Skip to content

123 Comments

  1. Erica
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:48 pm

    I have induction. It’s great. All of the benefits of gas (immediately responsive to heat adjustments) with the simplicity of electric, plus the magic of instant heating and boiling water in one minute. It’s also (a little) safer with kids around, if that matters.

    That said: just get the black. That tan looks awful (er, is not to my taste).

    Reply

    • Sally
      February 9, 2018 @ 9:37 pm

      Not a fan, myself. I long for the comfort of the blue flame under the kettle when I get home from work.

      But I’m sure what you come up with will look fabulous.

      Persevere!

      Reply

    • judy
      February 28, 2018 @ 2:01 am

      sorry to jump in front but it’s’ almost two o’clock in the morning and I have read from the beginning of your blog and I can’t find the name of your interior paint color. We had a pipe burst in the attic ruining my tempur pedic king size mattress-became a huge sponge? the hardwood floors and a lot of the ceilings and walls. I have weird hardwood floors hardest wood next to teak from a very odd looking stunted tree,the ark of the covenant was supposed to have been fashioned from this wood. Anyhoo because it has a really ugly yellowish brown color they stain it a sort of reddish color with hints of brown and yellow. It’s called acacia and its not as ugly as it sounds. My walls are blue hyacinth which is OK but after ten years I am really tired of it. My furniture is old,mixed mahogany and some cherry dressers. I would like a pretty ivory or cream but they seem to be distinctly yellow while the whites seem more suited for a bathroom or a hospital. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Flood occured 1/7 and the work will start next week. Thank the saints……………..please heeeeeelp!

      Reply

    • Erica
      May 15, 2018 @ 8:57 pm

      Reason why I wouldn’t get an induction stovetop: I always having pots that boil over and with an induction, I’d have to clean up the mess on the stove and pot to prevent any burning smell from occuring. I don’t want to deal with the clean up and cleaning a pot while its boiling hot, possibly burning myself. I’d rather deal with cleanup when things have cooled down.

      Reply

      • Ashley - The Gold Hive
        May 25, 2019 @ 2:19 pm

        The induction cooktop never actually gets hot, so you could wipe up spills right after you take the pan off the burner.
        Also hot tip, a wooden spoon rested over the diameter of the pot will prevent overboiling.

        Reply

    • Liu
      August 15, 2021 @ 10:56 pm

      I still hesitate, although induction cookers seem to have many advantages compared to gas stoves base on this post I have just read https://bit.ly/3CQy6y8, and it does seem like can make my kitchen more stylish base on this post. But did it use well? I always use gas stove before, and how about the cost?

      Reply

  2. teri
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:54 pm

    well I have an induction hob. I got it in a flash sale at 3am one night and thought I was ordering halogen. But I LOVE it and as my cats seem to walk all over the kitchen work tops I don’t have to worry about burned feet because it only heats up when a pan is on it. But I’m in the UK, and my hob is black glass, and my friend can’t read the instructions on it. I can though … And it has a timer thingy which is very helpful for sidetracked type people who get bored with boiling stuff and wander off. I sit a vintage looking cream enamel kettle on mine to break up the blackness ( I don’t actually use that kettle but I could if the electric one broke) Must dash our sewer has blocked itself up and it needs me to supervise him unblocking it in the dark. xx

    Reply

  3. noreen .
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:55 pm

    this is Australia’s revenge for the fact that you have all the pretty taps! (and i learnt the hard way that you have different sized pipes… sigh) seriously though, not sure if it helps or not but my friend has a white one and it gets badly discoloured and scratched very quickly. the kitchen above with one black bench and one white looks great. maybe have a black bench for the cooktop and lovely carrara marble on your gorgeous piano island?

    Reply

    • Erica Tennyson
      February 8, 2018 @ 3:07 pm

      That was my though too — slate countertops, white marble on the piano island!

