Cooking with Induction - It’s Better than Cooking with Gas
A little more than a year ago I wrote a blog, Green, Energy Efficient Cooking. Since then, my wife and I moved. Shortly after we moved in we started smelling gas some of the time. We asked the previous owners about the smell and they said it was common with the type of range that they had installed. I didn’t really buy that but it caused me to wait a month before calling the gas company to report the smell. 15 minutes after I called, 2 inspectors were at my door. They promptly verified the leak and because the leak was behind the shut-off valve to the range, shut off gas to our whole house.
It was then our responsibility to hire a plumber to fix the leak. Our plumber identified that the line going to the kitchen used a rubber hose rather than code-compliant metal pipe, recommended replacing the whole line with metal pipe and, since the line travels through a floor/ceiling cavity, estimated it would be pretty expensive to fix. Rather than fix the line, we chose to replace the existing gas range with a new electric induction model.
It’s been 5 months now and I’m pleased with our decision. Induction heats faster than gas, offers better control, is easier to clean, looks better, is safer and better for the environment. There are some nuances to switching though that folks should be aware of. In the rest of this article I’ll delve into what induction is, its benefits and some things to be aware of when switching to induction.
Quickly cooking scrambled eggs on my induction stove.
What is an Induction Stove?
Unlike traditional gas or electric stoves, which use an open flame or heating elements to heat cookware, induction stoves use electromagnetic fields to directly heat the cookware itself.
When an induction stove is turned on, an electric current passes through a coil of wire under the surface of the stove, creating a fluctuating magnetic field. This magnetic field induces an electrical current in the cookware placed on top of the stove, which then generates heat. The heat is transferred directly to the food and the cookware.
Benefits of Induction
Faster
This study by SawHorse Design Build found that induction boils water twice as fast as gas and more than 4 times faster than electric infrared heat. I can personally verify this after switching from gas to induction. My induction range heats things up a lot faster and is more responsive than the high-end gas range we had before.
Source: SawHorse Design Build (video).
Better Control
My induction stove has buttons with twenty discrete settings for changing the power. It took some time to get a feel for how much power each setting provides but now that I have, I prefer it over gas because it is easier to press a different button than twist the knob of a gas stove to the exact right spot. Also, induction, like gas, responds immediately to changes.
I am certainly not alone in preferring the speed and control of induction stoves. A growing number of the best chefs in the world are switching to induction.
Safer
There are a few safety concerns with cooking with natural gas that are not present with induction:
Gas stoves generate a few different by-products which have been linked to respiratory illness and cancer.
In 2018 there was a huge gas explosion in Lawrence, MA not far from where I live. 1 person died. 40 homes were damaged and 30,000 people had to evacuate their homes. An explosion in 2010 in San Bruno, CA killed 8 people and destroyed 38 homes. Hundreds of smaller gas explosions occur each year, causing an average of 15 deaths. If we stop using natural gas in our homes and workplaces these tragedies will stop happening.
Because induction heats cookware directly, the cooking surface doesn’t get as hot. This makes burns and fires a lot less likely than with gas, which uses an open flame to heat cookware.
Better for the Environment
Induction stoves use electricity which means they can be used without producing any greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Gas stoves will always produce GHGs.
In addition to the CO2 produced while a gas stove is being used, a study published in 2022 found that gas stoves leak a lot of non-combusted methane even when they are off. Methane is a significantly more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.
Since induction stoves have not been around as long as traditional gas and electric stoves and most people have not experienced cooking with induction yet, they prefer (or think they prefer) cooking with gas. This is a major reason why gas infrastructure continues to be widely installed in new buildings. Existing gas infrastructure increases the likelihood that gas will continue to be used not just for cooking but for heating and water heating which use a lot more gas and produce a lot of greenhouse gasses.
Clean, Functional & Elegant
I think my induction stove looks better than the gas one that preceded it. Look at the picture of my stove and decide if you agree!
Since it’s smooth and at the same level of the countertop - it’s easy to work on the portion of the stove that isn’t on. I often have a cutting board partially on the stove while I’ve got a pot or pan cooking.
Induction stoves are easy to clean too. I use a washcloth the same way I clean the rest of my counter.
Things to Know Before Switching to Induction
High Amperage Circuit
Like other electric stoves, induction stoves need a special, high amperage circuit. If you are switching from gas one may not already be available in your kitchen and in that case an electrician will need to set up that high amp circuit. Some homes, including one of my colleague’s at Ekotrope, would need a significant electrical upgrade to support an electric range.
Pans
For induction cooking, you need pans with a magnetic base. These are typically made of cast iron or stainless steel, as these materials are magnetic and will work with induction cooktops. You can test your existing pans by holding a magnet to them: if it sticks they will work with induction. When buying pans look for ones that are labeled as "induction compatible."
Switching to Induction
There has never been a better time to switch to induction. The technology is here and it works great. The Inflation Reduction Act which passed Congress in 2022 provides rebates for induction stove purchases. We are also hitting an inflection point where electricity power production is rapidly getting cleaner which means cooking with induction will become increasingly better for the environment than gas. I have made the switch and I am glad I did! Induction heats faster than gas, offers better control, is easier to clean, looks better, is safer and better for the environment.
PS: Costs
I’ve intentionally left a discussion of costs out of the rest of this article for a few reasons:
I think it is a distraction from the main objective of this article, which is to reject the myth that cooking with gas is the best way to cook.
Costs are complicated. There are a ton of different gas and induction models. My understanding is that the cheapest gas models cost less than the cheapest induction models but you can also pay more for gas than for induction. The gas stove that was in my house was more expensive than the induction stove I replaced it with. Energy bills are complicated too - whether you’ll pay more or less on your energy bill depends on the relative costs of gas and electricity from your utilities.
Costs change. The costs of induction stoves will likely go down relative to gas as they become more common and benefit from economies of scale. Also, there are rebates available in the Inflation Reduction Act for electric (induction and infrared) stoves, which Congress passed in 2022.
