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How bad is my gas stove?

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Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#371

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

noduerme wrote: post #254
mhh__ wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing with gas for me at least isn't that the heat is better or anything like that but that I feel like I can control the application of the heat better. You can move the pan around heat-surface (or an isotherm, technically) in 3D whereas with induction (I imagine it's better if you spend enough) for the same price it seems harder to get that feel. Definitely an electric oven though.

100% - the ability to visually check the flame is crucial. Especially when you're cooking a lot of things quickly at different temperatures. Without that visual cue, you're just guessing every time. Induction is amazing, but harder to work with. There might be a good idea in making stoves that visually show the temperature of what's in the pot versus how much heat is being fed into it. That would maybe convince me to…

That's just a habit. Instead of visually checking the flame, you just visually read the large 4 digit LED where you set this in steps of 10 degrees Celsius, or whatever. They (mine) already do measure what's in the pot. Or how would you explain that it goes within 2 to 3 seconds from 90°C and just a few pearls to boiling bubbles if you set it to 100°C when there are 2 litres of water in it?

They are more easy to work with, IMO. Just get a good one.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#372

Post by twobitshifter »

lettergram wrote: post #242

I’d like to see a comparison with a wood burning stove (what the majority of the world likely still uses). I’m installing a wood burning and an electric stove in my current house.

It appears that most of the worlds wood burning stoves are terrible for health but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be options that do much better at removing smoke.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/guate...

for taste charcoal/wood > gas > electric IMO.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#373

Post by gerikson »

Jailbird wrote: post #273
maxwell86 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We bought one from a restaurant on ebay. The "professional" models for restaurants don't have touch controls or fancy electronics. Just knobs. 100% recommend.

Mind naming the brand? We got a single pot model (59500P) by Vollrath to test out induction. We love it and wish all hobs had controls by single digit percentage. We cannot seem to find a cooktop equivalent. Edit: I read further and realized you got single plates too. The search continues....

This is our model

https://universal.bertazzoni.com/products/professional-serie...

SMEG also has induction stoves with knobs but we don’t trust that brand.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#374

Post by Aaargh20318 »

kibwen wrote: post #366
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you will have to get a Wok with a flat bottom If it has a flat bottom, then it’s not a wok. Personally, I hate cooking on induction. My parent have it and it never worked for me. I need to see/hear the gas to be able to control the heat properly. Once they shut off the gas lines due to the energy transition, I’m going to run a gas pipe from the kitchen to my basement and just buy it in canisters.

> My parent have it and it never worked for me Can you clarify, are you certain you're talking about induction? Inductive cooktops are a relatively recent trend, if you grew up with an electric range there's a good chance it was a resistive cooktop, not an inductive cooktop. Resistive cooktops are pretty notoriously unsatisfying.

> Can you clarify, are you certain you're talking about induction? Inductive cooktops are a relatively recent trend

Not that recent, at least not here in Europe. I know the difference, they had a resistive cooktop maybe 15 years ago or so, that was even worse, took forever to respond.

There are several problems with induction. While not inherent to induction, the controls tend to be crap. For some reason most induction cooktops have touch controls, which are an absolute disaster. At my parents previous place they had one where you had to first select the burner, and then use +/- touch buttons to change the temperature. You couldn’t quickly change anything. And of course the touch controls never worked if you had wet hands (and why would you have wet hands when cooking, right ?) Although indiction plates with knobs apparently do exist, I haven’t seen any yet.

A problem that is inherent is the complete lack of feedback: you can’t see a flame, you can’t hear it, meaning you can’t adjust the temperature by feel. Another inherent problem is that it limits the type of cookware you can use on it, only flat bottomed steel pans.

Basically, they are very impractical devices and not fit for purpose in any way.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#375

Post by kibwen »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #374
kibwen wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My parent have it and it never worked for me Can you clarify, are you certain you're talking about induction? Inductive cooktops are a relatively recent trend, if you grew up with an electric range there's a good chance it was a resistive cooktop, not an inductive cooktop. Resistive cooktops are pretty notoriously unsatisfying.

