Even without restrictions on type or color, you may have trouble finding a cooktop that fits the same exact cutout. So some countertop work may be required, either in the form of cutting the hole bigger or buying/making a trim interface to make the hole smaller.

I would suggest induction for lots of reasons. Since food doesn't burn onto the surface, the white will look good for much longer than with radiant.

There are not very many white ones. There is a Kenmore 36" white one which is supplied by Electrolux.

Here is a link that might be useful: White Kenmore 36

That one looks nice, attofarad. Thanks. My cookware will work with induction, so that is not a problem. I just am not sure that I really want induction.

I checked out the cooktop at Sears. It only had 2.5 star rating, so don't believe this will work for me. I may have to be more flexible in making a decision - for example black instead of white.

AJ Madison list of white 36" electric cooktops

http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/White%3B36+Inch%3BElectric%3BCooktops/N~29+4294965549+1424+4294964456

Here is a link that might be useful: AJ Madison Cooktops

If I may make a suggestion, before deciding between standard electric and induction, invest in a small portable induction burner. You can give the technology a try without spending a great deal of money on it. Many others have employed this method to make their decsions--you may even be able to pick up a used one! (I know I'll be Craiglisting mine, now that I have a full sized one in my new kitchen!)

Really, before making your decision, I'd encourage you to give induction a try, even if it's just in a showroom. It's wonderful, the control is superb and the clean up is effortless. If you don't like it, then fine--but at least you'll know. If you do a search here, you'll find that a lot of people love their induction cooktops.

Happy Holidays!
Cj

walnutcreek, Trust me (Why should you? We've never met. But trust me anyway.), attofarad and cj47 are right. I grew up with gas, had no choice but to use coil electrics for more than two decades, then switched to induction eleven years ago, and it was like I had died and gone to heaven; the improvement over coil electric is that vast, and the improvement over gas (unless you cook a lot in woks) is almost as great as the improvement over coil electric.

Induction is more powerful and quicker reacting than gas, and much, much, much quicker reacting than coil electric. No more overshoot, ever. (However, on a flat top cooktop -- whether induction or conventional electric -- you will have to make accommodation in order to engage in wok cooking.)

There is only one thing that you can do on an electric coil burner that you cannot do as well or better (almost always MUCH better) on an induction cooktop -- but if you have decided on a Ceran-top cooktop, you already have left the direct cooking of S'mores on the coils behind you, so that one advantage is irrelevant.

As for the white color, as we found out years ago when we bought a "white" Jenn-Air, for some makers white is a relative term. Our "white" cooktop really was more of the mottled grey of the "granite" style steel pots you see at soup kitchens, not a proper Navy-officer-in-full-dress-uniform-in-the-summer white.

We have had two ceramic top cooktops. One was a GE Profile and the other was Whirlpool Gold. Both were downdraft models 30" wide and Bisque in color. We liked both. The GE seemed to be built heavier and gave no trouble until we dropped a heavy bowl on it and cracked it. I found the Whirlpool Gold on ebay, actually listed by Whirlpool. They do warehouse clearances there from time to time. We got the Whirlpool Gold for about $550 but the replacemant GE would have been $1300. No brainer. Only problem has been with the electronic fan switch. It only runs in fast speed now but since the replacement was $200 from the local dealer we use fast.

When it comes to actual cooking, gas burner and induction cooktops are far superior because of quick response to power adjustments. Then upscale coil. Ceran radiant cooktops are last because of slow reaction to adjustments.

As others have said, the size of the cut out may dictate what you end up getting if you don't want to do any tile work. I actually went with the 36" Electrolux Induction Hybrid cooktop. It has 2 induction and 3 noninduction burners. (Only my Le Creuset will work on induction and I like my Wolfgang Puck cookware) Just 2 more months and I can cook on it. :)

Ohh my! Thank you all so much for your input. I never thought of looking on eBay, but will certainly do so. Since there are so many recommendations for induction, I will look into that solution. I do like the idea of the hybrid, so will look into that too.

The only thing I can't do on my induction cooktop that I could do one my smoothtop regular electric cooktop is use my Aluminum Presto 16 qt canner. I have plenty of big stockpots I can use for Waterbath canning, but all pressure cookers that are also big enough to can in are Aluminum.

You can get smaller stainless pressure cookers.

Not to overstate the induction thing--but I'd think carefully about getting a hybrid cooktop. It's appealing because you can hedge your bets--if you don't like induction you're not stuck with it. It made sense to me in the beginning, because induction was an untried technology for me. However, when I was doing my research, in almost every case people regretted getting hybrids, because they always used the induction burners and the regular electrics just took up space. :-) Now, some folks didn't want to give up gas, so they put in both induction and gas, and didn't regret that. (I think Pllog and Elizpiz did that on this forum, for wokking and pepper roasting). So unless you have some non-magnetic cookware that it would break your heart to replace, I'd give a portable induction burner a try first and then make the decision about whether a hybrid would be a good idea.

Have fun,
Cj

I appreciate the thoughts about the hybrids, CJ; you make very good points. I have purchased a small induction burner, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

I have been looking online at the induction cooktops - they are not inexpensive. At this point, I am leaning towards a GE.

Allow me to chime in with cj47. We had a hybrid for nine years, and the only time we ever used the ribbon radiant burners were (1) when we had a 10" or greater diameter pot to heat up (the two induction burners were about 7.5" and the only large diameter burner was ribbon radiant), or (2) when we needed three (or four) burners at once. We replaced it with all-induction, and are much happier.

I am not as sanguine as cj47 is that the small portable induction burner will give you a good feel for how well induction will work for you, however. Quite aside from the convenience factor -- presumably you located your present coil-top where you like to cook, and the portable burner will not be in the same place or at the same height as you are used to -- most of the portable units are underpowered and small diameter, and some make compromises in quality of the components just to get the units out the door, compromises that you are unlikely to see in a full-fledged all-induction cooktop.