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The case for induction cooking

nytimes.com

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Re: The case for induction cooking

#571

Post by prometheus76 »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #240
prometheus76 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a single "burner" that I got from Amazon for $50. It is a 120V, 1800W version. If I were buying a stove/oven for my house, I'd still buy a gas stovetop with an electric convection oven in a heartbeat. I had one in a previous house and I miss it constantly. It had two very large burners and two smaller burners. I loved the exact control with almost instant response of cooking on a gas stove. I work in the energ…

Most gas ranges are gas stove tops with gas ovens. To get a gas stovetop and a convection oven, you’d have to do them separately. We are done with our gas stove top, it is just so much harder to keep clean than an induction stove top. And it boils water a lot faster.

They make stoves that are gas top with an electric convection oven. I've owned one and I checked just now and they're still available. They're the best of both worlds for our household.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#572

Post by prometheus76 »

jhawkinson wrote: post #306
prometheus76 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those all have two issues: MUCH higher cost (I got mine for $50) and they still don't offer refined power/temp controls. It's just in large steps. I did find one that uses a reflective thermostat to set the EXACT temperature you want and they said it's accurate to within 1.8 degrees F, but it costs over $1,000 for one burner. My current setup is fine, but if I was going to spend that kind of money on a new stove, it…

A quick glance at amazon.co.uk shows high-wattage induction cooktops that are relatively cheap, e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/GIONIEN-Domino-Induction-Hob-Electr... is a dual-burner 3500W model that takes 220V-240V (unclear if it's ok on 208V?) for £109.99 (USD$143). 60 Hz would be a leap of faith, but is probably fine. Not $50, but still.

Then we're back to having to upgrade an outlet in my house and wire it into the panel, which would cost $400 at least. And the only thing I'm getting for that price is more wattage, but not finer control over the temperature, so I'll stick to my current setup.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#573

Post by primax »

Zenbit_UX wrote: post #238
js2 wrote: post #142

Top reader comment seems apt w/r/t the pollution aspect anyway: As a scientist (an immunologist) who leads a research lab on lung inflammation including asthma, the cavalier attitude Times columnists have toward scientific references in their articles is appalling. RMI is a thinktank with an agenda. Not a research institution. And Brady Seals is not a scientist. Note the lack of PhD. She has an MBA and has never work…

Before anyone reads this and decides, "oh ya the NYT is lying to me and gas is fine", it's not. Gas in your home is objectively bad for your health, the environment and is overall worse than induction when it comes to the cooking experience in just about all ways. That being said, It might not be as bad as living with a smoker (as the NYT asserted) but it is bad for you. The YouTuber Climate Town did an excellent vid…

In my experience induction is wildly worse than gas for the cooking experience in just about every way. I'm very surprised to see the opposite suggested.

It's slower, less flexible, makes some styles of sauce making impossible, and probably worst of all - invisible.

Has there been some quantum leap in induction cooking I haven't experienced?

Re: The case for induction cooking

#574

Post by stellar678 »

snovv_crash wrote: post #463
stellar678 wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is "I absolutely must have gas installed in my house for cooking" turns into "well let's buy the gas water heater, and the gas central heating, and the gas dryer" and all of a sudden you're using was more piped-in gas for for non-cooking things than you are for cooking, but "cooking with gas" was the hydrocarbon foot in the door at your house. Otherwise you might opt for an electric tankless water heater, a…

On the west coast there are frequently power outages from downed trees. Gas doesn't go out if you have a tank, so anyone even a little bit rural uses gas if they can.

Hmmm. I grew up in rural Northern California and we had propane that would be trucked in. Is that what you mean by having a tank? I don't live there any more, but my old neighbors tend to be buying backup generators now so they can keep their fridge and internet running when PG&E cuts off power so their distribution lines don't start fires. (This cuts into a whole other issue about people who want to live in the forest asking for extreme subsidies on all the costly electric infrastructure it takes to serve their low density lifestyle.)

Electricity is overall more plugable, versatile and evolvable than appliances that directly consume hydrocarbons. You can meet your source needs using some combination of grid connection, solar, backup generator, backup batteries, etc... - and you can evolve this source side of things over time without being forced to constantly retrofit the load-side systems in your house.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#575

Post by AmericanChopper »

angry_octet wrote: post #428
AmericanChopper wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are now works designed for use on induction (with aluminium conduction to achieve a heat gradient), and they work pretty well. This perspective drives me crazy. OK, so induction cooktops are good for the environment. But flat bottom woks are not woks, and you can’t do wok cooking on an induction cooktop. The only people who think that you can, are people who completely lack an understanding of wok cooking tec…

Why do you think Alibaba (click the link!) has a thousand induction cookers, including ones with a spherical wok shape? You're saying the Chinese don't know how to stir fry?!

