch it in time.

DH was making a batch of peach jelly the day before I noticed the crack. It was a very small batch, with only 4 pint jars in the pot, so I couldn't see how that would have done it. Also, he was using the burner on the side that wasn't cracked.

I might have to look into the stainless top. It sounds good!

they're like them croppy light bulbs.. total junk.

Samsmom said:

We heard that you can't use cast iron on glass cook tops because they will crack.

The crack in our stove started by the back right burner and I didn't realize it. I fried bacon a couple of days ago, using the front right burner, and I heard a loud pop. I thought it was the bacon popping but didn't see any splattering. Afterwards I saw where the crack had ran down over the burner I was using. So be careful. If any liquid seeps down thru the crack, it could short out the stove.

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NC Susan said:

ancient old "prep" story, but when Hurricane Frederick destroyed Mobile Alabama Sept 1979, my sister had the ONLY gas stove in the neighborhood. No electricity for almost a month. The stove stayed open and available for most of the neighbors for a solid month for cooking. (some of them lived in tarps on the carports since the roofs were collapsed from tree damage. And it was some very rich foods. Chest freezers filled with crabs or shrimp to community feed the block of families rather than spoil. I think the neighbor said they paid as much as $20 for a gallon jug of water in those first days. and Ice was priceless


Took the Red Cross a week to notify us (in Germany at the time) that she was OK. This was long before internet/cell phones/skype and when long distance AT&T collect cost a half months income.

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That was my first one to go thru. Damn , it was hot and humid afterwards. Luckily my Grandparents came in from Cal. with their travel trailer loaded up with goods and a battery powered t.v. Really got to know my neighbors well after several nights huddled around that little 9" black and white t.v. We became a "hub" of sorts since we had the gas appliances in the trailer and the t.v. everyone was very kind and appreciative of the little things. Good people. I miss them.

Thanks TerryK - that is what I did with ours, quite simple really. Found instructions in the owners installation manual. A LOT of screws and a simple plug to connect.

rick in North Gerogia

TerryK said:

359 to 400 dollars for the part plus shipping.
All you have to do is go to partsselect.com and put your model number in.
If thats all thats wrong with it, either you or your husband could replace it if you are reasonably good with handtools and have some basic electrical knowledge.
If you have someone else come do it, I imagine it will cost another 150 or so for labor at least.
jIf it was mine, I would fix it myself, but I have over 20 years experience with electronics and have fixed my own appliances for the last 40 years.
You have to do what you feel comfortable and safe with.

Click to expand...

SIRR1, Jenn Air makes a convect electric oven with a gas top. I have an all electric Jenn air (Which I love love love) but I wish we had the one with a gas top.

Gas for cook tops is ideal and so controllable. Electric in an oven give the perfect even heat. Convect just makes it so much more wonderful.

My Jenn Air has glass cartridges for stove top cooking, but I also have a grill top and a griddle. They are all interchangeable and I use them all every week. You could also get a steamer cartridge. I wanted that, but really don't miss it.

I've had my Jenny for 12 years now and she's still running like a top, although we did just have to replace the brackets that hold the door up. The oven was still working, but you could put your shoulder out of place if you didn't slooooowly let the door open up.

Also, that electric grill on the stove cooks a steak that tastes just like it came off a gas grill. We love them.

SIRR1 said:

hates it!!!

My question is there a stove out there that has a NG gas range with electric convection oven or a NG range with NG gas convection oven.


SIRR1

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Yes, an elec conv oven w/ NG stove top is available, easily looked up.

Replacement of the glass cooktop should run a couple hundred. Appliance repairman.

I splurged on the closest thing I'll get to my dream stove (which would be a Viking and cost as much as a used car... ain't happening in this lifetime!) 3 years ago- the local appliance store had a GE professional model dual fuel 40" stove marked way down because someone dropped it- it had a crumpled corner in the back. The damage was cosmetic, but they had it marked down by about 40%.

Mostly because it was a bigger stove than most people want, it sat in their showroom for months. Every once in awhile, I'd "visit" it <g>. They marked it down a little farther, and it still sat there. I finally went in one day, flashed a wad of green pieces of toilet paper, and said "tell me your absolute lowest price, and I'll tell you whether it's low enough". I ended up getting it for 65% off retail price... delivered. We had to do some remodeling (replacing one base unit cupboard with a narrower one) because it was larger than the POS stove I'd been using. That was all electric, and I burned out the wiring harnesses to the cooktop every two years like clockwork. Most "consumer" stoves are NOT built for canning, much less boiling syrup and all the other stuff I do.

