One of the biggest advantages of having an induction cooktop is since the pot or pan is the only thing being heated, the rest of the cooktop stays cool. This makes it a great option if there are young people at home learning to cook. It works by heating the specified cooking zone the ring on the glass top and is a popular choice for its sleek, modern design. As the name suggests, a gas cooktop is a stove powered by a combustible gas — like natural gas or propane, among others — that uses an open flame to heat cookware.
Gas cooktops are fast, efficient and very powerful, often the cooktop of choice for professional chefs due to the amount of control you can have with the temperature and size of flames. Ready for a quick science lesson? A burner is attached to a small gas valve which is then connected to your gas line. Once the burner is lit, if you want a bigger flame you can turn the knob higher which lets in more gas and oxygen. This process happens almost in an instant, which is why you can change the temperature of the burner faster than the traditional electric cooktop.
And the answer largely depends on your cooking style and preference, as both are great options. Before you decide, one thing you can do is check your home connection.
Induction cookers tend to use a lot of energy and often require special connections — such as a 20A, 32A or even 42A connection — which will need to be installed by a licensed electrician. This is especially helpful if you live in an area with inclement weather or frequent outages. The short answer? An induction range can only use iron or some stainless steel pots and pans.
You can test your existing cookware with magnets. If a magnet sticks, the pot or pan will work on an induction range. Cookware concerns may be one issue stopping some Americans from adopting induction cooking. Because induction relies on electromagnetism, only pots with magnetic bottoms—steel and iron—can transfer heat. If a magnet sticks to the bottom , your pots and pans will work with induction.
If you do need some new cookware, the winners of our best stainless steel skillets roundup are all induction-friendly. And the fact is, they're not specific to induction, so you can use those pans on other fuels. Price has been another big stumbling block. While induction ranges still claim a smaller portion of the overall market, they are becoming more affordable.
That alone may convince homeowners who have been sitting on the fence. A variety of manufacturers such have introduced induction ranges, signifying their confidence in adoption rates in the U. For instance, Bosch's FlexInduction technology in its Benchmark series of induction cooktops allows you to combine cooking zones to adapt to the size, shape, and location of the cookware you're using.
Credit: Samsung You have more control over temperature on an induction cooktop than you have with a gas cooktop, but there is a learning curve. Samsung induction cooktops show a blue "virtual flame", which can help a new user visualize the amount of heat going to the pan.
Since the science proves that induction cooking is faster, safer, and more efficient than gas or electric, why the hesitation? As McKechnie pointed out, microwave ovens suffered from a similarly slow adoption rate through the s, for precisely the same reason: People just didn't understand the science behind microwave cooking, or how it could benefit them. Ultimately, it was the introduction of PR-friendly cooking demos, TV shows, and microwave dealerships that helped the technology take off.
Are you team gas, induction, ceramic? Let me know in the comments below. See my other stories. Interesting topic and one I cover with clients on a near daily basis. Generally people seem to prefer cooking on gas, but the case for induction is strong. In my view they are neck and neck until it comes to the environmental concerns. Hi Dougal, glad you like the piece. Thanks for the comment, Lindsay. For some reason electric costs here in Maine are higher than in San Diego CA so the faster cooking times and easy clean up of induction make the choice easy for me.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Who are we? Whenever I have the opportunity to interview with a chef for These Three Rooms , I always ask them what their hob preference is: gas or electric?
I even did an Instagram Live on hobs and the response from you guys was floods of questions about the advantages and disadvantages of each. Cooking on gas The classic choice, I know that many of us prefer the responsiveness and direct flame of a gas hob I have to admit, I do. But where induction truly shines is in its precision. You not only get superior performance at the high end, but also at the low end: gas can not hold a low temperature uniformly for a long period of time.
To do so, they have to cycle on and off because of their inability to work below a certain temperature. When you consider that natural gas burns at a temperature of about F from Wikipedia , you begin to see the problem. A quality induction burner, however, can hold any temperature at which it is set. So you can rest assured that a "Keep Warm" setting will do just that without the bottom of the pot scalding. So yes, super fast water boiling is cool, but the ability to control at low temps is, for a serious cook, even cooler.
According to Wikipedia , a study done by the U. Department of Energy found that induction had That is, of the heat generated by each element, this is the percentage that actually heated the food rather than the burner, the cookware, and the ambient air. This is difficult to measure with complete accuracy. However, this study suggests that induction is indeed a far more efficient way to cook than gas.
Does this make cooking with induction less expensive in the long run? Some manufacturers claim induction cooking results in huge savings on your energy bills, but most owners say the difference is small. And because natural gas is so cheap in the U. Yet because induction cooking is faster and cooler than gas or electric, it provides other efficiencies.
It might get you in and out of the kitchen faster. Also, it won't heat up your kitchen as much, so you may not need to run an air conditioner in the summertime to keep the kitchen at a comfortable working temperature. You may also not need ventilation-- a range hood --over the cooktop itself, because induction gives off so little residual heat.
Many people with induction opt not to use one. And here we get into the true beauty and functionality of induction cooking. Induction cooking is by far the cleanest and easiest way to cook.
In addition, induction products have a number of safety features such as pot sensors, auto shutoff, control locks, and timers to ensure a safe cooking environment. Kitchens no longer are simply utilitarian rooms used to store food and make meals. They have become a showcase for design and a measure of how much status a house and its owner has.
The cutting edge technology of induction gives it status by default. Induction cooktops and stoves are, if nothing else, sleek. The smooth top, with its incorporated controls, is the poster child of culinary modernity.
Sure, you can get this look with conventional electric. Induction products cost more than comparable electric or gas technology, and is likely the reason it's been slow to catch on in the U. This is not the case with portable induction cookers , however, which have sold by the tens of millions--but unless they're very high end, they aren't robust enough to replace a gas or electric stovetop.
However, prices have fallen in recent years. Today, you can now get an induction cooktop or range for not much more than conventional electric. Also, because induction is efficient, you could save money on your electric bill--not just from the cooktop itself, but from the lower cooling and ventilation requirements that come with induction cooking. Some people complain that their induction burners sometimes hum or buzz.
This is usually caused by the fan inside the cooktop that cools the electromagnets. The decibel level is about the same as a cooling fan on a computer. Inexpensive portable induction burners are usually the worst offenders.
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