Is It Time to Switch to an Induction Stove?

Cleaning

On the purely convenience side, cleaning up after induction cooking is easier than with gas or electric. On gas stoves, you have the spills that have to be retrieved after you’re done, waiting for the grill to cool and scrubbing the surface and grill.  

Electric smoothtops are arguably worse. Spills burn into the hot cooking surface and have to be carefully cleaned later using special cleaners to avoid scratching the surface and damaging its heating abilities.

Induction elements don’t present cooks with the same challenges. Holyoak points out that if a pot boils over or spills, food will not get burned into the induction surface because it never gets that hot, making cleanups fast and easy.

Pots and pans

One other thing to consider: You might have to invest in new cookware if you switch to induction.

Though induction cooktops work with most pots and pans, they do not work with all cookware. The metal in the cookware has to contain magnetic ferrous material. Cast-iron fry pans and Dutch ovens work perfectly, as do most stainless steel pieces. Pure copper pans and aluminum pots do not.  

“I had a couple of nonstick pans that did not work,” said Jeff Sigelbaum  of New York City, an experienced cook and foodie who switched to induction when the gas was shut off in his co-op, “and one pan that had warped a bit over the years would not work at all on the induction.” Pans need to have a flat bottom and be magnetic.

Sigelbaum said he used a magnet to test all of his pots and pans, and Holyoak agrees that’s a great way to do it. It can also reveal which pots have a fully magnetic base plate rather than just a small center area that’s magnetic. If only a small area of a pot’s bottom is magnetic, that can create a cooking hot spot, which will tend to burn food in the center of the pan.

If you have to get new cookware, induction compatible models are available in a variety of styles and price ranges that are comparable to traditional cookware.

The cost 

The main reason many people may be hesitant to switch to induction is the perceived expense. But depending on your situation, the cost versus a regular stove replacement may be minimal — or several hundred dollars. 

First, there’s the price of the ranges themselves. Induction models used to command a price premium over regular electric and gas stoves, but that is gradually changing. A 6-cubic-foot gas range from Samsung (Model NX60A6511SS) with a convection oven and air fryer is $1,034 in retail, compared with $1,099 for a 6.3-cubic-foot induction range from Samsung (Model NE63B8211SS/AA). However, you can save by buying a basic bare-bones electric stove, such as a 6.3-cubic-foot Samsung glass top (Model NE63A6511SS) for $799.  

Even if an induction stove is priced close to a gas or electric stove, you have to consider what the installation might cost. If you are switching out an electric stove, the expense may be minimal. Induction stoves require a 240-volt outlet (40 or 50 amps at the circuit box), but so do most electric stoves, so no additional work may be required.

Gas stove owners, however, will have to arrange to have a 240-volt line installed — as well as get a professional to cap the gas line. It can cost as little as $300 to do this, according to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. The folks at Lemcke TV & Appliance in St. Louis usually tell customers it could cost $400 to $500. It could cost considerably more if the electric circuit box in your house is far from your kitchen or doesn’t have a 40- or 50-amp circuit available.

The environment 

People may switch off the gas for another reason: Gas stoves are bad for the environment — indoors and out. Varying amounts of gas leak from all home stoves, even when they are switched off. A study of 69 homes in Boston by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that unburned indoor natural gas contained 21 hazardous air pollutants, including benzene, which can cause cancer and birth defects. Electric and induction stoves pose no such risk. 

So it’s not surprising that related concerns about climate change have spurred many municipalities to encourage the use of induction stoves by banning gas. New York City banned the use of gas stoves and heaters in construction, in part because gas stoves emit methane, a major contributor to global warming. It’s a significant move because, according to the nonprofit environmental coalition New York Communities for Change, the city accounts for 5 percent of all gas consumed in buildings nationwide. Seattle and other cities have followed suit. 

Tied to an old flame

In spite of the overall advantages, the U.S. has been slow to adopt induction stoves, so they might not be something you’re seeing your friends and neighbors embrace.

“From the consumer side, interest has been really lukewarm,” says Walter Taffarello, director of new business development and strategic partnerships at Panasonic.

“There is a romantic idea that if you cook with a flame, the food will taste better,” he says, citing the reluctance and expense for people to switch from gas to induction. “But sooner or later, it’s going to happen.”

Though New York banned gas, some states are trying to put the brakes on adopting the technology. Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee passed so-called preemption laws that prohibit the institution of such bans.  

Unfortunately, not everyone can switch, even if they want to.  

Amateur cook Sigelbaum wanted to convert to an induction stove, but “the building wouldn’t allow it.” He says his co-op told him it couldn’t support the necessary wiring.

Undaunted, Sigelbaum occasionally cooks on two portable Duxtop induction hot plates, which cost less than $70 apiece. They are particularly handy when he has to cook a lot of food that’s going leave an odor in the kitchen; then Sigelbaum takes the induction plates outside to cook for dinner guests. “You can’t do that with a gas stove.”