In the almost 20 years I’ve spent as a custom home builder, I’ve installed countless ranges and cooktops for my clients. In recent years, the majority of my clients have decided to go with a professional Wolf gas range. This isn’t surprising, when nearly every custom-designed kitchen on Pinterest and Houzz seem to have a pro-style gas range installed.
It’s true – they are gorgeous with their signature red knobs and chunky cast-iron grates, but are they practical?
Wolf Gas Cooktop in a Custom-Built Project by Charter Bay Home Builders
When my wife and I recently bought a home in Dade City to renovate, we had to ask ourselves this very question. Would a professional-style gas range be practical for us and our lifestyle?
The previous owners custom-built this home, and had installed a gas cooktop in the kitchen island. Given this, it would have been easy enough for us to install a Wolf cooktop or range in its place since the gas lines had already been run.
Initially my wife was excited about the concept of getting a pro-style gas range for her brand new kitchen – and so was I since I consider her to be a killer cook. I was already envisioning all the meals she’d create using it. (With me as her sous chef, of course!)
The more we started looking into the features we wanted, the more we started to question whether or not a gas range would actually be the right option for us.
Yes, they are gorgeous. Yes, professional chefs seem to prefer them. And without a doubt, they would make our new kitchen Pinterest-worthy.
But…
The “ but…” we kept running into had nothing to do with performance, and everything to do with the daily maintenance required to keep the range looking as Pinterest-worthy as it did the day it was installed. What Pinterest fails to show you is what those gorgeous red knobs look like after you make your kids pancakes and bacon. Or what those chunky cast-iron grates look like after you pan-fry a piece of salmon. Or what happens underneath those grates when a pot of potatoes boil over while you are putting the clothes in the dryer.
For my wife, this was a deal breaker. While she loved the look and the idea of a having gas range, she didn’t love the inevitable reality of what owning one might be like considering the daily grind of keeping all those nooks and crannies and the surface underneath the grates looking like new. She’s since decided to go with a flat-surface induction cooktop rather than gas because she’d “rather spend her time after dinner having another glass of wine than cleaning the damn cooktop!” That’s my girl! 🙂
What are your thoughts? Do you have a love/hate relationship with your gas range? If you were to build a new house, would you put another one in? Is the cleaning and upkeep worth it – especially given the cost of a pro-style gas range? And my wife wants to know if you would you be willing to take a close-up picture of your gas cooktop and post it on Pinterest right now? Or would you need to spend 15 minutes cleaning it first?
In our next post, we will compare gas with induction and explore some of the pros and cons of each. We will also discuss some other things to consider when making your decision, such as venting and heat transfer.
