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Comment by mattmaroon | Hacker News Reader

Idk, my grandma has a similar unit she got a couple decades ago. It was cheap though I don't know how cheap. (I do know my grandma though.) Lots of competition that's similarly priced.

The main benefit of the stovetop units (I have both) is speed. The heating element on the cheaper electric is drastically underpowered and can't even get a good Mailliard. The higher end ones can but they're still much slower than a gas stove, especially when full of liquid. I pretty much go back and forth between the two based on what I am cooking.

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> much slower than a gas stove

There ya go right there! Electric stoves are "slow" to heat up and "slow" to change temperatures. You're used to the gold standard :)

So many people are afraid of gas ranges. It's ridiculous. My wife is literally terrified she'll burn the house down.

Yet we use a giant gas-powered pressure cooker in the basement to take warm showers and somehow that's okay.

We used our gas range even when the power was out, to toast tortillas (that's a bit tricky though, but worked well), and even in a pinch during a multi-day blizzard as an emergency heat source (though it didn't run all night, and was relatively safely monitored, you know, the "don't try this at home, kids").

I’m not afraid of them, but I won’t ever get one. Induction ranges are superior in every possible way :)

I haven't used induction, but it could be a game changer if and when it ever comes to the mass market.

I realize it's Canadian, but here's the unit I'm using: http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Indoor-Living/Sm...

It's definitely accessible on the mass market!

Every possible way except being able to take the pan off the heat temporarily without having the range freak out. At least that's my experience with the induction hob that I have (and generally just ignore the electric range).

I'm with you though. Induction is absolutely amazing. But I'd love to be able to lift the pan off to spread my crepe batter around without the hob beeping at me angrily (and shutting itself off if I take too long before putting the pan back on)

Wow, wasn't aware of that issue. Perhaps that's why it isn't as mainstream.

I think that's an implementation detail, not a standard feature. Certainly in Sweden induction is basically standard in any kitchen done up in the past 3-4 years or so, and I've never seen that problem.

One problem that is real is that they all insist on using resistive touch controls on the cooking surface instead of physical knobs. Which means if you spill liquid on your cooking surface or accidentally slide your pot onto the buttons all the controls freak out.

Heh, yes. I've definitely had a pot boil over and had double chaos when the controls started flipping at random too.

Not every way. Flat bottomed woks suck. Gas is much better for a wok, and a wok is a considerably better tool than most westerners realize.

Induction also is easily breakable. That's why you don't see them in commercial kitchens much.

Also I have several large cheap Aluminum stock pots that I love and would have to replace. Try finding a five gallon induction capable stock pot at your local restaurant supply store.

It's true that your standard induction cooktop isn't great for woks, but there are plenty of specialized induction wok burners on the market. And while induction isn't popular in commercial kitchens here in the US, they are very popular in Europe, without any severe problems. And I would assume that as a result there aren't any problems with induction capable cookware availability at local restaurant supply stores either.

So maybe you're right as of right now, but it's not inherent to the technology, but just its level of penetration in the market at the moment.

There are commercial induction Wok burners but I've never seen one for home. And I've heard the commercial ones still lag but I've never used one.

Commercial induction burners max out at about 5000 BTUs(and above 3500 is rare), and that's on the expensive models. A relatively cheap commercial gas range will have many 10,000 BTU burners. My $500 home gas oven that I recently bought has an 18,000 btu burner! I know gas is less efficient, but that burners going to put out more heat than any two induction burners.

On a wok or any large item (such as the 5 gallons of wort or tonkotsu broth I sometimes make) you couldn't get enough watts with induction to properly stir fry or to heat a large mass quickly. Some of the bigger gas units you can buy for home put out really high BTUs while taking up very little electricity.

My point wasn't that induction isn't great, it is. It's just not better in every way. It's got strengths and weaknesses.

To be fair, though, gas is dangerous. Gas leaks, ranges/ovens accidentally left turned on, objects being left near the gas range's open flame, etc. -- the number of failure scenarios vastly exceed that of electrical ones. Having multiple sources of energy also complicates your house.

Comparing a gas range to a gas-heated water heater isn't really appropriate, since the water heater is an enclosed unit where the user is never directly exposed to the gas or the flame.

Gas is clearly superior to plain old electric, but induction (which is very nearly as good as gas when it comes to cooking) has been here for a long time, is much safer, and isn't even particularly expensive.

Electric stoves are "slow" to heat up and "slow" to change temperatures.

Unless you have an induction stove.

I have one and it’s pretty impressive how fast 3.7kW can heat things up (apparently you can even get 5kW models). I ditched my electric kettle as it was too slow in comparison.

The heating element on the cheaper electric is drastically underpowered and can't even get a good Mailliard.

I tried looking up Mailliard online and came up with 3 surnames.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about browning food: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction

Browning food. Electric ones don't get hot enough to do it when you're cooking at pressure. You can get around it by leaving the lid off and sauteing the food a bit first.

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