The Frigidaire FFEC3025UB is an affordable electric cooktop with 30-inch dimensions and four burners. It features some great extras such as the 3,0000W quick boil element and SpaceWise expandable burner to add versatility, and these are nice additions to an electric cooktop that comes well under $1,000.
The Frigidaire FFEC3025UB also has an excellent track record when it comes to customer satisfaction. This powerful and well-designed electric cooktop has the Frigidaire fit promise which guarantees up to $100 of modification costs. Its only downside is the limited warranty period, but the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB electric cooktop is definitely deserving of its spot in our roundup of the best electric cooktops.
Frigidaire FFEC3025UB review: What you need to know
There are four burners on the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB. Two of these are six inches, one is nine inches, and the fourth has a SpaceWise expandable burner which can be either six or nine inches, depending on your needs. Both six inch burners are powered by 1200 watts, and the nine inch burner has 2500 watts of heat power.
The most powerful burner is the dual element, which can work at 1600/3000 watts, depending on which size you're using. The 3000 watt burner features Frigidaire's Quick Boil element, which promises exactly what it says, boiling water, quick. How quick? It doesn't say - probably not as fast as an induction cooktop, but we do know that 3000 watts is a lot of power.
A dual element burner is something we've seen on high-end electric cooktops such as the KitchenAid KCED606GBL, but it's also pretty common on more reasonably priced models. Another common feature is the smooth ceramic glass top, which is an easily cleaned material that delivers a sleek and professional finish to your kitchen. However, an affordable electric cooktop with such powerful burners is a great find.
Although some electric cooktops have touch controls, the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB has traditional twist knobs. These have six heat settings, as well as a 'Hi' option for a boost of power. The layout of these knobs aren't the most intuitive. The top knob controls the top right burner, the second the top left, the third the bottom left and the fourth the bottom right, which will take some getting used to. Luckily, each has an image beside it indicating which burner correlates with which control.
There's also a hot surface indicator alert. This isn't as well done as some other electric cooktops, because the light is to the right of the cooktop and will not indicate which burner is still warm, or grab as much attention as color on the burners themselves would. Nonetheless, this is still a good safety feature.
One year's warranty is standard for an electric cooktop, but brands such as KitchenAid offer up to five years on parts. So the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB is no better than most of its competitors, but it's also not the best.
Frigidaire also comes with a fit promise. This says that if your cooktop doesn't fit into an existing cooktop cutout of the same width and dimensions, you can claim back the cost of modifications for up to $100. We haven't seen this anywhere else, and although you'd hope that 30 inch cooktop fittings are fairly universal, it's nice to have backup in case something isn't quite right.
Should you buy the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB?
If your top priority is a powerful 30-inch burner, we'd suggest the Frigidaire FFEC3025UB as our top pick. With up to 3000 watts and seven heat settings in total per burner, features such as Quick Boil are sure to come in handy for busy kitchens or impatient mealtimes. The warranty and safety features could be better, but for the price, you'll get plenty of value with this electric cooktop.
