Cooking on gas is the one environmentally damaging thing I don’t want to give up, I’ll admit…
Realistically, how likely is it that this whole gas system we’ve been using will look batshit crazy in the future.
We build a city wide network of pipes carrying flamable gas … so we can all have a nicer cooking experience despite alternatives being basically mainstream? What?!
Plenty of comments in here about induction being better or as good with different strengths/weaknesses. IME, I agree completely, I much prefer induction now.
But just recently I had to downgrade to the “crappy” electric stove tops. And you know what … it’s fine. Seriously, you get used to it and cook decently enough. There’s probably a lot of “preciousness” around cooking and kitchens TBH.
The thing about gas stoves is that they release pollutants in your house. It spikes CO, CO2 and a bunch of other combustion residue.
induction ranges are like soooooo much better than gas, my parents got one and the range of power it can put out is much larger than any gas stove I’ve used and it doesn’t make the room hot
I have been expecting this to happen at some point. I like my gas cooking as well, but have been experimenting with other options to try to prepare for the future (and because the price of gas is rising so quickly). The induction works pretty well, even though I only have a cheap portable unit. More expensive units would minimise a lot of my issues with it. From reading I have done I think the technology has improved a lot too, so people who have tried very old units might be less impressed.
My two main issues are wok cooking and preserving. There are wok compatible burners, but they are expensive and inflexible. I think my cast-iron wok could work well on a better stove, but the portable burner overheats and shuts down. The preserving is a bit more of an issue, as I use a large aluminium pressure-canner, and they do not work well with most electric stoves - partly a matter of the weight on glass stoves, and also issues with the way the heat control works. I’m still working on a solution for that one. But it’s not really an urgent issue, as I can’t see a new build being anywhere in my immediate future.
Fwiw I went from induction to gas and I hate it. The speed and accuracy of induction vs gas, while also not needing the same level of venting, is just vastly superior. It’s also just safer with kids around. If my kid flipped the induction burner on nothing happens if there’s no metal… where the gas is now a live flame or gas pouring out. Heavily prefer induction, personally.
I wonder if steel plates placed under aluminum cookware would solve the second problem
You can get plates to use under aluminium pots, although I don’t think they are as good as a decent pot. Preserving is a bit more complicated (and a bit of a niche issue) as it involves a very large and heavy pot, which is kept at high temperature for a long time. So there are issues with the size of burners, whether the stove can support the weight, staying hot for a long time, and maintaining a consistant temperature and not fluctuating. I’m currently looking into a portable commercial solid-plate electric burner. It’s pricey, but if it works then I won’t need to worry about the future gas price rises changes, and will have the ability to take it outside in hot weather to avoid overheating the kitchen.
Can anyone recommend what to look for in an induction cooktop? I’ve only briefly used one at my Mum’s place and I hated it. Finnicky digital bastard of a thing, and if your fingers are wet, you can’t press the buttons. But it’s probably better to cook on than the old electric solid hot-plate thing we have now that takes aeons to either heat up, or two aeons to cool down.
There are models that have knobs, I would look for those. Other things to look for is how many power levels there are, how low the power is before it cycles on/off (lower the better) and how quick those cycles are (faster the better).
Think of it as similar to a microwave. Having power levels 1-20 would give you much more control than one that only gave you 20%, 60% and 100% options. The power cycling is what a lot of microwaves do (except inverter models) - instead of reducing the power, it turns full power on and off. If you are trying to keep something at a consistent simmer that can be a problem, so you want a stove that will do that as little as possible, and if it needs to one that cycles as quickly as possible to reduce the temperature variations.
Yeah, right, I’ve never seen any with knobs, I’ll have to look closer I guess. Thanks!
I hate the trend of appliances and new devices moving away from old fashioned buttons and dials. My drier recently glitched out and unlike my old school ones that had physical switches to adjust, but new one is just digital tap sensors. I could pause it by opening the door, but in order to get it out of whatever glitch it got stuck in I had to literally pull the plug.
I have heard they have induction stoves that arent digital nonsense though.
Saying that, for stoves it makes cleaning them so much easier
The flat part I can believe. I have those old school style coil electric stoves with the little grease bowls under the coils and light wiping is fine, a deep cleaning is a pain in the butt.
Theres no reason induction cant just have normal buttons and knobs though(and some even do theyre out there I googled after seeing this thread)
I had a KitchenAid that did well. The oven was stupidly slow but the induction top was very good.
There are a few with knobs but not many. More options there would be good and I think dials are still the best interface. That being said the good touch ones aren’t as bad as I expected.
I have used a few different flat panel ones and the miele one my parents recently installed was tolerable despite the fact it was all touch. The lights for the buttons are bright, they work even if a bit dirty / wet (not in a puddle but don’t need tho be clean), and it doesn’t panic if you move a pot over the buttons.
On the other hand, I’ve used an Ikea one a bit (my partners mum has one, and she lives at home). It’s so shit, the buttons are dim and hard to see, it panics if a pot goes over them and they don’t work if a little dirty.
Overall, the touch ones can be bad, but if your go with a well made one like miele they’re actually okay.