Somebody sells it on Alibaba, so therefore it must be a high quality thing that works properly?... I can see where you might have gone wrong here.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#576

Post by Nition »

nullityrofl wrote: post #561
Nition wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miele doesn't make any with real knobs anymore sadly. All the current models are touch controls only.

I bought a HR1622 3 months ago and it's knobs for the induction elements. It's touch for the oven, I suppose. https://www.mieleusa.com/e/30-inch-range-hr-1622-3-i-clean-t...

Yeah, that's a range with cooktop though. There are no standalone Miele cooktops being sold with real knobs.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#577

Post by mattmaroon »

danuker wrote: post #452
mattmaroon wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ll never really get wok hei with induction. It’s a mistake to think of a wok as just a differently shaped pan. Proper wok cooking is cooking is actually mechanically different. It’s mostly done with the hot air that rises up the side of the wok. Modernist cuisine has a great cutaway illustration on this. The food is constantly flipped into the air above the wok where it is heated by the extremely hot air. Of cour…

> It’s mostly done with the hot air that rises up the side of the wok. I am not a cook, but I find it difficult to believe that the heat going by the sides of the pan is cooking the food, rather than the heat going through the pan and heating the air above the pan. This is because where I've seen someone cooking on a wok, the food barely goes past the edge of the pan. A sufficiently wok-shaped induction stove will in…

No offense but you’ve just not seen people doing it properly then. If you live in the western world that’s not surprising.

I can’t find a high enough resolution pic on the internet of the modernist cuisine cutaway to actually read the text but here’s the image:

https://images.app.goo.gl/cZWmqecLWTSdxSeX6

Wok Hei translates to “breath of the wok” for a reason. The food is constantly in the air, which allows it to dry out. The food spends most of its time not even touching the wok so no, you can’t do it on induction.

Here’s a good description from the Michelin guide:

https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/dining-out/what-is-wok...

Re: The case for induction cooking

#578

Post by wolverine876 »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #368
stickfigure wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The dose makes the poison." We should not accept any health claims without quantification. "Objectively bad for your health" is not particularly relevant, even if I accept that at face value. For example, in right-hand-drive countries, making left turns is "objectively worse" for your health than making right turns.

Even with quantification, you may still want to do it anyway. If I remember the numbers correctly, eating a bacon sandwich everyday increases your risk of dying from heart disease by 25% - that takes the risk in the UK from 4/10000 to 5/10000. ^ Given the second number, I don’t worry about having the odd bacon sandwich. The exact example is irrelevant, rather everything in life has pros and cons, risks and rewards -…

> If I remember the numbers correctly, eating a bacon sandwich everyday increases your risk of dying from heart disease by 25% - that takes the risk in the UK from 4/10000 to 5/10000. ^ Given the second number, I don’t worry about having the odd bacon sandwich.

The way to stay alive is to reduce a little here and a little there (unless you work as an amatuer bomb technician). Heart disease is a leading cause of death; a 25% improvement would be great. There's not any real relationship between "a bacon sandwich everyday" and "the odd bacon sandwich"; where does anyone talk about the latter?

Re: The case for induction cooking

#579

Post by wolverine876 »

Timpy wrote: post #373
esperent wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So essentially you should ignore this article and go find real scientifically researched info on this issue elsewhere. Anyone have any good links? And sorry, I watched the first 30 seconds of that YouTube video and don't see any reason why I'd trust it any more than the times article.

The host Rollie Williams has a graduate degree in climate change, maybe his style isn't for everyone but he's clearly knowledge and passionate about the subject.

The NY Times has and talks to many people who are as well or more qualified. Look at the sources in their articles - not just graduate degrees, but leading experts with decades of experience.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#580

Post by [deleted] »

traceroute66 wrote: post #466
mattmaroon wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’ll never really get wok hei with induction. It’s a mistake to think of a wok as just a differently shaped pan. Proper wok cooking is cooking is actually mechanically different. It’s mostly done with the hot air that rises up the side of the wok. Modernist cuisine has a great cutaway illustration on this. The food is constantly flipped into the air above the wok where it is heated by the extremely hot air. Of cour…

> You’ll never really get wok hei with induction. In a home context its irrelevant. You're not doing true wok cooking at home anyway, your piddly little small bore home gas feed won't be providing anywhere near the required intensity.

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