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Cooktop - Induction or Gas?

 
                            
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We are in the planning stages of a kitchen remodel. We currently have gas and getting a gas cooktop seems like the obvious answer. However, with the changes in various states regarding gas cooktops I am trying to decide if induction would be a better choice. I am a cook and use my kitchen. Which way would you suggest for the best resale value?
Thank you.
 
rocket scientist
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Hi Denis;
As a cook, I imagine you learned with a gas range.
I grew up with gas cooking and consider it to be far superior to electric ranges.
I have never used an "induction" range but in my mind, it is another word for electric.
I'm sure that is not entirely true but... I think gas is here for the long run.

My vote is for a gas range.
If you are concerned about resale, have the electrician install the proper outlet (220?) for an induction range behind your top-of-the-line gas range!
Buyer can install their own if they wish.


 
pollinator
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I prefer induction. It reaches the temp you want instantly. In spite of the expression, "cooking with gas," induction will boil water a lot faster. The second reason I favor induction is the pollution. I feel the need to always run the exhaust fan while cooking with gas, and the noise is annoying.
 
pollinator
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Induction is actually faster than gas, produces no heat and is very economical. Most restaurants I have worked in had these huge steel plates. Compared to them, gas was an improvement. But induction is the best, in my opinipn.
 
Rusticator
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For some, the stove doesn't matter, because they don't cook. But, for others who love to cook, or can, bake, or otherwise use the stove a lot, options - or lack of them - can make or break the deal. I'm with Thomas, on this one. Gas will always be my preference (and it's lack was the only downside about this house, very nearly breaking the deal!) - but, not everyone agrees, and that 220 line as well as the plumbing could put you ahead of the game.
 
pollinator
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Personally I think if resale value of the house if your aim, induction. They've been around for quite a while but are really taking off now. Since you have gas now, I would say leave the installations there, so someone could re-instate gas easily, but gas is really on it's way out.
Induction is electric, but it's a far cry from the old coil electric cooktops.
 
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gas, don't need electricity in an outage...
 
pollinator
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If you’re in the middle of a remodel and already thinking about reselling ,buy the cheapest one b/c no stove you get will raise the price of real estate above its own cost.
 
gardener
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From a cooking perspective gas gets my vote every time.

As Dennis mentions, no issues in a power outage but more importantly, cooking with a proper cast iron wok is impossible on an induction hob, both Indian and Chinese cuisines utilise woks for cooking, the traditional cast iron flatbread pan tawa, is concave although I do realise that flat bottomed versions are available.

My cast iron cookware weigh a ton and I would be incredibly nervous of accidentally dropping them onto the induction hob and damaging it.

Our last two homes didn't have gas cook tops and the first thing we did was to install gas bottles even before the kitchen was remodelled😉
 
Dennis Goyette
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That's right Meghan, I use a cast iron wok, over cast iron pans with tops and cast iron griddle (have 2) and even cast iron corn muffin pans.....you really can't do better then cast iron in the long run....anybody try camping with a fire and non-cast iron pans? Coffee pot is another matter for a camp fire
 
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I see it this way: open wood fire > gas fire > electric plate > induction > microwave.
The flavor of dishes made on wood fire surpasses the rest.
For induction you need tons of electricity and in case of outage you can not heat even water for a cup of tea.
Gas can be converted to propane for flexibility.
For me it's a kind of fad and I would not be shocked that in 30 years someone will discover that such method of cooking was not the healthiest.

I forgot to add that with induction you can not use a lot of classic ceramic pots (or glass) and is iffy for cast iron and cast iron is the king.
 
Carla Burke
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I can't say I'm a fan of induction tops, either. As an extra burner, yes, but not as the only source. We use too many items on our stove that just don't work on induction, like the heavy, aluminum canner, the round-bottomed carbon steel wok, all the cast iron - the things we use and love the most. It's just too picky about what you can use. We do have a separate induction single burner 'hotplate'that has saved our butts, when we've needed an extra burner, or when the stove was dead. But, I would not want it as my only option.
 
pollinator
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I use induction stove to cut down on the amount of battery power I use with my solar system,     Very fast, excellent with cast iron cooking.

