Induction vs gas cooktop

[EastWest Gal]

I’m seeking opinions re: induction vs gas cook too. I need to replace our 20 year old gas range/oven. The oven won’t light and there are multiple lesser problems. I love cooking, and gas is wonderful for its versatility. But there is a safety factor with open flame, and I’ve been reading about induction. Almost all of my pans are induction friendly.

Pros/cons? Anyone who has experience with induction, please chime in. We’re starting shopping this afternoon.

The only con I can think of is I flame roast peppers now and then on the burners, but I can use the grill for that.

 

[Spock]

Induction glass tops require more care when cooking with cast iron.

 

[MRG]

I made the choice last year and went with gas. My pan were no problem. My biggest concern was service, there's not much for service in the area and I figured most anyone can work on gas.

Cons of gas you know about. I'm glad I bought a gas alarm as I can't smell the stuff they put in it. The alarm went off last week as DW snagged the knob with her robe.

 

[CitizenK]

I currently have a gas range, but would seriously consider switching to induction for one reason... ease of cleaning. There are a lot of discussions of this topic on the Gardenweb/Houzz forums. Gardenweb Induction vs. Gas

 

[Koogie]

I currently have a gas range, but would seriously consider switching to induction for one reason... ease of cleaning. There are a lot of discussions of this topic on the Gardenweb/Houzz forums. Gardenweb Induction vs. Gas

+1 Hate gas. The stove is brutal to keep clean and it heats up the kitchen a lot more during the summer than electric.

We're moving soon and it will be into a house with a glass cooktop. Can't say I am sad about leaving the gas behind.

Also, I worry about the elderly and gas. My mum moved into a new house last year (she is 85) and she hasn't quite got the knack of the gas. You hear quite a few loud POOFS when she starts burners...
I keep offering to buy her a new electric stove and install it... so far she has said no but I'm going to keep trying to grind her down....

 

[Chuckanut]

Induction glass tops require more care when cooking with cast iron.

True. I stored my two cast iron pans and only use them in the oven. OTOH, the tops are very easy to clean and maintain as long as one does not let spills linger on the surface until they form one big burnt on mess. Food quality is the same.

I took a cooking class a few years ago in Italy. (You should taste my Cantuccini di Prato - biscotti in the USA). The chef used induction stoves exclusively. According to him they generated far less heat, were easier to clean, had done away with kitchen fires and most burns, and the food was still as tasty as before.

Gas? Great for BBQ, IMHO.

 

[Sunset]

Each has benefits, on gas I like to roast over the flame some peppers when making salsa, adds a nice taste and easy to do.

I grew up using an electric stove, one advantage I missed when we got gas was the ability to put something on very low simmer all day.
Spaghetti sauce for example would simmer all day, and we could ignore it, leave the house, go in & out the doors even on windy days without a care.

Can't do that with gas, in case the flame blows out...
A slow cooker is not the same, often too hot.

 

[TrvlBug]

Replaced my gas cooktop with induction when we remodeled. I love it for its ease of cleaning as well as gas-like response when turning it on/off and its 'speed boost' function is fabulous, heating a big pot of water much, much faster than gas.

I forgot to tell my contractor that I was changing from gas to induction and they had to re-open the wall to put in the electrical . Thankfully, the cabinets had not yet been installed.

 

[TrvlBug]

Each has benefits, on gas I like to roast over the flame some peppers when making salsa, adds a nice taste and easy to do.

I grew up using an electric stove, one advantage I missed when we got gas was the ability to put something on very low simmer all day.
Spaghetti sauce for example would simmer all day, and we could ignore it, leave the house, go in & out the doors even on windy days without a care.

Can't do that with gas, in case the flame blows out...
A slow cooker is not the same, often too hot.

Yes, also the simmer function is much better than gas.

 

[davebarnes]

We recently remodeled our kitchen.
We stayed with gas because that avoid the $1500+ cost of adding additional 50 amp service to the kitchen.
I like gas and am pleased with our Wolf hob.

But, if I had the electrical lines in place, I would go with induction. We used a portable induction hob during the renovation process and it convinced me. More control and improved energy efficiency.

A very good resource - Induction Home Page

 

[MooreBonds]

Grew up with electric, made sure I got gas in my first (and now current) home.

My preferences:

Touch pads are very temperamental - I don't know about others, but my fingers never seem to be just the right size/dryness/whatever to make the stove sense my finger trying to turn it on/off or adjust the temp. Then, when you have random splatters from pots and pans, it sometimes lands a droplet of liquid that occasionally made my parents' stove automatically either shut off, turn down to low, or turn all the way up to high.

Care of glass top - Perhaps some brands are more durable, but I don't want to have to deal with carefully scrubbing a glass top that has dried food on it. The induction ones might be better with this, since the actual cooking surface doesn't get as hot, so the food/spills won't cook into the top....but they can still dry off and stick a bit. I'd prefer a black-top gas range (currently have stainless, since that's all that was available from LG on my dual fuel range).

Sealed gas burners - if you do go gas, I'd recommend sealed gas burners. It helps keep it much cleaner, so the occasional spill/boil over doesn't get gunk into the gas elements.

I splurged and went with a dual fuel LG range with dual ovens. I like it a lot, although I never had a gas oven, and just defaulted with the dual fuel convection option like I did at my first house. My mother-in-law swears by gas ovens, and it does give a certain crispness to roasted foods that just doesn't happen in an electric oven. If I did it all over again, I'd probably do the dual oven with just all gas for both the range and oven.

