Customer Reviews

GE Profile CleanDesign : PHP900DMBB 30 Induction Cooktop, 4 Induction Elements - Black

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Cooking (mainly Italian) is my hobby. My 16 year old GE radiant still worked but the amount of time it took to heat up and, most importantly, the amount of time it took to cool down was frustrating. The heating time could be blamed on older burners but it is typical for radiant cooktops to take quite a while to cool down. When I had something that needed to be heated to boiling and then reduced to a simmer I had taken to turning on two burners -- one on medium or high and the other on low and moving the pan between them.

I would have thought about a gas stove but my kitchen is not plumbed for gas. When I saw the induction concept I was somewhat sceptical at first and bought a single burner induction cooktop to try the concept. I quickly became a convert. The induction cooktop will bring water to a boil in less than half the time of my old radiant cooktop and, more importantly, the temperature can be reduced immediately. And when I say "immediately" I mean immediately. One can go from a rolling boil to no boiling within seconds (see video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgKJLF0AyKI).

I had to have my electrical supply to the cooktop upgraded from 30 to 40 amps for the cost of about $800 and I can truly say that this cost and that of the cooktop has been well worth it.

Since most of my cookware was not induction capable I did need to buy some more but that was a relatively minor cost. Besides, after 30 years of marriage my wife now has new things to give me for presents ;-)

GE has a great product here. The large burner on the right will go to 3200 watts and will bring 4 - 6 quarts of water to a boil in 10 - 15 minutes. The cooktop looks great and functions even better. GE customer support was fantastic. The induction cooktop is supposed to fit right into a cutout for the Profile line but, prior to ordering, I emailed them to get the exact dimensions of the cutout necessary for my old cooktop. It took a few days but they did research it and emailed me the information.

Both GE and Thermador have very useful information and videos on their web sites for anyone interested.

Length:: 3:15 Mins

All I can say is ....WOW!! I wish I had done this sooner. After exhausting but fun research, scouring the internet learning about induction, I finally pulled the trigger. I cannot tell you how pleased I am, ESPECIALLY with the clean up. My old gas cook top was black and was such a chore to clean up. My new induction top wipes off effortlessly because the top itself does not get hot, therefore spill overs do not bake on. The top does get hot eventually directly under the pan because it has a hot pan sitting on it.
Now for something different than the other reviews. My home was wired with a 30 amp circuit to the cook top and research will say that you will need 40 amps. This particular top will only let you have two burners on "Boost" at the same time. To max out the rated amperage you must have all the burners on high at the same time. When you see how hot and fast that really is... I SERIOUSLY doubt you will ever need that. Induction is so efficient, that most of our cooking is done on #3 to #5. The scale is 1-10. The higher settings are for frying and boiling. I don't have the need to have 4 skillets frying or 4 pots of water boiling at the same time and I don't think I ever will. Anyway.... before considering calling the electrician, I decided to try it awhile first and see if we trip the breaker. If we do, and it becomes a problem, then we can deal with increasing the wire size and changing the breaker to a 40 amp. So far we have NEVER tripped any breakers and the top works absolutely flawless. DO NOT let the fact that you have a 30 amp service steer you away from considering an induction top. I suggest trying it first, THEN see if you need to increase your breaker size.

In the heirarchy of cooktops, induction is king. Although induction is powered by electricity, it should not be confused with traditional electric cooking.

Induction provides instantaneous results. The speed of heating a pan is amazing (surpasses gas and electric in speed and control), it does not throw heat (other than the hot pan), and the lack of heat generated beneath the surface means the cooktop is much cooler than either electric or gas, because there are no heating elements in the unit. Also, induction costs far less to operate than gas or electric.

This unit has digital controls (with a lit display that only shows when it is on), and I know, for example, that olive oil will burn in the pan above 5, but 4.5 is perfect for sauteing. And it will remain perfect for sauteing throughout the entire cooking process, it will not get hotter or colder.

Furthermore, you can store anything on the cooktop (we keep a bottle of olive oil on there, as well as a non-magnetic spoon rest. They stay cool to the touch regardless of how many units are on.

Now there are downsides.

1. Cost: cost prohibitive for many, by far the most significant factor. There are no freestanding range/oven combos, which means that you need to spend money on individual range and oven to get a functional kitchen. Furthermore, unless you have a 40A cooktop in place, you will need to upgrade your electric. The total cost for us was around thirty two hundred for both the wall oven and the cooktop, with an additional cost of $150 for the electrician, and about $300 in replacing the pans.