I LOVE this stove. It has 5 gas burners- two very high BTUs, which bring a stock pot full of water to boil in minutes. Two regular burners, and one "simmer" burner, which can be turned down really low. It has two electric ovens- one large one with convection, and one narrow one which can only handle a 9" wide pan, but which works great for secondary dishes during the holidays, or for a quick casserole or whatever rather than heating up the large oven.

If I was rich, I'd have another step up with a professional cooktop with downdraft ventilation plus dual ovens, but this does probably 90% of what I need perfectly. And after replacing "consumer" model stoves about every 6-8 years (generally with second hand or hand-me-down stoves), this will be it for life.

Summerthyme

I am interested in the cost you find for the replacement top. I hear that the Schott Ceran is very expensive. We just bought our first glass top stove a couple of months ago. We both prefer gas, but house was not plumbed for it from the factory....

When we bought our house we discovered the glass top stove was cracked. I decided I would use it until it shorted out after finding out how much it would be to replace it. When it goes, we'll remodel the kitchen at the same time. I try to keep it dry, but I spill, stuff boils over, etc. Did some canning on it until we got a used electric stove for the garage which I do my canning on. Seven years later, it's still cooking. I'm glad I waited to replace it.
Pinecone

Well today I had a new 36" Gas range delivered by Lowes...

They hauled out my 25 year old Kenmore 40" Gourmet Edition Electric and hauled in the new Gas Stove...

Brought in a couple of boxes and had me sign the delivery slip & then booked...

Got it all hooked up - only two hours to do that!

Was a case of "Some Assembly Required!" The sides were bent in at the back (both sides!), the back of the stove bowed in a 'S' shape and the anti-tip foot wouldn't go on because the leveling adjusters were also bent...

I thought... 'Well, once I get the new counter-tops in I won't see the dents & bows... Guess I can live with that...'

So, tonight we pop a pizza in the oven (that is what the g'kids wanted for supper) and the stove starts making bangs as the oven heats - metal expansion noises (remember the bent back?)

Then comes the cap stone of the evening... the plastic panel on the front of the stove starts to melt and deform...

I get on the phone to Lowes... first try the guy on the other end tells me " I can't hear you, call us back from a land line..."

I get P.O.ed & hang up. Go to the kitchen & talk with my better half... She cools me down.

Go back and try calling again - this time their phones are working. I get told that the oven is bound to make noise, its a cheap stove (over $1000 cheap!!!) ... then the manager says that he has a $2500 gas stove that always bangs and makes noise when he turns the oven on...

Great customer empathy there! But he does say that they could either give me something off since it was delivered damaged... either that or they could order me up a new one...

If I hadn't dropped $600 dollars to have a new gas line run to the kitchen (two days ago!) I'd be sorely tempted to tell them to take this piece of junk back and give me my money back. I could rebuild that old Kenmore to Class-A shape for a heck of a lot less.

The wife just told me, "No." She wants them to "get a New, Un-Dented stove out to our place ASAP!!!!"

Since this is the 2nd major appliance we've bought from that place - in a row - that has arrived damaged I'm beginning to think that is what they sell - damaged goods.

I'm going to contact the people who do sub-contract work for my employer to see what condition the appliances I've been ordering up for our build back jobs are in, when they receive them.

I may have to find a different supplier, because if this is what we get shipped to job sites I'm sure we have a lot of unhappy customers.

Because I am an unhappy customer...

End of Rant/

Oh my, Tckaija! I would be pi$$ed too! I hope you get it straightened out soon! I sure don't like to hear these kind of stories.

We are still in a holding pattern. Haven't heard from the repairman yet. DH looked on CL and found a few interesting items. I did some searching online and found a lot of new products. I haven't bought a range since the current one, in 1999, so things have changed somewhat. I found that the Maytag Gemini that we have also comes with a gas cooktop and electric ovens. However, I don't know if the existing electric cooktop that we have can be converted to a gas cooktop. That might take quite a bit of finagling. We may just go ahead and order the electric cooktop from the website in TerryK's post and try to put it in ourselves or get the repairman to do it.

I did boil some eggs on the other side that isn't cracked, carefully, and had no problem. But I don't want to take a chance. We'll need to make a decision by next week. Thanks again for all of your great replies!

NOW is your opportunity to replace the preppers nightmare (inability to cook food post SHTF) with a sustainable propane appliance! You can EASILY store MANY YEARS worth of gas safely and permanently in a small (say 300 gallon) propane tank you can hide in your back yard!

J

Samsmom said:

Oh my, Tckaija! I would be pi$$ed too! I hope you get it straightened out soon! I sure don't like to hear these kind of stories.

