Kenmore Pro  36'' Gas Drop In Cooktop

unless all you use this for is heating up hot dogs, i dont recommend this cooktop. i bought in 2008 and havent been happy. would be better off spending a bit more to buy a true professional rangetop. one of the knobs broke early on, but obviously cooktop still worked - just with one wobbly ****. store wanted approximately $150 to replace. not worth it. overall, the main burner is the only one that works - very well. i admit that the main burner works well, but the other 4 cant boil water or sear meat. really - you cant prepare a meal for guest or for any party with just one functional burner. the bridge thing is a joke too. they would be much better off eliminating that and going to at least two, if not 3 high power burners. anyway, just my 2 cents. i am replacing this summer after just a few years of weak activity

the knobs are the cheapest part on this stove but not cheap to replace at almost $50 each. I Will not put $250 in this stove top that I've had for 2 years. I will spend that into a better stove top soon. Wish I had spent the money for a high end stove, yes it is embarrassing when you have a high end kichen and low end stove top. 2 of the 5 knobs wobble a little the other 3 barely work. The small burner is for simmering only, the multi burner could be better. I do like the look of the stove but wish they had better quality knobs if the stove had better knobs, it would be worth the purchase.

I have had my cooktop for over 5 years. I cook ALOT and have only good things to say about how easy it is to cook on. The only drawback in my opinion is the knobs! Ive had to replace 2 of mine. Other than that, I would buy the same cooktop again!.

I have had my pro gas cooktop for 3 years works great .it has heavy duty metal knobs. All burners work great. I cook a lot of big meals, we have 12 in our family when we get together for family functions.

While it does look great, it has some design flaws that I wished we had noticed.  If you are not that great of a cook....this cooktop is fine.

However, we do cook and our biggest problem is the burnners vary too much in size.  Front is large, and great for big pots filled with water that needs boiling...but if you need another large pot or even medium, the two back (right) burnners take forever to get anything to boil.  Wished I noted their sizes.  Also, the long left burners varies in flames...meaning if they are all set on high..the back's flame is never  quiet equal to the front or middle area.

As for the knobs...they are becoming looser and the one **** to the mid back burner (which is rarely used) is very loose.

Last, to note it does not have extra low, so for those who like to make their own spag sauce and want it to simmer...it doesn't.  It's a must watch to make sure the sauce doesn't end up being burnt.

I have been using my Kenmore PRO cooktop for over two and a half years and, as a retired professional cook, I use it HARD! Others have commented on it not putting out enough heat, not maintaining a "showroom finish", and, mostly, the poor quality of the supplied knobs. I have responses to all of those "problems".

The burners on this model have very specific uses; if you stick within the parameters of those specific uses, you will have no problems.

The 5000 BTU right rear burner is for keeping sauces warm or for gently heating small pans. If you think you can fry an egg on it you will be disappointed. Don't use it for high heat applications.

The bridge burner is a marvel. I keep the griddle on it 99% of the time for quickly frying bacon, eggs, or any "flat" item. If I take the griddle off, I can place a roasting pan directly across the three parts of the bridge burner and get even heat across the entire pan.

The right front burner provides ample heat for me to bring a 40-quart stock pot to the boil.

The center rear burner is designed for mid-sized pots and pans and works very well with them. Do not try to use it for big pots and pans but, if you need to have two big pots on the cooktop, start one on the right front burner and, when it is at the boil, move it to the rear center burner and you will be in good shape.

Next, the stainless steel finish. It scratches. It's stainless steel. Stainless steel scratches. Get over it. It still works. I consider the scratches to be the patina of a well-used tool. A "showroom finish" means that you don't cook on it!

Lastly, the cheap plastic knobs. Yes, they should never have been made of plastic. When I use my 40-quart stock pot (which is 14 inches in diameter at the base), I turn on the heat on the right front burner and simply pull the knobs off the right two shafts so they won't melt. If I need to readjust the flame, I put the knob back in place, adjust it, and remove it.

A word to the wise: The part of the knob that goes on to the burner control shaft will split in time, leaving a "D"-shaped metal retainer stuck onto the shaft. Before this happens, get five small stainless-steel hose clamps and tighten them around this part of the knob. Even if the plastic breaks, the hose clamps will hold everything together. You never see them as they are "inside" the cooktop.

If you simply cannot live with the supplied plastic knobs, Sears makes a range (model 72903) that has metal knobs that will fit this cooktop, although the "High, Medium, and Low" labels will be in the wrong places. The knobs are available as replacement parts for this range and actually cost less than replacement plastic knobs for the cooktop do.

I have purchase Sears appliances before and have had great use of them. I love Kenmore products especially.  My mom and sister has only brought Kenmore products too.  I'm looking forward to purchasing my next big appliance from Sears. They are not only proficient but, are long lasting.

We cannot get a low heat on any of the burners, the kind you need for sauces,etc. -- maybe because we use propane? One of the ***** broke in the first year, so we've been careful since, but cheap ***** don't support Kenmore's high-end price. I've heard the ***** are $50 each - that's disgusting. I wired our broken **** together. Doesn't work great, but better than spending $50. Have had it four years. Our Sears installer was a rip-off artist. No matter how much I tried to complain about that to Sears, no one at Sears seemed to care at all.

The large front burner sold me because of the high BTU, but every other burner on this cooktop is pathetic. The medium burner middle back will barely boil water while the small burner is almost useless. The "bridge burner" is a joke and also worthless. To add to the package the large "Kenmore Pro" logo became discollored after one or two gentle cleanings and the "chrome" started peeling off the knobs at about the same time. You pay TOP dollar for a pretty crappy product if you buy this POS.

This stainless steel drop in cooktop looks great and we got many complaints on the looks but that is where it ends. This high end cooktop is not designed for cooking. The burner knobs located in the front middle of the top are made of plastic and heat up and melt when attempting to use the cooktop. You can't use the right side burner and you must be careful not to turn the others up very high. Not only does it render the burner unusable but you risk serious injury when attempting to adjust burner. We asked the service technician if he could adjust the burners so that they could not be turned up very much, to prevent embarrassing situations when friends or relatives were helping cook (not they they were burning high before) but he stated because this was not a commercial cooktop there was no adjustment on the burners. Not what I expected from Kenmore for a $1,400.00 Cooktop. Maybe from K-Mart???