But in a grid down situation it is worthless unless you plan to run a generator to supply power.

I stock propane tanks and love gas cooking,  most useful for keeping warm and cooking,   I use it for cloudy wet days when cooking outside on the rocket stove is a bad alternative.       Propane keeps for many years with no upkeep, thus excellent for emergency backup.


I like to have many options,    I solar cook,   use rocket stoves,    induction,   propane,   and do thermal cooking.        

I adore induction cook tops as they are cheap,   and portable, and gives  you many options.

I tend to think in terms of  speed,  economy of cost, and if all else fails, will it work?      But others may have other priorities.

 
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My municipality is trying to phase out gas and has rebates for induction. Gas cooking certainly affects indoor air quality; respiratory disease is higher with gas stoves. And next time we replace the roof we will probably install a PV system, so electric makes sense. I imagine eventually we can phase out gas altogether.
I love gas for cooking, but most of my cookware will work on induction, and I'm about to switch over. Gotta have the wiring upgraded first.
I can cook over wood if the power goes out. I have a little portable outdoor stove.
But the gas range is the only source of heat in this house that's not dependent on electricity (pilot, blower, thermostat, etc.). I can turn the gas on and light it with a match. Bad idea, but I can. So an induction range will be a good excuse to try to have my fireplace made functional somehow, not only because I've always wanted it, but also in case the power goes out. I think the house is old enough that the legality of wood is grandfathered in.
 
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As much as I hate to say this, I think that for resaling induction looks more modern, thus it would be easier to sell it, provided it's a good stove and the glass looks still nice after a few years.
But from a resilience point of view, Mart Hale, said it: Have options. Just consider that any system you use will have its own maintenance. So if you use piped gas and have to maintain it, then you might as well have other gas devices such as the boiler, the water heater or gas heaters. Having to maintain piped gas only for the stove is not economical. Piped gas may fail in case of long blackouts. Propane bottles still work during blackouts, but they are less convenient.
As for cooking, I never cooked with induction, but I very much prefer gas over electroceramic stoves.
 
gardener
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I'm in favor of options!

I have a gas range (four burners and a gas oven: damn hard to find in India!) and a counter-top induction burner.

We use the induction much more because:
It's much faster (like, dramatically faster).
Indoor air quality issues from gas.
Gas comes in 14 kg cylinders we have to take for refilling, whereas electricity comes in a wire.
It has a timer so you can put the soaked beans on when you go to bed, and it switches off on time.

But the gas is also essential:
For the round-bottomed wok-like kadai (I love the Indian carbon steel kadais that hold a seasoning).
For the iron chapatti pan, which, even though I have a flat dosa pan, somehow makes the induction give an error message after a couple minutes. Also for toasting/puffing the chapattis on the flame for a couple seconds, though they can be made without this.
Electricity is very unreliable here.
Especially the oven would be useless if electricity went out for 15 minutes as it often does.
For roasting eggplants over the flame, though it would be no huge loss if we couldn't.

I wish I had 3 induction burners, one gas burner, and the gas oven.
 
pollinator
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Here in the Netherlands we have natural gas, ever since I was a child (I'm 67 now). So I'm used to cooking on gas.

But the last few years the gouvernment does it best to change everything to all electric. New houses and apartment buildings are built with solar panels and no gas pipe. Someone who's moving to such a new house does not have any choice but to cook on an electric stove. I am glad I still have gas here.

Electric cooking does not mean 'induction' per say! As far as I know there are three (maybe even four) different ways of electric cooking. Induction is the most well-known, but that doesn't mean it's the best. Induction works like a microwave, it doesn't heat the pot/pan, but it 'induces' heat inside the food itself.


 
Cristobal Cristo
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Inge,

It induces the heat by eddy currents in the BOTTOM of the vessel, not in the food. That's why it would not work with ceramic or glass vessel, because they are not built from conducting material.
 
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I can echo everything Rebecca says. I bought my induction burner (single) when gas was briefly hard to get here due to a strike. We keep using it for everything involving boiling (water, beermaking, kettle) or long, slow simmer. I have existing cast iron that works great on it. Probably 90% of my cooking is done on it.

