Cooktop (Ranges & Ovens)

A Cooktop is the burner deck alone, dropped into a cutout in the countertop with no oven underneath. Cabinet space below stays free for drawers, and the oven moves elsewhere, usually into a Wall Oven mounted at chest height. Gas, radiant electric and induction versions all exist, and each surface behaves like its equivalent range, so the Induction Range and Gas Range guides describe the heat itself.

Every range bundles this same deck with an oven in one cabinet at one price. Splitting the pair costs more, since a separate cooktop plus a Wall Oven typically runs well past a comparable single range before the electrician and carpenter bills arrive. What that money buys is layout freedom: burners on an island, an oven at a height that spares your knees, and two appliances replaceable on separate schedules.

Cutout size decides more than brand loyalty does, because a replacement matching the existing hole drops straight in, while a larger deck means cutting stone or laminate and a smaller one leaves a gap no trim hides well. Measure the old opening rather than the old appliance, and check the required clearances to the wall and cabinet sides on the installation drawing. Venting rules do not relax because the oven left, since steam, smoke and grease still rise off the burners, so a hood above or a downdraft vent pulling air down beside the deck stays part of the job.

Knobs keep working with wet, greasy or floured hands, while flat touch controls want a dry fingertip and can lock out mid-recipe under a splash. Try both control types with damp fingers before committing. Serious cooks wanting an island cooking surface, households remodeling around a Wall Oven, and anyone replacing a failed deck in an existing cutout all land here naturally. Small kitchens and tight budgets usually do better with one range, which packs both functions into 30 inches and a single connection.

Two appliances, two installations and sometimes two trades make the split the expensive path, and the extra spending adds no burner or oven you could not get in one range. Plan the supply lines early, because a gas deck needs an accessible shutoff valve below the counter and an induction deck usually wants its own 240 volt circuit.