What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of piano, meaning surface, floor or plane and cottura, meaning cooking. Literally, it translates to 'cooking surface'.
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish between different parts of the appliance. While piano cottura refers specifically to the top surface with burners, forno refers to the oven located below it and cucina refers to the entire appliance or stove unit.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In certain parts of Italy, the term piastra is used to refer to a cooktop, typically describing a flat cooking surface like a griddle or a hotplate.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form is piani cottura. In this construction, only the noun piano is pluralized to piani, while the noun cottura remains in its singular form to act as a modifier.
Did you know?
- While piano cottura is the standard term, using the word cucina to refer to the entire stove can lead to confusion since cucina also means 'kitchen' as a room.
- The word piano in piano cottura shares an ancestral root with the English word 'plain', as both come from the Latin 'planus' meaning 'flat'.
- The word cottura refers specifically to the process of cooking through heat, which distinguishes it from the general act of preparing food.
Examples in context
- Dovresti pulire il piano cottura prima di cucinare.You should clean the cooktop before cooking.
- Accendi il fornello per far bollire l'acqua.Turn on the cooktop to boil the water.
- Il piano cottura è sporco.The cooktop is dirty.
- Devo pulire il piano cottura.I need to clean the cooktop.
- Cerchiamo un nuovo piano cottura.Let's look for a new cooktop.
Example conversation
Matteo and Martina are in their kitchen looking at their kitchen appliances.
- MatteoQuesto piano cottura non funziona bene.This cooktop does not work well.
- MartinaHai ragione, Matteo.You are right, Matteo.
- MatteoDobbiamo comprarne uno nuovo.We need to buy a new one.
- MartinaSì, cerchiamo un modello moderno.Yes, let's look for a modern model.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry piano cottura, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cottura, piano, CC BY-SA 4.0.
