well, this is my second black smooth top stove, and i find them easier to clean than anything at all. I just don't get it that people find them difficult to care for. all i ever do is clean it usually with a hot soapy dishcloth at night after cooking and dry with a towel. if i have grease spatters, or anything that might spill and burn onto the burners, its so easy to take a single edge razor blade and scrape it right off. nothing to it. if my stove is a little too messy for a hot soapy dishcloth, but not bad enough for the razor blade, i keep the liquid bar keepers friend and squirt a bit of that on and wipe. you never have to worry about nasty, cruddy drip pans, or nooks and crevices to clean. i love mine.

Smoothtops are definitely way easier to clean than drip pans, etc.

My last kitchen had all black appliances, they did show dust easier than the stainless I have now. I currently have a black glass gas cooktop with all the other appliances stainless.

btw, granite prices are dropping. Check craigslist, shop around. You might find granite is within your budget.

My last glasstop was grey speckled and I LOVED it . . . it always looked clean. People used to tease me, saying it was obvious that I'd never used it.

My new one is an Electrolux, and it has a black top. I worried about maintenance but I'm finding it's not much different than the old one. I wipe it every evening and dry it with a miracle cloth. If there's much of a mess, I use the cleaner and scrubbie that came with it. Occasionally it will have some smears after the first washing, but a bit of polishing with a miracle cloth takes care of that. I haven't had to use a razor blade yet -- everything has come off easily.

It looks sleek and elegant, and I LOVE it. I find it WAY easier to clean up than my old coil electric, or my (way back when) gas range.

I'm on my second glass top stove. The first was white with a white top, this is biscuit with a black top. I don't think there is any difference between the two. It was easier to see the spots on the white of course, but they come off the same. What countertop are you going with? I have Formica Butterum granite and your description sounds very much like it. Here's a photo of my kitchen and one of the stove area.

Lisa

Well, I hate to be the lone dissenter. I can't wait to say goodbye to my black smoothtop. Every little splatter . . . every teeny particle of salt, waterdrops from the washcloth after wiping down. To say nothing about the inability to control the temp of the burners . . .
However, I have found 2 products for cleaning that are helpful: magic eraser, rinsed, and then dried immediately with a paper towel. Also, there's something called Astonish Oven and Cookware Cleaner -- much better than the cleaners you can buy in stores. I think my MIL got it on QVC.
I'm looking forward to a gas stove again.

I love it. Had it almost a year now. It's much easier to clean than the coils/drip pans of course. Yes, I do sometimes see fuzz or dust across the top (I think DH flings toast crumbs around wildly) but just a damp cloth/sponge will take that off.

I usually clean it last thing at night too. Papertowel and a spritz of grease cutting cleaner. There's probably dozens of things that work. Razor blade if something cooks on. That only happens if something goes out of the pot/pan then under it and cooks onto the glass over the coil.

Oh Wow! You have restored my enthusiasm about the kitchen now. Seems I over reacted to the comments posted. Thanks Stef 1 about the granite. There is a place near here that I could check on granite prices. But who do you get to cut it etc? I doubt if our good ol boys in our neck of the woods are very skilled at stuff like that.
Lisa wi, yes your countertops are very much like what I had planned. Love your kitchen. Wish mine was as roomy as yours. Mine is very small. about 8 X 14. Add the stove and countertops and I only have a little over 4 feet wide to move around in.
Rjr, I wish I had gas stove also but the house is all electric so don't have much choice.
I do thank each of you for letting me know your thoughts. I feel much better about sticking with the black appliances. I fell in love with some vintage copper scrolly knobs that I managed to get on ebay for less than $1 per knob. With the earthtone countertop, the copper knobs on my oak cabinets and the black appliances, paint the walls a kind of soft gold, I just thought it would really upgrade the kitchen a lot.
Any other suggestions would be welcome.

astrovel - what is your counter top name? I'm planning on butterum also (so far).

I've picked out a black ceramic 2 burner top - I think it might have the spots on it. I'm hoping it does!

lisa wi - can you post a close up of your butterum with the bisque stove so I can see them together? i'm planning to use bisque/biscuit with butterum too - except the 2 burner cook top. unless I end up switching back to a stove. hoping to save counter top space tho. my kitchen is 9x10. plenty big enough for me tho.