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Didn't mean to Hi-Jack your thread here Samsmom! Just needed to vent a bit Unfortunately I see these things all too often and eventually I reach a boiling point.

We are still in a holding pattern. Haven't heard from the repairman yet. DH looked on CL and found a few interesting items. I did some searching online and found a lot of new products. I haven't bought a range since the current one, in 1999, so things have changed somewhat.

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I hear ya on that, I've been negotiating on a new {gas} stove for a few years now with my DW, we saved the money and decided 'Now is the Time' I must say prices and Quality level have changed since the last stove was purchased... Of course that was in 1987

It bugs me at times that everything these days seems to be made to self-destruct after a given time... I know, I know... we have to keep our over-seas trading partners in business... gotta keep the Big-box stores in business as well... If things don't break then we won't replace them...

I guess abound here we go a lot with the "3-R's" Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... I suppose I could say I've been prepping my whole life - but I was basically a farm kid... My G'pa was much the same way... He taught me well.

... We may just go ahead and order the electric cooktop from the website in TerryK's post and try to put it in ourselves or get the repairman to do it.

I did boil some eggs on the other side that isn't cracked, carefully, and had no problem. But I don't want to take a chance. We'll need to make a decision by next week. Thanks again for all of your great replies!

Click to expand...

Yes, if you can get the parts its often much better to do it yourself... Just [be careful] make sure the power is off to the cooking unit before starting! Electricity can bite!

Tckaija said:

Didn't mean to Hi-Jack your thread here Samsmom! Just needed to vent a bit Unfortunately I see these things all too often and eventually I reach a boiling point.



I hear ya on that, I've been negotiating on a new {gas} stove for a few years now with my DW, we saved the money and decided 'Now is the Time' I must say prices and Quality level have changed since the last stove was purchased... Of course that was in 1987

It bugs me at times that everything these days seems to be made to self-destruct after a given time... I know, I know... we have to keep our over-seas trading partners in business... gotta keep the Big-box stores in business as well... If things don't break then we won't replace them...

I guess abound here we go a lot with the "3-R's" Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... I suppose I could say I've been prepping my whole life - but I was basically a farm kid... My G'pa was much the same way... He taught me well.




Yes, if you can get the parts its often much better to do it yourself... Just [be careful] make sure the power is off to the cooking unit before starting! Electricity can bite!

Click to expand...

No, you didn't hijack the thread at all! It's good to know these things. Nowadays it seems like there is a scam around every corner. It didn't used to be that way. I was a farm kid myself. Prepping was just a way of life. My G-parents lived thru the Great Depression.

DH really wants a gas stove. I would settle with a gas cooktop (if I had to!).

But I think the time is coming rapidly that we won't be able to afford either the electricity or the propane (no NG out here in the boonies) for cooking. So I'm really leery about shelling out big bucks right now for a brand new range. DH is looking into building a solar oven and we also have a firepit in the backyard with plans to build a brick oven around it. We are also thinking about buying a really cute little freestanding wood stove that could be used for cooking. Last year we bought an older wood cookstove that needs to be assembled and can be set up out in the garage.

So, we have lots of different options for alternative cooking/heating, but I believe it's time to practice cooking a different way now, when we don't have to, before the time comes when we will have to. DD used to be a Girl Scout leader and learned how to cook with cast iron dutch oven on a campfire. She has lots of good recipes.

DH used to be an electrician, so yeah he's pretty careful. Thanks for the heads up!

I dunno. I wouldn't give up my El-Cheapo pilot light propane stovetop/oven for a million. Works when nothing else does, and instant on-off even, easily regulated heat. I can bash canning pots and pressure cookers around on it all day and no damage done. Going on 15 years old.

From my cold, dead hands....

SIRR1 said:

Lurker I am in the same boat.

About 5 years ago I remodeled the kitchen with new everything and the wife Wife had to have this state of the art Maytag glass cook top with a massive electric convection oven to replace a NG 4 burner stove/oven.

I wanted a new NG stove with BBQ grill burners on the range so I could grill a small pig in the comfort of my kitchen but the wife wanted to be able to cook 6 sheets of cookies and a turkey at the same.

Now the $1500 stove is out of warrenty and the glass cooktop has lost it markings or they were scrubbed off trying to remove burn spot from the glass.

And getting the range to heat a pot for cooking is so hard for my wife regulate it is damn near impossible for her to keep a pot from boiling over!

I kind of have it mastered because I am a guy and we can do things like this but its tough imo you can't turn your back on the beast or it will bite you...

The convection oven is great! I can cook a frozen pizza to near perfection in 12 minutes or Thanksgiving Turkey and stuffing in a few hours.

