We wete not using the griddle side of the gas cooktop. It was difficult to heat up and the flame tended to go out because the downdraft fan came on high automatically and pulled at the flame. It just became a place to put extra pots and rest lids. I have been reading about reducing gas use to fight carbon in the atmosphere. Some cities have outlawed the use of natural gas in homes. I was blissfully unaware of this when I bought a gas boiler/water heater and installed our used gas cooktop.
I finally decided to try to replace the gas griddle with a two burner induction range. There are many more choices now than a few years ago. Most two burner units are arranged horizontally but there are a few vertical units. Of those I had to find one narrow enough to fit in the burner space. I also did not want to wire another 240 volt electrical breaker so I needed a 110 volt plug in appliance. The new ”hob” arrived the other day. The instructions call it a hob, European for hot plate.
The temperature readings are in Celsius but there is a simple 1-9 level that comes up first. There is also an up to two hour timer function in minutes.
In addition to the small size of our gas range, a full size induction range would cause us to lose the use of a beautiful set of copper pots. Plus we have a few aluminum and copper bottom stainless steel pans that we still use. This limitation made a full induction range undesirable for us. We have several cast iron skillets and a magnetic stainless steel soup pot and we use these often so we can use induction with those pots.
The griddle opening was only 10.5 inches wide and the whole left side of the stove only 12.25 inches wide. Front to back the opening was 18.75 inches wide. That limited the choice of cooktop. After it arrived I had to remove the rubber feet to sink it partially in the opening. I used narrow electric plate screws left protruding instead to brace it within the griddle space. Then a small block of wood behind secures it tightly in the cutout and there is room behind for the cord. It was practically a perfect fit and does not slip around. The gfci outlet is right over the toaster so the installation is convenient even though the cooker is elevated above the level of the stove.
I think I will remove the gas handles and install blank plates to prevent turning on the gas on the induction side. We have never done this with the griddle but just to be safe it seems like a good idea.