I LOVE my glass cooktop (but I've never used gas). My first smooth top was black/gray speckled. NOTHING showed on it. NOTHING! The slide in range it's self was bisque. My next one was black. Black range and GLOSSY solid black top. I knew better, I knew better! But KA, for some reason, switched from using the speckled top (except on the stainless model) to black and I really wanted that range. It was a nightmare to keep looking showroom clean. Even if you didn't use it, you could see the dust that settled on it. Just like a black car. I couldn't believe the company made the design decision and that I was stupid enough to fall for it :o I complained so much that KA finally agreed to swap the top out with the speckled one they use on their stainless models. The black range, dw and trash compactor show more than other colors (just like a black car). I can live with it, but I couldn't live with it on a stovetop!
Monica

I had a freestanding black GE glass top stove for about 10 years and liked it very much. We are almost finished our new kitchen and I have the Electrolux 30" slide in with the black glass top. This one is also very easy to keep clean, even with the black glass panel for the digital controls. When we were deciding on new appliances, some of the bad reviews about glass panels made me very nervous, but I am happy with my choice.

As you can see, the stove is right out in the peninsula for all to see.

I've had a black ceramic cooktop for years and I love it. I don't find it difficult to clean at all. My remodel just began and I'm getting the Electrolux slide in like Susie 1010 - glad to see it looks so great installed! Instead of the warming drawer/storage in the bottom, it has the small oven.

In watching the kitchen shows, I've seen people go with granite tiles rather than a slab due to the expense and they looked great. Tiles wouldn't work with a busy stone, I don't think. Just a thought.

I had a glass top stove for years and really liked how easy it was to clean. I used a paint scraper....the razor blade kind....to remove stuck-on spills. But I hated cooking on that thing. It was impossible to regulate the temperature and if my pans were the slightest bit warped, they had to be thrown away and replaced. I was so thrilled to get gas in the new house. My gas stove runs on a propane tank. It is a true joy to cook on!!

I inherited a Maytag electric Gemini, black glass top, with this house and found it impossible to keep clean. There were etched semicircles baked into the top of each burner glass (from pots? overboils? who knows) that were utterly impossible to get rid of. Couldn't wait to ditch it. In any case, thought I'd throw that in if it's a brand/quality issue you might want to avoid.

Temperature regulation has always been a problem on the electric stoves/cooktops. Just a month ago I had a new induction slide-in installed and I'm in electric heaven! Heats up quickly, cools down immediately and it's a breeze to clean because the glass doesn't get hot!

Beachlily, if I had to stay with electric in the new house, I would have gotten induction. The only reason gas won out over induction is I want to be able to cook if the power goes out (which is pretty common around here).

Ditto on what circuspeanut posted.

I myself inherited a GE Profile electric slide-in, black glass top, with this house and found it impossible to keep clean. It is ~12years old and there were etched semicircles baked into the top of each burner glass (from pots? overboils? who knows) that were utterly impossible to get rid of. Can't wait to ditch it. In any case, thought I'd throw that in if it's a brand/quality issue you might want to avoid.

I also cook a lot, so I often use the same burner for 2+ dishes. But if I splattered or spilled something, I can't use the same burner again because it would charred whatever that's spilled on it. It's way too hot to wipe it off before I cook my 2nd dish, etc.

re Electrolux slide in:

mamalynn, make sure whoever is installing/designing your kitchen and the counter top people read the specifications beforehand. From what I saw, it installs a little differently than some of the other slide ins. You might want to consider a 1 or 2" spacer on either side of stove so the cabinets/drawers are not quite so close to the side of the oven. This stovetop heats up and cooks very quickly.

I like the controls up top so I don't have to bend over to see the controls on the front like on the KA. There are also 12" and 9" burners. One thing I had to get used to: If I lean over the front of the stove to clean the stovetop, my "boobies" wake up the digital control panels and it chimes. We laugh a lot about it.