The wife over cooks or burns everything she puts in the oven, she won't admit it to me but I know hates it!!!

My question is there a stove out there that has a NG gas range with electric convection oven or a NG range with NG gas convection oven.

When we purchased this last stove NG convection ovens were not onthe market.

SIRR1

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As others have said, there ARE dual fuel models out there. I never will go back to an electric range- pros all use gas for cooking, and I can see why. However, for a stove which doesn't moderate easily, or turn down far enough (hence, boils stuff over or scorches sauces, etc), I can't recommend these strongly enough:
http://www.amazon.com/Simmer-Mat-52...8&qid=1348410570&sr=8-1&keywords=simmer+plate

Even my simmer burners tend to scorch the 6 gallon pots full of tomatoes or apples when I'm first starting them out to cook them to run them through the Squeezo strainer. With one of these simmer mats, NO scorching. And you can use them over open flame, on an electric burner or on glass stovetops. I gave each of my DD's and DDIL's one for Christmas last year- they all love them.

Summerthyme

summerthyme said:

As others have said, there ARE dual fuel models out there. I never will go back to an electric range- pros all use gas for cooking, and I can see why. However, for a stove which doesn't moderate easily, or turn down far enough (hence, boils stuff over or scorches sauces, etc), I can't recommend these strongly enough:
http://www.amazon.com/Simmer-Mat-52...8&qid=1348410570&sr=8-1&keywords=simmer+plate

Even my simmer burners tend to scorch the 6 gallon pots full of tomatoes or apples when I'm first starting them out to cook them to run them through the Squeezo strainer. With one of these simmer mats, NO scorching. And you can use them over open flame, on an electric burner or on glass stovetops. I gave each of my DD's and DDIL's one for Christmas last year- they all love them.

Summerthyme

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That's pretty cool! I've never heard of this before. Is there just one size for all burners? Do you have to leave it on the burner to cool off or is there a handle for removing it? I may just have to try this out. Thanks!

I loved my big, beautiful wood stove. Miss it. But now have a gas stove with varied burners (it is from Germany). Company had it and I love to cook, so we did get it. The man who installed it (a gas professional) broke one burner, then another. Had to beg the company to come and fix it themselves. !!! But, Maytag has been good for me over the years before this. We looked at a home to buy about 10 years ago. It had a cracked top as you have. They wouln't fix it for $500.00 so we did not buy the home. That mind you was 10 years ago $500.00 Yikes. Good luck. I am glad you have more than one stove.

Grammytomany said:

I loved my big, beautiful wood stove. Miss it. But now have a gas stove with varied burners (it is from Germany). Company had it and I love to cook, so we did get it. The man who installed it (a gas professional) broke one burner, then another. Had to beg the company to come and fix it themselves. !!! But, Maytag has been good for me over the years before this. We looked at a home to buy about 10 years ago. It had a cracked top as you have. They wouln't fix it for $500.00 so we did not buy the home. That mind you was 10 years ago $500.00 Yikes. Good luck. I am glad you have more than one stove.

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Wow! $500 is the top price we have decided on to fix our cooktop if we go that route. Still, $500 is a lot of money to repair a 13 y.o range, no matter how much I like it. The only other thing we had to replace on it was the heating element in the top oven and that was just after we moved it around 2004, so we figured it had gotten damaged during the move. So it has been a pretty good range.

The big don'ts if you have a glass top stove. Don't place a hot lid on it. This will create a vacum as it cools and break the glass. Don't leave hot pans on the burners to cool. Same problem. Don't use heavy pots are pans. Ours has lasted over ten years now.

Samsmom said:

That's pretty cool! I've never heard of this before. Is there just one size for all burners? Do you have to leave it on the burner to cool off or is there a handle for removing it? I may just have to try this out. Thanks!

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Just one size for any burners- it's meant for "low heat" cooking only, which of course makes sense. That particular one doesn't have a handle, but I like that- no worries about trying to fit a larger kettle over a protruding handle. If I want to move if off the burner, I just grab a pair of tongs. However, search Amazon for "simmer plate", and you'll see there are some with handles. However, I haven't tried them- I KNOW this one works.

Summerthyme

Thanks Summer. I have never heard of it either. My simmer burner still will boil over if I am not watching. Grrr

We thought $500 was way too much for a cooktop that was never taken care of. I liked the home a lot but I was worried that if they didn't take care of the stove (which was pretty obviously not cared for), what else would we find when we purchased the house. So, we passed it up and thankfully we found our home next one that we were shown. I wouldn't pay $500 for a glass top.....I hope you get a stove you love. It makes such a difference. Summer's sounds fantastic.