Yea. I have a small food prep zone so using the induction top has been useful.

I did. It mostly happened at lunch time, or for school lunches, because of the various makings for sandwiches and the sides/drinks. Between the food, baggies, and lunch bags I loved the room. I didn't do it during dinner that much. I tended to prep early but might have had the veggies sitting on the cooktop waiting their turn on the cutting board.

I used it for landing space during "bar" type service. Taco, baked potato, pizza fixings, etc.

I discourage anyone else in my house from doing it. The kids wouldn't think about flammable materials like I do because they rarely cook with coil, gas, and radiant. They'll put school papers down without thinking. Not dangerous at my house but could be at any other's we know!

I do it, but gingerly. Like alex9179, I don’t want anyone else doing it!

Oh, this is so encouraging. Thank you!

I have induction and do it on occasion. I lay a towel down across it first.

I try not to because I worry about other family members scratching it.

I did when I had induction. Best place to chop onions (under the hood). Often the only bit of clean counterspace to dump groceries...

Fori, that is a good idea about the hood. I'm sorry you are so displeased. Are you like a "disapproving bunneh?"

I use it as my preferred landing pad for fridge and oven items (latter with a trivet) routinely. Also for groceries that are heading into the fridge and dishes that are heading into the oven.

Fori, do you not like the induction? Or did you move and get gas?

My name keeps getting longer in response to board modifications. :P

I liked induction a lot. Not at first. I moved into a house with a Kenmore induction cooktop from 1983. It was so awful it inspired my kitchen remodel even more than the pink Corian. By the time I got my remodel in order we had learned to love it and replaced it with a newer model. (I also have a huge appreciation for Corian--I treated that stuff so badly since I planned to replace it. It took two years of abuse like a champ.)

I moved. Had electric. Replaced with gas for a change of pace. Wired for induction and I might switch. I do have a bigger kitchen now so induction is less necessary. I would not do a small kitchen without it.

I don't use my induction for landing space. That's not to say that occasionally things don't get set there for a moment, but overall, no.

I have a smooth electric now and use it as a landing space because my kitchen is horrible and tiny.

Fori--chopping onion under the hood is brilliant! Too bad I don't have one. Yet.

Hi. I have been selling Bosch and Siemens for the past eleven years and you are not to use your induction for a landing space, we once got in one that was broken because of this. Not because of weight but having something like a two pound potato bag had messed up the stirring in the cooktop. So we have been told by the distributors never to do that.

Ice, I am confused. Does having an item rest on it cause problems with the calibration? Is this what you mean by stirring?

When I had induction in a previous house, it was initially in a tiny unremodeled kitchen with very little counter space. I used it to stack groceries. I put a cutting board on it and used it to do about 90 percent of my prep work. I never had any problems with it. (Our new house has gas and I very much wish I still had induction.)

I don't use it as a landing space for groceries, but only because of where it is. I do sometimes use it as a place to put utensils or bowls mid-prep. I love the idea of chopping onions under the hood!

If you can't put stuff on a cooktop that is off, you should probably not attempt to cook anything on it, either.

Obviously don't drop things on it.

2 pounds of potatoes? I plan to put on a stockpot big enough for a small child to climb into!!!

No. Never ever. I can understand if you have NO other space available, but it's just a bad thing to start doing, IMO. And as far as do as I say, not as I do...well, your family is definitely going to do what they see you do, rather than do as you say.

Onion chopping under the hood is kind of brilliant, though. I spray my pans with cooking spray under the hood, so it pulls the loose, airborne particles up and out.

"Not because of weight but having something like a two pound potato bag had messed up the stirring in the cooktop."

Yeah, that makes ZERO sense. I use cast iron regularly on my glass-top and they definitely weigh more than two pounds LOL. Hopefully most people have enough sense to not drop things onto the cooktop as that could certainly cause breakage.

I will say that I have never even heard the term "landing area" before reading these forums. I had to google it. :-) So technically, going by this definition, a cooktop would not be called a "landing area". But it certainly can double as countertop space, when needed. I find mine to be quite useful in that regard.

