Invisible stoves?

[k3am]

Do people have strong feelings about them? We’re conceptually planning a kitchen reno and I’m trying to decide if I love or hate them.

[mommin]

I think the idea is amazing and I love the look (or, not look, as it were). My only fear is setting non-stove things on it accidentally or having my kids lean on or touch it when it’s hot since you, in theory, can’t see where the burners are. This may not be a problem in reality but I have never seen or used one in real life so I don’t know.

[SusanBAnthony]

My kids are teens so at this point it's survival of the fittest lolol.

We replaced our weird tiny 1940's double oven with a gas range a few years ago. If I was going to do it again I would consider an invisible range and would for sure get an induction range.

[deadwing]

I have never heard of this. I find the concept interesting, but I don't think it's for me. A stove is a normal part of a kitchen. I'm guessing an "invisible" one isn't cheap, but if you have the money to spend on that you could probably also spend money on a nice traditional looking stove.

I browse real estate listings often and I saw one recently where there wasn't a stove pictured... maybe it was invisible? I feel like the house was a fixer, though, so doesn't seem likely.

[mccallister84]

I had never heard of it but it really intrigued me because our kitchen is so small. We already use our electric stove as a countertop when we set up a buffet for instance.

But if it breaks can it be fixed or replaced without having to redo the counters?

[mpm]

It’s been a trend for years to make the stove a design focal point so it seems weird to try to hide it. I can see it working well in a very small kitchen though.

[penguingrrl]

I had never heard of them until this post, so I had to google them. First impression is that I’m not a fan. It looks like you’d have to mark where it is to know where to place pots. I also worry about it damaging the countertop if food spills, etc, which happens when I’m cooking.

[cmeon]

Going from heat to induction is a big step, and the thought of having to find a whole new pot selection that I like makes me grumble. Are you used to cooking with induction already? Everyone I know who's made the switch loves it- like super loves it. And these do look so much easier to keep clean than my current stove (assuming it's stain resistant).

[origami]

What kind of countertop material would you have to get? I imagine quartz and quartzite would be out. Porcelain might be ok but that only looks nice in certain layouts. (We couldn’t use it in our U-shaped kitchen).

[mccallister84]

Jul 4, 2023 8:42:48 GMT -5 origami said:

What kind of countertop material would you have to get? I imagine quartz and quartzite would be out. Porcelain might be ok but that only looks nice in certain layouts. (We couldn’t use it in our U-shaped kitchen).

When I did my quick googling on this (bc I had never heard of it) they said granite or porcelain.

[TR]

Jul 2, 2023 19:25:55 GMT -5 mommin said:

I think the idea is amazing and I love the look (or, not look, as it were). My only fear is setting non-stove things on it accidentally or having my kids lean on or touch it when it’s hot since you, in theory, can’t see where the burners are. This may not be a problem in reality but I have never seen or used one in real life so I don’t know.

I think it’s like induction where it’s not hot to the touch, it only heats certain metals or something.

[k3am]

Honestly, the biggest appeal is cleaning. We have a gas stove right now, and I need to move all the grates to clean. Invisible stoves were something a potential interior designer threw out and just one solid surface for cleaning sounds great. We had already told he that 100% of out design choices would revolve around how hard something was to clean…

[deadwing]

Jul 4, 2023 22:18:38 GMT -5 TR said:

Jul 2, 2023 19:25:55 GMT -5 mommin said:

I think the idea is amazing and I love the look (or, not look, as it were). My only fear is setting non-stove things on it accidentally or having my kids lean on or touch it when it’s hot since you, in theory, can’t see where the burners are. This may not be a problem in reality but I have never seen or used one in real life so I don’t know.

I think it’s like induction where it’s not hot to the touch, it only heats certain metals or something.

It is induction.  So it heats via electromagnets.  The surface of the cooktop isn't heated directly, but the metal cookware is.  I would think there is some transfer of heat from the metal to the surface, however.  I don't have an induction cooktop, so I'm not sure.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 4, 2023 22:32:48 GMT -5 k3am said:

Honestly, the biggest appeal is cleaning. We have a gas stove right now, and I need to move all the grates to clean. Invisible stoves were something a potential interior designer threw out and just one solid surface for cleaning sounds great. We had already told he that 100% of out design choices would revolve around how hard something was to clean…

I mean, I have a plain-old flat-top electric stove that I can wipe down with a paper towel so I don't know that I'd want to change my entire cooking style for this.  :-)