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Comment by lkramer | Hacker News Reader

I find it significantly harder to cook with electric than gas, and the first hurdle these days is always that for some reason all modern stoves use awful touch interfaces instead of just plain knobs. I don't understand how we got there. It should be obvious to anyone that it's a terrible interface when you are trying to multitask several pots and might also have greasy hands

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Simply not true. There’s a ton of induction and electric coil ranges with knobs. Just look at the Bosch line.

I haven't seen one in a kitchen in decades, other than extremely old ones. The touch control design is absolutely everywhere. At least here in Norway, where ~all stovetops are electric.

I just bought an LG induction stove, all knobs except oven temp setting.

I mean they probably exist but the standard induction plates that they deliver with kitchens are all touch control. You learn to live with it.

I know someone who just bought a brand-new consumer-grade convection oven with induction cooktop. Knobs for the stovetop, buttons for the oven.

they are definitely a minority, not "tons". On the Bosch website I can't even find them.

Not really in Europe, at least not in the nordics. All Bosch are touch controls.

Agreed - maybe not lots - but I got myself a HIS8055U three years ago specifically because it had knobs. No regrets there. I wish it had one larger burner, but completely night and day with traditional electric.

Am I missing something? A quick search for electric ranges on Home Depot shows simmerstats at every price range.

The harder one is induction, where there are lots of touch controls, but I don’t see this issue on traditional resistive stovetops.

(This is in the US of course)

I've seen induction with dials for the stove. Ovens have had electronic buttons for decades though.

Induction is the good one - it has instant response like gas.

Resistive electric stoves suck and deserve their reputation, but induction is the best of both worlds: high power, accurate control, and you don't waste half of the energy due to the flame's heat going around the pot.

But the touch-sensitive controls are infuriating indeed. Nothing about induction requires them, it's just a dumb design fad.

This! The only electric (induction or otherwise) stovetops are either bottom of the barrel portable or top of the line commercial models. Everything in between is capacitive touch garbage.

I bought a relatively inexpensive induction range from LG specifically because it has knobs - a lot of the more expensive ones from other brands were capacitive touch.

Still easy to manage, quick wipe with a paper towel, but rarely need to do even that.

Yeah, so my (electric) stove has knobs, but my oven and microwave are both touch buttons and this has literally never been an issue.

Admittedly I have other complaints about the microwave controls (why is it so damn many button presses to vary the power output) but it's not because the buttons are hard to use.

https://www.impulselabs.com

their stove appears to solve all that. I cant wait for their competitors to respond and fix their beyter priced products

I usually hate touch controls. But for the stove I actually like them. I always hated cleaning in and around the knobs. When cooking on the stove you almost always get some sort of splatter so it is nice to clean them every time (something I often put off with knobs. So for something that so regularly gets dirty a flat surface can be very welcome.

So it is definitely a tradeoff, but I am happy I picked a stove with touch controls. Although I did pay attention that they were good touch controls (touch anywhere on the arc to set that temperature directly for example). Although there is a small annoying delay after turning on before you can set the temperature. Almost perfect.

I hate it but I think the reason might be regulations? I have family who recently had to replace their stove setup, they used to have a combined oven + stovetop thing where dials on the front of the oven controlled the stovetop. They wanted the replacement to work the same way but there were no options, and when they asked, they were told it's no longer legal for the stovetop and the oven to be electrically connected in that way (or something along those lines).

No idea if it's true or if it was just an impressively creative salesperson.

But it sucks. I've accidentally burned cookware by having parts of the stovetop turn on intentionally. And sometimes, if my fingers are moist while cooking (imagine that!), the touch controls just go completely insane and I have to spend time drying my hands and the controls before I regain control over the stove.

IMO the new design with touch buttons is way more dangerous.

I’m skeptical about the reasoning being regulations. There are still a few Italian manufacturers who have a combined oven & stovetop models (“range” in US terms) including induction, but they’re really expensive and with questionable reliability / warranty support. I think all manufacturers just care about cutting costs and putting out a “sleak” design.

I can’t wait for knobs to make a comeback.

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