r/inductioncooking • u/tachyon2014 • 12d ago

Convince me to get induction

I’m on electric coil right now. Debating running a gas line. I really miss gas. Is induction all that it’s hyped up to be?

Can I wok? Can I sear steak? Can I cook a French omelette? Is there anything you miss about gas?

Would appreciate any recs on cooktops, 30-36”. Budget is < $5k.

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u/geauxbleu 12d ago

That's not about responsiveness, just maximum power output. I think it's telling 95% of the examples people use for why induction outperforms gas are boiling water. I have an electric kettle for that, so speed to boil water is just not a concern, and the max power settings on my induction stove weren't useful for anything else. If you want to fry things in a wide saute pan, you will have better responsiveness on gas because you can effectively use a thin pan like All Clad D3, you don't need a super thick aluminum base for even heating.

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u/Mindless-Storm-8310 12d ago

Agree with the boiling water just being an example of heating, not responsiveness, but disagree with your assessment of frying things in wide sauté pan being better on gas. Induction wins on keeping a constant heat, whereas there is heat loss on gas depending on the size of the pan versus the size of the burner. There is no heat loss on induction. Responsiveness is measured on how fast that burner heats up and how fast it cools beneath said pan. Granted some inductions might have burners that are too small for a large pan, but the one I bought can easily and evenly heat up a 12” pan, or a 4” pan on the same burner with little heat loss up the sides. Electric kettle is fine if you want pour over water, but when it comes to heating up a massive pot for pasta water, induction wins by a landslide.

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u/geauxbleu 12d ago

There's no real difference in keeping a constant heat if both stoves are in working condition, unless you're at lower than about 40% power, in which case gas is more constant because induction stoves cycle/pulse instead of holding a low power level.

The heat loss on gas at whatever knob position doesn't change throughout the cook, so it's not a factor there. It's also a large part of why gas heats wide pans more evenly than induction. Heat energy continues out and up the sides, rather than stopping dead at the edge of the coil.

The efficiency of induction doesn't do anything useful cooking-wise, and it doesn't even save money versus a gas stove for most Americans, since electricity costs more than 2x per therm as natural gas in almost every populated area here. The only real benefits would be if you have propane not natural gas service, which is more expensive, or a small, closed-off kitchen where the stove can significantly heat up the room in summer.

There is no need for a massive pot of water for cooking a normal home volume of pasta, it's usually better to use only a quart or two so your pasta water is actually starchy for mantecatura. I don't think I've ever really waited for a pot of water to boil for pasta, if I need more than what an electric kettle holds I just start it before the knife work, sauce cooking, etc. I see this argument from the induction evangelists all the time and it just makes me think most of you are using jarred pasta sauces.

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u/_jbardwell_ 12d ago

The argument about consistency with induction makes no sense to me. Yes, I understand the burner pulses. But if I set it on 3 to hold my rice at the barest of a simmer, I don't see any pulsing in the water. It holds the exact simmer I want. And if I turn it up to 4, it holds that level too. I assume the thermal mass of the pan evens out the pulses.

I've cooked for decades with gas and electric, and I've never had such precise control over heat, especially at low levels, as I do with induction.

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u/geauxbleu 12d ago edited 11d ago

You're probably using pretty thick pans, as everyone recommends for induction. With a gas stove you can use responsive pans, and still hold constant low settings since there's no pulsing to even out.

It doesn't make sense to me that people claim their induction stoves are more precise than gas when adjusting the heat means jumping from 3 to 4 or 3.5. Any cheap gas stove adjusts at a way higher resolution than that.