 

[Lagniappe]

I just got an induction cooktop a couple of weeks ago. It has taken a bit of getting used to, but I must say, I like it a lot. Water goes from room temperature to boiling in 3 minutes, control is just as good as a gas flame if not better. Cleaning is easier than the electric glass cooktop, but a little more challenging than the sealed burner gas stoves I have had in the past. I use the outdoor grill on the rare occasions when I need an open flame. I did have to buy new pots because old cast iron and a couple of Le-creuset roasters were all I had that would work with induction and those are mostly for oven use, but it was worth it!

 

[RobbieB]

There is just an electric outlet in my house so I've always been electric. Not going to pay for a contractor to run a gas pipe.

But I did upgrade from coil to induction and I love it -

 

[EastWest Gal]

Thanks all! FYI, I almost set my house on fire with the gas stove a few months after moving here in 1999. It sounds like induction can be winner.

 

[Walt34]

I keep offering to buy her a new electric stove and install it... so far she has said no but I'm going to keep trying to grind her down....

Don't count on her changing anytime soon.

Our family still remembers great-Aunt Nellie in PA for this, about 1960. She'd used an ornate coal stove for most of her life and her kids bought her a brand spankin' new modern-day electric stove. Aunt Nellie hated it and made them get rid of the electric one and bring back her coal stove.

Yep, older folks can be a tad stubborn.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I’m seeking opinions re: induction vs gas cook too. I need to replace our 20 year old gas range/oven. The oven won’t light and there are multiple lesser problems. I love cooking, and gas is wonderful for its versatility. But there is a safety factor with open flame, and I’ve been reading about induction. Almost all of my pans are induction friendly.

Pros/cons? Anyone who has experience with induction, please chime in. We’re starting shopping this afternoon.

The only con I can think of is I flame roast peppers now and then on the burners, but I can use the grill for that.

I think you should get the induction and see how you like it—it sounds like you could easily go back to gas if you don’t? DS and his DW are great cooks and just replaced their induction cooktop with another higher-end one.

 

[braumeister]

I grew up with a gas stove, but have had an all electric home for the last mumblety-seven years so I've learned to adjust.

I spend the majority of my time in the lower level of our condo while DW spends most of hers in the upper level where the kitchen is.

When I had a bit of a medical issue I spent about a week full time in the lower level and I wanted to be able to cook a little, so I bought a small portable induction cooker and put it on the wet bar down here. I loved the thing. If our main stove ever conks out on us, I'll probably replace it with an induction range. Definitely superior to a standard electric IMHO.

 

[MRG]

Don't count on her changing anytime soon.

Our family still remembers great-Aunt Nellie in PA for this, about 1960. She'd used an ornate coal stove for most of her life and her kids bought her a brand spankin' new modern-day electric stove. Aunt Nellie hated it and made them get rid of the electric one and bring back her coal stove.

Yep, older folks can be a tad stubborn.

+1
I remember an older cousin cooking on a wood stove with my mom. DM hadn't cooked on wood/coal since she was 20. They made bread and a huge standing rib roast. The meal was a family tradition, not the preparation.

 

[Freedom56]

I’m seeking opinions re: induction vs gas cook too. I need to replace our 20 year old gas range/oven. The oven won’t light and there are multiple lesser problems. I love cooking, and gas is wonderful for its versatility. But there is a safety factor with open flame, and I’ve been reading about induction. Almost all of my pans are induction friendly.

Pros/cons? Anyone who has experience with induction, please chime in. We’re starting shopping this afternoon.

The only con I can think of is I flame roast peppers now and then on the burners, but I can use the grill for that.

We have both. We have a GE Profile induction cooktop at our condo, Meile induction cooktop at our place in Europe, and a Fisher Paykel gas cooktop at our home in California. Our ovens are all separate wall mount electrics. From the point of view of cooking, the gas cooktop is much better in my opinion. With gas cooktops you do need to buy a quality brand. Our home came with a cheap GE gas cooktop. When we remodeled the kitchen 13 years ago, we bought the Fisher Paykel cooktop. It not only looks better, but it works well and is easy to keep clean. Professional chefs use gas cooktops for a reason. We also find it difficult to keep the black glass on our induction cooktops clean.

 

[Scuba]

I love our Wolf gas cooktop we put in during our remodel. Every burner has a simmer function that is awesomely low. It does take longer than induction to boil water, but I usually have other prep work I’m doing while the water heats up anyway.

 

[davebarnes]

Professional chefs use gas cooktops for a reason.

In the USA.
In Europe, many use induction.
Tradition and relative fuel prices control.

 

[Solovino]

I've got both gas and induction cooking surfaces in my kitchen. I love induction cooking and haven't used the gas side in over two years. It is very much superior to the gas stove in all ways. Cleaning the induction surface is easy and the glass is very durable. Go for the induction stove!

 

[Freedom56]

In the USA.
In Europe, many use induction.
Tradition and relative fuel prices control.

You are correct. Natural gas is in surplus here. I was going by what I see here. In Europe, the Kremlin controls the flow. They also use coal, charcoal, and wood fire stoves in Europe. I guess some specialty BBQ pit masters do the same here.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have gas, induction and electric and so prefer the induction. We don't still have the house where I had it but I loved it so much. I felt it was easy to use, very easy to clean up. Another big advantage for me is that we have cats. I currently have a smooth top electric. I know that if I cook something and turn off burners I have to put something on them until cool so the cats won't jump on them potentially and get burned. With induction that wasn't an issue at all since the surface didn't get hot.

I was going to put in induction at our new house. But, less than a month before we bought it seller put in a brand new smooth top electric unit. Of course, I could replace it but we may reconfigure some stuff in the kitchen so I will use it for now. But, eventually, I will get induction again.

 

[marko]

I'm a serious cook. I also have no sense of smell.
We have both: gas at our home and electric at our winter place in Florida; gas not available.

If I had to do it over again I seriously doubt I'd buy a place if gas was not an option; a show stopper for me. Gas just has much better control.