• LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    I’m not a scientist. I’m not even a professional chef. I’m an average American homeowner and when we replace our gas range and oven we’ll get an electric oven and an induction range.

    Having used gas, electric and induction my experience has been that induction cook tops are the safest and provide the greatest temperature control of them all. The biggest drawback is the requirement of specialized pans but we switched to clad stainless a few years ago to get away from the non-stick chemicals risk.

    I’d say this comes down to cost and familiarity. People are used to gas stoves and are likely wary of change. Combine that with the fact that many homes are setup for gas ovens, with no electrical plugs for a switch and you’ve got several costs to change. The new oven itself, getting an appropriate outlet wired in, and for induction, changing pans to something that will work.

    The other consideration is that gas continues to work in an electrical outage, however, I’d imagine many ovens are electronically controlled. I know our gas stove will not work without electricity.

    • 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.social
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      11 months ago

      😄 Our oven is electric. It’s the only thing I lament - it takes forever to come up to temp.

      I’m in my mid-50’s, and this is our first house that’s had gas, so for me it’s definitely not a case of familiarity. My whole life I’ve had electric, and having a gas range has been a game-changer for me.

      That said, I’ve also never seen, and certaily never lived with, an induction range. I do miss the cleaning conveniance of a glass-top - cleaning a gas range is a PITA! And induction has as good immediate temp reduction response as gas, which is a large factor in control. As I mentioned earlier, I’d never willingly go back to conventional electric, but I might opt for induction just for the ease of cleaning. I can live with not being able to properly saute, but giving up the wok would be hard. Still, it’s something to consider.

      Two other things: except for our ovens (an odd omission), the rest of our house is gas. Water heaters, fireplace, clothes dryer, heat. None of it works without electricity, although in a pinch I can light the stove with a match. The fireplace can’t be lit - there’s a safety switch that needs current, which could be run with a battery-operated part we don’t have. It’s the most stupid thing about our house - we can’t get any heat in a power outage, despite all the gas. So, of everything, running the stove in a blackout is funnily enough the least of my concerns.

      Does your gas not run in an outage, or can you just not start it? If the gas runs, you should be able to light it with a match. OTOH, you can’t run the ventilation fan, and that might put you off running it anyway.

      • LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        I mostly meant the oven wouldn’t work in a power outage regardless of gas or electric.

        Our gas range works in a power outage but so does our fireplace. The fireplace has a standing pilot so I’m guessing that’s why.

        You should be able to “properly saute” on a gas, electric or induction range. Stir frying, which I suspect you meant, is a different story.