Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When my $3,500 invection range cooktop quit after a few months, I refused to replace the whole thing. Instead, I bought hotplates, including this Cuisinart. It has worked very well. I know, because I cook on it everyday for a minimum of three people. I enjoy cooking and need functional equipment. In general, I was surprised to find I prefer the flexibility hotplates offer: You can move them anywhere for a party--for instance, closer to the drinks area or right onto the buffet table. (Use a heatsafe pad or large trivet.) Usually, however, they're on my range cooktop: I have different types: Two are Cuisinart singles, so that I can move them apart for boiling large vats when necessary. (Which you can't do with the double burner unit.) I also have an invection hotplate for boiling pasta water quickly. --In decades of serious cooking I finally have the ideal cooking setup, for me. Be aware that the burner element gets rusty pretty quickly and there is no automatic safety turn-off. If you forget, you'll come back to a smokey house and a burned through pan. However my invection hotplate does think for itself, with a safety off feature that I hate, because it often turns off when I don't want it to. So I prefer the Cuisinart for cooking meals because I control its behavior and timing completely. For the price, the Cuisinart hotplate does quite well. It looks nice--the frame and knobs are handsome and clean easily. The rust--limited to the burner--means it's real cast iron and not something fake. (For me that's also a plus.) I don't think you'll regret this purchase. I haven't. I bought my first Cuisinart hotplate four or five years ago. I replaced that with one a couple of years ago, which is still working great. This latest purchase is so I can expand my concurrent number of working pans: I am a happily returning customer. Hope this is helpful. When I like a product that works, I'm willing to take the time to say why. Over the years, I have relied on such reviewers, too.