Induction or electric cooktop?
We’re remodeling our kitchen. Already selected most appliances – Pro48 Sub-Zero fridge, Dacor electric wall oven, even found a beautiful Futuro Futuro range hood and a cool-looking Nespresso “Le Cube” espresso machine. Getting there, in other words. But now we’re sort of stuck on the choice of cooktop – induction or electric? I like the…
We’re remodeling our kitchen. Already selected most appliances – Pro48 Sub-Zero fridge, Dacor electric wall oven, even found a beautiful Futuro Futuro range hood and a cool-looking Nespresso “Le Cube” espresso machine. Getting there, in other words. But now we’re sort of stuck on the choice of cooktop – induction or electric?
I like the general idea, but there’s also a lot of drawbacks according to online reviews – special pots, pans, etc, and supposedly harder to clean?
Does anyone have an induction cooktop? How’s the experience? Is the extra expense & hassle worth it? Anything I should watch out for or keep in mind while shopping for one? Thanks!
Guess you might have to relabel it “Worst,” eh?
Glad there were no ill effects.
werner, if you’re concerned about the ill effects of gas combustion, I have new for you: offgassing from formaldehyde cabinets, fumes from practically any household cleaner and bisphenol from many soft plastic containers will kill ya faster.
I see one of the alleged drawbacks to induction is the lack of a good wok. LeCreuset makes a great cast iron wok with a flat bottom. I use it all the time, and I assume it would work well with an induction top.
cmu, I know you love to hear when these high end items break. Last night my big Best range hood shed one of the two metal enclosures that surround the halogen hood lights. Fell right into my fish chowder! Fortunately I saw it fall, and didn’t have to ‘fish’ it out at the table.
Mopar, I too love cast iron, especially old cast iron, the kind you find in flea markets for a dollar or at curbside on recycling day. I have three heavy frying pans and a big black Dutch oven, I think I paid five bucks for the collection.
But that Dodge Dart was one of the worst handling cars I’ve ever driven!
While I prefer gas, I have an electric stove in my house in Lake George, and I can deal. It’s more a question of adaptation than anything else.
But then I also like the 1970 Dodge Dart with V-8 engine.
I love gas stoves and cast-iron frying pans.
I cook on induction and it is THE BEST. Don’t let all of these people (most of them with no actual experience cooking on induction) tell you, go and try it objectively for yourself. I will never ever put a gas cooktop in my home again. Gas pollutes your home, even if you are combusting it. If you do go with gas then you need to get a very good ventilation hood.
My induction cooktop is great and temperature control is INSTANT, i find it to be easily even faster than gas. Also, far contrary to what someone said above, you can boil water faster with induction than with gas. Furthermore, as far as efficiency goes, induction beats everything hands down. To me it is no contest. I can scramble and boil eggs perfectly every time no problem. I can sear steaks no problem, etc. If you’re hung up on appliances like most of the people here, Wolf and Viking both make induction cooktops.
Furthermore, with Induction you don’t have to have gas lines running all over your house. Also, Induction is far safer than gas or even regular electric in many ways. Your burners will shut off if you leave them on and forget. The cooking surface does not heat up as much even while you’re cooking (induction heats the pan, not everything around it). In fact, if you have no pan on the burner and you turn the burner on, it will produce no heat until you place a pan there. If anyone has kids I can’t imagine any safer cooktop for your home. And as I said before, you will have no gas in your breathing air and no carbon dioxide in your living space from your cooktop, requiring less venting and overall better health.
Go and talk to someone who sells the cooktops, I think there is a place in DUMBO where you can make and appointment and try out some of these cooktops. There is also a lot of information on the web. I would not post here for opinions on something like this.
My vote: Induction YES!!!
I have never cooked on induction, but the gas vs. electric is simply no contest. Gas is trillions of times better–heating power, ability to precisely set your temperature, speed, responsiveness, etc. I believe it’s also cheaper.
You should rule out electric. Induction, however, may be worth considering.
I have heard induction is good because it’s more efficient. It is also supposedly very fast to get to a high heat using it, as long as you have a sort of power boost burner that has a lot of electricity going through it. Not to mention it’s safer because the element doesn’t heat up without a pan on it, and heats down very quickly once you take the pan off it. Another advantage is that it heats your house up a lot less, especially in the summertime in a small kitchen. Another bonus is that some of them have auto shut-offs, which means you can set an egg to boil for 3 minutes and walk away. That’s pretty cool.
Some downsides on induction:
–you can’t use aluminum or copper pans unless they’re specially made (there has to be an iron component so it can be magnetized). To test your pots, see if a magnet sticks to them. If it doesn’t, they won’t work on your new stove.
–they are lousy with round pots (woks), because the surface area of the pot isn’t in enough contact with the heating element to build up heat. Though, frankly, you can’t really do wok cooking on a normal gas stove because none of the burners are hot enough.
–they may be less responsive, because you have to use thicker pots
Here’s a good roundup from people who have used both:
http://ask.metafilter.com/71258/Which-is-a-better-stove-gas-or-induction
But ELECTRIC RANGE SUCKS. I used to use a 70 year old gas stove that you had to light with a match, and it was a bazillion times better than my mother’s brand-new fancypants high end electric.
cmu, unfortunately you can no longer get a blender that is well made enuf to pass on. You can no longer get much of anything that is well made enuf to pass on.
And when you do, given that these items will be at the top end of the cost range, the haters come out 🙂
Induction is far more efficient than gas and electric. In some ways it’s also safer (no combustion, only the pots get hot – the surface is not so, and often times they have a sensor that will turn it off if, for example, you remove the pot). Note induction is different than ceramic surfaces that are essentially electric cooktops (even though they look the same).
You do need special pots (the ones you have now may work though).
There is a bit of a learning curve associated to induction but I didn’t think it was a big deal… I love my induction cooktop, it’s fast, reliable and safe. I changed (from gas) a few years back and I’ve never looked back.
I recommend that you talk about this with someone that owns one and uses it regularly. You may want to visit a showroom and try one out. Then decide for yourself.
I do love mine!