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Comment by chomp | Hacker News Reader

Can’t (properly) cook a tortilla on an electric burner, though you can get subpar results in a pan

Can’t char a pepper on an electric burner

Can’t heat a nabe on an electric burner

Also during hurricane season, my gas burner still works when the power goes out.

The list goes on of things that electric simply cannot do. To claim one is superior over the other ignores a lot of the ways people cook. They are just simply different cooking tools.

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Does the list _really_ go on though? I think we basically exhausted it (and one on that list is solved with a $10 torch, one with a cast iron pan, the other with an induction-friendly nabe). You can make lists for induction too:

- Can't temper chocolate, cook a hollandaise, or do anything that requires low heat without using a double boiler.

- Can't boil a large pot of water in under 20 minutes (unless you have a high-power/commercial burner that will absolutely murder indoor air quality/conditioning).

- Can't set the temperature of the pan (or even the contents), rather than just the power level. Think, maintaining an oil temp for deep frying, or a surface temp for browning.

That last one is a really big deal. Imagine if ovens still just had power levels (low/med/high) instead of thermostats.

I mean really, all of my examples involve on-demand flame at a BTU higher than a torch, so I suppose the list doesn’t go on if you exclude things like charring eggplant for baba ganoush.

Induction is super awesome for maintaining temp. But one isn’t superior over the other in all cases. My point was purely, people need high BTU fire sometimes based off how they cook. I mean, you won’t see me cooking tagine, but surely someone in the world cooks tagine?

Fair enough. I do actually have a camping stove that I've used a couple times when I needed a flame.

Let’s assume we both have nice ranges.

- I can temper on my 7k BTU burner

- I can boil water quick AF on my 18k BTU burner

- setting pan temp isn’t a thing, there are no recipes that call for a pan temp. Oil temp? Sure and that is why you have a thermometer, very solved problem. For browning etc you do it by time and feel, even if you could set a pan temp you wouldn’t just leave your meat on it for some temp x time amount.

I'll take your word on those first two. I've used gas ranges, and the smallest burner has never been small enough to avoid putting itself out. And the largest one has always taken ages to boil water. Especially since the largest one usually pops the damn flame beyond the edges of the pot. But it's possible I've never used a really nice gas range. Though, FWIW, my current induction range is the cheapest model they had on sale 10 years ago, and it handles both perfectly.

For the last one, just because you're an elite chef and can cook a steak perfectly every time on feel, doesn't mean I am. :D I can buy a $40 steak and know I'm not going to ruin it because I can maintain my pan at 350f, which will brown it and not burn it. I can make pancakes without constantly adjusting the cook time and heat every single batch as the pan continually absorbs more and more heat throughout the cook. I can put a chili on, set it to 204 degrees, then just leave and come back in a few hours without babying the power knob for the first hour trying to get it to a stable, gentle simmer. I can braise meats without using my oven, because I can keep a liquid at 180 degrees. I can make a soup at 3pm, then put in on at 145 degrees for a few hours until dinner. It's not about having a "recipe", you learn 4-5 important temperatures after a couple weeks of using it.

> It's not about having a "recipe", you learn 4-5 important temperatures after a couple weeks of using it.

Yes. Because of the quick reaction times, and being able to precisely set temperatures, and even temperature profiles over time with more advanced models.

Of the contents, in the pot or pan. Not just the outside.

For me it was a revelation. Needs much less experience and intuition. Eliminates much guesswork if you don't have much of the former.

Given you have a sufficient electric installation. If not, there are some crazies offering induction-cooktops with built-in battery, to compensate for the lack of that, boosting it up, sufficient for most cooking they claim.

I'd rather not ;->

It's not just how much water can you boil and how fast, it's the excess heat and significant hit to indoor air quality, and CO2 concentration

> Can't set the temperature of the pan

My gas stovetop in japan has a temperature sensor, and can detect excess temperature (food or oil burning), maintain a temperature, etc. It's possible with gas.

That said, I miss my induction stovetop, and I'm building a house, and it'll have induction, rather than gas.

Can literally do all these (except nabe, don't understand what's happening there) with a basic cast iron pan + induction stove top.

They may be different cooking tools but if one is ruining the quality of your life + possibly children, wouldn't you rather do it the safe way? Or are your habits more important than your health?

You absolutely cannot do the same thing with a cast iron, I promise.

Char food? I do that several times a week. You realize things get hot and you can cook right? Gas stove tops aren't the only thing capable of generating heat. Induction is simply better. Way safer too.

I get good tortillas on induction.

Can char pepper in the oven.

Can also get a portable gas stove.

Depends on your electricity. Induction will stay shitty at 120V AC. It needs at least 2500 Watts sustained per pot/pan, to be good.

> Also during hurricane season, my gas burner still works when the power goes out.

'Powerwall' or similar?

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