If I had it to do over again, I'd have gas. I've always had gas until about 5 years ago. I got a new glass top last year. I don't like it for anything. it shows everything! If you have a boil over, you're stuck until it cools and you can clean it off. I also don't like the burner configuration but I wasn't wise to the new modern stoves at the time and let the salesman tell me what I wanted. I have a totally useless front burner that's so big I don't have a pan that will fit it. My other front burner is one of those double sized things that you flip a switch to have it be big or bigger. Hate that thing. I have a warming burner. What for?? And the pans. I did ruin a few on the old electric that came from the auction that was just to get me by so yes, had to replace pans to be able to cook on it. Never again. I'll eat out first. I hate this stove. And I hate electric stoves the most.

I was quite nervous as well about the black top. We bought the JennAire last year when we remodeled. It has the solid sleek black top. I would have prefered the speckled top, but they only had that on the white stove. Sigh.

Anyway, I don't find any issues with the black top. I use Weinman cooktop cleaner without any problems. I've never had to take a razor blade to it. There are red scrubbies that you can buy now specifically for it, and if I get any cooked on gunk, I use the red scrubby along with the Weinman's cleaner. Comes out just fine each time.

I do keep a microfiber cloth in the drawer to the left of the range to give it a quick swipe for dust, particularly if it's been several days since I've used it (an issue over the summer as we've had very hot stretches and don't have AC).

The manual very specifically says not to use anything like Windex. I'm not sure exactly why, but I've followed that advice.

In mid July, several of the functions stopped working. When we bought our 3 major appliances, we only bought 2 extended warranties. Guess which appliance we did NOT buy an extended warranty for???? I had the service guy come out, and I was absolutely delighted to discover that JennAire actually had a warranty on the front panel for an extended period of time, so I didn't have to pay for it. Unfortunately, the repair guy chipped the glass top in the repair process, so I now have a new front panel and a new top.

When we bought the range, the salesman (and owner of the store) very specifically asked if I did any canning. He said he and his wife had this model and loved it. However, he absolutely would not recommend it if I did any canning, specifically if canning any sugary products. I don't do that, so it's not an issue for me.

Hope this very long-winded reply helped some!

I have a smooth top electric range now and here's my opinion.

For cleaning, the smooth top is great. Things do stick to it, but it's not bad to get stuff off. I find it the easiest stove top to clean because it's smooth and you aren't working around corners and crevices.

For cooking, it's horrible. I continually have to move pans on and off burners because they don't cool down fast enough. My burners are still fairly warm to the touch 1/2 hour after I turn them off. I cannot wait to get rid of this stove because of the cooking aspect.

I'm switching to gas which I know will be better for cooking, but not as good for cleaning.

I think induction would be perfect but I can't afford it right now.

Hi Astrovel,

I have a gas/electric range with the glass below the grates of the gas burners.
Something Bosch does now.

I have not had it long enough to hate or love the glass top. What I do LOVE
is the sealed burners. I agree with some who say every spec shows. If you spill spices,
salt, water, tomato sauce... you name it, it will show up and can be annoying. But I
used to have white ceramic which was worse. The range came with a razor tool
and special glass cleaner to scrape up food particles prior to glass cleaning.

My sides and trim on this stove are all stainless and that is even harder to keep spotless.
If I had to choose between SS and Black Glass I would stick with the glass.

Now, The BEST way for me to keep this stove CLEAN, pristine, glossy, gorgeous and
beautiful would be to eat out every night. : ~ )

~boxerpups

I find it most interesting and almost comical about how there is no middle ground with stoves.

Nobody ever says, "I really like both gas and electric". You get very strong opinions both ways.

It would almost seem like it doesn't do much good to ask what other people like because it's so personal, you have to discover your preference yourself through usage.

Personally, I am an electric gal. It's all I've ever cooked on, and I don't find temp. control an issue, but I am beyond used to how it works by now, how long it takes to cool a burner down, how long I need to remove the pan till it's cooled down, etc. I am not sure I will ever go with gas because I have no issues with electric and I imagine cleaning gas might be almost as bad as cleaning coil. Knowing me, I would plug those little gas holes with food crud. I have an incredible knack for making a mess!

I grew up with the ceramic smoothtop and my mom loves them so much she's never had anything else. Her whole adult life was spent with them, and they always look immaculate. I do remember her using the razor blade on them growing up, and cleaning the stove was always a part of after-dinner clean up.

