The other week, I went to visit a friend for a couple of days. I came home to this:
But! A replacement was already en route, and after I returned from another job requiring my being away from home, it had already been installed. Now, we have this!
Since both of these are/were Frigidaire products, I'm going to compare and contrast without fear of a turf war, and as someone with lots of experience in restaurant, catering, field, and home kitchens, there's a bit to say.
Equivalencies: Both are embedded, requiring an opening of appropriate size. A larger lip for overhang and stability is better, naturally. Each also has 4 'burner' locations, clearly marked. But that's about where the similarities end.
The Gallery model has its largest burner in the center- which may have contributed to the eventual breakage by virtue of relatively constant stress on the area most susceptible to buckling . The Professional model's largest burners are on the left and right sides, nearer the edges where the stovetop physically rests. This allows more stability and creates less stress on the physical form. The amount of difference this makes is unknown, but as far as engineering goes, it should be sturdier for longer.
The Gallery is fully flat and purely touch-operated, with no knobs or other things. While making it quite easy to clean, this creates an issue I consider severe enough to recommend against a possible purchase: Automatic Shutoff. If liquid of any appreciable volume spills on this stovetop, be it from a bubbling pot, spilled saucepan, or even a soapy sponge, the safety mechanisms will kick in and deactivate the whole thing. It can't be turned on again until the surface is fully dried. There being no way to override or shut this function off in the manual (at least that I could find), the potential for resulting culinary catastrophe is high. It nearly ruined meals many times, to the point where I would have the oven hot in preparation for the stovetop's failure and simply move the cooking vessels to something that does as it's told.
The Professional is a different beast entirely. With clearly visible physical knob controls, the inadvertent shutoff is not a problem for this model. However, it's not without a few of its own worries. The knobs do not seem to be readily detachable, which will make cleaning under and around them somewhat difficult. Another sticking point is that the temperature readings are more numerous, adding .5s between the whole numbers, and the knobs themselves are fairly small. Coupled with them being at the front of the stovetop, inadvertent bumping of controls and temperatures becomes a modest concern.
Price-wise, the difference is also nontrivial. The Gallery model MSRPs for about 2000USD, and the Professional for about 2500. For those that cook seriously though, the Professional seems the way to go if you have to choose between.
To be frank though, I'm not sure why they're so expensive. If pressed to guess, would have expected the price tags to be half that. Reliable, consistent, and easy to hook up and operate even for laypersons. But does that justify the price?
I find the notion dubious. But needs must.
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