Viking 36 Gas Cooktop Review

The quality of your oven is essential.

While you also want it to look good, its functionality can mean the difference between average food and great food.

If you’re someone who enjoys cooking frequently, you’ll understand the importance of having an oven that works well. It can improve the quality of your cooking and cut down on time in the kitchen.

Let’s review the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop and decide whether it’s worth having in your kitchen.

What is the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop?

The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop is the upper part of the oven that sits on the surface of your bench where you use pots and pans to cook.

While it can be paired with other Viking products including electric and gas oven ranges, it can also be a stand-alone appliance that you install over an existing oven.

The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop comes with five sealed burners that sit underneath a continuous grate. This means that you’ll be able to move pots and pans across the surface without any bumping or jarring.

The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop comes with a one-piece stainless steel top. This kind of material is easy to clean and looks great as a benchtop addition, whatever the rest of your kitchen looks like.

Five knobs on the surface at the front control the sealed burners. Let’s go over the specifications of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop.

Specifications of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

The specifications of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop include a wide variety in Btu capacity, allowing for diversity in your cooking cuisine.

The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop model has a wider burner in the middle, allowing for the addition of a griddle or skillet. The two left burners emit 9,1000 Btu’s, while the two right burners emit 12,000 and 5,000 Btu’s respectively.

The wider burner in the center emits 17,000 Btu’s making it ideal for heavy-duty pots and pans. The sealed burners themselves are made out of aluminum flame ports with porcelain, cast-iron burner caps.

The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop model comes with spark ignition, a feature that ensures a safe ignition every time. This allows for reignition too, even at the lowest setting.

The burners are permanently sealed, meaning that any spills cannot enter the burner box. The durable steel top is made for heavy-duty use, with separate spill caches.

The metal die-cast knobs are manufactured with children in mind. This means that you have to push the knob in before turning it for ignition.

All burners, caps, grates, and knobs are easily removable for a straightforward clean. The overall size of the cooktop is designed with most cooktop cutouts in mind.

Things to Remember When Using the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

Now that we’ve covered the specifications of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop let’s quickly run through things you may need to remember when using this appliance.

All cookware can be safely used on a Viking 36 Gas Cooktop, including other Viking products. Electric ignition lights all sealed burners. This means that there are no open flames or fires.

If the flame goes out for any reason and the gas is still on, the appliance will reignite itself. When igniting a burner, you may hear a clicking sound that indicates it’s trying to light. It’s worth noting that you may hear this clicking noise two or three times before you see a flame.

It’s highly recommended that you use a medium to low heat when using cookware that is poor conductors of heat, including ceramic and glass. With these types of utensils, ideally, you want the gas flame to cover one-third of the cookware’s bottom.

Reduce the flame if it is past the limit of the cookware bottom. A flame that is allowed to extend this far could potentially be dangerous. It can also waste energy.

Always use the flame at its minimum to save energy and retain nutrients in the food.

Pricing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

Now that we’ve discussed the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop in detail, let’s look at the different prices available across the board and compare them:

• ABT: ABT has an extensive range of Viking 36 Gas Cooktops, including the particular model we’re looking at today. They are showing that it will cost you $1509.00 through them. They also offer free shipping with this appliance.
• Pacific Sales: Pacific Sales also have an extensive range of Viking products, as well as other kitchen appliances. They are heavily competing with ABT’s price by offering it for the same amount – $1509.00. However, we couldn’t see anywhere anything about free shipping, so you may be slightly better off purchasing it from ABT.
• AJ Madison: AJ Madison is the authority on kitchen appliances. They say that the list price for the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop is $1619.00. However, they’re prepared to reduce it to $1509.00 to keep up with these other competing retailers. They offer both liquid and propane gas, both at the same discounted price. Additionally, we can see through AJ Madison that you’re able to get free shipping for the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop.

Now that we’ve looked at what different retailers are offering in regards to price let’s compare the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop against other brand appliances in a similar price range.

Comparing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop with GE JPG5536

First, we’ll look at the details of the Viking RVGC33615BS model:

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Now, we’ll compare these details against another model, the GE JPG5536:

You get another color option other than stainless steel – black. The dimensions of the GE JPG5536 seem to be slightly smaller than the Viking RVGC33615BS, which could prove to be an issue if you’re trying to fit it into a typical cooktop cutout.

The GE JPG5536 has a slightly lower Btu output on two of its burners, while the largest burner remains the same as the Viking RVGC33615BS at 17,000 Btu’s.

