Magnetic??? Goodness, I have a lot to learn!

FWIW, my smooth top GE Cafe cane with a lodge griddle for the top but I won’t use it because if the potential to drop and break top.

Honestly I wish I would have bought induction but at the time there wasn’t one model I didn’t think was ugly. Looks won out for me. Now there are more attractive options. Owning a gas stove (or fireplace) would make me uncomfortable for safety reasons.

I’d highly recommend this range for someone on a budget who still wants performance. My sister has had it for about 14 months now, and loves it. My BIL used to be a chef, and he was surprised at the high heat, or chocolate melting he could do. He is getting restaurant performance, and she is getting simple to operate. Almost all of their cookwarevwas magnetic and could be used on it. They did pick up a couple of new pans from IKEA, but spent less than $100 doing that.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-Gallery-4-Element-5-4-cu-ft-Freestanding-Induction-Range-Smudge-Proof-Stainless-Steel-Common-30-in-Actual-29-875-in/1000288779?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA--Appliances--FreestandingRanges-_-1000288779:Frigidaire&CAWELAID=&kpid=1000288779&CAGPSPN=pla&store_code=1988&k_clickID=go_625682341_34614982750_111134745910_aud-299487635210:pla-259492264931_m_9013747&gclid=Cj0KCQiAm5viBRD4ARIsADGUT24RH0AL0YMbOQWcLSPn94HL5DWTuYAwlrf6TK7vWav4TPiF8EF74MsaArx2EALw_wcB 

Lodge skillets (and really any cast iron or cast iron enameled cookware like le Creuset, Staub etc) are magnetic and will work on induction. Obviously take care when handling the pans on the cooktop but you should be doing that anyway regardless of cooking source. To test your pans, just grab a magnet and see if it sticks to the very bottom of each one.

I also had a negative impression of electric but the house we bought has electric range. We do have gas in the house and figured when we replace the range we will switch to gas range. As it happens, from using the 25 year old electric range, it's actually really good . We are less in a rush to replace it since it seems to be a real workhorse. (It is GE basic builder model - they clearly don't make em like they used to).

With all that said, we are now thinking we do like electric and will just update with electric. I am with you on the learning curve and keep hearing raves about induction. They are pricier and the one linked above looks pretty good. I have heard Frigidaire does make good ranges.

If you're going to go electric, go induction; don't switch from gas to an electric smoothtop (or coil). Induction is far more responsive and adjustable, just superior to 'regular' electric ranges in every way. If you don't want to go to induction, then stick with gas.

Both my grandmothers always had a gas range, so gas is on what my mother & father learned to cook. They have always had electric in the houses they built and bought. The only two times they had gas was in the first apartment and first house they rented prior to moving into their first build.

I've always had electric, other than using granny's gas range on occasion and I prefer electric based on that experience.

I HAD wanted gas with an electric starter by-pass

Those are pretty cheap:

I've cooked on gas, electric and induction. I now have induction and will never go back to gas or electric

Induction technically is electric. :-)

There's an investment involved in induction vs. other types of electric ... higher purchase cost, potentially higher failure rate and repair costs, and sometimes new cookware.

@THOR, I'm pretty sure many modern gas ranges have a safety mechanism (to prevent gas leaks) that doesn't let you open the gas line without pressing the electric starter.

So press the (non-igniting) starter.

Thor, ours is one gas range that has no bypass option to the electric starter. If the power is off, the range top locks up and there's no way to light the burners. Trust me on this. That's why I've been so particular on checking before buying another gas range.

A handyman friend who has helped us explore whether we're missing something said that it's no doubt a safety feature because you could have gas leaking from accidentally turning a knob and not know it.

Then you wanted to find a gas range WITHOUT an AUTO-LOCKOUT, not with an electric starter by-pass.

An electric starter by-pass is any alternate source of ignition: matches, a lighter, a sparker, etc.

