OK, time for a short* thread** about gas stoves. At this point, I have been *thoroughly* disillusioned and don't know how I ever thought they were any good. I never want one again***

* I hope

** Please read the whole thing (I'll mark the end) before replying, as I might be touching on your thought!

*** Wok-users and enjoyers, boy do I have some interesting news for you about plug-in induction woks and how they're getting fairly cheap

For reasons which are personal and too complicated to get into anyway, I've been living out of two places for like five years. That's coming to an end in fairly short order but the upshot is that I've been regularly switching back and forth between a high-end KitchenAid gas stove and a Whirlpool radiant (not induction!) electric stove.

Now, aside from the energy source, they are essentially the same model. The Whirlpool is just the more budget-focused option.

I had the KitchenAid gas stove first - I was able to pick out my appliances in my new home, regrettably everything was gas but at that point in time I legitimately still thought I preferred cooking with gas so I just went with it.

Lived with that stove for about a year and, aside from the back burners being utterly useless for anything other than simmering, thought I liked it.

Then, about a year later, I installed a range circuit at Place 2 to ditch its gas stove for air quality concerns.

That's the Whirlpool, and it marked the first time I was using an electric stove day-to-day since my childhood.

And ever since then, I've hated the KitchenAid stove at home more and more. It takes the oven much longer to preheat. It makes the kitchen hot as hell in the summer, and smelly whenever I use it - unless I have the vent fan blasting, that is.

The front-right burner makes the microwave handle above too hot to touch in a matter of minutes, and even worse? It's SLOW.

My folks were over for Christmas and we had some potatoes O'Brien for breakfast - just a frozen mix you do up in a frying pan.

It was taking AGES. I could have sped it up moving over to the mega burner, but that would have made the searing heat coming around the sides of the pan even worse! It was damn-near painful to stir that stuff around with a wooden spoon, and it took like 20 minutes to fry up nicely.

They're not fast, folks! They just react quickly. That's it.

So, since I'll be spending less time at Place 2, I've made the decision - I'm ditching the stove at home.

I've made arrangements to have a range circuit installed, and I'll (eventually) be getting the electric version of the same KitchenAid stove (which is nearly functionally identical to the Whirlpool). I'm a sucker for those knurled handles with the red, what can I say?

And guess what? I'm not even going to go with induction. I like glass-top ceramic just fine.

And to make this anecdote EVEN MORE FUN - I reached out to a neighbor offering them my old stove. They, too, want to switch to electric!

They had an electric stove in the previous home, now have gas, and don't like it as well!

I almost feel hoodwinked. So many of the things I thought were "better" about gas just... aren't.

OK, you can light it with a match when the power's out. Great.

But they make the kitchen hot as hell, are painful to use, and aren't even fast. WTF.

And to those Wok people - I bought an induction wok for $199 just the other day. Round-bottom wok and everything. I have virtually no cooking experience with a wok but would like to try it - and I'll probably be making a video about it, just as a PSA if nothing else.

Woks come up again and again as a sticking point in the gas stove discussion. There are multiple solutions out there.

Now, will I make a main channel video about the stove situation? Not sure. It will invite a lot of stupid comments, for sure.

But I can repeat the same experiments I did with the first stove rodeo, do it a little better, and it will (probably) be a swap to the SAME MODEL but electric rather than gas.

I'll definitely do more water-boiling timing, oven pre-heat time (I already know the electric will crush it) etc. at least for Connextras.

I used the word hoodwinked earlier - perhaps gaslit would have been better!

But that's really what it feels like. How did I ever think I like the smelly, fumy, hot-AF cooking experience more? Why did I think electric stoves were so slow? How did these thoughts get in my head, and stay so pervasive?

And that's the end of the thread. You do you, I'm sure some folks out there still want gas stoves. I won't judge you - but my mind has been changed, and HARD.

