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