If you’re in the market for a new stove, one of the decisions you’ll have to make is whether you want a coil vs flat-top stove. While they can both be used to effectively cook your food, there are some notable differences between them. Before purchasing a new stove, you should familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of each type. Only then can you make the best purchasing decision possible on your new kitchen appliance.
Coil-Top Stoves
In the past, practically all of the stoves sold on the market used metal coils to generate heat. Once plugged into a nearby electrical outlet, the current heats the coils so it can cook food or boil water. If you’ve ever used one before (which you probably have), you’re probably well aware of just how easy and simple they are to run. Just turn the knob to your desired heat setting, place a pot or pan directly on top of the coil, and then you wait for it to cook. There are a couple of advantages to using a coil-top stove, one of which is the speed at which they heat up. There’s no waiting around the kitchen for 5 or 10 minutes until it heats up. Once you turn the knob, it will almost instantly become hot. This is great for individuals and families with busy lifestyles and not a lot of extra time to spare. Electric coil stoves are still a popular choice among consumers, but they are slowly being replaced by flat-top models. With that said, most of the major appliance manufacturers are pumping out new coil stoves each year, so it’s doubtful they will phased out any time soon.
Flat-Top Stove
An alternative to the traditional coil stove is a flat-top model. As the name suggests, these are completely flat on top and contain now additional eyes of coils. At first glance, you might not notice how exactly these flat-top stoves are able to cook food. After all, there’s no metal eye to heat up like most people are used to seeing. Upon closer inspection, though, you’ll notice how they have circular shapes in place of where the eyes would normally be. You turn the appliance on just like you would any other oven and these circular areas heat up to the desired setting. The main reason why so many people prefer flat-top stoves over coil models is simply because they are easier to clean. There’s no denying the fact that coils and the surrounding burners can become quite messy. Unless you clean it after each use, these coils will develop a thick grime that’s almost impossible to fully clean. Thankfully, however, this isn’t a problem with flat-top models, as there’s no coil for the grime to stick to.
