Reccommendations for cook top

[Elder Iptuous]

So we have some gourmet type folks on this board, and i figured i'd give it a whirl asking yous guys opinions.
I need to get a new range, and am thinking of going the flat top route, and wonder if you guys have any good/bad experiences with any particular ones or if you have any specific recommendations.
details:
wife does the cooking (i suck)
she cooks often, so it would get lots of use
currently have coil electric type and have decided that it sucks because of dirty factor. i realize that the ceramic flat type are a pita to clean, but at least they can be cleaned proper.
we don't have gas so that's out of the question.
expecting to spend around 600.  (i have no idea what they go for and what the quality/price breaks are)
i figured the cooking gurus could best point me in the proper direction for researching.

[Elder Iptuous]

nobody?

[fomenter]

professional stoves are mostly gas (as far as i know) for flat tops ?? i don't have a clue maybe some body else...

[Cainad (dec.)]

A flat surface stove like this one



works pretty well for me, and I haven't noticed any particular pain in my ass from cleaning it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't know dick about smooth top stoves. I've only used regular electric coil stoves (hate) and gas.

[Elder Iptuous]

Thx Cainad.
what brand is it?
anything that you don't like about it?
how long have you had it?

[Cainad (dec.)]

I can't recall the brand, as the stove is at home and I am at college. We've had it for less than a year (so I wouldn't know about any long-term problems), but I really can't think of anything to say against it. It works, and doesn't acquire all that lovely burnt-on gunk.

[Richter]

I'm pretty devoted to gas stoves, but Cainad's got the right idea.  Wiping that sucker down would be EASY.

I've never had one long term, but I'd hazard that scratches COULD accumulate.  Good luck trying to use a wok, but a flatiron laid over 2 burner could be fun.

[Jenne]

I have a ceramic, and I hated it at first.  It's harder to regulate the temps when you're cooking, esp when you're used to gas, as I was.  But after 6 years, it's not so bad.  And it's not that easy to clean, after all, because shit sticks to it, and you can't scratch at it or use something super-abrasive, you have to use spayshul cleaner that takes much rubbing.  Or maybe we just are sloppy when we use it, who knows?

Ours is a KitchenAid.

[East Coast Hustle]

get gas or GTFO.

It's not like it costs that much to get it installed.

[Triple Zero]

get gas or GTFO.

It's not like it costs that much to get it installed.

this.

dunno about cost, over here all houses have gas for heating etc, but cooking on electric sucks dickballs.

[East Coast Hustle]

around here, you have to pay for the installation of the line(s) and the gas company provides their own tank. Assuming one side of your kitchen is against an outside wall, it shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred dollars for the install, plus a couple hundred to fill a 100-gallon tank (if you are only using this for your gas stove/oven 100 gallons will last for quite a while). Then you can buy a pretty good gas stove for half the cost of a mediocre flattop with a crappy electric oven and recoup some of the cost of the gas installation. And your gastronomic life will be much improved.

[Triple Zero]

I did find that a proper electric oven performs just as well as a gas oven, though. When my gas oven in my old old crappy kitchen got replaced by an electric one in my shiny new (but now burnt down) kitchen, I was afraid it would suck, but I didnt find any difference in performance, except that the electric one was easier to use might be different for professional models, though.
I'm not entirely sure what kind of oven I will get in my new kitchen, I think it'll be electric. I made damn sure the stove would be gas, though.

[fomenter]

the cost of getting gas, WATCH OUT i had gas put in at a house and ended up paying  a special tax to cover the cost of bringing gas lines through the mountains into town, after the tax the cost of gas wasn't cheap... it was a temporary tax for "x number" of years that everyone payed but not nice..

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

My parents had a ceramic top and it was the biggest pain in the fucking ass EVAR!!!  Like Jenne said regulating temps was a bitch, I never got the hang of it and neither did my mom.  Cleaning, damn she scratched hers using the spray they told her to use and a soft cloth, it was what she was trying to get off that scratched the fucker.  THEN, when she had a burner fuck up and she had to have it fixed it cost her a couple hundred......

I agree with the gas fans here, if you own your home, get gas, there is nothing to compare to it!