@TechConnectify reminds me of the climate town video on gas stoves tbh
@rachel @TechConnectify This was my first thought exactly. I highly recommend anyone reading this thread check that video out; it goes over both why gas stoves are worse not only for the environment, but for the user, as well as covering the marketing campaigns that helped plant the idea in the public psyche that cooking with gas is somehow better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2aZUav-54
It’s Time To Break Up With Our Gas Stoves | Climate Town

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@TechConnectify electric induction - like magic it is. So fast and efficient. As an amateur baker having an electric fan oven has revolutionised my bakes having been on gas all my life.

@TechConnectify

Most of the people who were confused about me getting an electric stove were people who while never having cooked on gas were convinced of it being better and confused why me as someone who cooks constantly wouldn't get gas.

I used one occasionally when cooking for a catering company and I mostly noticed it burns stuff on the sides of the pan and makes handles impossible to touch. I have little desire to ever cook on gas. Also I love pasta and they are slow.

@TechConnectify I saw something a while ago about the campaign to sell gas stoves. People were rightly very skeptical. But now here we are.

I don’t know if people think the alternative is coil burners. I hated those, never level and hard to clean.

I’m with you the flat top glass electric ranges are great. I’ve never tried induction, but I’m quite happy.

@foobarsoft @TechConnectify I'm convinced this is part of it -- the coil burners are cheap, so if you've been renting all your life they're most of what you've come into contact with. I know people who didn't know electric stovetops came in any other form, they thought options are that, gas, and induction.

Thirding that the glass-top electric ranges are the bee's knees

@mek @TechConnectify That was my experience. I had coils on my apartment, my parents had gas. No contest.

Then my parents moved and had a flat electric range. I knew (very expensive) induction existed, I’m not sure I knew about simple flat electric.

When my complex updated appliances and move us off could I was thrilled.

@foobarsoft Yeah, I had coils in every place I lived until my early 30s, then I moved into a place with gas, and I figured it had to be better, right? (Coincidentally, everyone had worse health in that house, people and pets). Now we're in a place with the glass-top electric, it cooks great, cleans like a dream, and everyone's happy with it.

@TechConnectify It's definitely used for marketing in the real estate world. The very fanciest kitchens have professional/commercial grade appliances*, and having gas of any kind is a differentiator.

* Pro-grade kitchen appliances are not a good choice for any home kitchen. They're designed for something completely different.

@TechConnectify the other big thing is that leaking gas wanders. Which is not the most reassuring thing when landlords and utilities would really rather not do preventative maintenance.
@norgralin @TechConnectify On the bright side, when the gas is out all your electric appliances still work. Heck, with solar panels and a house battery setup, they can even work when everything is out.
@dascandy42 @TechConnectify In our last apartment we had that happen for a couple months. There was a gas leak which they eventually gave up fixing and installed electric stoves. I learned you can cook reasonably well with a toaster oven and rice cooker. These days I often cook meals with just the air fryer and instant pot.
@norgralin @TechConnectify Seems terrifying to cook on a toaster oven with a known gas leak?!
@dascandy42 @TechConnectify the gas to the building was off. Coned wouldn’t it back on until they were happy the leak was fixed.
@norgralin @TechConnectify it would have been *significantly* more complex for me to set up my 7kW PV array in my grid-tied situation if I also wanted local storage. You need a fancy switch that the power co. certifies to ensure that your house battery cannot backflow to the (possibly damaged) local grid. Consequently, even with 7kW of PV, when our grid goes down, we could not use an electric stove.

@TechConnectify So much this. The reaction time is super important to me but that is literally the only thing gas is better about. That and maybe showing that it's on, not that it stops me from leaving it on by accident.