The controls are also knobs, which come in stainless steel, even when the cooktop surface is black. Compared to the Viking RVGC33615BS, they’re centered in the middle and grouped around tightly.

This could potentially cause confusion around which knob is which.

Comparing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop with GE PGP9036SLSS

In this review, we’re going to look at another gas cooktop from the same brand, GE. Let’s take a look at its details and see how it compares to the Viking RVGC33615BS:

Unlike the GE JPG5536, this model only comes in stainless steel. Its dimensions also differ slightly from the Viking RVGC33615BS, which is potentially inconvenient depending on the size and shape of your cooktop cookout.

The GE PGP9036SLSS has the highest center burner output at 18,000 Btu’s. Its secondary burner is also high at 15,000 Btu’s. Its third and fourth burners have an output of 9500 Btu’s which is even higher than the Viking RVGC33615BS. However, its last burner is the same as the lowest burner on the Viking model.

We’ve covered two gas cooktop models in the same competing brand. Now, let’s take a look at a gas cooktop from an entirely different brand altogether.

Comparing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop with Bosch NGMP656UC

First, let’s do a recap discussing the details of the Viking RVGC33615BS:

Now, let’s see how these specifications compare against our Bosch model:

The Bosch NGMP656UC is the most expensive gas cooktop we’re comparing, adding an extra hundred dollars on top of the Viking RVGC33615BS and an extra five hundred dollars to our lowest priced appliance, the GE JPG5536.

So, is it worth spending the extra money? The Bosch NGMP656UC only comes in stainless steel. It has the most substantial width of all the appliances and the highest burner output too.

The Bosch NGMP656UC has a maximum burner output of 20,000 Btu’s on its largest burner. However, its second and third burners only have an output of 12,000 Btu’s, which is the same as the Viking RVGC33615BS. Its fourth burner has an output of 10,000 Btu’s while its fifth burner emits 5,500 Btu’s.

We’ve discussed in-depth a Viking 36 Gas Cooktop model and pitted it against three other gas cooktops manufactured by other brands. Now, let’s look at the advantages of owning a Viking 36 Gas Cooktop.

Advantages of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

• Design: consumers have described the design of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop to be robust and sturdy. The stainless steel is a classic look which allows it to fit effortlessly into any kitchen surface. Stainless steel also means that it’s easy to keep clean.
• Burner Abilities: the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop has good temperature reach and quick boiling abilities. While a gas cooktop isn’t going to be able to heat something as quickly as an induction cooktop, all burners are capable of reaching their maximum heat output, allowing for a successful cook or boil. Additionally, simmering pots is another joy with the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop. Low-temperature performance is said to be outstanding.
• Temperature Reach: the rear burners have the best temperature reach. Five minutes after being at its lowest temperature, it’s able to reach its highest. All other burners are capable of achieving both minimum and maximum temperatures in a surprisingly short amount of time.

Disadvantages of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

Now that we’ve covered the advantages of the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop, let’s review the disadvantages:

• Surface: there are a number of small dimples in the surface of the steel, along with some rubber stops too. These are designed to help keep the metal grating in place when cooking. However, this can potentially make cleaning a bit of a challenge. Viking recommends removing the grating and soaking in warm water. If the grating is wedged tightly in place, you may have a bit of trouble extracting it.
• Control Placement: the control placement has left some consumers frustrated. While they’re all lined up nicely and are easy to understand, for some, they are too close together. This means that they can accidentally be knocked when you’re trying to ignite your cooktop. Additionally, because the knobs are made out of a different metal to the surface, they pick up fingerprints.
• Burners: other customers have spoken about their annoyance at the different Btu outputs. While some find it beneficial to have different Btu ratings to accommodate all cooking, others prefer the burners to be uniform in their Btu output. Another issue is the limit in how much you can customize the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop. The only accessories available are a wok ring and portable aluminum griddle.

Reviewing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop

We’ve looked at and considered the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop in great detail. This has included covering the manufacturer’s specifications, as well as a difference in price. We’ve also added the technical aspects of this appliance while comparing it with other branded gas cooktops.

In conclusion, we’ve chosen to award the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop 4/5. While there are some minor issues concerning the flexibility of the grating and confusion around the control placement, the sealed burners are capable of high-quality output. The Viking 36 Gas Cooktop allows for high-performance cooking.

If you want to find something that’s affordable, functional and visually appealing, we recommend purchasing the Viking 36 Gas Cooktop range. This will ensure a successful cook every time.