this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2025
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I wanna do a minor kitchen remodel (mostly just shuffling appliances and cabinets) which seemed like a good opportunity to finally upgrade to induction.

Ideally I'm looking for a slide-in range, but I'm open to doing cooktop and oven separately given a reasonable way to make that fit in the footprint of a slide-in.

Obviously normal BIFL stuff. I don't care about or want Smart Connectivity of any kind; knobs are great, the fewer touchpads the better, screens are off-putting; the fewer electronic components, the better; I don't care about aesthetics at all, I like the simple, easy to clean commercial style.

Bridge elements would be nice, but not that important. Convection is preferred, a split oven would be nice, I don't really need the storage drawer at the bottom.

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[–] bluGill@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

There is a reason I'm still using my range from the 1980's that I hate. what you want should exist but it doesn't.

[–] Blackout@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

I got one with the touchpads on the front of the unit. It's as much fun as you can guess. Cant even adjust the burners when there is liquid on it (all the time when cooking). The smart features have never worked. I was hoping to be able to turn on preheat while in the living room but no go. It's a $2500 GE model too. So I hope you can find one with knobs and works well in your price range. They really are worth it with the right pans, heats up much faster than gas.

LG has some in the 1400-1800 range with knobs from Costco. No bridge mode. GE has one with bridge but no knobs. Consumer Reports has LG and GE on top.

[–] yessikg@fedia.io 1 points 3 days ago

GE has one with knobs, but it's a 30'' range

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It also depends on what plug you have.

Here is Europe, many better induction ranges require 3-phase power connection.

I don't know if you can get Seimens or Miele in America, but those are top brands that will last forever. (Also for other appliances, Miele C3 Complete vacuum cleaner is BIFL and amazingly)

[–] khannie@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Agree with Siemens and Miele. Great kit.

I'd like to add Zanussi to that list. I have a 21 year old frost free A rated Zanussi fridge that's still going strong. I'd say it's saved us a fortune over the years.

Similarly old Zanussi oven / gas hob that we gave to my mother in law when we were moving house nearly 20 years ago. Only the oven element has ever needed replacing.

Edit: I may be misremembering the gas hob. Giving it away would only make sense if it's electric as we were moving into a house with gas.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Thank you! Watching this thread eagerly.

I'm replacing, so I'm looking for a 48" model - what size is your's? It's a key factor.

It's getting increasingly hard to avoid the "smart" cook tops, but that's critical for me. I not only don't ned my cook top to have WiFi, I actively want to not pay for smart features. We made the mistake of replacing our dishwater with a smart (LG) model, because of other features it had; I thought I'd simply not connect it... only to discover that some features are hidden behind a "download to use" function. Fuck you, LG.

We have a gas range I want to replace, not because I'm anti-gas (we have a properly, externally vented, hood with a powerful fan), but because cleaning gas tops is a serious PITA. I've liked the induction tops we've used in Europe, and would like to get one here, but they're absurdly priced. I guess they're still rare enough to be considered luxury options. I could replace by gas top for a fraction of any induction top I've seen.

Anyway, thanks again for posting this.

Edit: while I don't generally use LLMs for searching, I do find them useful for product searches. Hallucinations are harmless (the product either exists and has the features I requested, or it doesn't), and LLMs are far better about leveraging qualifiers such as "no WiFi".

Here's my DDG search, FYI.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Well, the current range is 30", but it only has a counter to one side, so I could go with any size. It's just me and my wife though, so 48" is probably excessive for my use.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sure, you work with the space you have. I meant only that it'll affect recommendations.

Also, one suggestion: build for the house, not your current situation. If the house has room for a family, install something that'll work for a family in case you ever sell. Buyers will be looking at that.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's a pretty small house, about 1000 sqft.

I mean I'd love a nice 48" unit, but I can't imagine many options in my budget

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Been there. It sounds as if you're right-sizing it.

The downside of a bigger cooktop is more surface area to clean. I'm only looking at 48" because I'm looking to swap in, and that's the size that's already there. You're redoing your counters, too?

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, but there's only a counter on one side of the range, the other side is the fridge which I'm moving anyway.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago

We redid the kitchen in our second house, which was about the same size, and sounds like about the same layout. The range was wedged up hard against the fridge, with maybe 4 or 6" of counter between them. It sucked.

We moved everything, and made the kitchen floorspace a little smaller to add counter and cabinet space, and to move the fridge. The extra counter and cabinets were the best thing we did, in retrospect, but moving the fridge was huge. We didn't put in a larger range, but just the extra elbow room at the range changed the whole feel of working in the kitchen.

[–] thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Can you get Mercury cooker/oven/hob where you are? I had one at a previous house and it was built like a tank - to the extent I had to leave it when I moved. It would have needed a crane to move it.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They look gorgeous, but we're pretty solidly outside of the $1,500 range.

[–] thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

bums - what about “Stoves”? they’re a more budget friendly brand, still made in the UK though.