INDUCTION COOKING vs GAS… pros and cons.
My last kitchen post was titled induction cooking is magic… because I have been living under a rock.
Apparently.
Rock-dwelling-embarrassment aside, once I SAW induction? I was like– ok, well CLEARLY we can THROW EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE TRASH… right?
But first I asked YOU… because after all, I live under a rock, so possibly am not a good judge of non-rock technology.
If you are trying to decide for yourself whether induction is your jam, go read over 100 comments… (some about making jam!) They will tell you EVERYTHING YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT INDUCTION COOKING.
But first we must address this:
WHERE IS THE FANCY?
There are standards to which I will be held to by the community.
And.
Um.
The community was NOT IMPRESSED.
Many people felt that induction was visually too “modern”… and were SURPRISED I’d even consider it.
IN MY DEFENSE:
To me, an induction cooktop has the potential to be more like NOTHING, than like modern… and for me, I would like to have NO kitchen items in my kitchen… “traditional” or not.
In my mind, having less “kitchen” will leave more room for “what in the name of all that is holy is that massive thing that does not fit in this house?”
I want people to come into my kitchen and be CONFUSED about what room they are in.
The stove just gives it away.
I’ll start with the induction CONS; to avoid irritating those of you who sit on the gas-range-endorsement-council.
If you live in a place where power failures are part of life, GAS IS YOUR FRIEND (although possibly, not your eyelashes’ friend.)
We put in both induction and gas when we renovated our kitchen. Mostly because where we live, power failures are a thing… I had visions of using both but the induction is so much better to cook on that we only use the gas when the power is out. If I could only have one I would take induction every day just for the ease of use, regardless of aesthetics.
Next, we have the Drama Queens… and as someone with a collection of tiaras, I afford them the respect owed their elevated status.
These people enjoy the experience of an iron rangetop– whacking the pots around while singing Rigoletto and dousing grease fires!
You LIKE smashing down saucepans and captaining your ship without concern for wussy glass surfaces… essentially, you LIKE THE FIRE.
I can get down with that.
Brava!
Then there are the romantics:
Ease of cleaning and the sleek look can’t overcome the joy of slowly stirring risotto over an open flame.
I am someone who once walked away from the stove, forgot about the stove, and did not remember it until Paul came running into the house shouting something about fire… and to be TOTALLY FAIR TO ME NOTHING WAS ON FIRE IT JUST SEEMED THAT WAY BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE.
But also to be fair to Paul, this has happened more than once.
Romantic!
My problem is that the stove is so boring… I hate cooking… I mean, I do it endlessly; but only because more than hating cooking, I hate eating food that other people have touched.
And also because I need Paul to live until he is 118.
Basically, I cook so that Paul is forced to accompany me to my grave… I have no idea what horrible thing he did in a previous life, but it must have been really bad.
You are not WRONG that I would enjoy a kitchen full of a giant enameled old stove and fancy brass hardware… so long as it came with a maid to clean it; because now that I know I have an option, I will never scrub a cooktop nook again.
Also, let us not forget that I wrote an entire manifesto about my pure HATRED of range hoods.
For me to have a BIG GAS RANGE… I’d need a BIGGER HOOD; capturing and remove those toxins is a system that comes with a HEFTY price tag… AND AS DISCLOSED: WE ARE POORS.
And as a poor, I struggle to spend huge wads of cash on SOMETHING I HATE.
I also struggle to write anything helpful about CFM’s, BTU’s, AIR RECOVERY, EXTRACTOR POWER, or how your hood is supposed to be larger than your range… BECAUSE NONE OF THAT IS HAPPENING AT MY HOUSE.
The other factor I was hopped up about, was having a WHITE induction, and having it INSET… and you talked me out of both.
So many of you sounded the discoloration alarm that I was forced to heed it… UNLESS someone shows up later and says— the new ones resist degradation and will stay white.
So I am back to DIY-slate counter tops and a black cooktop.
