The Kitchen Debate: Gas vs. Electric Range Cooktops & Top Brands To Buy
We’ve been hot on the topic of kitchens lately, between popular countertops, farmhouse sinks, the best and worst faucets and refrigerators to buy, and even how to make marble countertops! And while each feature is so important to your kitchen, one important consideration before buying is whether or not you need a gas cooktop or an electric ceramic cooktop.
Knowing your preference is important to your cooking habits and how you’ll enjoy cooking in your kitchen every day. Read on for the pros and cons of both gas cooktops and electric cooktops, along with top brands for each, and which our team prefers!
To keep this post simple, we’re limiting electric cooktops specifically to ceramic cooktops and not including coiled electric cooktops.
Gas cooktops pros & cons
Pros:
- Heats up instantly from the flame source.
- They cool down more quickly (*great safety advantage).
- Very precise temperature control.
- Temperature adjusts immediately upon changing.
- Capable of handling any type of pots and pans without damaging the burners.
- Will cook food evenly regardless of pan shape.
- Can be used if your electricity goes out.
- Cooler when cooking in the kitchen because the heat scatters instantly.
- Saves on energy and tends to be less expensive to operate than electric.
Cons:
- Needs a gas and electric hookup for installation.
- If you don’t have a gas hookup already installed, it can be very costly.
- Tends to be slightly more expensive than electric.
- Gas requires professional installation.
- Susceptible to hazardous gas leaks if not installed properly.
- Harder to clean than a smooth electric surface.
Some of our favorite top-rated, gas cooktops to buy:
I searched different types of popular cooktop features with strictly high ratings across the board. For Best Overall, I found a mid-price, highly-rated option with some bells and whistles. Budget-Friendly is a highly-rated, least expensive option. The best luxury appliance is for high-end kitchens with high ratings. Lastly, the best freestanding range is a mid-priced and very highly-rated appliance.
Best Overall Cooktop – Frigidaire Gallery 30 in. Gas Cooktop with 5 burners
Budget-Friendly Cooktop – GE 30 in. Gas Cooktop with 4-Burners including Power Burners
Best Luxury Cooktop – KitchenAid 36 in. Gas Cooktop with 6 Burners
Best Freestanding Range – Samsung – 5.8 Cu. Ft. Self-Cleaning Freestanding Gas Convection Range
Electric cooktops pros & cons
Pros:
- Higher heat capability.
- Heat food faster (this may also be an issue for some chefs).
- Easier to keep clean.
- Even heating on flat cooktops.
- Only needs an electric source to be installed.
- Could potentially be installed on your own if you know how.
Cons:
- Takes longer to heat up.
- Takes longer to cool down.
- The glass surface can shatter easily.
- Cold water on a hot burner.
- Heavy pots or pans placed too heavily on top.
- Cast iron cookware will damage the cooking surface.
- Prone to staining and spills that can’t be taken off.
- Will not cook evenly is pan is warped or uneven.
- Won’t work if your electricity goes out.
- Additionally, some backup generators won’t be able to handle the electricity needs.
- Requires special cleaners to keep surface clean.
- Hotter when cooking in the kitchen because the whole appliance warms up.
- More expensive to run.
Some of our favorite top-rated, electric cooktops to buy:
I searched different types of popular cooktop features with strictly high ratings across the board. For Best Overall, I found a mid-price, highly-rated option with some bells and whistles. Budget-Friendly is a highly-rated, least expensive option. The best luxury appliance is for high-end kitchens with high ratings. Lastly, the best freestanding range is a mid-priced and very highly-rated appliance.
Best Overall Cooktop – GE – 30″ Built-In Electric Cooktop
Budget-Friendly Cooktop – Frigidaire – 30 in. Radiant Electric Cooktop
Best Luxury Cooktop – GE – Profile Series 30″ Electric Cooktop
Best Freestanding Range – GE 30 in. 5.3 Cu. ft. Slide-In Electric Range
So what’s the Hip2BeHome team verdict? Here’s what some of us had to say:
Gas cooktops vs. Electric cooktops
“I prefer gas! It seems to cook faster, and you can throw tortillas directly on it to heat up quickly. The last time I used electric was at my grandma’s back in the 1900s. LOL!” – Angela
“Gas all the way! I love that you have so much more control over the amount of heat that comes out. I just got the best deal on a gas cooktop and can’t wait to put it in my new kitchen!” – Michelle
“I LOVE gas cooktops! I find that it cooks things more evenly and keeps the temperature the same. It’s also super ideal in hurricane season since if you lose power, you won’t lose your stove. With electric, you obviously lose that when the power goes out. I never thought about it until the last hurricane season when we had no power for 4 days and our rental has electric.” – Alana
“I can’t imagine going back to electric after having a nice gas stove, especially as a food blogger and someone who cooks often! I find it faster and easier to control heat. Plus, I’m addicted to the griddle that’s in the middle of mine.” – Lina
“I seriously love cooking with gas, although it was intimidating at first! Our very first house had an electric range and I didn’t like it, so when we moved, I knew gas was going to be a priority. I didn’t like how our electric top cooked foods and my husband would always joke that I could even burn boiling water on it. LOL. I also don’t care for the way electric cooktops look in general, to me they are outdated. It took me a few goes to get used to the flames on our new gas cooktop, but now I could never go back!” – Sara
“I have electric cooktop at our apartment, but I always grew up using gas. I hate our electric cooktop because it’s so hard to monitor the heat! I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had rice boil over even when I turned down the heat to the lowest setting. Plus, I’ve tried to get rid of some of the spots on the electric top, and they refuse to come off. I’ll 100% be getting a gas range when I buy a house.” – Emily
“Growing up on the west coast we only ever had gas. I didn’t even know electric cooktops existed until I moved to the East coast. Now all ever see are electric, unless you bring in a propane tank and have it installed on your property. I loved being able to cook tortillas right on the open flame and miss my gas so much!” – Jami
The verdict? Gas Cooktops – 7 vs. Electric Cooktops – 0
It’s pretty clear that our team favors gas ranges over ceramic electric cooktops!
