Why Are Induction Ranges So Much Better? And where to place them in your kitchen.

The debate about kitchen ranges, rages on! This videos settles it once and for all! Finally determining which range is the best, electric, gas or induction.

Plus I'm giving expert advice on where to place it within your kitchen.

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[deniseracine]

I have had all three types in my life. I have done 3 kitchen remodels in the past and always had gas ranges or cooktops installed. I currently own two homes, one with induction the other with gas. The induction cooktop was already installed in the second house when we purchased it. Initially I hated the thing! I burnt everything because I would underestimate the heat levels. Ironically, I am preparing another major kitchen remodel and will definitely be going with induction. As much as I hated it to begin with, once I learned how to use it correctly I was hooked. Water boils faster, the simmer control is perfect and it’s so easy to clean. Also, there’s less heat in my cooking space. All these advantages combined with the new knowledge regarding toxic air levels using gas have me convinced this is the right choice for me. ( By the way, I cook and bake ALOT!)

[tommichaud]

We put a 36” induction cooktop in our renovated kitchen. Best decision ever! Faster. Sleek (touch controls so no crud in and around knobs), easy to clean boil overs as nothing gets baked on surface. Tonnes of features. Go with induction you won’t regret!

[ps]

Team induction here! So glad you showed the porcelain countertop with imbedded induction. What a great option for a small kitchen. Always enjoy your videos.

[jackpenta]

Because an induction cooktop heats leftovers so quicky, I was able to discard my microwave. More countertop space is a bonus.

[Piekarz_]

As a professional chef I'd never choose anything but gas, here is why:
- working on a gas stove is so much more seamles, you can freely move and shake your heavy pots and pans without worrying about damaging stove surface;
- you have easy to use, reliable and instant heat control;
- you can tilt your pans allowing for many culinary techniques to be used, in example cooking with a side of a pan or allowing you to efectively baste ingredients that you are frying;
- flat-bottomed woks on a induction or electric are nothing but trash, you can't properly use wok techniques without the sides getting hot;
- you can flambe or roast vegetables without need of a hand held burner;
- yes, you can cook more energy efficient with induction but you can nagate that by having simple one burner induction stove in a drawer for the times when you need to simmer stock for 12 hours, boil large volume of water or do other similar tasks;
- as a bonus you can cook even when electricity goes out.
In conclusion: induction is made for easy cleanup and power efficiency, gas is made to work on.
As a side note both gas and induction have their upsides, on the other hand electric stove is imo not a viable option in any case.

[azlady]

Years ago as a renter I bought a one burner induction counter top appliance at Target for $59.99 and placed a board over the coils on the range in my apt. I had gas in the previous apt. I still have it. I like it because I live in hot climates and they don't heat up the kitchen.
Last year I finally found a used Electrolux induction range for only $600! I can put a griddle over the left 2 burners it has a "bridge" capability. Plus the oven can cook convection and slow cook. All digital controls. Has a keep warm burner on top plus the drawer underneath is a warming drawer.
You can't find a range with all these features today. Last year I saw Frigidaire had one with the bridge option and it was $5499! I have used the slow cook in the over a few times and it is great you can crisp meat and don't have to have everything soggy. But I don't see this in any of the ranges today.
Induction is the way to go.

[nans]

I have a gas range in my kitchen. It does the job. I prefer it over electric. And can still use the top burners during a power outage. I got an induction top for my camper. I hate using the camp cooker( propane) . Tried boiling water and it took too long. Ended up microwaving the water 1st in order to expedite it. I absolutely love the induction top. I can even use it outdoors even in the wind. I prefer cooking strong smelling things not inside the camper. Even bacon. Buying pots for the induction top, I bring a magnet to test the cookware if it doesn't state it can be used with induction.

[WarbirdPhoenix]

I think it really depends on use and dependability.
I'm personally on team gas as it's both great on heating and dependability.
Can't cook or heat with the other two when the power goes out.

[jrex]

NYC apartment dweller here. You almost never see ventilation to outside, only recirculating fan filters. If you’re lucky you might get a kitchen window with the stove jammed right against the wall next to it. 😱

[mikel]

I just got my first induction cooktop along with a complete remodel. I've had gas and electric radiant in the past. The electric radiant cooktop (Kenmore brand) had a high power burner that would bring a large pot of water to boil super fast; probably faster than the largest burner on my 36" GE Profile gas cooktop. But either of the 2 are fine in that regard.

There are a lot of factors that affect efficiency that your test ignored. Most people aren't worried about how fast a cup of water comes to boil. The far bigger factor for me in my decision to go induction is how fast I can turn DOWN the heat. Induction is similar to gas in that regard while the electric radiant burner takes time to cool. That's by far the biggest drawback for electric radiant technology, i.m.o.

