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Comment by outworlder | Hacker News Reader

> With electric, the pot/pan is resting on a heated surface that gradually cools down and can really ruin whatever's cooking.

Sounds like you need to try an induction cooktop?

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I've only had one experience with induction- probably 15 years ago now. It was a place we stayed in hawaii (like pre-airbnb) and there was a sign saying if you even looked at it wrong it would scratch the surface (necessitating a full replacement). Are they really strong now or do you still have to worry about scratching? Some googling suggests that you still need to be careful with cast iron.

Cracking the glass of a induction cooktop is still a problem. So I recommend carbon steel over cast iron for this purpose. They’re similar in that they both need to be seasoned. But carbon steel is much lighter and it’s smooth unlike most modern cast iron cookware.

Well, I'm attached to my cast iron (pan, griddle, casserole and more), and treating my cooking top roughly (I used to be a cook in a restaurant, there we used carbon steel, which is fine, but sort of a different beast, from cast iron) is just how I roll. So I guess induction is still off the table. Even resistive electric coils don't really handle things quite as well as a gas range with metal grates.

Carbon steel deforms over heat. Also leaks oil through the pores. Or maybe I should have bought a more expensive pancake pan? Otherwise I like it; using both but I am extra careful with the cast iron.

Yes thin carbon steel cookware warps. My wok is a good example of that. But there plenty of high quality thick carbon steel cookware on the market that’s stronger.

What do you mean it leaks oil? I’ve never noticed any like that.

I always find oil on the induction cooker glass, under the pan. So I assume it leaks through pores when the oil gets hot and fluid? It's an ok quality pancake pan.

https://www.amazon.com/Kitchencraft-Non-stick-Crepe-Master-C...

(the reviewers that claim it sticks have not heated it up properly and the peeled off "teflon" is just burned crêpe)

Carbon steel should not have any non-stick coating applied from factory. Using a pure carbon steel pan will create a slick surface. Look at e.g. DeBuyer for a good brand.

In your case I think that oil gets over the lip and around the pan.

No different than a standard resistive electric stovetop with ceramic glass.

It looks almost the same but it's very different as the glass doesn't heat up like the resistive and the heat is instant, like gas and unlike resistive which has a lot of inertia. The glass only heats up from the cookware which is also a safety benefit (less likely to burn yourself).

But the glass itself should be the same.

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