Theoretically.
In other insane and exciting news, we’ve chosen a fridge.
Other FYI, I am compelled to pass on: my bff told me that she has been reading that ESSENTIAL OILS ARE BAD FOR PETS… I haven’t researched, but Lara is super brain person, so if she says she is concerned, I am too!
March 7, 2018 @ 11:20 am
Oh, dear me—I think I fall under the classifications of both “romantic” and “drama queen!” 👑 Heaven help me, it’s a lot to manage! Based on all of your painstaking research, I think I will be Team Induction on my stove replacement. Thanks, Victoria! 😘
March 7, 2018 @ 11:28 am
Now you’ve done it…I’ve always been a gas stove girl…(whose husband does all the cooking, and for a not-cooking girl, I have OPINIONS on kitchens). We’re in the process of selling the farm and moving to an even bigger farm with a house built in 1812 (swoon) and it just so happens to need a kitchen. Hooray for me! I’ll have to do more research on the induction thing. We too have outages but we also have a wood stove, so we can cook on that too…
March 7, 2018 @ 7:49 pm
As a fellow non-cooking gal, this whole topic makes me faint. Cant I just have nice woodwork and finished in a room and call it a “kitchen”…oh yes, because the 6’3” large man I have chose to align myself with insists on eating numerous times a day – when Im ok with bread and coffee.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:38 am
If they oils are not pure. I.e don’t try to save money on cheapies here…and you use them in a diffuser they can be very toxic to your pets.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:38 am
omg the essential oils and pets! your bff is right! if anyone does not take your word for it they need to google it for themselves.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:39 am
I’m with you – almost nothing outweighs ease of cleaning in the kitchen. I’m pretty sure the bad place involves a stove and endless burned on starch water. Can’t wait to see the fridge! xAllie http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com
October 21, 2022 @ 7:39 pm
Cats and lavender are a bad combo be careful. I love my cat so catnip tea to calm my nerves instead oils in the air that are old or heated past their smoke point and why should we breathe oils ? Makes no sense to me?
March 7, 2018 @ 11:40 am
Yea!!! I was one who “voted” for non set in, black cooktop, on slate counters. Sign me “Feeling smug in Florida”
March 7, 2018 @ 9:16 pm
Ditto- “feeling smug in Cincinnati”
And I love your posts and I’m so glad we’re in agreement on this.
And- If you want to talk countertops- I think you’d be amazed with the beauty and ease of quartz.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:40 am
Essential oils killed my friends cat… 😞
March 7, 2018 @ 11:45 am
Essential oils are very toxic to cats and it’s CUMULATIVE, so you may not know until too late that your animal is affected. http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/blog/essential-oils-cats/
March 9, 2018 @ 3:21 am
oh dear me… I use the plug ins exclusively with cinnamon scents, or the wax warmers with cinnamon, because i LOVE the smell. But this may explain the things my cats have had issues with for ages. I keep changing their food thinking it’s an allergy irritating them but maybe its the cinnamon. Now I have to find a scent I like that doesn’t affect them. My only other choice would have been something citrus but it’s apparently bad too. Ack.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:47 am
I think you just converted me. Clean up and safety! This “poor” is going to get an induction when my current top goes out. I currently have a glass top that I hate, do to the clean up and lack of flames. But, like you said, I love the idea of walking into a room and wondering, “What is this room for?” One of your pictures I thought, “What a beautiful bathroom!” then I looked and noticed it was a kitchen with an induction top. Genius, but I might still want both in my “poor” dreams of the perfect kitchen, or dream of two kitchens; one at my pretend cabin with a gas range and then my practical beautiful every day kitchen.
March 7, 2018 @ 11:51 am
You are my spirit animal. Or I am yours? I hate cooking. I hate cleaning. I love eating, and keeping my husband alive is a priority. I also super love my black induction stovetop. But I write to you to let you know that a black stovetop still looks discrete, if not lovely, in perfect white quartz countertops with white cabinets. I will send you a picture if you need it.
