Gas stoves fill the air in your home with particulate matter (pm), which has been found to increase cancer risk in the long term.
So next time you buy a stove, consider choosing an induction stove.
Btw, gas stoves being better or faster than induction is a myth. They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
Obligatory Technology Connections video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUywI8YGy0Y
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Everything else being equal, of course electric and induction stoves are preferable to gas. I spend most of my life with an electric stove, no apartment I ever saw had induction, but I didn’t particularly like the gas stove I had to use for some years.
But if you want the worst user experience ever, find an electric stove with touchscreen controls. What the hell, landlord, where did you even find that one?
Having only cooked on radiant electric and gas, I gotta say I prefer the experience of cooking on gas, but not by enough to accept the documented risks, even if they are small. I hope at some point I’ll be able to have an induction range top as my primary.
Dihydrogen monoxide is a dangerous chemical 😉
gas stoves being better or faster than induction is a myth. They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
If you have 380/400V 16A induction, it’s not even close.
But be careful, if you have ceramic coated pans for instance, and you use the high power settings to heat it up, your pans won’t last long, as the ceramic may crack because of the fast heat up. We lost 2 pans that way. 😋
We also had a cheap cooking pot, where it developed a crack between the main pot and the apparently cheaply attached heat spreading bottom.
This made the pot sputter because water was collected in the crack when washed.
When I boil eggs, i time it from the moment the water is boiling. But with out new stove, the water boils so fast, I’ve had to add 2 minutes to the time they boil!!Our electric kettle is 2.2 kW. But boiling a liter of water on the stove is still more than twice as fast!! Meaning the stove must be putting more than 4.4 kW to the pot, on the smallest cooking spot!!
Obviously that is only possible for 1 spot at a time, I figure the max must be around 6kW combined.
They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
I can’t think of any advantages, gas stoves are slower, they are harder to clean, they give off an insane amount of wasted heat, which is uncomfortable in hot weather, and they noticeably degrade air quality unless you have very good ventilation.
The only possible advantage I can think of, is that you can use cheaper equipment on gas. but not always, because non metal handles tend to get ruined on gas stoves.
All in all induction is superior. 😎
Just FYI, I have gas heated water, and a gas stovetop. So I get around 55°C water to start, and the big burner is 5.5kW.
Still use lukewarm water in my kettle for tea. I mean what’s the hurry?
Cooking isn’t just heating stuff as fast as you can, what a curious thing to consider.
and the big burner is 5.5kW.
Yes, but there is enormous waste of heat with a gas stove, so your 5.5 kW big burner, is only equivalent to half of that compared to induction. Our smallest plate at 4.4+ kW is more powerful.
Cooking isn’t just heating stuff as fast as you can, what a curious thing to consider.
That’s a straw man argument, I never claimed any such thing.
But the fast response time makes it easier to adjust correct temperature/levels, and this was for many years a major argument from users of gas, but this argument is completely irrelevant now.
I also mentioned other drawbacks of gas.PS: I NEVER use preheated water for cooking anything, preheated water is generally not meant for consumption. It needs to be designed for that specifically, so unless your preheated water is guaranteed food grade, you shouldn’t use it.
About the strawnan, the discussion was about heating twice as fast with induction, sorry you got caught in the crossfire.
Also, I’m not talking about pre-heated water (bleurk!), I have gas heated water, it heats on demand, so my thé is ready 20 seconds faster than yours! /Jesting
I’m just curious about almost a cult following about induction heating, yes it’s better than almost anything else, but like only my Scandinavia friends has it or talks about it, my French and Italian friends usually don’t or when they do I know because I see it in their kitchen, and with them I talk food, what I’m cooking, what they’re cooking, how to cook this or that, not how fast I can warm water.
No ill intent meant, it’s just so strange for me :-)
gas heated water
In the 60’s and 70’s we also had a gas heater for hot water, and that heater was definitely NOT suited for drinking water, as the pipes the water was heated in were copper.
The heat source is not the important thing, it’s how it’s designed and the materials used. It needs to be positively approved as food grade. By preheated I mean heated before it comes out of the tap.only my Scandinavia friends has it or talks about it
IDK why that is? But I’m Scandinavian too from Denmark, so there you go. 😋
my French and Italian friends usually don’t
AFAIK induction was under patent protection for a long time, and that patent was held by a French company. French stoves are nearly non existent here, it’s all local, German, Swedish, Italian, British or Spanish.
Maybe Induction was cheaper in the past in France and Italy? It only recently (about 10 years ago) became dirt cheap here, as in costing basically the same as the alternatives.
