I did it when we were in Florida. It's not recommended, and I can see why. Everything was either too hot or too cold. And I was constantly afraid of damaging the surface.

Better to go with a different material.

I use an iron skillet from time to time on my glass top with no problems. If you do just make sure you don't slide it.

I've wondered... It seems to me that you could sand or grind the bottom of a CI pan smooth, and eliminate this problem. Does anybody know if that works?

I use cast iron on my ceramic glass top. My current range is about 4 years old and there are no scratches. The salesman who sold me the range, who is a cook himself, said I could do this. I knew him for years, so I trust his judgment. My former cooktop was a Corning glass top and I used cast iron on it for 20 years with no adverse effects on the cooking top.

To say all that, I must give a few warnings.

1. Bottom of pan or pot must be flat with no ridges as would be any pan you use over glass.
2. Run your hand over the bottom. If it feels smooth there should be no problem. If there is a little piece on the bottom that might be suspicious, you might try filing it until it is smooth.
3. Use medium to medium high heat as cast iron is so good at retaining heat. I always heat my pans well before I put oil or meat or anything else in.

If you use a cast iron griddle, make sure it is not reversible as those have a large ridge.

Also, think about Le Crueset and the other porcelain clad cast iron pots. They cook beautifully on glass.

Don't worry, just use common sense mixed with a little caution as to the smoothness of the pan's bottom.

I've always used my Le Creuset on a glass top. No issues.

Ditto to Mary's message. Enameled cast iron is the secret, I believe. It is smooth on the outside, gets hot and stays hot; and goes from fridge, to cooktop to oven to tabletop. I have about 10 pieces of Le Creuset enameled cast iron and use them on my glass cooktop every single day and have for the past 6+ years. We have rice nearly every night, and I have found that LC is the BEST for cooking rice (gave away the rice cooker after trying LC), bc once you are done you just take the pot off heat (I put mine on the matching LC trivet), keep the lid on, and it will stay hot for up to 30 minutes.

You need to use common sense though, remembering that iron is very heavy (don't drop it on the glass or it will crack it) and just on principle, I do not drag them, or any other pots, across the glass. I always lift them to move them.

I think the manufactures state not to use cast iron because they don't want a ton of reqeusts for warranty replacments due to broken glass from cast iron being dropped or dragged across the top and angry consumers blaming them for their own carelessness.

L

Another ditto. MY GE glass top stove manual actually states that using enameled cast iron is fine, but that normal cast iron can scratch up the top. So when I use my cast iron pans -- how can I give them up? -- I am careful not to slide them. I figure that if I don't slide the pans, they can't possibly scratch anything.

BTW, I am finding that the burners tend to turns off with a lot of my pots. I have a new set of heavy layered pots--the ones with copper and aluminum cores, but that look like stainless steel. It's been a bit of a struggle.

Most of my cooking is on All Clad but I would not give up my enameled dutch oven, the Mario Batali one, and a Lodge (skillet) which I use for high heat searing and stir frying. I have not noticed any scratches and try to be careful not to slide the heavy pots.

I thought the turning off issue was related to pan size?
I.e. Any pan 1" larger than the burner under the glass size will turn the burner off. This can be a problem if your trying to use a large canner or stock pot.
Is it really also related to heat? Never knew that.

I actually have a follow up question because I'm new to this idea and I just bought a lodge cast iron skillet yesterday and remember reading about a diffuser?

Is a diffuser necessary? It wasn't so much to save from the scratching, I know better than to drag as well, I just recall reading about the excess heat damaging the cooktop. Is that really a possibility? Now that I've read that it will shut off, I'm less concerned, but the pan shouldn't get hotter than the glass can handle, should it?

Thank you SO much for any ideas/feedback.

I don't like my glasstop stove at all..I'm tired of wasting my money on pots and pans that might work or not work and I found out I can't use my pressure cooker which is one of my favorite ways to cook..Is there something to put on the burner so I can use my pressure cooker? Thanks

I use the cast iron, and since my pan spins, I put a crinkly piece of tin foil under it, press the iron skill to the foil, and voila (just a bit crinkly does the trick). Heat transfer is less abrasive, pan does not spin. I am careful not to move the pan much, afraid of scratches, and researching now if silicone or some other substance would be better under the iron skillet. : ) Hope this idea helps!

I use all kind of cast iron cookware on my ceramic glass stove for years. Only limitation is there should be no heat ring. Skillets with flat surface are wonderful on glass top. No foil or any other things are needed. No scratches from cast iron on my surface after 12+ years. I also use my pressure cooker on glass stove w/o any issues. Not sure what was the groblem that KatieDid experienced with pressure cooker.
Olga