I know that my old apartment electric stove, with its wonky burner and un-level coils left a sour taste in my mouth, but that's so much more about it being a cheap as hell apartment grade thing. I think we're all reacting to the 1980s in so many ways: things have moved on and gotten a lot better and we're still doing last decade's activism. (I think this pattern is playing out a lot lately)

@aredridel If fast reaction times and accidentally leaving burners on are your biggest problems, then you'll love a good induction stove. I have a cheap one, and it's already a godsend. Pots heat immediately (since the heat is generated inside the pots metal), cool faster (no resistive heating coil needing to bleed their thermal capacity), and it can detect when you remove the pot, switching to a low idle and turning off after about 10 minutes. And like I said: it's cheap. The pricier ones are even more comfortable.
@bizzl That's my next plan! We just upgraded our house's electrics to accommodate. Now I just have to decide how much I want to rearrange the kitchen, now that I have the freedom to separate oven and range, and all the cascading effects of that.
@TechConnectify the only complaint I’ve ever had about my ceramic cooktop is that it can at times be frustrating to clean. But BKF is a miracle worker for most set in stains it gets over time.

@sass The key is to keep on top of it. Lots of folks seem to be under the impression that they inevitably become permanently stained, but my folks have a glass-top from ~2007 that looks perfect to this day thanks to their regular cleaning with Cermabryte.

And I've seen demos where a drill with a buffing pad will clean up even the most horribly-neglected cooktops just fine! The surface is surprisingly resiliant.

My only real complaint is how stuff slides around easily, but that's minor.

@TechConnectify @sass The problem with sliding can be solved with induction stoves: we have a silicone mat on top of the stove that stops pots from sliding, keeps spillage to a smaller area and, according to the manufacturer, saves energy by insulating the pots from the stove surface.
@Habrok42
Wait, you can rest something between an induction stove top and your pot? Thought contact with the pot was essential.
(Future induction range owner here)
@bettybarcode @Habrok42 Yes, you can!
Proximity between cookware and stovetop is needed so it shouldn't be too thick. Also good for the material to be heat resistant. :)
@bettybarcode Contact and thermal conductivity aren't necessary, since induction directly heats the bottom of the pot, but the electromagnetic field has to reach the bottom of the pot as undisturbed as possible. So, thin, non-conductive and heat-resistant objects work just fine.
@Habrok42 @TechConnectify @sass Thanks for mentioning these mats, we want to switch to an induction stove, but use cast iron and carbon steel pans for nonstick cooking, and I have been assuming we were going to end up with scratched stove tops no matter how careful we are with the pans. I’ve looked for metal protectors with no luck, but these silicone protectors look like they’ll work which is great. Thanks again!
@Habrok42 @TechConnectify @sass induction stoves are so expensive though, even just the stovetop and not an oven combo unit 

@TechConnectify @sass

Scraping with a razor also helps.

@TechConnectify I mean acute exposure to elevated CO₂ levels is said to impair cognition and decision-making, so
@TechConnectify Our new place has a gas hob and I hate it, getting it replaced with induction as we used to have. Saw a video where a guy worked out that general cooking with gas was insanely wasteful compared to electric, losing something like 80% of the energy off to the side and into the air.
@TechConnectify For me, I think it was 2 things: instances of, say, a pot of rice or pasta boiling over, where I could turn down the heat on gas immediately; and pans like woks that don't make much contact with the coils (or is it just in my head that the fire heats those more evenly?). As I understand it, induction addresses both of those, but landlords here (Boston, MA) aren't even addressing poorly ventilated gas stoves, let alone upgrading radiant electric to induction.
@ZMYaro @TechConnectify radiant does at least handle both of those much better than the coil style burners.
@TechConnectify I have a small electric oven and I prefer to use that over my gas oven for anything that will fit in it. Which is anything except a dozen cookies. It heats up quicker, cooks more evenly, and doesn't heat up the whole kitchen. I have a lot of experience cooking on a gas stove but nearly none on an electric so I cannot judge there.