I remember back in the 80’s inductions was about 2-3 times as expensive as a quality stove that was not induction. So Halogen (the ones with red light) were dominant for many years. And also pretty good, but not quite as good as gas for cooking. But convenient in other ways.not how fast I can warm water.
It’s not a big issue, but coming from Halogen it clearly changes the way you use your stove, because it’s so much more powerful and responsive.
About how much faster it is, I had a debate with my brother in law who didn’t believe it could be that much faster than an electric kettle. I don’t remember the exact times it took, but the induction was as I mentioned more than twice as fast! That was a nerd thing because we are both a bit nerdy. 😋
I’m fine cooking on Gas, that’s what we used when I grew up, and when i moved to my own apartment, then for many years I used halogen, and now we have induction. IMO induction is superior, AND it’s also the most energy efficient.So IMO the best reason to NOT switch to induction is if you have something else you are happy with, then the “if it works don’t fix it” may be the way to go for you.
One thing about gas that annoyed me though, was if you wanted to do something fast, and you turn it up, the flames spread wider, so if you wanted to boil a liter of water fast, or heat a stored meal, it was not very efficient at that. Because the flames had a wider spread than the size of the pot.
Interesting, I have rarely seen induction in France up to just a couple of years ago.
I did rent a lot though, so maybe the landlords are cheaping out :-). Every time I rented an AirBnB in Sweden they had induction (at least 10 times, all in the “big” cities), maybe 1 in 3 in Denmark. It sure feels like a cultural thing at the moment, I guess gas will eventuay be phased out, except for barbecues & holiday mobile homes and so on.
I’ll definitely weight the pros and cons the day I need to change, but I will defend my setup till I die (of cancer, explosions or whatnot it seems ^^) if I can’t get one with basic knobs!
Gas is not perfect, but I do like it, it’s largely enough for my cooking needs too.
Cheers!
If you have 380V 16A induction, it’s not even close.
Is that a common setup? That sounds very high-powered
This is very common in Denmark, and I suspect in much of Europe.
This is commonly used for stoves, ovens, dishwashers, dryers and washing machines. 30 years ago it was vastly dominant.
But today most 380/400v equipment can also run on 230/240v (2 phases instead of 3). Many now use standard 230/240v because most equipment has become more power efficient.PS: Apparently we actually have 400v for 3 phases. So our stove is 400v. I just chose the lower number to not exaggerate.
I’ve tried to find out why both numbers are used, and all I can find is that it’s due to regional differences?Depends where you live, 240v/30 or 50 amps is the standard in North America
Guess that’s what threw me off. 240v is what our electric (non-gas) appliances use in the States, 380v sounded like it could be commercial-style equipment or something
Correct, it exists for commercial applications but sometimes even the grid where you’re at might not support it (if you’re in a more remote location).
It’s the standard for all homes in Germany
Yep, higher voltage is standard in Europe
I checked mine, which is a fairly basic model, and it’s actually 400V.
Do you have more detail on this? What types of particulate matter exactly?
Not OP, but combustion byproducts/impurities mostly. Get a air quality sensor and watch it go mad when you start cooking.
The one real downside to induction is actually its speed. You can really easily burn your food very quickly if your not careful. IKEA sell an induction hot plate for $40AUD, well worth giving it a try.
Again… You can and should swap in hot sunny areas specially California. I’m from California originally. You gotta be retarded not to have solar panels now. But over in places where shit freezes like here near Seattle, the entire north, and or maybe also texas, thar doesn’t work. Here in the PNW, we have all electric kitchen, but also a wood burning chimney and a gas burning central heater. If the power is out you get no heating and die…or you keep warm with a chimney fire. Well heat pumps also work using propane or natural gas. There are also gas powered heaters that don’t need electricity.
What doesn’t?
Even tea causes cancer
I hate this mentality. There are things that are legit concerns and then there are things which aren’t. Please don’t use the same logic for taking up smoking.
Basically, stay away from combustion exhaust. Of course there’s a scale: hydrogen = OK, wood = not good, burn pit = fucked up.
Does this apply if you use extraction?
I’ve had induction for many years, but I really want a combo with both. Making wok on induction is crap as the sides don’t get hot at all. I also have a hot spot in the center of all frying pans which is annoying when frying bigger things or several things at once.
My dream is a Gaggenau or Bora top with one side induction and one side gas. I already have the mid extractor with outside piping, so no recirculation.
