Good looking but high maintenance: Maytag 30 inch MGC6430 Gas on Glass Cooktop
Written: Mar 17 '06 (Updated Mar 17 '06)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Ease of Cleaning:
Style:
Pros: Nice looking, especially with coordinating granite countertop; cooks well; easy to use.
Cons: Hard to clean
The Bottom Line: Nice, modern looking and makes cooking a breeze. But are your prepared for the extra work it takes to keep this clean and shiny looking?
pilarzmom's Full Review: Maytag MGC6430 30 in. Gas Cooktop
When we were planning our kitchen remodel last year, the vision was to get all stainless steel appliances. Well, for the most part we did except when it came to the cooktop. I have to admit my husband has a better eye for design and he decided that the Maytag MGC6430 black glass on gas cooktop would look nicer with our black granite. And he's right: the end result was awesome. However, like a sleek black sports car, this baby requires some TLC, perhaps even more than stainless steel, to look its finest. High maintenance aside, this cooktop has been a good choice.
Product Features
Pictured here is the white glass option. We purchased the black glass option with black burner grates. Price is the same for either--approximately $599.
Ours was installed by a professional contractor as a part of our kitchen remodel. If you are installing a new gas line as a part of an upgrade to gas cooktop, be wise and schedule an inspection with your local city or county code inspectors.
- Precision-Set Burner Controls - for precise control of flame
- Easy-Grasp Pull-Off Control Knobs - easy cleaning
Dimensions
30 inches wide X 21 1/2 inches deep
Usage
This was my first time having a gas cooktop in my home and so far, it's been a good experience. Everyone says gas is much nicer than electric and I'd have to agree: cooking is simpler, quicker, easier. However, there are a few issues with this cooktop. More on that later.
First of all, let's get to the good points. Operating the burners is easy. Turn knob counterclockwise to lite position. You'll hear a click of the electronic ignition as the burner quickly lites, then continue turning to desired flame level. Since I was new to gas, it did take me awhile to get used to the fact that to turn burner off I had to turn it past high.
I also like the placement of the knobs on the side, out of reach of little hands. Although my children are older, I wouldn't feel too comfortable if cooktop controls were in front in case we had little visitors over.
The burner grates are very nice. The two pieces meet in the middle and make it easy to shift pots to different burners. They're easy to remove for cleaning around the burners and the stove top. I also like the look of them as they have corners slightly angled on the outside, instead of being plain ordinary square burner grates.
I'm very satisfied with the BTU output on the burners. We cook a lot of one-pot or stir-fry dinners so I almost always use the front right burner with the 12,500 BTU output. Its larger flame covers a wider surface area and boils a full pot of water within a few minutes. The flame is easy to control and is plenty strong for the fast, high-heat cooking technique used in my stir-fry dishes.
Another nice feature is the two 9,200 BTU burners on the left side. I like cooking pancakes or French Toast on my two-burner stove-top griddle and it works real well on this stovetop. It gets a nice even surface temperature across all surfaces, even the section between two burners, so that I'm able to fully utilize all areas of the griddle.
The back right burner features the 650-BTU simmer setting. I quite honestly don't use this burner much. But I do find it handy when I make gravy that I want to keep warm.
Now, the cons about this cooktop--well, really there's only one. It's difficult to clean! Maytag says this surface is easy to clean, but that's not true. You have to take care not to scratch the glass-top. So far I've done very well, although I did manage somehow to get a tiny chip on a burner cap. Unfortunately, stir-fry is messy so I get a lot of grease splatters. I use a grease-cutting cleanser such as OxiClean Miracle Foam to clean off splatters and grease. Then I use a special cleanser designed for glass-top stoves. It's sort of like waxing a car. After applying it, I wipe it off and buff the cooktop surface. I sometimes may skip this step if it's not too bad and use a micro-fiber cloth to buff it.
The burner grates and covers are a bit easier to clean. I just use my multi-surface cleanser and they look fine
Final Thoughts
The Maytag MGC6430 Gas Cooktop is a very nice looking cooktop and does perform very well. If you can deal with the cleaning aspect, then I would definitely recommend it. It does look exceptional when paired with granite.
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