@TechConnectify Two things:

1. I went from an apartment with a landlord special curly cue electric, to a house with a cheap, but name brand, gas stove. It is SOOOOO SLOOW especially with the bonus condition that is altitude. I had it on full blast and it barely got hot enough for caramel. Ugh. Also I don't have a hood exhaust, and the igniters aren't fully working. Totally replacing it at some point in the future.

2. Why didn't you go with induction? Price? Replacing all your pots?

@DasGanon I have several reasons for sticking with conventional - mainly, we're still in the same situation as before - I want a double-oven range and there are scant options with induction cooktops.

But my current cookware is a factor, as is repairability. A duty-cycle control for a big resistor is a lot simpler than whatever voodoo is going on with induction, and I'm still a little leery of the long-term reliability of the tech.

@DasGanon Bottom line, though, I have a portable induction burner which I've been using and while it's interesting and useful, it's not a game changer or anything for me (plus, I'm not a fan of the noise).

And even if I really liked it - well, I have it! I'm not even really making a choice, as it stays out all the time now with a kettle on-top. It's become my even-more-useful-than-a-kettle kettle-replacement.

@TechConnectify Neat! Both make sense.

I'm thinking induction personally, but that's because A. I'm already going to have to get a new circuit, and probably even a new panel due to the weirdness of the house (1930, and it's in the pantry right next to the ng water heater exhaust pipe) B. I don't need two ovens so that doesn't bother me *too* much, although I remember seeing a Samsung 2 oven range (although I don't think it actually had 2 door handles? Feels like an IRL look is needed)

@DasGanon My brother has one of those, and yeah - it's a single handle with a little release donger you hold if you only want the top oven to open. Otherwise it opens as one giant door.

And I'll confess, rarely do I ever actually need both ovens, but most of what I throw in an oven is skinny sheet-like stuff and I enjoy having the slim oven higher-up. It's more of an ergonomics thing for me than having two ovens, though it does come in handy fairly often.

@TechConnectify Those portable units are loud as hell compared to actual induction stoves. It's night and day different between the popular Ikea one @KayOhtie had, and my Frigidaire induction range.
@mathias @TechConnectify definitely. My IKEA one sounded like an 80mm PC fan, or smaller (but equally noisy old school fans) but the stove is super quiet by comparison.
@TechConnectify @DasGanon Hm, so you didn't see a notable difference? I've got a fixed ceramic hob and bought a portable induction plate for my lab. Let's say the mobile unit is now more or less fixed in my kitchen – I can't rally remember when I used the ceramic one the last time as it is "sooo slow". OK, at least with decent pots. Cheap ones, even when marked as induction compatible, aren't really that great. And the noise? Well - let's say I like loud music anyway :D
@TechConnectify @DasGanon I get being cautious given they haven't been around in the US for that long.
But maybe as an anecdotal data point. I'm using an old induction stove and oven combo that I took over from my parents.
It's been used for 20+ years now and it still runs like on day one. Never had to repair or replace a single thing.

@timonsku That's good to know.

Another side-effect of the slow penetration, though, is that plenty of cookware (even high-end stuff) remains incompatible with induction. You still have to be on the lookout for it to some extent.

That's not a big deal, obviously, but given that I'm fine with standard electric, it's nice to not worry about.

@TechConnectify Understandable yea. Thats what it was like in the 2000s in Germany. You really had to check closely if something is induction compatible. More like a 60/40 thing.
These days thats a no brainer and its hard to catch something thats not compatible.
@TechConnectify @timonsku yeah we have a portable induction unit we use for fondue. We have nice cookware, but exactly 1 of our pots and our fondue pot are compatible. So switching over to induction would mean replacing all the cookware.

@TechConnectify @DasGanon Your doubts about the long-term reliability of the induction tech reminds me my former employer, who said that they were expanding the "classic" PBX and wiring the campus because IP phones weren't still well tested (year 2018, Switzerland) ;-). My relatives use induction since 2007 with no issues.