I just cannot justify the $10k price tag and nobody else makes it with a fan in the middle.They do make professional grade induction burners for woks that are curved, they are beautiful but prohibitively expensive
Yeah I’ve seen those, but not on a hob with downward draft in the middle.
Maybe someone will make them in the future or I win the lottery and can pay Bora/Gaggenau prices….
Our new-build house came with a gas stove+oven. Our overhead microwave does vent to the outside of the house so hopefully it helps a bit. The worst part is the oven’s vents face the front, so the fumes literally go up to your face if you’re standing in front of it. So when we use the oven, we try to keep distance and hope the the microwave vent sucks up as much fumes as possible.
Overhead microwaves are terrible at venting. Lots of places don’t allow over the range microwaves over gas stoves in their building code. If you can afford to do so, consider getting a proper hood fan installed
Yup, I’m definitely looking into upgrading to a proper hood fan in the near future.
Yes, a little bit… Burning any kind of fuel in your home is going to produce carcinogens.
But it’s really nothing to get too excited about, and cooking on electric is bullshit
Yeah, I prefer my gas stovetop than any crappy induction.
Have they reinvented buttons yet or do you spend your time long-clicking and watching out not to short the touch-screen-top with 1 drop of water?
Jesting aside, induction is probably good but the bullshit that gas stoves causes cancer is just an unfounded lie. It’s like being scared of the microwave owen or “3G mobile”.
I think you’ve confused coil for induction, and gas stoves definitely cause cancer. So do cars.
Show me some propf of that, a scientific study. Make me change my views.
I used to be 100% for gas ranges. Except for a couple of specific usecases, my 200v induction stove is great. I have a separate cannister gas stove if I want to really go to town on a wok or something. I’ve been converted.
There are two kinds of electric. Induction, and coil. Are you talking about induction or coil?
we have a decent quality induction range and electric stove and we’d never bother considering to go back to gas
I think that’s the thing though… You need to invest in a really good quality electric cooker to get something decent… Whereas any old?Cheap gas appliance will get the job done.
Plus every electric hob I’ve ever used has got bullshit touch sensitive buttons that don’t like wet fingers.
yes…why cant dials
Cooking in electric is fine, just different. I had an exposed coil stove for a while which was passable, but my glass top coil range is rather good. I grew up on gas and honestly my only complaint about electric is a bit slower heating time and it doesn’t react as fast as I’d like, but it’s not nearly as bad as people like to claim.
It depends. A really good induction stove is fine. The cheap ones they put in rentals are all really annoying though. Bad UI is my main gripe with them honestly.
I think they are more than fine but bad UI is real
As other people have said, induction is alright. Way better than traditional electric anyway.
More than alright, it’s amazing
I remember reading a study on this where all the scientists replaced their home ranges because the results were so bad.
This just in… Sunlight causes cancer! Exactly why I have this big scab on my cheeks. Get screened folks, especially if it runs in your family
I’ve always cooked on radiant electric (not induction) stoves, but gas stoves are amazing. Literal fire just works like nothing else. Faster cooking != Better cooking, why are you conflating them?
I’ve never lived in a closed up efficient new house either, those seem like anything you cook would be problematic. All cooking releases something.
Will almost certainly stick with electric personally (whole house is electric only) but if I had an unlimited budget it would be gas stove, big whomping vent fan, and ovens with both steam and fan.
Induction worries me because we had an induction plate and it made a terrifying shrill noise, I worry that the high end ones do the same but we can’t hear it. Which seems awful for the dogs and cats.
Why bother with gas if resources aren’t an issue? Something savagely luxurious about cooking over wood. Primal but decadent.
A wood stove would be incredible if I lived in a colder climate. Here it would just be too much heat, they are used to both cook and warm the house, right?
But yeah. Throw another log on the fire. A couple of my friends moved to the countryside in Belize, and they built a big clay oven outside, but said because of the way it heated (so hot, close it up, let it slowly cool) they could only cook certain things in it.
Most induction burners are silent. I was an adamant supporter of gas over electric, but induction is just superior.
I’ve got a gas stove and a highly inefficient house. I recently got an air quality detector and yeah, it goes off every time I cook anything on the stove. Not so much if I use the oven.
I’m pretty sure the premise is correct… though unsure as to the degree. I would get an induction stove in a heart beat. Just… you know… cost and all. (Buy the stove, update my wiring to not suck where the stove would go, things like that)
Your data is only half the story though. What would your air quality meter be reading if you were cooking with an electric stove?
idk - there should be some very clear cancer statistics to back up such a claim between countries like Sweden (<1% gas stoves, all are electric) vs other countries then.