That said, I use gas for Chinese cooking (the 'afterburner' extra large burner) for my wok, which nothing can replicate.

I'm super glad I have both options. I also supplemented my large gas oven (it's a 6-burner stove) with an electric air fryer toaster oven, and between that and the induction burner I use next to no gas anymore. But I do prefer each one for each specific purpose.
 
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I think an induction cook top would only help resale value in certain places. In my neck of the woods, people would not prefer it. In fact, some would dislike it, because it limits what kind of cookware you can use. I knew someone who bought a brand new induction stove without research... and she had to buy all new cookware, which did not make her happy. Natural Gas is not as available here due to the houses being so far apart. Propane is common though. I think a traditional electric stove or a gas/propane stove would provide the greatest amount of flexibility for the next owner.

While it might be a make or break item... if an appliance that costs several thousand dollars is the reason not to buy a 300K house... I'm not sure you want them buying it. Imagine what else they will complain about. Most people would see it, and just change it out to what they want.
 
pollinator
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In your remodel, in addition to gas, I would wire a 220v outlet for an electric range/oven, while the place is torn up, and you likely have an electrician in anyways. Should you happen to choose/switch to electric, it would be as simple as plugging in. "Already wired for an electric stove" is a good selling point.
I grew up using gas, and like the quantity of heat and the responsiveness. At present, we have an older electric "hot plate" style range (metal disc burners that get hot, but not glowing like the coil burners) and it is miserably slow and underpowered.
We also have a single burner countertop induction unit, which I have only used a few times, but it is responsive like gas. I haven't used it for boiling, only because in our small kitchen it only comes out when absolutely necessary...

Indoor air quality is a good reason to switch away from gas to electric, unless your electric service is very unreliable. Rather than a choice between gas/electric, in that case you might consider a backup generator, since so many other things in a modern home need electricity!
For the occasional outage (once/year, maybe a few hours- one day?) most people could make do with a barbeque grill, or camping stove, if they had no wood stove or fireplace.
 
Rebecca Norman
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Living in India and using a $40 counter-top single-burner induction stove, I'm a little mystified why induction stoves are so expensive in the US and require a special outlet. My induction burner heat settings range from 90W (simmer) to 1900W.

I mostly use the 130W setting, which is like medium heat on other stoves. I use the 1900W setting only to bring a pot of plain water to the boil fast. Well, as in most of the world, our electric supply is 220V (though in practice it's very variable here so I have a voltage stabilizer for the house) so I don't know if North American power supply of 120V would have trouble with 2000W. Of course if you have four burners and are, say, doing a big canning day with all of them cranking, that would come up to a very high load. Hmm...

About air quality from gas cooking, there's a lot of new research coming out where they measure actual air quality in houses and apartments that use gas for cooking, and it's pretty alarming. My house is passive solar heated and we have a long cold winter so there's not great ventilation for 5 - 6 months of the year. I mean, it's not airtight but not a breeze blowing through, either. We run the exhaust fan over the gas stove when cooking certain things, but not usually.

For anyone currently using gas and considering switching to induction, I recommend getting a countertop single induction, and getting induction-friendly pots gradually, starting with one big steel pot for boiling water, pasta or slow cooking, and one small steel pot for quick things. I have a steel stove-top espresso maker (moka type) that makes my coffee in three minutes flat on the induction cooker; but when there's no power in the morning and I have to put it on the gas burner I feel like going back to bed by the time it's done.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Induction works like a microwave, it doesn't heat the pot/pan, but it 'induces' heat inside the food itself.



Oops, no, induction actually ONLY heats the bottom of the pot. It only heats pots that can hold a magnet such as iron or steel pots, or other pots that have an "induction bottom". The pot has to have a flat bottom that can hold a magnet, since the process involves converting electricity to magnetic force to heat. An induction cooker does not heat food (or my hand, or a wooden spoon, or an aluminum pot) if there is no steel or iron pan on the surface of the cooker. Another advantage of the induction cooker is it doesn't heat the sides of the pot as gas does.
 