Are you team gas or electric cooktop?
Let us know in the comments below!
Regular ceramic cooktops aren’t a problem for pacemakers. Ceramic induction cooktops are a problem for pacemakers. My father had a defibrillator/pacemaker combo device, and our regular ceramic cooktop didn’t do anything to him.
Thanks so much for pointing that out, Sara! We’ll be sure to update that detail!
I don’t have much of a preference. I’m okay with either one. The only requirement I have for a gas cooktop is that the oven is separate from the stove. I don’t want a gas oven.
I currently have an electric range in my apartment kitchen.
I actually prefer coils over a smooth cooktop. Coils are easy to remove, and the drip pans are easy to clean and replace. I chipped the big right front burner on the cooktop in my parent’s house. I also ruined a kettle that was one of their wedding presents. I was boiling water and forgot about it. When I finally remembered, the kettle was bone dry and stuck to the burner. I was able to get the kettle off the burner, but a piece of the burner came up with it.
Thanks for taking a moment to share your thoughts with us, Sara!
I used to have a Whirlpool electric range, I hated the long wait for a quick meal. It was hard to clean the burner that I used the most, at some point it became kind of white/grayish, which didn’t look nice at all. Thank goodness one day broke a part in one of the burners since there was something sticky that got attached to a pan. So we switched to gas! It cost me about 600 dlls for the Samsung stove (that you guys are recommending) and about 1200 dlls to hire a professional to bring the gas line to the stove. Totally worth every penny spent. My life changed for the good after it.
My friends were so in love with the idea that some of them switched to gas as well.
That being said, The Samsung stove had a very tiny gas leak that the alarms didn’t detect. Thank God we are still here! By the time we found the source, the warranty was over, so we had to pay to fix it out of pocket. But I still loveeeeee having gas instead of electric, specially for me that cooks almost every day. Go gas!
SO glad you found the source of the leak! Thanks a TON for sharing your experience with us, Emco! Good to know you have been happier with a gas cooktop!
I have hated our gas stove since the day we got it installed. It always looks dirty! makes me feel like the whole kitchen is a mess just cause its so time consuming to keep clean of crumbs, etc.
I also dislike that I can’t simmer anything on it (low maintains an all out boil)
we jsut had a power surge from electrical damage during a storm and am so excited to get to replace our 2 yr old gas stove and go back to a smoothtop electric! Can’t wait!
Sorry to hear you’ve hated your gas stove! I really love cooking on a gas stove, but my only annoyance is the same as one of yours – the inability to easily ‘simmer’ anything. Hope you enjoy your new electric stove! 🙂
I hate gas appliances. I have no idea why, but gas stoves and gas fire places smell funny to me and I always end up with a migraine later on. In one apartment I even had to stop cooking on the stove at all and microwaved all my meals. My doctor said some people are sensitive to the additive in the gas (so you can smell it if there is a gas leak – the gas itself is odorless) and is definitely a migraine trigger.
Oh wow! Sorry to hear about that, Stacy! Good to know that some can be sensitive to gas appliances. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Just wanted to point out that you actually can use cast iron on a flat top electric stove. You shouldn’t be moving it back & forth on the cooktop (like if you were making popcorn), but other than that it is fine. I currently have a flat top & primarily only use cast iron to cook & haven’t had a problem. Will be doing a kitchen reno & am trying to figure out if I’m going to go with gas or go with induction (which is actually supposed to be better for cooking). I love the look of a gas cooktop, but am not sure if not being able to keep it looking clean will drive me nuts!
Thanks for sharing, Lynn! Good to know there have been no issues using the cast iron on your stove! Thanks so much for the helpful comment.