In March, I moved from a 100-year-old bungalow into a renovated apartment. I was in need of a fresh start and more than happy to give up the drafty windows, the awkwardly small rooms, the steep stairs, and the never-ending maintenance. But there was one thing I really didn’t want to leave behind: my beautiful Bertazzoni induction range.
If you haven't done much of it, induction cooking is safer, more efficient, and more precise than gas or electric, and offers more consistent regulated heat. Since I’d swapped out my old gas range two years earlier, I’d become somewhat of an induction evangelist. I assumed that if I ever sold the house, the range (that I’d nicknamed Bertie) would go with me. But I always imagined selling would mean buying a different home—not moving into a rental in the middle of a divorce.
Touring the apartment for the first time, I decided I could live with the popcorn ceilings in the main living area since they were about 10 feet high, and I kept a mental note of how many faucets and pendant lights I’d need to buy to replace the dated builder-grade fixtures. But the listing agent chuckled when I asked if the management company would remove the basic electric range so I could bring my sexy stainless-steel induction model with me. Then he plainly told me “no.”
Going back to gas would have been disappointing, but I could not and would not do my cooking on a cheap electric stove after becoming accustomed to what a good induction range has to offer. So before I signed the lease, I tried to make my case once again over email. Unfortunately, the answer was still no—just like it was when I emailed a second time and even offered to leave my $4,000 appliance for the next tenants when I moved out.
The apartment was otherwise perfect for my needs; the three bedrooms and two full bathrooms offered plenty of space for my two kids, and my large rescue mutt would fit right into the dog-friendly building. I reluctantly accepted the fact that I was going to have to live with the awful electric range for the foreseeable future. But that didn’t mean I was going to use it.
After I shopped for window treatments, shower heads, and as many hooks and pot rails as I could fit onto the open kitchen’s available wall space, I started looking at stand alone double-burner induction cooktops. I already had a countertop oven I loved, so I would simply need to bring a cooktop with me too.
Since it was going to live on top of my stove semi-permanently, I wanted something that looked nicer than the ultra-portable Duxtop that’s come out on top in my product testing for years. And because I’d become accustomed to some of the tactile sensations of a luxurious range, I was hoping to find something with knobs.
After hours and hours of research, I eventually ordered a sleek Cooktron model from Amazon. It doesn’t have a ton of features and I can’t program settings like I can with less attractive techier models. But I love the way it looks, it works with all of my stainless steel and enameled cast iron cookware, and the two burners have combined 1,800 watts, which is plenty of power for my home cooking needs.
I’ve been using my cooktop for nearly nine months now and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that two burners are plenty for my household of three (though that might not be the case if I didn’t also have an electric kettle).
My little induction cooktop is an easy, affordable way to upgrade a rental kitchen and all you have to do is plug it in.
