You’ll pry my gas stove out of my dead cold hands.
Everything about it is better with the exception of an annoying buzz from the induction on occasion.
- My carbon steel pans get to temp basically instantly.
- My cast iron gets to temp in a fraction of the time it took on my gas stove.
- It also works fantastically on my stainless steel pots and tbh it feels like I can get a pot of water to boil in half the time.
- Cleaning induction surfaces is way easier.
- For "specialty stuff" like woks, curved induction is so much cheaper, more convenient, safer, and more approachable than the equivalent gas setups.
This isn't me trying to suggest anyone should be forced to give up gas. It definitely has it's uses. However I really have to recommend trying out a nice, modern induction setup. They are like fucking magic.
What the heck is that? Where in the western world can't you run an electric induction stove? And what would the environmental impacts of that be?
Gas leaks and gas explosions is nothing I see as benefits.
And en electric stove also have many benefits over gas such as automatically turning off, timer based shut off etc.
> What the heck is that?
Try searching for "UPS" on Amazon. How many of the search results would be capable of powering an electric stove (to cook meals) through a several-day electrical outage? If you looked at larger units (and generators) which were capable of doing that - what physical/electrical/safety issues would you face in actually connecting them to a typical residential stove? And once you're into the generators - those have their own fuel safety issues.
> Where in the western world can't you run an electric induction stove?
Anywhere that does not have electrical power available, during a power outage. Which the comment I was replying to very specifically pointed out.
Impulse Labs would like to sell you a really nice 4-pan stove with a built in battery that will ride through a decently long outage.
But there's also the virtue of tech that just works, without everyone having to spend time & money researching/purchasing/maintaining/using backup systems to cover its frequent outages.
Tech like those old gas stoves.
Gas stovetop costs $400 and just works.
As a backup I would recommend a camping stove that uses ethanol over using a UPS system.
Vs. the USA? Further up the chain of replies, this was specified:
>>> Here in New York I lose power several times a year - sometimes for multiple days at a time. In 5 decades I've never lost my gas.
And I know quite a few people in Michigan who had similar experiences last year. Total outage duration for many of them was >2 weeks.
(I'll admit that, these days, "USA isn't really a developed country any more" is a credible argument.)
It'd cost me $20k to install an induction stove, not buying it.
I lose power in SF 3-4 times a year, have never lost gas. Last power outage I cooked with gas and it was great. I have gas heat too, always works.
My newer neighborhood (25 years old) has buried power lines, but it's fed from overhead power lines, so we still have power issues. I'm not advocating for gas over electric, just giving some perspective from another part of the world.
In the North East, usually a wet snow or freezing rain to ice will cause the branches to fall.
In the South, drought will often weaken the trees and winds will will do the rest.
Excessive rain can also cause problems when coupled with wind. The trees topple over, roots and all.
Hurricanes and tornadoes will often cause prolonged outages, note that the wind form these can reach far inland and beyond what we consider the edge of the hurricane.
So unless gas is 1/2 the price of electricity where you are at, induction still wins!
Oh and because gas puts approximately 50% of its heat into the environment and not the cookware, it can cause an increase in AC costs in the summer!
I find it hard to believe given global markets that it is more than half of the cost in more than just a few extreme parts of the world.
Or a decrease in heating costs in the winter. :)
If the massive difference is the pan type, why isn't it almost instant with gas?
Or do gas hobs output way way less energy than an induction hob?
How many kilowatts is yours?
They circumvent laws of heat transfer by pumping energy directly into the pan at the speed of light and creating heat right there.
On an induction hob, the heat is generated by the pan itself. That’s the instant part. The pan itself heats more or less quickly depending mostly on its mass and what it’s made of.
A gas hob is much less efficient in the way heat is transmitted to the pan: the flame irradiates everywhere, not only on the pan, and the air around the flame and the pan moves, carrying heat by convection.
> If the massive difference is the pan type, why isn't it almost instant with gas?
A steel pan heats quickly because it’s light and thin. A cast iron pan heats slowly because it’s thick and heavy (kind of material also plays a role, but steel and cast iron are not too different in that respect).
> Or do gas hobs output way way less energy than an induction hob?
Off the top of my head I think they are comparable. It’s just that most of this heat is wasted.