December 1, 2022 @ 10:44 pm
Was looking at white cooktop on white counters and would love to see your alternative …
March 7, 2018 @ 11:52 am
Why do you torture me with so many pictures of stunning kitchens? I didn’t think I was an especially envious person, but for some reason, these pictures make me so sad for the kitchen (life?) I will never have. Having said that, don’t stop using them in your blog. I love your taste and look forward to every post. Bigly Fan
March 7, 2018 @ 12:09 pm
Just in case you ever want to make risotto again without the smoke vs fire drama, try Ina Garten’s oven risotto. I’d link it but I broke my right arm and my skills are severely limited. Just google it. You can thank me later.
I make this when I’m having dinner parties and it’s all of the flavor without standing over a sweaty stove.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:09 pm
My mother forwarded me your post! I do enjoy you blog and this one is no exception. I am INDUCTION COOKTOP FREAK!!! I first used one when my family and I were living in Munich, Germany- wear induction is Huge. As I don’t have wads of cash, but like nice cookware I had already assembled a nice collection All Clad cookware via TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods… some even the fabulous Copper Clad pieces (it made my heart sing to find they’d price the copper clad same as the aluminum clad- chaching! Score!!) So, I already had induction ready cookware. Now, to say I was pleased at how fast it is to cook on induction would be wrong.. I was THRILLED at how much less time I spent in the kitchen. When we returned the USA (where people have no clue what induction is) we bought a house with a gas range- the seller thought the house would sell faster with new countertops and snazzy new fire breathing death trap- I saw the counters and went ehh ok, I saw the stove and went, Hell No. I’d never used a gas range, but as we live in the south and air conditioning cost money I wasn’t thrilled at my kitchen being the hottest room in my house at dinner time. Sure, the food was getting cooked, but so was I. After a couple of months of torture (remember I was already going into withdrawals from my cooktop in Munich) I needed to find the money to buy a new cooktop. Induction was my crack and I needed a fix Big Time. So, the gas range went on Craigslist and sold, for really good money, and a shiny new induction cooktop was installed.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:12 pm
I hope you held out for the gazillion dollar refrigerator because as I said, you are worth it.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:13 pm
Mrs. Professional Skeptic here: Imma need some documentation about the “essential oils and cats” issue.
Also: TEASE us about “we got a new fridge” but no info, no pic? Cruel, Victoria. Very cruel. This Lansdowne girl (well, born there and lived there til I was 5) may hafta smack someone.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:16 pm
I’m still #TeamGas, but I think you will do much better on #TeamInduction than I did. And I truly cannot wait til you’re done. Paul is probably the only other person who is readier than I to see it in all its final Giant Fancy Magnificence!
March 7, 2018 @ 12:29 pm
You are the only writer online that makes me laugh out loud. Why does your inestimable talent not raise you into the stratosphere of RICH RICH RICH. You are devoting way too much time to cook tops and countertops- that lets face it are pretty and functional but have no historical significance in this weird Universe. Call your agent immediately and get booked on an Elvis revival with stand up comedy,dancing and pets for adoption or foster. I will buy multiple tickets and fly wherever the venue and I DON’T FLY! Write on dear Lady-You light up my (presently) angst ridden existence.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
NOTHING WAS ON FIRE IT JUST SEEMED THAT WAY BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE.
This made me laugh.
I love your writing.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:40 pm
Induction is not for me. The broken cracked glass was enounh let alone easilly discolored. Not a drama queen but food seems to cook better on open flame than electric or induction. So im still modern but keeping gas.
March 9, 2018 @ 8:04 pm
Yup. Someone bumped a dish against the edge of ours, and cracked it beyond repair. (Culprit still has not fessed up…). Gas, all the way! I guess I fall under “romantic”.
March 7, 2018 @ 12:50 pm
I’m with Ross. I LOVE your writing.