> Can you clarify, are you certain you're talking about induction? Inductive cooktops are a relatively recent trend Not that recent, at least not here in Europe. I know the difference, they had a resistive cooktop maybe 15 years ago or so, that was even worse, took forever to respond. There are several problems with induction. While not inherent to induction, the controls tend to be crap. For some reason most inducti…

You're welcome to your own personal preference, but concluding that "they are very impractical devices and not fit for purpose in any way" is so clearly hyperbolic that it deflates your entire position.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#376

Post by ajmurmann »

analyte123 wrote: post #344

It’s telling all these studies he’s citing are from the 70s - scientists and regulators found out the hazards, and then they mandated vents via the building code since approximately the year 2000. This should basically be the end of the story. The message could be “ unvented gas stoves are bad, consider this when buying or renting and remember to always use your vent if you have it”. If the real goal is to ban gas st…

To me the core point of the article is that things in theory could be safe, but in practice aren't. Vents might not be used, vents might not be set up correctly, the furnace is leaking or not properly venting. As the article points out, this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. The article doesn't purpose any policy changes. Not everything needs to go straight to politics.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#377

Post by yial »

amluto wrote: post #243
samwillis wrote: post #110

To anyone considering switching to an induction hob and hearing anecdotal stories of how some people don’t think they are “as hot” or “slower” than gas. I guarantee these are all related to the pans being used. It is of upmost importance that you get a really good set of pans “designed” for induction. We have found “tri-ply” stainless steel pans work really well, better than on gas. Cast iron is also brilliant, I inh…

I recently bought a Polyscience/Breville Control Freak, and I’m increasingly convinced this is the future. It heats dramatically faster than a supposedly high end gas stove I compared it to despite being a lowly 1.6kW or so device. (Gas stoves are stupendously inefficient. That 15kBTU/hr stove may well deliver 15kBTU/hr to the air but not to your pan.). It heats quite evenly. And best of all, it has closed loop tempe…

They are the future. The price will continue to go down slowly.

They were as low as $1,000 over December.

They are amazing. I believe that eventually (maybe 10 years from now) you’ll be able to get a 4 burner stove top with the same features.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#378

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

maccard wrote: post #342
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typical American wall sockets rarely deliver more than 120V * 15A. Plug in induction hobs targeting the American market clock in at 1800 W spread across all burners, at most. There are no four burner solutions for which this power is sufficient.

The curse of 120v strikes again. I did a quick Google and it looks like it'll cost you about $500 to install a 240v circuit, which is still a far cry under the 5k+ the above poster paid. A 3600kW combined set of burners is likely more than enough for many households

Yeah, I think it really depends on the state of your cabinets. The bare bones induction option is something like

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Empava-36-in-Built-In-Electric-S...?

But you also need a 220+V and 40A circuit installed. How expensive this will be is 100% dependent on where your breaker box is in relation to your kitchen. Moreover, this option only works if your kitchen is already configured for a cooktop, as opposed to a full range. Most American kitchens are still configured for ranges, so to install something like this you'd also need to retrofit your cabinets. Now prices are starting to add up.

The minimum induction range is about $1000, so I don't think you're going to get away with spending less than $1500 except in a very exceptional case.

All that being said, yes, it can be done for much less than what OP paid in most cases, but I wouldn't necessarily count on the quality of the barebones induction range (at least based on my experience with portable induction cooktops -- they are often shit with small heating coils that produce intense hotspotting).

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#379

Post by stephencanon »

giaour wrote: post #351
jtbayly wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoah! But it is expensive! $1500 for one pan at a time?!?

I have a one-pan induction cooktop that I got at Best Buy for $50 that I use whenever I need more precise temperature control than I can get from my gas range (e.g., when I make candy or meringue). I bet the Breville cooktop is much better than mine, but you don't need to spend anywhere near that amount to get something decent.

Yep, I have a $50 one that I use for boiling maple sap outdoors in the spring, but also indoors whenever it's useful to be able to set up a cook surface somewhere other than the kitchen. It doesn't have the super-precise control of the Breville, but it's still a great tool.

Re: How bad is my gas stove?

#380

Post by ajmurmann »

mrblampo wrote: post #47

My wife and I decided to switch to induction after the NYT article on this topic a few months ago. Not only did we have a gas stove that was probably spiking NO2 levels when we actually used it; we also seemed to have a gas leak. It was not a big one, just a faint smell, but it was hard to pin down. A plumber concluded the connection between the range and the pipe wasn't the problem. No specific part of the range sme…

We would probably better off not relying on politicians to use what technology wins, but instead tax carbon emissions. And I mean tax it properly at real cost of the externality. Not some fig leaf $1/gallon.
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