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I switched from induction to gas after a kitchen renovation. My experience is that induction is more efficient and powerful than gas, but is also much more une

I switched from induction to gas after a kitchen renovation. My experience is that induction is more efficient and powerful than gas, but is also much more uneven, more picky about cookware, and does not work well with “professional” cooking techniques which were created around gas and wood stoves. I gave induction a solid trial run and in the end, it didn’t cut it. The stupid controls design made it even worse. Also, gas is not dangerous from fumes at all if you have an externally vented hood, which you should have with ANY cooktop, as cooking fumes are worse for health than the byproducts of a blue flame. Whoever wrote this article doesn’t know what they’re talking about and clearly doesn’t gourmet cook regularly.

SECProto 5y ago
> My experience is that induction is more efficient and powerful than gas, but is also much more uneven, more picky about cookware, and does not work well with “professional” cooking techniques which were created around gas and wood stoves Anyone else's may vary, but my experience differed from this: 1 I found induction to produce a very even heat - much more even than a gas stove, where there's a heat spike wherever any individual gas jet hits. Quite noticeable with cast iron on a gas stove. 2. Yes, certainly induction needs specific kinds of cookware. All mine work fine. 3 What "professional" cooking techniques don't work? 4 Agree on controls, but that goes for most modern consumer devices, unfortunately... 5 Saying the author "clearly doesn't gourmet cook regularly" is very elitist and a non-constructive criticism. I wonder if perhaps your induction was a bad model? Or are you confident it wasn't a halogen stove?
- ihateolives 5y ago
  > I wonder if perhaps your induction was a bad model? That's a real concern, there are some subpar induction tops out there that give induction bad rep.
- tristor 5y ago
  I used induction in EU while traveling and found it really great which us why I switched to it initially when back in the US. The available models (at any price) in the US are all subpar. Commonly you will have a single 7” diameter induction ring in a 10” burner, which is /horribly/ uneven compared to any other range type. Look in cooking forums, it’s well understood at this point that radiant is the most even, induction is the least even, and gas is in the middle. But gas has the advantage of working with any cookware (including warped or wobbly/spun pans) and can be used in tilted/lifted cooking techniques that don’t work on induction or radiant and are common in gourmet cooking done in the French tradition. I really wanted induction to work for me. It’s so much safer and more energy efficient (e.g. cheaper) than other options, but it just sucked in the US. Even EU brands sold in US use subpar designs and the quality cooktops sold in EU are not available here. If you want to know conclusively how even your cooktop is do a flour scorch test or use a thermal imaging device. I know from scorch test that induction was significantly worse (and from behavior while cooking). Try using cast iron on induction and you’ll hate life.
adlpz 5y ago
I share this experience and I'm also moving from induction back to gas after around 6 years of use. I've experienced the uneven heat (liquid boiling right over the coil, cold next to it), shitty duty-cycle pulsing (no way of getting a proper low flame) and actually insuficient power when e.g. deep frying (it would throttle back when too hot and temperature actually dropped). And terrible capacitive controls. I've moved places and my kitchen now vents straight outside, so the choice is clear for me: gas.

SECProto 5y ago

> My experience is that induction is more efficient and powerful than gas, but is also much more uneven, more picky about cookware, and does not work well with “professional” cooking techniques which were created around gas and wood stoves Anyone else's may vary, but my experience differed from this: 1 I found induction to produce a very even heat - much more even than a gas stove, where there's a heat spike wherever any individual gas jet hits. Quite noticeable with cast iron on a gas stove. 2. Yes, certainly induction needs specific kinds of cookware. All mine work fine. 3 What "professional" cooking techniques don't work? 4 Agree on controls, but that goes for most modern consumer devices, unfortunately... 5 Saying the author "clearly doesn't gourmet cook regularly" is very elitist and a non-constructive criticism. I wonder if perhaps your induction was a bad model? Or are you confident it wasn't a halogen stove?

ihateolives 5y ago
> I wonder if perhaps your induction was a bad model? That's a real concern, there are some subpar induction tops out there that give induction bad rep.
tristor 5y ago
I used induction in EU while traveling and found it really great which us why I switched to it initially when back in the US. The available models (at any price) in the US are all subpar. Commonly you will have a single 7” diameter induction ring in a 10” burner, which is /horribly/ uneven compared to any other range type. Look in cooking forums, it’s well understood at this point that radiant is the most even, induction is the least even, and gas is in the middle. But gas has the advantage of working with any cookware (including warped or wobbly/spun pans) and can be used in tilted/lifted cooking techniques that don’t work on induction or radiant and are common in gourmet cooking done in the French tradition. I really wanted induction to work for me. It’s so much safer and more energy efficient (e.g. cheaper) than other options, but it just sucked in the US. Even EU brands sold in US use subpar designs and the quality cooktops sold in EU are not available here. If you want to know conclusively how even your cooktop is do a flour scorch test or use a thermal imaging device. I know from scorch test that induction was significantly worse (and from behavior while cooking). Try using cast iron on induction and you’ll hate life.

adlpz 5y ago

I share this experience and I'm also moving from induction back to gas after around 6 years of use. I've experienced the uneven heat (liquid boiling right over the coil, cold next to it), shitty duty-cycle pulsing (no way of getting a proper low flame) and actually insuficient power when e.g. deep frying (it would throttle back when too hot and temperature actually dropped). And terrible capacitive controls. I've moved places and my kitchen now vents straight outside, so the choice is clear for me: gas.