You are correct that you shouldn't use cast iron on this type of stove -- The bottom can scratch it.

Le Creuset which is enamel over cast iron is okay since the bottom has enamel and is smooth.

There are many great alternatives to cast iron skillets which will not damage your stove top.

Thank you for clearing this up for me. What are the other alternatives? Do you treat Le Creuset cast iron differently than regular cast iron, as in seasoning, etc.?

Le Creeuset is porcelain lined & coated externally. You don't have to do a thing, other than wash it before the first use.

I have cast iron I have used for almost 40 years and was my main cookware for years. When I got my first smoothtop this past year, I gave away one frypan with a ridged bottom. I kept the others and use them on the smoothtop. So far no problems. One tends to spin a little, but use it mainly just to brown and then put in oven. Am careful to not slide them around much and certainly put them down carefully, but other than that no problem. They heat very fast on the smoothtop.

In fact, just today, I have browned some venison on the stovetop in my cast iron dutch oven and then transferred to the oven. Works just fine!

I also use cast iron cookware on my Dacor Ceran cooktop without a problem. I was a bit hesitant at first, but wanted the iron boost that cooking in cast iron provides, so I ordered a 4 quart Dutch oven and a smaller piece. About a month into owning them, I am very pleased. I find I reach for the Lodge Dutch oven more often than I do the All Clad.

Thanks, I'm glad to know others have tried cast iron on a glass top stove, I may also. Are any of the enameled cast iron skillets plain cast iron on the inside? It's the cast iron I want to cook with not the porcelain lining.

Hate to sound stupid, but porcelain is harder than iron and glass. Using a porcelain coated cookware doesn't seem logical if you are trying to prevent scatches on glass cooktops. Personnaly I haved used percelain dishes to sharpen knives when I acannot get my hands on a set of crock sticks.

I recently purchased an aluminum clad pan at an appliance store that has a chef on-staff for demos. I spoke with him about cookware and my soon-to-be-installed glass cooktop, and he said not to use cast iron, le creuset, or glass cookware (like corning). Then he directed me to a demo area with a glass cooktop that they had used glass cookware on; the cooktop was marred with scratches.

I appreciate that some folks are having good luck with these types of cookware, but I'll be following his advice. He certainly has a lot of experience, and the picture he presented was worth a thousand words!

I'm bumming. I just saw this thread... and yesterday, I bought 4 cast iron pans from an antiques store - was a great deal. I too have a glass top oven. So now the question is, do I or don't I.

FWIW, I recently bought a new glass top stove and specifically asked the salesperson(who said he has been selling appliances for 19 years) if I could use my Lodge and LeCreuset cookware on it. He said that they were not a problem. The new stove replaced another glass top that was in my house when I bought it 3 years ago. In those 3 years, I didn't put one scratch it....we were just updating appliances.

I have not had any problems or scratches so far, although the stove is fairly new. I would think common sense would tell you not to drop, drag, shake or slide them around on the cooktop. It would seem to me that a chef (who is working on a range he does not own or have to care for or replace) would not use the same care as a homeowner would. You would think they would use common sense to not damage the top, but I have seen chef's on tv use smoothtops and shake, drag and bang pans on them.

I intend to continue to use mine with due caution, and if I mess up will come back and tell you all!

On my thermador black smoothtop I was told it was okay just do it carefully. As stated above, no dragging the pan. Also some people season the outside as well as the inside. I wouldn't do this if I wanted it for a smoothtop. Glass and not flat bottom were are the big no's on smoothtops.

I inherited my mom's cast iron skillets which were a wedding present to her. These skillets are 62 years old and have ingraving in the bottom that say.... Griswold, and actually have a manufacturing # on the bottom of them.

I use these skillets and the dutch oven on my Whirlpool Accubake Smoothtop stove everyday. I don't have one scratch on my stove top. My stove is 7 years old.

This topic of scratching was also a concern of mine when purchasing my stove (since I had never owned a smooth top before). The gentleman at the store suggested to me not to use cast iron on the stove top but when I started questioning him as to if HE has ever tried it, he admitted that he didn't personally know anyone who had..... that was enough for me..... I knew that he was telling me things which he really didn't know about.

I use that Weiman Cook Top cleaner and my cast iron skillets everyday and my stove looks just like the day it was delivered to me!

Lifesabeach

Thanks for all the advice. I got an iron skillet to try and the only problem I've had is I forgot to wipe oil off the bottom before using it on my cooktop. Needless to say I had to clean the cooktop. So far so good, but I am being careful.

All good news. I'll be joining the cast iron/glass cooktop folks and trying it out soon! Thanks, Rider

The sales men that sold me the smooth top stove told me I could not use cast iron becuase if used on high, the iron will reach higher temperatures tham the glass underneath it and break or melt the glass. I don't know if it's true so to this day I have not used it.

Any thoughts?

For what it's worth, the leaflets that come with Le Creuset cookware say it's fine for ceran tops--just lift instead of slide to be safe. With regards to heat, they also urge low to medium heat on any cooktop...

I purchased a GE cooktop stove 4 years ago. The pamphlet that came with it said that I shouldn't use cast iron cookware because the iron would retain the heat and melt the stove top. I had been using cast iron skillets for 25 years. I really miss them. Has anyone used the heat diffusers that I have read about? Would they solve this problem?

That seems odd. I am not sure how the cookware could ever get hotter than the source heating element. No cookware, properly used, will melt on you. If you leave a pot on the burner on high without food in it, you can melt it and probably could also damage the cooktop. Again, I am not sure what makes cast iron different in that regards.

The greater concern, IMO, is scratching the cooktop. Heavy cookware, especailly if the surface is not smooth, is more likely to do that. I would just be careful. I use cast iron on my glass cooktop and so far no problems.

I have a cast iron skillet and enameled dutch oven.

CAn I use my large Le Creuset soup pot on a ceran cooktop? Will it be too heavy?