Well I hope you feel satisfied in showing me I was using the wrong term. Glad to help boost your ego.

Over-reaction to Thor CJ MAC. Anyway, I’d be curious if you could find a new gas range that you could start with a match. Please let us know of the brand or model number. I think they are few and far between.

I have cooked on induction and prefer gas. Induction is an easier-to-clean cooktop. Other than that, I do not prefer it over gas at all. Dont like the sometimes-finicky controls, or the buzzing. People on this forum sometimes apply peer pressure about induction. If you are considering it, try to find a friend, neighbor or showroom that has one you can use before you buy one.

Every gas range that I have been interested in enough to check the manual has had a way to bypass that safety feature in a power outage. I've mostly been checking Samsungs. I'm not going to waste my time proving it to you.

“Well I hope you feel satisfied in showing me I was using the wrong term. Glad to help boost your ego.”

“I'm not going to waste my time proving it to you.”

Wow

Why do you think that's so awful? Thor was being snarky and I honestly don't need to waste the time showing you manuals that illustrate what I'm talking about. It's not the issue for which I'm asking help.

“I honestly don't need to waste the time showing you manuals that illustrate what I'm talking about”

1. I didn’t ask for you to show me manuals. You are imagining that.

2. I only asked that if you knew a brand or model number of a gas range that could be lit with a match, you could share that.

3. You are fine with asking this forum a number of questions, with several posts, and receiving answers from people who have taken their time to provide you responses. But a small request that you provide any information is what you regard as—in your own words—and twice—wasting your time. SMH.

M Miller, I honestly don't know why are you going on about this. You apparently have more time to nitpick than I do. The information about the override is not something that is easily found. I had to search manuals to find that feature. Since I've dismissed all the ranges that I've looked at, I would have to go back, find the ones I was interested in, and look up their instruction manuals to show you which have that feature.

Why in the world do you need that information? If you said you were interested in getting one yourself, I would have complied and been happy to help (even though it would take a very long time to do it), but you seemed to be only asking because it sounded unlikely to you and you thought I was being mean to Thor.

I am grateful for the advice I get on these forums, but I see no reason to waste time going off topic.

Edit: If it makes you feel better, most of the Samsung gas ranges did have the override. Hope that helps.

CJ Mac, you are in an arguement with one of the nicest and most helpful forum members here. You were flat out rude. I’ve seen worse on this site though so you don’t win any prizes. I typically ignore folks like yourself asking for advice.

M Miller, my bluestar ignites no problem with the power off. Funny this is brought up because I just had a power outage 2 days ago. Wouldn’t have been able to cook if I had an electric range or a gas range with the auto lockout feature Thor described.

Seriously? Arguing with a super helpful and knowledgeable contributor to the forum? That kind of behavior belies some very serious insecurity. It’s not a good look CJMac.

OMG, catinthehat and Zalco, you are so nice to say that! Thank you! This forum has helped me so much, and the people on it are so great. I can’t tell you how much you made my day!

Maybe I've just been lucky, but both my DCS dual fuel gas range and my GE dual gas range have no lockout on the gas flow if the electricity is off. You can turn on the gas and light either of them with a match. I didn't even realize that some ranges had the lockout.

Bruce

Is it terrible I’ve cooked on/with both and felt no difference? My food was no longer raw so I was happy. But I’m not a chef in the kitchen so...

As with gas ranges there are quality differences in induction ranges. Frigidaire(Electrolux) at the lower price range and Bosch at a higher price have 17 levels of power adjustment. Some others have 9 or 10. Some have timers and other features you can find useful. The buzzing mentioned can be caused by pan construction that sandwiches layers of different metals without properly bonding them. Choose correctly and you can get all the benefits people have experienced. These are why induction is recommended over gas by many. Explore induction at a local appliance store to see for yourself. Miele makes a good cooktop at the higher end. And if your worried about scratches from cast iron induction works through a silicone pad placed on the glass surface. Besides easy cleanup you won't get the waste heat levels in the summer.

