If you have a spacious kitchen a cooktop and a built-in oven is a better alternative for the cooking range.  A cooktop can have two, four or more electric elements or burners.  Many accessories are available in models from ‘FRIGIDAIRE' and ‘KENMORE' like fryers, steamers, rotisseries or grills. The same is available for gas models and is mainly prevalent wherever pipe gas is available. ‘WOLF' is another company which manufactures gas cooktops. They look elegant and neat and make cooking a pleasure.  The controls are easy and the adjustment of the flame on each burner is possible to the minutest degree. The flame produces the heat evenly, which makes cooking easy, because the food does not have to be stirred too often and it is fuel-saving.

There is a wide range of cooktops.  Firstly there are different sizes for burners; the numbers of burners could be from 4 to 6.  The surface is often non-stick, there is an electric ignition and there is often a flame-sensing re-ignition.  The material is often stainless steel, because it matches then with every style of wood or laminate.  Nowadays the Electronic Touch Control Cooktop is available with a glass top and sometimes a dual choice element that is between gas and electricity.

In Australia the company called ‘WESTINGHOUSE' has a wide range of cooktops. A variety of low-maintenance and durable surfaces are available and the cooktops come in various finishes and styles.  The cooking ranges are spacious and the controls are all push-button and electronic.  So, there are about 10 cooking functions available, for example baking, grilling and defrosting which can be controlled just by the touch of a button.  The grill models are especially practical, because the triple-glazed doors can be detached and cleaned.  On some cooktops there are removable control knobs as well, which is also convenient for easy cleaning.  Some ovens and cooktops have temperature limiters to prevent over-heating of the cooking range.

Cooking with electricity is common in Europe and for this a ceramic radiant or glass cooktop would be a good choice.  It is easy to use and clean and the ceramic colors lend a touch of ethnicity to the kitchen. The surface is continuous and the ceramic glass holds the heat for a long time.  The other options for elements in electric cooktops are halogen or semi-halogen, radiant coil, solid and induction. Halogen bulbs create the heat and semi-halogen burners combine a halogen bulb with a coiled metal element.  The efficiency is at par with the ceramic radiant cooktops. Radiant coils are cheap, but cleaning is not easy, so it is not popular. Solid hotplate is the cheapest option; it is easy to clean, though heating and cooling down is slow.  Induction is the fastest cooking method and controllable like gas.  But it is expensive and only certain types of cookware can be used.

The best suggestion for a mix and match for the cooktop is the MIELE combination which has a gas burner, a ceramic surface grill, induction element and an electric deep fryer!