2. Cookware: although most high end pans are made to be induction compatible, the majority of widely available cookware is not. Especially non-stick. I found a couple nice "eco" non-stick pans at a homegoods store, but be advised to take a magnet along with you shopping, and only buy pans to which it sticks. That being said, all-clad is typically induction compatible, and there is a wide movement to making pans that way.

3. Probably not a wise investment at this point if looking for a return on a home renovation for sale. While many people discover the benefits of induction for themselves, it hasn't taken off in the US yet, and most people won't know the difference until using it. I doubt people would recognize the benefits if we went to sell the house. Perhaps a brochure would be in order...

Now for those that hate electric cooking, but don't have gas lines, this is an amazing solution--I think it is far better than the other methods of cooking. Also, if you frequently cook but have a smaller kitchen, this will keep it cooler.

If you have gas lines, I'd have to say that the benefits of induction (compared to gas) do not outweigh the initial cost. This cost could be recouped by energy savings if you cook A LOT, or by weighing in other considerations, such as small children being burned.

The 30" is very useful, and is equivalent to a standard freestanding cooking range. The 36" model would be appropriate if you are accustomed to having a 6 burner cooktop.

I don't have any basis for comparison to other induction units, but I cannot find any faults with this unit.

UPDATE:

After cooking on this for over a year, I have a few additional comments:

1. Some induction compatible pans make noise when heating, not loud, but rather annoying.
2. The glass has scratched slightly in places. Still looks very sleek though.
3. Controls are annoying to clean. Despite the "control lock" button, when you clean the rest the water activates the buttons, making an error message and a beeping noise.
4. There should be a better way to seal off the edges next to the countertop. Has anyone tried silicon?
5. There are now "all in one" cooktop/oven slide in units available.

UPDATE:

Barkeepers friend works extremely well to clean the cooktop

I don't understand why people haven't been really advertising one of the largest benefits of the induction stovetop - there is an AMAZING difference in the amount of heat produced in the kitchen!!! I live in Houston and my husband cooks a lot. He is very hot-natured. What a difference this induction stovetop makes! Electric and gas both cause so much extra heat in the kitchen that I have to believe that the induction stove will pay for itself by not heating up the kitchen. I cannot stress enough the difference we feel. My mother has a gas stove and her kitchen gets very uncomfortable in the summer when cooking. We used to have electric and it caused a lot of heat as well. We can cook for hours on the induction stovetop and it does not heat up the kitchen.

In addition to that, we simply love the way it cooks. When you raise or lower the setting the change is instant. It makes it so much easier to control the cooking. We didn't have any problems adjust to the stove. We were pretty nervous about doing something so different, and we simply regret not having done it a lot sooner. Even though our Magnalite pots don't work on the stove, it was not a big deal to us. The inexpensive, ferrous pots that we bought at Kohl's to replace them work beautifully. Definitely no regrets. Everybody in the south should own one of these - especially if you cook a lot.

Update one year later - We love this stove even more than when I wrote the initial review. Some important notes -
** If you're worried about scratching it, put a papertowel or thin dishtowel under your pot when you cook. We do this when we use our cast iron pots. I know it sounds weird - but remember it's the pot that heats up - not the stovetop. It truly works, and keeps your stovetop looking brand new.
** Works great if you work with melted chocolate. You don't need a double boiler because the lowest setting is mild enough to keep it melted.
** Cleanup is a breeze because nothing gets cooked onto the stovetop, since the stovetop isn't getting so hot.

This review regards the ceramic surface only. Utterly disappointing. As a preface, I had a Bosch ceramic cooktop for 11 years. Not one scratch. I installed the GE and cooked my first meal using two brand new All-Clad stainless steel pots. The surface was cleaned and the pots were washed and checked for any burrs. The result after one use? Two scratches, one I can feel with my fingernail, on the two burners that were used. The GE is shipped with a sample of "Cerama Bryte." The GE manual states Cerama Bryte can be used to remove scratches. DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT. The scratches were not removed. All Cerama Bryte did was remove the lustre from the ceramic top leaving a haze over both scratches. Now I have two scratches and two hazy spots on a cooktop used once. Bosch, 11 years no scratches. GE, 20 minutes-two hazy scratches. Would I recommend the GE? Only if you are not going to use it for cooking.

This is so beautiful. I afraid to scratch it. Anyway, I tested my stainless steel pots with a magnet. No can do. Only the Pressure cooker and the Cast Iron Skillet worked. So I have to buy new ferrous pots. They are not inexpensive.