Inge Leonora-den Ouden
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Thank you for correcting what I told about heating the food with induction. That was what they told me, but probably those were people who did not know.
Now I understand better why special cookware is needed on an induction stove.
 
master gardener
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We bought an induction burner when we were deciding on our current stove. I cook beans in a clay pot every week. I cook in a wok at least twice a week. We're glad to have the mobile countertop "burner" but we went with a gas stove. The big thing we did was got a 36" stove and OMG we love it so much. Also, the hope is that whoever buys our house from our kids will value the better than average kitchen and pay more for the house because of it.
 
Kenneth Elwell
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Rebecca Norman wrote:Living in India and using a $40 counter-top single-burner induction stove, I'm a little mystified why induction stoves are so expensive in the US and require a special outlet. My induction burner heat settings range from 90W (simmer) to 1900W.

I mostly use the 130W setting, which is like medium heat on other stoves. I use the 1900W setting only to bring a pot of plain water to the boil fast. Well, as in most of the world, our electric supply is 220V (though in practice it's very variable here so I have a voltage stabilizer for the house) so I don't know if North American power supply of 120V would have trouble with 2000W. Of course if you have four burners and are, say, doing a big canning day with all of them cranking, that would come up to a very high load. Hmm...



Rebecca, I think you are on the right track on Wattage, now add an electric oven too, since it's quite common to have the cooktop and oven in one appliance. It's also quite common to have a dedicated circuit for high load appliances, such as range and/or oven, refrigerator, freezer... both for that appliance's own load, but also to minimize accidentally tripping the circuit breaker by using/breaking some other thing and thereby defrosting the freezer (possibly unnoticed). Our kitchen has all the countertop outlets on one circuit, which works okay until we use the microwave (900 W) and the countertop oven (1800 W) simultaneously... There's just enough time to speak a reminder "not to do that" , reply "oh yeah" in resignation, then walk down cellar to reset the breaker.
 
Matt McSpadden
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The other thing to remember is that in countries with 220v lines, you do not have to push as much amperage over the wires to get the wattage. If my limited knowledge is correct, this means there is less chance of the wires/circuit overheating when being pushed to the limit.
 
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Does anyone know anything about the dangers to the body of standing near an induction oven and getting a dose of magnetic energy? Yea, I know, Google. Google just isn't as reliable or as easy to research as it used to be so I thought I would ask all the erudite experts here 😀
 
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There are few things in life more worthless than an induction stove.
 
master pollinator
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For me, I am inclined toward an induction system in the house, when I upgrade.

But I am also inclinded to keep a NG option, because in my part of the world these energy grids are mostly independently powered. If the electrical grid goes down, the NG grid will keep operating. I like having options at -46C.
 
Inge Leonora-den Ouden
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Forest Viridiana wrote:Does anyone know anything about the dangers to the body of standing near an induction oven and getting a dose of magnetic energy? Yea, I know, Google. Google just isn't as reliable or as easy to research as it used to be so I thought I would ask all the erudite experts here 😀


That's a question I have too. I even tried to find answers on the internet, didn't find any information.
Several people I know say induction is as dangerous as microwave ... But when I search the internet it doesn't tell me much about the dangers of microwave ...
 
steward
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being off grid we need redundancy. Induction is used whenever the sun is on the solar panels. So in the spring/summer/fall from 8:30-5pm ish we use it. I am not sure if every induction is like this but ours will cycle on and off at the 300 watt setting, same with the 500 watt setting. everything higher is on the full time.

To me the induction is great for bulk cooking, ie forgiving foods or foods which have a lot of liquid in them. Simmering beans/corn. We of course use it for everything. Often cooking meals ahead of time so we can avoid using propane. Sometimes we use a hot box/blanket box to cook foods. To me its terrible at simmering. It boils like crazy for 3 seconds than stops, for 3 seconds. Seems to do weird things to certain foods.

All winter we cook on our woodstove. so the induction gets a break.

So yes its a tool. Its not the best. However it saves lots of propane use.
IMG_1790.JPG
cooking beans, counter top induction.
cooking beans, counter top induction.
 
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We wanted gas and finally got a range. My asthma has been awful ever since.
 
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I like the pinpoint temperature control that comes with gas. To be fair, I haven’t used an induction burner in twenty years and the technology has likely improved since then.

