The 5 Very Best Electric Cooktops

Whatwe’relookingfor

Style:Induction| Size:11.4 inches x 14 inches x 2.5 inches| Temperatures:20| Extra functions:Boil, keep warm, timer

Used by five of the experts I spoke with, the Duxtop is the most recommended on this list. Notably, four of them are content creators who initially bought it to film but love it so much they’ve started to use it in their everyday lives as well. (Meanwhile, Todd Pulsinelli, executive chef atthe Chloein New Orleans, has had one in his restaurant for two years and says it’s still going strong, even with heavy use on the line and behind thebar.)

The appliance allows you to control its surface temperature in increments of 0.5 to ten and “maintains a steady heat on every setting,” says recipe developerNisha Vora. The lowest will keep food warm, and the highest will boil water in minutes (both functions have preset buttons). “The differences between the levels are subtle,” saysCarina Wolff, the recipe developer behindKale Me Maybe, “so you get a really good range.” Another recipe developer,Phoebe Moore, notes that “it’s sensitive to adjustments in both directions, too, without the lag that comes with built-in electric stovetops.” While those levels are our experts’ preferred method of adjusting the heat, Firkser notes that you can also control it by set temperatures between 100 and 460 degrees Fahrenheit, which she finds helpful for deep-frying.

All the experts noted how easy this machine is to clean with a simple wipe-down across the flat top, and all mentioned that it’s lightweight and compact. “You can put it away and get it back out without it being a whole production,” Moore says.

Style:Electric| Size:11 inches x 11.5 inches x 2.5 inches| Temperatures:Six| Extra functions:None

While the Cuisinart cooktop doesn’t have as many temperature options as the Duxtop (or timer and boil presets), four experts say it gets the job done very well — especially for its affordable price. BothYumna Jawad, the recipe developer behindFeel Good Foodie, andLindsey Baruch, the recipe developer behindLindsey Eats, have owned theirs for around five years each and say it’s still working great. They like the simplicity of the dial, which takes the machine from a minimum setting for keeping food warm, to a simmer, and then to medium-low and beyond, until you get to the maximum temperature, which will sear a steak or brown butter. “It won’t go to acrazyrapid boil, but I’ve still madepastawith it, no problem,” Baruch says.Sophia Simota, the recipe developer behindKiln and Kitchen, notes that it heats up superfast, stays at a consistent temperature until you change it, and reacts seamlessly to those changes.Cookbook authorand recipe developerColu Henryis another fan, calling the machine “super-solid” and noting that it “doesn’t make a lot of noise with the fan like some others.”

Style:Electric| Size:9 inches x 9 inches x 3.25 inches| Temperatures:Six| Extra functions:None

Eden Nosal, the recipe developer behindThe Bold Appetite, originally picked this burner because of the very low price. After several tries with fancier models that eventually gave out or didn’t perform as well as she had hoped, she figured it was better to spend less and replace when necessary. To her surprise, this one has been working great for two years,even as she uses it four to five times a week for two to three hours at a stretch. She says there are no hot spots and no lags between temperature changes, and she appreciates the very compact size (it’s the smallest on this list). “I like to hide the excess platform under my pan for the sake of video, and this does that,” she says. “That also means it fits neatly right into a cabinet.”

Style:Electric| Size:11 inches x 12.25 inches x 3.25 inches| Temperatures:Six| Extra functions:None

This Waring cooktop has been in chefChrissy Tracey’s rotation for several years — first as a cooktop for catering gigs and now as a way to create content for her channels. The whole time, she has also found it useful as an extra burner when cooking bigger meals for a group (and when she took itcampingonce when she had access to electricity at her site). She calls the machine “super-durable” (no surprise, given that Waring makes thepanini pressmost professionals use in commercial kitchens). Tracey says it gets hot very quickly and is intuitive to maneuver between heat levels with the dial, plus the heat distribution is even. There are rubber feet on the bottom, which means it never slides around on the countertop.

Style:Induction| Size:9.5 inches x 13.75 inches x 4.5 inches| Temperatures:Exact temperature control| Extra functions:Keep warm, timer, save custom temperature profiles, internal temperature probe

The Breville delivers incredibly accurate temperature control, allowing you to heat to precise degrees. Not only that, but it comes with a probe that takes the internal temperature of whatever you’re cooking and displays that reading on the screen. “You can actually even set the temperature youwantsomething to heat to ahead of time and it will get it there,” says Nate Kuester, executive chef at New York City’sNARO. He and the restaurant’s pastry chef, Celia Lee, both love this appliance for deep-frying because when you drop something into oil, the temperature automatically drops, but the Control Freak senses that and quickly heats the oil back up to the desired degree. “It also allows me to customize presets for desserts I make often,” Lee says. And Kuester appreciates its built-in timer for things he may want to set and forget, like stock. Both professionals say that even with its more advanced functions, the machine is straightforward to use, with clear indicators on the screen and a knob to move between them.