Regarding the 5th burner. On my new stove I thought I would really enjoy the 5th burner. I envisioned all the extra dishes I could make at the same time for a holiday meal and not have things pile up like they tend to. What I didn't factor in was that the usable real estate on the stove top didn't allow for all 5 burners to be used at the same time, unless I am using a teeny tiny pot (which I don't have) on the middle burner :( Truth be told, I got just as much cooked in the same amount of time with my old 4 burner Magic Chef that had a space in the middle to put the spoons and utensils. I kind of miss my plain jane range in ways like that.

We have a griddle that fits over the middle burner. Don't use it very often because it is very heavy. We do use the center burner to make gravy in a large roasting pan, But we rarely use 4 burners at once.

I prefer 4 burners not 5 for the reasons @SEA SEA said. You should be able to find free-standing ones with 4 burners. An advantage of free-standing ranges is that because the electronic panels are away from the heat (unlike slide-in ranges where the range’s electronic panel is pretty much completely exposed to the heat), the oven’s cooling fan does not need to be on as long or even at all.

GE makes several models of free-standing ranges with 4 burners. Here is a link to one, but there are several others:

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/JGBS61RPSS.html

This Amana model appears to have a middle section that you can set down a utensil:

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/AGR6603SFS.html

I use have a 5th burner now and I use I all the time for pancakes and grilled cheese. I went to a 6 burner with a grill for my new stove. I love having pancakes without dragging out another small appliance. It is much lower BTU than my main cooking burners.

I like having BTU choice. I can use my wok on the most powerful burner and simmer on the 5k burner. My new stove goes from 21000 - 5000 BTUs so I am ready for anything.

I can understand it not being useful to everyone. I have an electric 4 burner in my basement for my summer kitchen and while jam takes longer to cook I don't mind.

My stove is a slide-in, between two cabinets. I just don't understand why the contractor suggested controls in the front, no back panel. Is that the modern way now?

The stoves all looked so heavy with the weighty black grates all over the top. I'll never use the center burner. I guess I'm having trouble moving into the 21st century!

Shannon, that Amana looks a lot like my current stove (simple, bassic), so I guess that's why I like it, but it looks kind of out of date too.

The heavy grates; mine has two that span the entire cook top. It's heavier than having four small grates, but I don't find them to be all that hard to lift out. What I do have trouble with (again, not factored in), is where to place the grates when I clean the stovetop. I have a small kitchen without a lot of counter space, so the kitchen table is it. Just figure out where your new grates will go when you clean the stove. With four small grates, I could place them on the counter on top of each other while I scrubbed the old stove. Seems small, but it ticks me off everytime I have to clean. I will sometimes look at a dirty stovetop because I just can't deal with that right now. If someone had pointed that out to me prior, I would have tried to find a range that had a small grate for each burner, knowing what I know now.

This past year I got a new GE range for our camp. It came in 4 or 5 burners. I chose the 4 burners because I do simple cooking at camp and it came with a propane converter. It cooks fine. It does have two grates that covers the whole top of the stove. They are heaver than other gas ranges I have owned. I like that they are heaver, cover the whole top and not wimpy.What I don't like about it is that the broiler is in the bottom drawer and not in the oven. Even at home my electric range has 4 burners with a 5th being only to keep food warm. I find it is enough burners for even large meals. The knobs at home are on the back and the one at camp are on the front. To me it makes no difference. The one advantage to having knobs on the back is that little kids can't play with them. Most stoves come with the larger burners in the front. I would prefer them to be in the back. That way the larger pots would be in the back and the smaller ones would be in the front.

Induction
• Heats faster; don’t wait for heating element to transfer to pan.
• Precise temperature control; when turn burner off, heat stops immediately, less chance of boiling over/overcooking.
• More energy efficient; heat not lost in transfer process or lost to air, only cookware heats.
• Maintains cool cooking surface; only pan gets hot, element never exposed, preventing risk of fire hazard/burns.
• Cleaning easier; since cooktop doesn't get hot, it's easy to clean, don't get baked-on food.
• Safer; does not emit gas. Won't catch objects on fire - only heats items with iron particles. Turns off when cookware removed.

I definitely prefer the aesthetics of having controls on the front, and no back panel. I find the raised back panel unattractive. I also don’t want to have to reach across burners to adjust the controls.

I’m with mdln. Induction is the way to go, just don’t confuse a ceramic cooktop range with an induction range.

@socks - people on this forum often recommend induction without also mentioning that you will likely need to get an electrician in for the wiring for the induction range, since you have a gas range currently. In addition, some of your cookware may not be compatible with induction.

I'll stick with gas but appreciate the info on induction.