Comprehensive Review of Flat Glass-Ceramic Stoves: Key Advantages and Disadvantages
If you are thinking about whether to buy this type of stove, you are in the right place, as we want to share our impressions with you and hope to make your choice a little easier. If you plan to use the stove daily for meal preparation, then you definitely need to pay attention to certain factors when purchasing.
The advantages of a glass-ceramic stove are as follows:
– Modern appearance: This cannot be said for stoves with traditional burners, as their design has remained stuck in the time when that type of stove was popular.
– Faster heating: The burners on a glass-ceramic stove reach the desired temperature more quickly than those on traditional stoves. Additionally, if you purchase an eco-type stove, the burners heat up even faster with each subsequent use.
– Energy savings: The burners on a glass-ceramic stove have a period of turning on and off, which means they maintain the heat once the set temperature is achieved. In contrast, traditional stoves heat constantly at a set strength until turned off.
– Automatic shut-off: Some models come with an option for the burners to turn off automatically after a certain period of inactivity, so you won’t have to worry about whether you turned off the stove before leaving the house.
However, the following points should be given special attention, as they can significantly affect your final decision when purchasing this type of stove.
– Use of special cookware: The cookware must be designed for use on a glass-ceramic hob and have a flat, thick bottom. Aluminum cookware, enamel cookware, and any cookware with a warped bottom during heating should not be used. If the cookware shifts while heating the burner (rotates or wobbles), energy concentrates at that contact point, which can permanently damage the surface.
– Cleaning the burners: Regular cleaning is necessary to keep them looking nice and clean, as even the smallest stain is visible. Regular maintenance of the surface takes only about 2 minutes, and if you clean the surface regularly, you won’t need to devote additional attention to it while preparing meals. You can find maintenance tips for this type of stove on our website under Home/Cleaning.
– The bottom of the cookware should always be clean: Care should be taken not to transfer anything from the countertop to the stove while cooking. The bottom of the pot should always be clean to avoid further issues. Always wipe the bottom of the pot before placing it on the hob, even if it’s just water droplets.
– Avoid placing food that is too hot or too cold on the burner.
– Sugar can mechanically damage the surface: Be careful not to spill sugar on the surface while brewing coffee, or let a sauce containing a lot of sugar boil over, as placing cookware on such a surface can cause it to crack and pull part of the glass with it when separating the pot from the hob. Replacing the surface is a financial concern; for some models, the replacement cost is nearly half the price of a new stove.
– Oil stains are harder to remove, but not impossible: Take care if two burners are on and oil splatters from one to the other, as this can lead to stains that are difficult to remove. To remove oil stains, either use liquid dish detergent and a sponge, which may remove the stains after a few days, or purchase a special cleaning solution for glass-ceramic surfaces from drugstores.
– Forget about moving the pot while making popcorn unless the cookware is very heavy, which is harder to gauge. Moving the pot around on the surface while making popcorn or grilling vegetables can leave scratches that cannot be repaired.
– Do not place aluminum foil with food (like chestnuts) directly on the surface.
– Mechanical damage to the surface can occur from pots falling from the kitchen cabinet above the stove: Be cautious. The smaller the impact area, the heavier the object, and the higher the fall, the greater the likelihood that the surface will crack upon impact, especially near the edges.
– Aesthetic issue of circles forming on the surface: This occurs from using cookware with a smaller diameter than the burner or those with a recessed bottom. This problem develops over time; however, if it happens very rarely, you don’t need to worry.
– Never clean hot burners: Whatever happens, save cleaning the surface for later when it cools down. Wiping a hot surface will only worsen the situation and can leave a mark from the sponge or cloth that is very difficult to clean.
– What to do if a burner malfunctions: It is rare for burners to fail, but if it happens, it is likely that the switches need to be replaced all at once, whereas with conventional stoves, you can usually repair just the one burner.
– Our advice is to read the user manual after purchase: We have presented the main information about glass-ceramic stoves in this text to help you with your purchase, but we recommend that after buying and before use, you carefully read the user manual for your stove, as there may be additional tips you should follow.
Conclusion and EASY DAILY Advice:
=> A stove with a glass-ceramic cooktop definitely brings a new way of cooking in the kitchen. No matter how experienced you are in cooking, when you buy a new stove of this type, you will surely need some time to adjust to its new way of functioning. You might feel like you don’t know how to cook anything, and in the worst case, you might even want to return it to the store. 😊
=> First, you will need to choose the right cookware, then wipe the bottom of the pot before placing it on the burner, and again wipe it when you transfer it to the countertop. Once you do all this, the burner will heat up incredibly quickly, so if you’re not careful, your lunch could burn. If something spills while you’re cooking, don’t wipe the cooktop immediately as you might be used to. At the end of the day, when the burners cool down, you should wipe the cooktop because every stain is visible, and placing a pot on a dirty burner can lead to damage or stains that you won’t be able to clean.
=> But believe it or not, overall, you will be satisfied with the new way of working because all of this isn’t really rocket science, and you’ll quickly get into a routine.After all, you’ll have the invaluable advantage of these stoves: the speed of food preparation.
=> However, if you’re not the type of person who likes to adapt to anything, then the amount of information you’ve just read will simply feel like a burden. Our advice is to go for the old type of stove with classic burners.