> 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 :)
There ya go right there! Electric stoves are "slow" to heat up and "slow" to change temperatures. You're used to the gold standard :)
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").
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
It's definitely accessible on the mass market!
Unless you have an induction stove.