We chose to try induction for our new kitchen. I have used this cooktop for about six months and love it. It heats quickly and the highest setting, H, gets a big pot of water boiling in just a few minutes. The large burner on the right is very powerful but all the burners heat fast. When you remove a pot or pan, induction burners immediately stop heating and cool. I find this a nice safety feature of induction cooking.

At the time we looked at appliances in summer 2010 there were very few good looking induction slide-in ranges, so we went with this separate induction cooktop installed in the granite counter with a GE Monogram oven installed underneath it. I verified with GE customer service online if the GE Monogram wall oven model we liked could be installed under this GE Profile induction model before we ordered. It took a couple of days but they emailed back that the two were compatible and could be installed together safely.

This cooktop is all black and it's very minimalist and sleek, with no metal edges to trap dirt. It looks and operates great. Buying cookware for it is not hard. Anything that attracts a magnet or has iron in it will work. We did buy a nice Teflon induction fry pan and a large induction pot we got on the Internet. Some All-Clad sauce pans we already had work with induction. I haven't found any problems with the touch-controls yet. I use the control-lock feature all the time to disable the burner controls so I can clean the glass surface. If you are looking at a standard glass cooktop or stove, give induction cooking a try. We love using it.

Used it for a month now and found the electronic pad to be subpar. The timer up button does not work. We contacted GE to repair. And repairman was about to pry the cooktop up with a screwdriver. Eeeeks!! That would ruin my countertop and cooktop.

The electronic pad does have a control lock. That feature is very useful. If I left a pot on the cooktop and my cat decides to walk on it. He can easily turn it on.

Another word of advice - make sure your existing cookware are induction compatible, meaning they are magnetic. Otherwise you'll need to buy new pots and pans.

It is a very beautiful cooktop for a modern kitchen.

This cook top is every thing I had hoped it would be. I was replacing another 30" cook top, so all I did was open the breaker, check to see if the circuit was dead, broke the old connection, popped-out the old cook top, dropped-in the GE, reconnected the wiring, closed the breaker, and that was it. One note, if you downloaded the instructions beforehand: a couple of times the instructions make bold note that if you have aluminum wiring, then you need Al to Cu connectors. Yep, but the COOK TOP has Al wiring, so if you have Cu wiring you need special wire nuts. A simple, online check with Lowes or Home Depot, or a call to a local appliance store, to check availability and get three wire nuts for an Al to Cu connection. For those with a science acumen, it's the galvanic action between the two, dissimilar metals that will cause corrosion--some will, incorrectly, say it's electrolysis, but that requires an electrolytic solution.
A few reviews as to cookware seem moot. If one doesn't know what magnetic induction is, perhaps one should read-up on it before considering this item. I recently changed cookware to Le Creuset Tri-Ply because I needed new cookware and had induction cooking in mind, also. This is excellent cookware. Lesser cookware will work on this cook top as long as it's of a ferrous material--stainless steel or cast iron. However, the performance of this cook top using this cookware is outstanding--much better than my ancient experience with gas. Amazing!
As for the 40 amp power requirement, when I popped the old cook top out, I noticed that the power rating was virtually the same as the GE one. This cook top ran for years on a 30 amp circuit. It should have been a 40 amp circuit, but the good ole boy electricians--I'm being generous--in rural East Texas used a 30 amp circuit and the old cook top never tripped the breaker. Induction cooking has to use less power than an electrical resistance cook top. Yes, induction and resistance are related, but using electrical resistance to heat has to be right up there with a wood-burning stove as to inefficiency.
Short version. Get this cook top and some Al to Cu wire nuts. You'll have no buyer's remorse.
BTW, instead of paying out the nose for an induction plate (hob) for use with your non-ferrous cookware, just get a cast iron griddle--preferably one without the built-up ring on the bottom. You're have to deal with the high specific heat, and resulting "thermal battery" of cast iron, but you won't need to use it that much. It's something that you'll probably want to have, anyway.

We remodeled in May and put this cooktop in after some consideration. We have friends who have similar cooktops of different brands but felt those had confusing controls. Not this one, everything is easy to work. Just find the "picture" of the burner that you want to use and push the "on/off" control to turn that burner on. Then it is just up or down button for the heat control right next to that. Two annoyances. We had to buy almost all new pots and pans and it was difficult to find new ones that actually stated that they were usable on induction. And the glass top does fingerprint very easily, but it is also easier to clean than a coil. We bought a large silicone sheet and cut it to size, that is used as a cover when the cooktop is not in use and that seems to keep the dust off and helps protect it if someone accidentally places something on there when they are not using the cooktop. We have no regrets at all with this GE cooktop.