I thought I'd found my forever stove technology when I moved up from the coiled electric range of my apartment days and got a home with a gas stove. Life with gas was so rewarding as we explored steaming, searing, sauteing, poaching, stir-frying and so much more together. For decades, I proudly professed my love for gas, sharing how responsive it was to my needs and that it brought me so much joy.
Then, a couple of years ago, I learned about my gas stove’s dark side. That it, like all gas-powered appliances using “natural” gas, is bad for one’s health and the environment (read related article here). I took notice that a few of my friends, who are great cooks, were putting in induction cooktops when they remodeled their kitchens as they felt induction offered superior cooking experience.
My Gas Stove Break Up Started Small....
I started my break-up with gas small, by getting a $69 induction hot plate that I put on the kitchen counter. There were cheaper models online but I chose one with more fine temperature controls that was sturdy enough for my large Le Creuset Dutch oven with better aesthetics than the $49 alternative. It took about ten days to adapt. Similar to the transition from coil stove to gas when I had to visually learn how the flame height translated to various temperatures, I had to learn what it meant to cook at different numeric levels with my induction stove. My particular model offers either explicit temperature mode, for example, 350 degrees, or a numeric scale that I quickly adapted to.
I anticipated using the induction cooktop only periodically, as a supplement to my gas stove, but that's not what happened. It had me at “on” after about two weeks. It proved to be so much faster and responsive compared to my gas stove About 80% of my existing cookware works with my new induction hot plate. And, its flat, glass surface makes it so much easier to clean. I can still use all the various cooking techniques I did on my gas stove, and with even better responsiveness.
I've been using my induction hot plate for about 9 months now and absolutely love it. I literally use it 95% of the time for all my stove-top cooking needs. On the rare occasion I do turn on my gas stove now, I notice the gas odor in my kitchen that I was oblivious to before. The gas stove seems to take forever to heat up relative to the induction hot plate. And without a doubt, the gas stove is much more of a pain to clean.
I’m sold and will never own another gas stove. This experience proves to me I don’t need to rip out an entire kitchen and spend a fortune to reduce my gas use. When I do remodel down the road, I will replace my gas stove with an induction one. But in the meantime, I love my $69 induction cooktop for all the benefits it gives me and the environment.
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