I am looking forward to having my first one in our renovation. I can't stand the coils I've always had. This is a little on the crazy side, but since I know I am replacing our kitchen, I haven't replaced the accumulated-crud-filled drip pans (and won't - my kitchens gone to pot), and every so often now I have a little fire flare up from the crud catching fire. That's how gross my coils are. And that grossness is why I hate coils! Yuck!

Wow! Thank you all for your input. I am as confused as I ever was but at least I have lots of people who have experience with the smooth tops. I have never cooked on one so I didn't know if I would like it or not. One thing I wondered about was...are there any fumes or smells when you heat up the burners? We have a wonderful double yellow headed amazon parrot that is very close to the kitchen door and we have had to learn to cook on medium temps and be careful with teflon coated pans because they are toxic to birds. Has anybody noticed any strong smells when you first start up the burners?
There are a lot of people who love their smooth tops and quite a few that hate them. I'm not exactly sure why.
Is it just that you have to get used to cooking on them? I take it that the burners are slow to cool, making it hard to wipe up spills etc. Do they heat up quickly and can you then reduce the temp to prevent boil overs like when you are cooking pasta etc? I'd like to know more about the actual use of the smooth tops since I am in the dark about this.
I love the responses I got from you all and wow the pics are great! Thank you for helping me educate myself with this.
At this point, I am pretty sure I will try a smooth top as I absolutely hate the coils and nasty drip pans that can never be cleaned properly. I just would like to have as much information as I can get so there will be no surprises.
Thanks very much for your advice and help.
I am going to post another thread asking advice on how I should upgrade my kitchen, colors, paint the cabs or not? etc. and I would welcome any advice you have along those lines also.

Hate them with the white hot hate of 10,000 burning suns. I had one when I updated my condo for sale; got an identical one (different range color) for my mom. My mom's scratched the first and only time the black cooktop was used. We were just making soup, not one of Julia Child's insane spastic pan-banging omelettes. Every drop of moisture, oil and DUST shows on the black top. It's like doing spring cleaning on your windows, where you wipe everything off, it dries, you find a streak, you clean again, now that streak is gone but you've left a different streak, repeat the process until you start fantasizing about bloody murder for the whole design team. The white cleaner works pretty well, as long as you don't mind the white streak of chalky, dried-up residue permanently stuck in the perimeter of the stove.

YMMV. I think people with different TYPES of tops may have different experiences.

i have to say again, I just don't get it! what is so hard about cleaning a black smooth top? Really, wipe with a hot soapy dishcloth, dry with a dry towel. See? no streaks. cooked on 'whatever', scrape with razor blade. gone in 60 seconds. I swear! need a wiping boost? use a white scrubbing cleaner. I don't know why anyone would say it leaves a residue unless they don't do a good job wiping off the white cleaner.

i have not had to clean a gas range or a coil burner in years. but, i do remember how it was. with a coil burner, i remember covering those drip pans with aluminum foil. how ugly! this was to prevent having to look at them dirty when there was no way possible to clean them no matter how much scrubbing you did.

I remember my grandmothers gas stove. Ohhhhh, you could scrub for days on that to clean it. a spill not only went into the drip area underneath the grate, it went down way under into every nook and cranny it could find to drip into. there was no end to that.

so, do i find wiping, scraping with a razor, cleaning up white cleaners, or polishing and buffing a chore or anything difficult? Heck no. I would rather clean a smooth top anyday. I know that gas is preferred by chefs, but gas was not an option for me. I did consider it, but that idea was squashed by DH because we don't have any gas lines even running to my house. i may have preferred cooking on gas by now after 8 months if i could have had it, i'll never know. But the one thing that i can say for sure is that a smooth top is always easier to clean, no matter what.

I really got the best of both worlds. I wanted a gas range in the beginning because i wanted a certain 'look'(I am a decorator at heart, and what looks good means alot to me). I ended up getting a viking professional range but with a smooth electric cooktop. i love it! It cooks wonderful, better than my old kenmore smooth top. its alot more versatile and cooks at higher heat on some of the burners. And, i have a beautiful stainless steel appliance to look at too.