Cooktops- I have bought a new house which has an old coil type electric range. I tried to cook on it and it was horrible and wimpy. In my current house I have a Viking Pro 6 burner which I have a love/hate relationship with, love to cook on it, hate to clean it. I am used to gas and there is an existing gas line into the house. On the other hand, I am seeing people sing the praises of these ceramic induction cooktops, and I wonder if I'm missing out.

Ovens- I hate my Jenn Air convection oven. I find the baking function makes little difference, but I do like the convection roast. The oven itself is just a pain, the racks don't work for me, it has hot spots (even when the fan is on), the panel computer has gone out twice at $300 a pop. I'm looking at things called Trivection and Invection and VectionVection and TurboVection and I am totally lost. Any advice on ovens? I am not a big baker, so I don't need this to be Super Appliance. I like wall ovens.

Please, if you have the time to let let me know what you have and what you like and what you'd do, I'd love some opinions.

I'll take a stab, though I think you might be get a good answer searching online, if no one else posts. I grew up on gas ranges, and really love them. Especially the professional lines, because of the higher btus and the speed I can get things stir-fried. In this current house, there's no gas line, and I've had to resort to electric. I'm actually liking it, though I don't think it's any easier to clean the coils. I have found that replacing the coils (they're usually sold at Home Depot or order online, if you have GE) helps the wimpiness of the heat, if that's your main problem. I don't know too much about ceramic induction cooktops, though I've heard if you wait another year, you won't have to install a cooktop, as there are some prototype stand-alones (I may be wrong about this). But that's the biggest turn-off for me: the cooktop. I like the stand-alone feel, but I can't explain why. I guess I've had this notion that it's easier to replace if something ever goes wrong. I also don't think induction tops are any easier to clean, as things can get stuck on them and be hard to clean off as the other types.

As for ovens, if you don't like convections, I've heard that electrics (new models) are getting just as good results as convections, if not better. I've not heard many good things about the Jenn Air convection (for one reason or another), so it may just be yours. But I enjoyed my former convection (DCL), as it did cook faster, heated well all-around, etc. I enjoy my current electric oven as well.

I really like gas stoves (since I grew up cooking on gas), so I would recommend getting this over the others. So my thought is to replace coils for a short-term fix; save up and figure out how much the gas line would accommodate for what gas stove, and see if an electric oven comes with it.

I've lived in three apartments this year alone, and all have had that glass-top stoves. On the bright side, if you have a small kitchen, they give you extra counter space when you're not cooking, which is handy in most DC apartments. But other than that, I'm not fond of them. If something boils over, it immediately seals onto the surface and is incredibly hard to clean off (though I've heard there are some specialty products that are made to clean most things off these cooktops). In addition, the shiny glass wears into dull circles where the burners are, so it doesn't look pretty after a while. And--this one is totally personal--on the worn burners, shaking your pan makes a scraping sound on the stove top that totally skeeves me out.

I suppose it's all what you're used to, but I was raised with a gas stove, and to me it's still my number one choice.

More info:
Gas Ranges thread
Kitchen Remodeling thread
Convection Ovens thread (this is more about the use of rather than brands of)

I have a Thermador cooktop and love it, except for the cleaning. It is a star burner version and it is a pain to clean. If you go to gas, get one with sealed burners that are preferable plain old round as those will be the easiest to clean. Get a cooktop as big as you are willing to go, you'll love having extra burners. If you stir fry, make sure one of the burners is a bigger btu burner than the rest if possible. We have a 5 burner cooktop but it would have been even better if it was a 6 burner IMO.

Wall ovens. My wife and I love to bake so we did a double wall oven by Miele and we love it. Highly recommended it has numerous baking, roasting, proofing, dehydrating and other settings. The convection works very well and no hot spots whatsoever. Expensive though.

Different strokes....I don't think I'd ever get a sealed burner, as the "droppings" pool in the cavities as opposed to dropping down to the slide out pan underneath. Before we had our pro-style stoves, I thought I'd want sealed burners. Our first stove, a 36'" Viking 4 burner+grill, had an enamel top that did need to be wiped down, but not as often as a sealed burner would. It needed extra care especially when we used the grill. (grease goes everywhere, so I mention that to consider if you are looking at an indoor grill) Our current stove is a BlueStar 30" 4 burner, and we love it. I don't miss the extra oven space in the 36" since it takes longer to heat up, especiallly since the BlueStar oven fits 2 half sheet pans on one rack. The entire top is cast iron so we rarely have to clean it. I really love that feature! Our second wall oven is electric, and the one we use most often. It is a GE Monogram European style that we picked up only because it was a steal at $500. It has convection, which I wanted, but is a smaller size than most. (Our last wall oven was a Jenn-Air--servicable, but not great.) We initally looked at the trivection, etc. but all those bells and whistles are more temptations then what we use on day to day basis. I know now that they would be more hassle for us than they're worth. I'm not familiar as much with the induction cooktops, but I know my sister and my mom both have ceramic and neither raves about it, but again it looks nice and does give the extra "counter" space when needed. My mom has complained about cleaning it.

Here's a link for the BlueStar. Some people have had issues with them, we've had one issue that was remedied quickly and easily and have had ours for 2 1/2 years already. We really love it and it's utilitarian appearance (all the colors weren't available when we got ours) and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about it.

If you use cast iron or enamel cookware on a regular basis, make sure that if you opt for an induction cooktop, it can handle them. My brother has a ceramic induction stovetop and he regrets not paying extra for the gas stove (which was an option when moving into his new house). I don't recall off the top of my head what brand he has, but he cannot use cast-iron or enamel pots and pans as they get too hot and can cause the stovetop to shatter. Whee! Hot shattering ceramic!

If you don't use cast iron/enamel, don't worry.

There seems to be some misunderstanding in this thread about the difference between induction and ceramic radiant ranges. First the induction uses a magnetic field that causes the metallic molecules to vibrate at a high rate of speed and producing heat; so the pot/pan and its contents get hot while the surface stays cool. Ceramic radiant is basically the same as the old coils, but they are hidden under a ceramic top. With induction if a pot boils over it will not burn on the surface since there is no heat.

We are in the initial stages of planning remodeling our kitchen and I have been looking into these since like Goodeats my house does not have gas. The remodel is 2 years away and things could change, but right now I am leaning towards the Diva 365. It currently owns the Consumer Reports record for boiling water. As for the strength of the cooktop, in the latest Art Culinaire it reports that the Diva's ceramic top can withstand the drop of a cast iron pan from 3 feet (this is the commercial version, not sure if the same is true for the residential models).

Since you have a gas line into the house, it may not be too bad to outfit your kitchen for gas. When we remodeled this winter, we added gas to the kitchen plus another line outside for a grill hookup for about $1000. I looked at induction cooktops but they were pricey and I'd need to get new cookware so we went with the Thermador gas cooktop. I have the same star burners as Pool Boy but I don't find them difficult to keep clean.

V.H. why would you need new cookware? Most of the modern induction cooktops will work fine with any stainless, and cast iron (including enameled). The general rule is if a magnet will stick to the cookware you will be able to use it on an induction range.

Because I didn't want to do all my cooking in my one huge Le Creuset pot or the hodge podge of cheapo stainless pots that got my husband through grad school. The rest of my stuff is Calphalon, which would not work with the induction cooktop.

What's your trick for cleaning the triangular areas between the stars then? Assume that I hate cleaning and, uh, some stuff might not get cleaned up immediately.

I think it was Ol'Ironstomach who gave me the idea to put them in my oven during the clean cycle. They come out beautifully.