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Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

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Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#71

Post by pkulak »

Zanfa wrote: post #67
jghn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing but an open flame gives me the kind of control I need to cook with the precision I do Please explain how an induction cooktop doesn't give you the control and precision you need as compared to gas flame.

To be fair, induction doesn’t heat the sides of the pan at all. So carbon steel pans are more annoying to use and keep uniformly seasoned. Woks don’t really work by default either. It’s also more susceptible to slightly warped pans exacerbating uneven heating.

Heating the absolute hell out of the sides of the pan used to be a disadvantage. That's why everyone moved to crazy-expensive, fully-clad cookware. I like how well cheap, disk-bottomed pans work on induction.

But yes, I've also basically given up on carbon steel with induction. Cast iron seasons really well though.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#72

Post by pkulak »

expedition32 wrote: post #61
foco_tubi wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tradesmen typically are paid to offset the health effects of their profession, but you get benzene for free.

Professional kitchens have way better exhaust than your typical modern apartment. If your kitchen is in your living room (and nowadays they all are) I would definitely switch to induction.

And professional kitchens turn them on! I've literally never seen anyone turn on their range hood while cooking, unless they burn something and are trying to get the smoke alarm to turn off.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#73

Post by pkulak »

amluto wrote: post #34
syntaxing wrote: post #9

I’ve been using induction since I have had kids and I enjoy it so much more than fire. That being said, I rent so I can only use 120V ones and the options are so limited here. Most of the small 120V ones make an obnoxious hum.

The Impulse Labs stove has almost cartoonish levels of excessive power and uses 120V (and doesn’t even use particularly high current). The Breville Control Freak uses 120V and is a touch underpowered but is truly excellent. Both of these even have knobs (and both have very nifty temperature control capabilities).

I love my Control Freak, but I did have to replace a couple pans. For some reason, on my dirt-cheap induction range, they didn't buzz; they do on the Control Freak.

My guess is my cheap stove cycles, and the Control Freak applies power linearly, so whatever power level the stove uses didn't happen to make those pans buzz.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#74

Post by Forgeties79 »

Spooky23 wrote: post #30

I’ll be frank - I don’t buy this stuff because there are well funded agendas behind it. We find ourselves in an era where electrical utilities have shifted from widow & orphan dividend stocks to growth companies… and shockingly the environmental people are fully mobilized with gas everywhere. Asthma is clearly correlated to urban areas with exposure to various pollutants. We’d see those same clusters in suburban popu…

There are well funded agendas behind literally any study that makes it in front of you. An agenda is not inherently bad or corrupt. Even if it works to their advantage, if the health information is accurate, then you need to take it seriously. Your lungs do not care who funded it.

I have an agenda to better my life. It’s important context, but it doesn’t make me inherently corrupt or untrustworthy, let alone wrong.

To really drive this home: You have an agenda to advance your career and better your life. I would never dismiss you outright simply because of that.

TL;DR: “It’s funded by a GROUP with an AGENDA” is a lame, invalid, hand wavy excuse to ignore substance. Context matters, but the substance is ultimately what should be assessed.

Edit: I’d also be curious to see sources for “New York can build electric only” and all these bussing claims (mind you bussing protestors is not a bad thing, it depends if they are actually involved or paid actors, which oil and gas companies have no problem using - https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/05/608785751...)

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#75

Post by grandma_tea »

cassianoleal wrote: post #59
pornel wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Induction is the good one - it has instant response like gas. Resistive electric stoves suck and deserve their reputation, but induction is the best of both worlds: high power, accurate control, and you don't waste half of the energy due to the flame's heat going around the pot. But the touch-sensitive controls are infuriating indeed. Nothing about induction requires them, it's just a dumb design fad.

Induction is shit. Horrible stuff. Not nearly the same level of control and heat dissipation as gas. Much better than resistive, but about 10% as good as gas. Where it has a clear advantage is in boiling speed when used at full power. I've ditched my electric kettle for a stovetop one. There's not a day I'm cooking that I don't somewhat regret having replaced the old and crappy gas stove. Even with very thick cast ir…

Have you ruled out the possibility that you have a bad stove?

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#76

Post by [deleted] »

foco_tubi wrote: post #58
Spooky23 wrote: post #30

I’ll be frank - I don’t buy this stuff because there are well funded agendas behind it. We find ourselves in an era where electrical utilities have shifted from widow & orphan dividend stocks to growth companies… and shockingly the environmental people are fully mobilized with gas everywhere. Asthma is clearly correlated to urban areas with exposure to various pollutants. We’d see those same clusters in suburban popu…

Observational evidence is confounded by numerous variables, to say that “urban centers have clusters of asthma and rural centers don’t” ignores all of the extant factors of the urban environment. Studies have found that gas stoves could play a role in development of childhood asthma. It may not scale to the magnitude of that seen in urban cores, with the addition of other sources of air pollution, but it’s weird to d…

[deleted]

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#77

Post by Hikikomori »

jedberg wrote: post #42
Hikikomori wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Induction is as good or better for everything except a wok.

They have wok adaptors for induction now.

Yeah those exist, meant regular induction cooktop. Still ok for most wok dishes if you cook on batches. Regular gas stoves aren't really powerful enough for proper woking anyway, so an induction wok shaped one might actually be better for most home users.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#78

Post by kibwen »

mort96 wrote: post #19
syntaxing wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply not true. There’s a ton of induction and electric coil ranges with knobs. Just look at the Bosch line.

I haven't seen one in a kitchen in decades, other than extremely old ones. The touch control design is absolutely everywhere. At least here in Norway, where ~all stovetops are electric.

I know someone who just bought a brand-new consumer-grade convection oven with induction cooktop. Knobs for the stovetop, buttons for the oven.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#79

Post by kibwen »

jedberg wrote: post #39
syntaxing wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No way. I cook everyday and induction is vastly superior than gas. The only time fire is vastly superior is when I use a wok which I have a stove I use outdoors. Most induction stoves have temperature maintained too. So it can keep your oil at a specific temperature let it be frying or confit or roasting spices.

They have wok adaptors for induction now, FYI.

They've had wok-compatible induction burners since the very beginning. Induction is huge in China.

Re: Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution (2025)

#80

Post by adrian_b »

sm-silversight wrote: post #7

I don't care. Quality-of-life. I cook in a pan every day. Nothing but an open flame gives me the kind of control I need to cook with the precision I do. Whatever the harmful effects on my health are, that is a trade I make consciously. My life would be noticeably worse without my open-flame stove. I'd wager anyone who opines otherwise in this thread barely cooks or doesn't cook in a serious fashion. A gas stove is a…

You may like more food that is cooked on an open flame, if you like frying or if you like burned crusts, but precision is not the reason.

I eat only food that I cook myself from raw ingredients and I have switched years ago from cooking on an open flame to cooking with a microwave oven.

Regarding precision, a microwave oven does not have competition. Once I have established a sequence of powers and durations for each power that is appropriate for a certain recipe, the food will always be cooked identically, while freeing me to do other activities instead of handling the food.

I still have a gas stove with oven, but I have not opened it again for about 7 years.

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