For the past 20 years or so I have been using ceramic smooth top and have been having dreams of cooking on gas.Up north in Quebec, electricity is very cheap, so gas is not the main source of power for heating or cooking. In fact, I’m not sure I know anyone who has a gas range at home. In any case, I’ve used a gas cooktop during my short stint in the kitchen and also while taking cooking classes.
Nothing beats cooking with fire — there’s just something primal and satisfying about it. So when my range started to act up, I naturally started shopping for one. I was willing to pay to get a propane tank installed. Unfortunately, due to regulations and how my house is set up, I would have needed the tank detached from my house, which meant running the line underground (i.e., $$$). I was beaten again… damn it.
Here’s a little comparison of the three main contenders.
Gas
Pros: Robust (you can swing your pan around without scratching anything), sexy, good heat control.
Cons: Price (unless you’re willing to spend a lot, there’s no real difference between entry and mid-level models other than looks), lots of heat radiates into your kitchen, needs great ventilation, safety concerns with gas.
Induction
Pros: Very little heat wasted in the kitchen, easy to clean (food doesn’t cook onto the glass), safer (the glass doesn’t get burning hot), precise heat control, boils water fast.
Cons: Still expensive, scratches easily if you’re not careful, needs induction-capable pans and pots, may emit noise/whistling.
Smoothtop
Pros: Price.
Cons: The glass surface gets very hot, so any spills cook onto it; harder to clean; scratches easily if not careful; cooking is uneven and temperature fluctuates a lot.
I decided to go with the second-best option and got myself a top-of-the-range induction range. This is a Cafe range, and the reason I picked this one is the configuration of the elements. Only this one and the Benchmark had a similar setup.
It has an 11″ element and two 8″ elements, so I have three usable elements at any time.
If you’re looking for a new range, make sure you check this out carefully. A lot of them have a silly configuration where you can’t use two pans at once.
Note that the below experience is with my Cafe range, and with other brands/models, you may experience different results.
Usage
As you can probably guess, I cook quite a lot, so this range sees some action every day. It’s a beast at boiling water — 4 cups of water in 3 minutes! Yes, 3 minutes for a full rolling boil. Impressive.
Heating a pan is ultra-fast. I used to start the element with the pan, go take a shower, watch a show on Netflix, and then come back to check if the pan was hot yet. Ok, I may have exaggerated a bit here, but it did take a lot of time to pre-heat a pan on a smoothtop. With induction, you’d better have your food ready to go, or you’ll burn your pan. Speaking of pans, I pre-heat them at medium heat, as I’m told induction is so powerful that on high, it can easily warp a pan. Don’t want that happening to my All-Clad’s 🙂
Ok, so it’s great at heating up, but what about simmering? It works just as well. I temper chocolate, and it’s all done on low heat — I haven’t burned any chocolate so far. Also, the reaction time when you adjust the heat is instantaneous. From a full rolling boil, you just drop the heat to medium, and the water stops boiling in a snap.
Have to be honest here — I’m starting to understand all those gas converts who now only swear by induction.
Conclusion
If I moved and had the option to go with gas, would I switch? Arrgggh, definitely tempting — I’d need to think about it. As much as I’ve always wanted gas, the logical choice is induction, for sure.