I love this unit and purchased two of them as the two previous brands I had before were 2 burner units with one of the two burners was a much lower wattage and really only good for small projects or to keep something warm. Now I have really the same setup but 2 burners of high wattage and has speeded up my production of making soap.
The Cuisinart Countertop Single "Burner" works great for my purposes. Yes, the surface around the burner gets hot. That is to be expected, I think. If you follow directions and let the burner plate get to temperature (the light goes green)... it works great. It heated up soup in 5 minutes or less. Just like a stove stop. Like all cooking appliances, keep flamable items away from it. I recommend this for anyone looking for portable electric cooking.
This hot plate can delicately saute onions or bring a huge pot to boil for chicken broth. I've used it on the lanai, in the kitchen and even at a camp site plugged into my car's outlet. Temp settings are accurate and the temp is consistent with no irregularities. I had no idea a single burner hotplate could perform so well.
I love this burner!! I find myself using it a lot now. Bought it when I was without a stove for a few weeks and I like the way I could adjust the heat to my liking and the quality of the burner. I would recommend this to anyone.
Very nice and functional for countertop use. I really like it a lot. The only negative for me is the fact the cast iron burner itself does not lend itself to cleaning nicely. Yes, you can clean it, but it never looks really good. This small complaint does not take away from the functionality of the item, which works very well and I think it was a good purchase.