      Reply

      • JeanFB
        February 8, 2018 @ 3:29 pm

        I third that motion – slate on the periphery with the cooktop, gorgeous carrera marble on piano island. However – if that is totally forbidden… I do like the silver one a lot. And the silver would play nicely with the carrera (yes, price, I know… but the beige one is terrible!) But I understand the frustration…. I also got to use a white one in Paris and it was divine. Good luck!

        Reply

        • Beth
          February 9, 2018 @ 7:41 am

          She said slate was prohibited with induction. She kind of glossed over it so I’m not sure if it’s a building code thing or prohibited in her mind.

          Reply

  4. Lynne
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:55 pm

    Decades ago, when I remodeled my 1870s Victorian cottage, I fell for the white on white kitchen look. I fell hard. Afterwards my life became about cleaning and keeping up the whiteness of the white cooktop… which little by little turned amber. Eventually I learned that the black cast iron grill of the stoves of yore are traditionally black for a very good reason. And now I have a black cooktop I can be as rough as I like with, and it looks just fine with my white cararra marble. I am not trying to dissuade you from your white cooktop but I am just saying, the white ones are for people who don’t cook every single day. YES you can have the electrician run 220 to your kitchen and then have a converter for a European hookup— this will be a significant expense and then the building inspector will not know what to make of it.

    Reply

  5. yasmara
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:56 pm

    Boiling water is super fast with induction and my husband loved it because nothing is actually HOT. He could accidentally drape a kitchen towel on top of a burner and…nothing happened.

    I feel like it’s some kind of weird techno-wizardry to cook food WITHOUT HEAT and am solidly in the rotary phone category. We replaced our induction with a gas cooktop because I do 99% of the cooking. My uncle has a condo & can’t have gas; he also loves his induction cooktop.

    Reply

    • Alexis
      February 9, 2018 @ 2:16 pm

      My husband deliberate tucks the kitchen towel around the base of the pot on our induction stove to stop water that spills over from running onto the touch button section of the top (which makes it get unhappy and beepy and turn off) and it’s totally fine.

      Reply

  6. Lauren
    February 8, 2018 @ 1:57 pm

    I’m kind of drooling over the black on slate option 🙂 I think all that would look sweet next to your piano island. Thank you for sharing your kitchen saga!

    Reply

  7. Kay
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:01 pm

    I actually used a professional, portable induction cooktop when I set up a temporary kitchen in my basement during the kitchen renovation. I had to buy a special saucepan for it. But even with that experience, I am much happier with my French range (which was shipped from France, but the nice company that imports them took care of all the awkward necessities before shipping it on to me). I prefer the look of a range rather than a cooktop and separate wall ovens, and I like gas. If the electricity kicks out, I can light candles and the burners and still cook a meal. We actually had a weather event some years ago that knocked out our power for five days, and in my then electric kitchen I had to cook on the barbecue and a propane camp stove. It wasn’t so bad in September, but in this part of the world anything can happen during the winter, and I do not care to try to cook outside when the temperature is in the teens or below.

    Reply

  8. Elaine
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:03 pm

    Where are the KITTENS??

    Reply

    • Lora
      February 8, 2018 @ 6:23 pm

      THIS is the important question on this post.

      Reply

      • Joy
        February 9, 2018 @ 9:31 am

        Victoria, you need a like button on the replies! Giving the two posts above mega likes!

        Reply

        • penny
          March 7, 2018 @ 6:00 pm

          Yes Victoria, please include a “Like” button, there are lots(!) I would LIKE!

          Reply

  9. Wanda
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:03 pm

    Find a large, fancy cutting board in the color you want and place over said cooktop when not in use.

    Reply

    • MariaSangria
      February 8, 2018 @ 9:09 pm

      That’s a stinking smart idea…maybe a gorgeous black walnut, reclaimed chestnut?

      Reply

    • Avery
      February 9, 2018 @ 11:16 pm

      I came down here to write the same thing! Since you have banished the idea of a range hood, it will just look like you have enviable amounts of counter space.