My induction set up is still new to me so I need a lot more time with it to adjust and assess if it's right for me. I still love gas because it's very intuitive. Just look at the flame and you can instantly gauge the setting. I'll probably figure that out on my new cooktop after some time but there would be no learning curve with gas.

P.s. It's radiant versus induction. They're both electric.

[M_J_nan]

I've used induction for more than 20 years (Sweden) but have experience from both electric and gas as well. No competition - I will choose an induction stove any day of the week unless I was having frequent power-outs. But then I would probably just have a one-burner gas stove as a back up with the ordinary induction stove. Also, I always have a built in stove top with a separate oven. Much more ergonomic better for cleaning.

[TMB]

I absolutely love my induction stove. It's the best thing I have ever purchased.

[royalknight]

I do not like how gas ranges get the outsides of the cookware stained and scratched from the burner. The induction range will heat 1 cup of water twice as fast as you single stand alone induction burner. I put a silicone oven baking matt on top of my induction range to make messes even easier to clean up (you can use induction right through the silicone matt). Induction needs far less ventilation than gas and also generates less heat in the kitchen because it only heat the cookware and not the air around it. Great video Mark.

[tamaramartin]

Everything i've read says induction cooktops are best for the visually impaired. My granddaughter is going blind, so our next stove will definitely be induction.

[ryansoo]

One thing you may have to do when changing over to an induction range is upgrading your electrical panel. With regards to ventilation, you need a range hood vented to the outside that extends 24" out from the wall to properly cover the front burners - which are typically the most powerful on the cooktop. You might also need make-up air if the vent hood is over 600 cubic feet of exhaust per minute - especially if you have a really tight house.

[RolanTheBrave]

We've chosen a Neff induction hob for our new kitchen, which is being installed in August. We've also gone for a Neff double oven. Finally no more bending down opening a side opening oven door for me!!

[TheGreyCap]

Hi Mark, Great video and very cool experiment! At this point, I've had experience with gas ranges, exposed electric coil cooktops (like what you had in your video), glass-topped electric coil cooktops, and an induction cooktop (what we have currently). [Side note: When I was a kid, I lived with my family in an extremely rural area that had no gas service at all, and electricity was not consistently reliable enough. To work around that, I remember my family had some kind of range/stove system that ran on kerosene! Oi! So, I have personally seen it all!] I moved into our current home in 2018, which was a new build through a developer. For the record, a couple of years after that for 2020, the state of California had already set a goal of zero net energy for all new residential construction. With that in mind, the developer for my home was only building all-electric houses that came complete with solar panels on the roof. None of their developments even have natural gas lines installed -- the water heaters are highly efficient electric units, and there is an efficient electric HVAC system ("heat-pump") on the roof. Also, their kitchens are all electric and come with induction ranges as a standard feature. In fact, on the day they give you your house keys when you are moving in, they even give you a new set of heavy stainless steel cooking pots so you don't have any issues with your old pots not working with your new induction range! For me, should I ever move to another home in the future, and I have to get a range, I would pick an induction range/cooktop as my first choice. I did not even really know what an induction range was until I moved in here, but I really like everything about it. If an induction range were not available for some reason, then I would still take any other kind of electric cooktop. I have never had a problem with the speed of electric cooktops that I've had in the past. Perhaps the size, maybe the age, and maybe the portable nature of the coil cooktop that you used in the video might have been the issue for it not getting to a high enough temperature. Personally, I have found that electric ranges provide the same cooking strength and capability as gas ranges -- but without the health effects of natural gas. Your newsletter this week even mentioned health issues with natural gas ranges. I think even more and more research in the future will come up about that and people who have natural gas cooktops will need to keep all of it in mind.

[valeriehowden]

Our induction boils 7L water for pasta in about 15 minutes - 5+ minutes faster than our old electric ceramic top range. The respnse time to turning down the heat is immediate as i don't think we've had any potatoes boil over since we got induction. Our oven has a convection option which is the only option we use. Safety features - the element turns off if no pot is on top after just a few seconds. Only used gas a couple of times so I can't compare my experiences.
Great video and I hope you didn't get a chill for being outside so long with the old electric.

[PeloquinDavid]

I don't doubt that induction maximizes the energy going into generating heat, but doing a comparison outside on a cold blustery day is likely to exaggerate induction's advantage over gas...

In our (still-upcoming) reno, we're going with a gas cooktop - largely because we want to efficiently stir-fry in a rounded steel wok (i.e. with radiant heat gradually dropping off as you get higher up the wok's sides in a way that I suspect you can't really do with a flat-bottomed "wok").

[kitchinsider]

Great video Mark! You know I'm team induction all the way! 💪