I've used gas, old school electric, electric with glass top and induction. I would stay with induction. Spill? just clean and continue cooking. There is no need to have the glass ultraclean not hard cleaning with abrasive products. Cooking using several spots at the same time is also a cleaning non-issue.

@TechConnectify Moved from gas to induction recently and love it. It's amazing - so fast. I can put a pot of water on the stove, count to three, and stick my finger in and the water already feels quite warm.

My main reason to switch was the air pollution. I kept reading about it. With a 3-year-old in the house, it was enough of a push to upgrade.

@TechConnectify
Interesting. Here in The Netherlands we had a couple of decades when everybody used gas, because it was cheap and we had plenty of it. Now there's a big move away going on to electric cooking (mostly induction) and heating (heat pump) because of cost, comfort and last but not least climate reasons.
@TechConnectify I singed a batch of meatballs the other day under my gas broiler, I'm sure this would not have happened with electric, ready to switch.
@TechConnectify very curious about the induction wok! I have a good friend who uses his wok only on a 26k BTU burner outside because his kitchen gets too hot when he cooks indoors

@SamTheGeek Since I've never cooked seriously with a wok ever (and only on a flat-bottomed wok, to boot) my opinion of it probably isn't worth much.

But it's fairly well-reviewed. Brand is nuwave, and while it's only got the ~5k BTU a normal outlet can provide, it's essentially ALL going into the wok - so I'd be willing to bet it's damn close to a 26k gas burner where so much heat is just flying around the outside.

@TechConnectify being able to light agas stove with a match when the power is out doesn’t sound like the best idea anyway, since the ventilation fan above it won’t work.
@TechConnectify We're in the same exact situation! Moved to a new house with Whirlpool gas and dislike it. Oven smells like gas every time, the mega burner makes the pot handles too hot, just unpleasant. Used to be it was Midwest standard for winter power outages, but I'm not sure it's necessary anymore—especially if we ever get solar.
@TechConnectify
I had a gas stove until I turned 30. I don't have access to gas now, and I love my glass top electric stove. Heat is heat on a stove.

@TechConnectify I have two valid points to make:

1. half of my cooking implements don't work with induction
2. my wife doesn't like cooking with heavy stuff (which is induction ready)

@TechConnectify Regarding "hoodwinked", I think they *were* better... when the competition was wood. Poof! And they're on. Or off.

Sure, electric doesn't work in a power outage but one probably has a camp stove around anyways.

@TechConnectify Thanks for this, Alec. We replaced a gas cooktop with a Bosch 5 hob induction unit 6 mos ago. Motivation was to disconnect gas from a mainly solar powered house (10kW PV, 3 T*esla Pw2) and remove NOx from air an asthmatic breathes. SO MUCH FASTER, up to 3.7kW per hob. Lots of cookware changes. Lodge cast iron wok with heavy heating mass is acceptable, but not as nice to use as my old hammered Chinese wok. No heat lost to air, all in the cookware. Cooler kitchen. Thanks for TC.
@MmeLibertine this thread might be interesting for you, iirc you were asking about gas stoves some time ago?
@TechConnectify I switched from gas to electric induction about 6 years ago when the gas stove we bought when we bought this 2004 house died (the controller stopped working and it didn't heat the oven anymore - it was a gas top and electric oven combo unit - trendy in 2003/4?). The induction is night and day. A pot of water boils like super mad quickly. The ONLY problem was a bunch of cheap aluminum cookware was junk with it. But yeah, never looking back at gas again. Everything you say is true.

@TechConnectify I have induction, and I do love it - you get the responsiveness of gas with all the other benefits of electric.

That said, one little landmine that I only learned about recently - you do have to be more careful when working with carbon steel (and other less conductive metals), since (as I understand) induction and electric don't seem to heat as evenly as gas, so you can get large temperature gradients in the pans, causing warping. There was a good video on this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub-ADtsGo5s

I've avoided this on my stove just by heating carbon steel and cast iron things gradually, it's just something to be aware of.