Gadgetory

hi I'm Katy Pilkington for CNET and today we're going to be talking about smooth top cooktops or range tops we'll be using the Samsung any 5 8 f 9 7 1 0 WS as an example to show you some visualization of some of the features that we're going to talk about now I know that this Samsung model is a full range that includes an oven we'll talk more about that in another video but you can also buy these smooth tops as just a cooktop that will lay down into your counter space as you can see electric smooth tops have a very sleek kind of sexy appliance appearance people really like this they like the look and they like the feel in their kitchen it's a very modern looking appliance this particular cooktop is controlled by dials as you can see and they go from low to high you can also find smooth top cook tops that are controlled by touch pads or buttons or dials that may be placed on the cooktop itself so there's a lot of variety there and it really comes down to what your preference is most smooth top cook services will come with four or five burners in the case of this model there are five the one of them is meant really primarily for warming and in a lot of cases they'll come in a couple of sizes this one has three sizes there's a small a medium and a large but a lot of other smooth top burners will be in just to kind of a larger burner size and then the medium and they alternate another thing that people really like about smooth top stoves and cook tops is that they will indicate to you when the burner is still warm sometimes with electric coil stoves and certainly with gas stoves this isn't always the case but most smooth talks have an indicator that has lights underneath it that will shine when the surface is hot to the touch there's a feature that's newer in comparison to other models this one features it it's called the bridge when it's activated it joins two burners next to each other into one long kind of oval-shaped burner that's really good for griddles so if you're making pancakes your griddle be evenly heated all the way across rather than just in the front in the back with a cold spot in the middle it's important to note with smooth top cooking surfaces be they in a range or just a countertop drop in but you should never use cast-iron as it scratches nor should you use stoneware or glass cooking materials as they will also scratch this is a complaint that we should note that many people have about smooth tops they do scratch easily they are prone to it but you can buff a lot of them out and they can be really easily cleaned with solution that you can buy at any hardware or grocery store they kind of fit in a middle ground between electric coil stoves and gas stoves gas stoves are lauded for their really even cooking electric coils get a lot of complaints for having hot spots on the bottom of your cookware these glass tops because there's no balancing issues with the actual coil itself it's concealed under this ceramic glass top they ride somewhere in the middle in terms of even cooking for both their utility and sleek appearance a lot of people find electric smooth top stoves to be their ideal kitchen appliance check out our reviews page for more in-depth information about specific models including this samsung 4 seen at I'm Katie public