One cause of cancer like this probably won’t be visible on a national scale, too many other factors come into play that will muddy the data
However, it’s not “idk”, the current science on gas stoves being bad for your health is quite clear. Not just cancer, but also for other lung-related issues like asthma: https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2024/09/are-gas-stoves-bad-for-your-health
You’re right - the report they link to here (Table 2 is good) makes that quite clear.
I didnt watch the video yet but do you have any estimates on how much pm is released? Where I live the air contains about 50 mikrograms per cubic meter and I’d like to know which is unhealthier: using a gas stove without ventilation or going outside and breathing fresh air
The gas stove would add pm on top of what the air in your area has
We swapped out a gas for induction, it’s amazing to be able to put the temp down below very hot. Also very responsive to power changes, and can wipe clean.
I love my induction hob for all the reasons you mention. It is by far the best hob I’ve used - much better than gas - and I cook a lot. The only slight downside is ensuring you have the right pans, but they’re widely available. My enamelled cast iron casserole pot works a treat.
Alright so you screwed up posting this, because I’m actively looking for a dual induction burner setup, and now I want your advice. Ideally I want a “linked” dual burner so that I can put a square skillet pan across both burners, there’s basically like one of those online, and then a bunch of dual burners that are not linked and slightly different power on either side. Wat do? Anyone have a good experience with this situation yet?
You should just get the impulse cook top last range you’ll ever need, super cleanable, magnetic knobs— is expensive but will be the last one you’ll need: https://www.impulselabs.com/
That one does look amazing! I’m unfortunately limited to a portable one in an apartment. Added to the bucket list though for sure!
This looks brilliant in a lot of ways. For me being able to set a precise temperature would be incredible. I have some doubts about the battery system though. I can understand the utility but surely it will degrade over time? I can’t see how it’s the last stove top I’ll ever need. The battery combined with the software update thing makes it feel like another product I’ll have to rebuy every 3 years or so.
I am with you on this, I don’t want a cooktop with a damn battery and software updates. That’s ridiculous.
Maybe I’m crazy as well but 10kW doesn’t seem like a huge deal to me either? Why do I need a battery for that? I’m in the UK and my shower draws 10kW all by its little self.
IT HAS KNOBS IT HAS KNOBS ITHASKNOBS OHMYGOD
Sorry, I got a bit over-excited. I hate capacitive touch controls in absolutely anything with a passion and I in particular hate them on my stove because I don’t want my stove to start beeping when I wipe it, nor do I want the controls to malfunction any time they get wet because I accidentally overboil the water.
Receives Software Updates
I feel iffy about this part though. I don’t want my stove to have software on it.
Tbh I feel iffy about the whole thing. 6 grand plus tax, software updates… And how does the magnet knob thingy work? Can I be sure it’s as reliable as a normal knob?
God that looks good, the power and exact temp display is pog
The only thing I know gas stoves to be better at than other methods is traditional wok. But that’s hardly a reason to jeopardize your health for.
Only if you have the proper high btu burner
Which most people don’t. Also I could buy a portable gas burner suitable for a wok and gas canister for less than the standing charge of gas for a year. Unless you are using a wok extremely often its not worth it.
I don’t have a wok, high temperature cooking would be nice for a few things like searing steak though. But that can be done over a BBQ. Kinda want to try heating a cast iron griddle when the coals are still orange hot and searing steak on that. Although steak isn’t something I cook very often partly because its really expensive. Presumably a fair bit less cooking time than the packaging recommends. I guess get the iron hot enough for the leidenfrost effect to start and then cook until nicely brown on each side and then take off the heat? With hot charcoal that would probably be something like 30-60 seconds each side.
Exactly this. I went from a cheap gas stove to a nicer induction and my work cooking has improved greatly.
I’ve been looking into a Wok-Pan for my glass top stove or my induction heater. I wonder how well those work.
You can actually get induction wok thingys.
The induction magnet is bowl shaped, so that when placed in it, the wok is heated all over.
They work, but apparently the really good ones are priced for business kitchens.
Cool, had no idea this existed.
I’ve got one, just a 120V, home-use thing, but it gets far hotter, faster than on my stove. Tends to have a cool spot in the very center, maybe 3" diameter, unless you circulate the wok, and you can’t flame food by tossing it in the fire (which you can’t really do on a residential stove, either). It’s a decent approximation of a wok jet for home cooks.
If you really want to
burn your house downflame your home wok, you can always get a handheld blow torch to do the finishing ignition. Could probably flame 1000 wok dishes for a single torch canister.