That said, you cannot quickly warm your tortillas and give them nice little charred flecks, or roast your peppers directly on an induction burner.
 
pollinator
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We are currently planning our house and considering these things as well. We cook a LOT and have been using a little 2 top induction cooker in the RV, along with a good outdoor propane stove. I think we'll keep induction to help with energy use. In the case of a power outage, or if we want to can/do maple sugaring, we can use the outdoor cooker as it's in a covered outdoor kitchen area. This way we buy very little gas and very little electricity.

I wanted to edit to add to this that I live in a very mild climate where outdoor cooking would only be out of the question a couple weeks a year. So your mileage may vary.
 
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I grew up with both gas and electric, and I also lived in Germany and used induction for a time. I find gas to be a problem in warmer months, because so much heat is lost around the sides of the pan, heating up your house, and forcing your air con to work even harder. This doesn't make sense at all to me, using one machine to cool the house, while another one unintentionally heats it and puts the two at odds. I never noticed the electric burners heating up the house in that way, the pot or pan made contact with the coil, and there was no air moving around it, the way that it does with gas. So, it all seemed to be absorbed by the pan. I've never seen better outcomes in the food I've made either, and I'm a fairly serious baker. And of course, if you have solar, you only have the one time carbon footprint of the solar panel being manufactured.

Incidentally, when I move into a homestead type situation, I'll probably have an indoor and outdoor kitchen, so that I can mostly cook outdoors in the summer when I want to use a cooktop or oven, and use things like the microwave inside the house.

We've got to be thinking of ways to use less energy. The climate situation is dire and we don't have much time left. I'd rather be inconvenienced now and live another 40 years, than insist on all of my comforts and die in a flood, heatwave, fire, another pandemic, etc., all of which become more and more severe the worse we allow things to get.
 
pioneer
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Induction burners have worked well for us, quick to adjust like gas. Although I preferred gas burners for cooking for many years, the indoor air quality and the heat load inside when the weather is hot are bad. When cooking with gas, always use a vent fan. We just remodeled our kitchen and did not get an induction range. Although they perform better than old-style electric burners, they are only slightly more efficient yet they cost much more. We went with old-school electric, and a woodstove for redundancy.
 
pollinator
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INDUCTION. We had gas for 20+ years and labored over the decision a couple of years ago. We've had induction for 2 years and it gets used hard- we have a farm and family of five with 3 athletic teenagers (A LOT of calories). I can on it and cook everything. Mine came with a nice induction-ready cook set as a rebate but we still use our enamel, stainless and iron (had to get rid of some copper pots).

Electric doesn't come close to induction for precision, cleanliness or efficiency; that's not a worthy comparison, folks. Gas is unhealthy (indoor air), expensive, inefficient (wasted heat), and so.hard.to.clean.  I can make cheese, cajeta, jam, applesauce, etc easily because of the precision. It's SO fast too. We have a double oven, which I also love. It cooks evenly and quickly.

We also have a wood stove and do cook on that- especially slow cooking things like beans or stew and toasted stuff.
 
Tereza Okava
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I am glad this thread is getting bumped.

I've tracked our gas use since we got the induction burner (just one). Like many people here, I cook everything, mostly from scratch.
We went from using one 13kg bottle of gas every other month to TWO PER YEAR (and as someone else mentioned above, gas here is a pain in the butt, have to go get it refilled or have it delivered, it's not piped where i live).
Our electricity bill has not budged.

If you make things that involve boiling or heating liquids (jam, cheese, yogurt, beer, chutney, etc) or set periods of time at certain temps (candy) this thing is amazing. I also have a huge stainless lobster pot type thing that I use for beermaking, it is now my go-to for canning (which I had basically stopped doing, since gas was getting pricey and I just couldn't bear to spend that much).
Also deep frying: I can set the oil temp, and it will keep it there. Absolutely amazing.

I have the cheapest ("practically disposable") one I could find, since I bought it just to test out, and I've found that some fooling around is merited. I also thought it was crap for very slow/low simmer til I messed around with the options: instead of using power levels, set for temperature. Same with deep frying, I needed a certain temp for making tortilla chips, with the power level setting we couldn't hit it, but with the temp setting we did.
 
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