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What's a landing area? It's a countertop space that allows you to place (or "land") items from sink, refrigerator, cooking surface, and oven service areas. The countertop is adjacent to these areas.

For example, if a stove has no nearby landing area, the cook may be tempted to place a hot pan that she has just removed in a close but unsafe spot--perhaps on top of the fridge or on the floor.

A landing area is simply a way of describing the absolute minimum amount of countertop needed adjacent to one of these areas.

• Sink Landing Area: 24" on one side and 18" on another side.
• Refrigerator Landing Area: 15" on the handle side of the fridge.
• Cooking Surface Landing Area: 12" on one side and 15" on another side. If you have a counter with tiers of different heights, you still must provide the 12"/15" minimums on the same level as the cooking surface.
• Oven Landing Area: 15" adjacent to or above the oven. If the oven door opens onto a work aisle (not a traffic walkway), you are allowed to provide a landing area across from the oven (i.e., a kitchen island) no more than 48" away.

"For example, if a stove has no nearby landing area, the cook may be tempted to place a hot pan that she has just removed in a close but unsafe spot--perhaps on top of the fridge or on the floor."

(raises hand halfway)
not because I don't have a landing area by the cooktop, but because everything is so cramped. Sometimes I stack 2 hot pans/pots with food in them on top of each other (never floor or top of fridge). The microwave is also right in the corner with the fridge and cooktop, and it's ridiculous when I am heating up leftovers as well as cooking. It's a miracle I am able to produce a decent meal in my kitchen. Y'all would laugh if you could see how I use my tiny space! I make things like coq au vin and carbonara from scratch, and it's a sight to see.

It makes no sense why you can't take stuff out of the fridge and land it on the cooktop. It's designed to have big pots of stuff set upon it. I had a ceramic top at our previous house and loved the ability to use it as additional counterspace.

If there was damage to one induction top in eleven years because of a bag of potatoes methinks it was a one-off problem with the appliance. OR the owner actually stood on the darn thing and lied about a potato bag.

pitpat - I'm sincerely excited for your project to get underway!

This is my cooking area. As cramped as it is, yes, that is the best place for the microwave and coffeemaker. I will be such a happy cook in 2018.

Watch out, Benjesbride. I have been playing around with planning software and then adding to my plans in pencil. I have spent about 3 hours on that this morning (and I really need to shower and go to the store). I think I have 8 drafts of plans right now. I will peruse them later and then post my faves to critique. The basic design is what we have been talking about, but I have been moving things around a little to try to find the best arrangement for me.

Of course! You have to make it your own. I totally get it. When I was planning our house, I fell asleep with graph paper and pencil every night for probably 6 months. Countless iterations. My husband got so annoyed with me.

Mobuddy. Sorry English is not my first language what I meant is it can mess up the software in the cooktop. Of course you can use a big pot of anything on it . I saw a cooktop that broke after the lady that owned it put something ( potato’s) in a plastic bag in the middle of it and left it there for some time.

chess. I’m sorry for speaking up but it is not the same a ceramic cooktop and a induction one. I just thought I should post cause they are adamant you never use it as a landing space. Do as you want it is your cooktop.

Ice, I lived in Germany for a while and I could speak the language but never, ever write it. My German was good enough to shop at OBI/Hornbach which is the equivalent of Home Depot/Lowes here in the States. To this day, I call a wall anchor by its German name as it is more fun to say. Respect for you for writing in English.

Where are you located? Can I assume Norway/Sweden based on your user name?

In Europe, induction and glass ceramic are the norm. Perhaps the bag of potatoes rotted out and released a chemical? Or maybe she was fibbing as she was too embarrassed to tell you that she did indeed step on her cooktop?

Thank you mobuddy for your kind words. I’m Icelandic. I have a induction cooktop my self have had for 9 years, would not have anything else. Who knows what she did. When we sell a induction cooktop it is a rule we are to tell everyone to never to use it as a landing space.

Thank you, Ice for letting is know. I was getting all excited about chopping onions under the extractor hood.