      Just say no to the off-white one. Imagine tomato sauce/ paprika/turmeric staining it. It’s one thing to be careful about your white countertops, but imagine making all of your sauce in a crock pot because you’re terrified of staining your cooktop.

      Reply

  10. Kay
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:04 pm

    Sorry, I did not cook on the barbecue and camp stove in my kitchen. “With” would have been a less confusing choice of words.

    Reply

  11. Dianne
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:04 pm

    I prefer the black. So much easier to care for and always looks cleaner. I know from experience the white is awful to keep white.

    Reply

  12. Erika
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:04 pm

    Love Love Love my induction and will never go back. I love the black, the same way I love black window frames and doors

    Reply

  13. Kate
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:05 pm

    I love my Wolf induction cooktop! Get the black induction and enjoy cooking. And remember, it’s a kitchen, not a showroom. Induction cookware is everywhere now, I bought my set at Costco for about $150. And my cast iron pans still work great!

    Reply

  14. Grace F
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:12 pm

    Well, you just might want to try out the Portable Induction Cooktop from Ikea for $45.00 and see if you actually like cooking with it.

    Reply

    • fixitchick
      March 5, 2018 @ 4:55 pm

      fabulous idea!! I will get one. We are currently in an electric only house and i HATE. LOATHE. DETEST. DESPISE cooking on electric. thinking about going propane. very very seriously. but with lightning issues, wildlife and fear of general stupidity and poor workmanship I fear the large tank. but cooking every day means I want something I want to cook on. I am even to the point of installing an outdoor kitchen so I can cook on grill with my pots and pans – with a small propane tank. My poor poor husband. I do not want 1 new kitchen. I want 2. [and one more for the tenant space, but they can use our old glass stove.

      I am also thinking natural gas, because where we live electricity is generated at a coal plant, and we cant afford solar panels right now. They were close to 20k at the old house, and that is more than I have to spend on all the kitchens.

      Reply

      • Kitty X
        January 11, 2019 @ 8:12 am

        Did you go with propane? If you’re still thinking about it, know this – it does NOT cook like gas. It burns MUCH hotter. It is impossible to simmer.

        Reply

  15. Marion
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:20 pm

    Any chance you could set the black induction cooktop into the piano island? It would solve the problem of color matching.

    Reply

  16. Lauren
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:21 pm

    I have one. I live in Germany, where you can’t get anything else. And I cook at least twice a day, so I can tell you that after about a year to 18 months the black (I have black) clouds up where it’s most often heated. You see it when standing at the stove. I therefore suspect that white would look like hell pretty quickly.
    Plus I adore slate and would have it if we could afford it,but my advice would be the same even if I loved marble.

    Reply

    • Rosalie
      April 4, 2018 @ 1:31 pm

      I live in Canada and am on my second induction cooktop. I have had one since 1992 and will never go back to traditional. Having said that I can tell you that neither of my black cooktops, the last one is a Whirlpool from Ikea (cost about $650 Cdn), have ever gone cloudy so it is likely that will not be an issue.

      Reply

  17. Angie J.
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:22 pm

    Identified as poors had me laughing out loud.
    Why does pretty have to be expensive. Wouldn’t it be just as easy to make something pretty versus not?

    Reply

  18. Katie Ellison
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:25 pm

    Victoria, This is really not a decision to make hastily. It really is a lifestyle decision. Think of the power you’d be giving up not having those chunky knobs to crank up to thermal nuclear level when your husband glares at yet another Craigslist purchase. Think of the time you’ll spend rifling for cooling racks when baking now that the filthy grates are gone. I could go on, but these old cook tops provide more than a showroom would ever display. I suppose you’ll have it delivered in a driverless van. Progress indeed. Love your blog. Katie

    Reply

  19. kate holmes
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:36 pm

    Every room needs a touch of black.

    Reply

  20. Dorothy
    February 8, 2018 @ 2:42 pm

    Why, yes, I did just crawl out from under a rock (took me a while to figure out that induction IS electric!), but I still think black on slate would be divine! 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.