I can confirm that the Frigidaire Gallery induction cooktop works well and has outlasted the 5-year warranty extension I purchased. At the time of purchase it listed for about $1500 and cost about $1300.

Like modern cars, induction cooktops are electronically complex, and as a result, like cars have an aspect of disposability. They are safer than gas cooking in a few ways that may be important to some.

In a power outage, only a reasonably large generator unit will power them and the rest of one' electric house, but a gas grill may do to temporarily replace them. (One might want to keep in mind that gas cooking without electricity also means without powered ventilation. Some open windows may reduce whatever risk there is of CO poisoning.

Yes, someone from our gas service came out to show us what to do in a power outage as far as lighting our stove, putting tape over the other burners so we don't accidentally turn them on, and also opening a window. What we didn't know with his demonstration was that, because the power was on it worked perfectly, but with no power it couldn't be done.

Haven't completely decided, but if our handyman can't fix our stove (he's finally coming next week with a new igniter) we'll probably just go with another basic gas range: I'm just not that much of a cook to warrant going over $1000 for a range. (But I still like the idea of the smooth top you get with electric.)

When my power is out, I turn on the individual gas hob and use a long match or long lighter. Works like a charm. Recently, I purchased a 48" range and it was gorgeous but last minute I decided to switch out that order and am in the middle of picking my ovens and such. Decided on a 36" electric cooktop with a bridge which will uniformly heat a griddle pan or a large oval pot. Reconsidered induction as new studies have shown 25% of people cooking with induction are exposed to high levels of EMF's. The older Swedish study claiming induction technology's safety has been reevaluated and indeed there are some health risks with high level EMF's. Looking a reviews from many electric cooktops show that they are not what they used to be and although there is a risk of cracking if a large pot is dropped on it, it is much easier to clean than gas ranges. Some of these all gas inserts are so much easier to clean than the pro-ranges as they have a seamless base so no gunk will get stuck in the nooks and crannies. Here is one Fisher and Paykel which has many burners and a seamless base. On closer inspection of the pro range I almost purchased I noticed gaps all over the place and my cleaning red flag was alerted. When I lifted the griddle there was a long gad where crud could fall along the side and there was no obvious way to get in that area to clean that. Seamless is the way to go I think. Easy to clean with a bridge is nice but if you don't want to take a risk cracking the glass then something like this might do the trick.

Interesting what you said about EMFs (I admit, I had to look that acronym up). Probably needs a whole separate post.

True. A whole post on this would be good.

Please. Don't drag up that old vampire claim about EMF.

Induction relies on magnetic fields, not on electro-magnetic fields. Very different physical phenomenon, even if it confusingly comes with a similar-sounding name.

It is possible that an induction range also unintentionally radiates some amount of EMF. But that would always be a very limited amount of radiation energy. If your cooktop emitted significant amounts of EMF, the FCC would come break down your door, rip out the stove, and fine you. High-powered unlicensed radio transmitters are seriously frowned upon.

I did not read all the replies, so I'm only commenting on my own experience: Never again will I have electric. I didn't have the fancy-smancy induction, I had a plain ol' glasstop electric, and I hated it. So did DH. The burners did not instantly heat, and once they heated up had to do the pan shuffle and move to a different burner to take it down to a simmer/low heat because once the burners were really hot they stayed hot for a least a few minutes.

I also found cleaning the glasstop a PITA - stuff got baked on there pretty good, and if didn't keep on top of it had to scrape and scrape with the widget thingamajigger, and yes it did get scratched over time. Lovely. I'd much rather keep drip pans clean than a glasstop. Although this pertains to any glasstop, not just electric.

We both agreed that our next house we would have a gas line run before we even moved in if the range was an electric (that "next house" we bought did have gas already, fortunately).

M wrote:

Induction relies on magnetic fields, not on electro-magnetic fields. Very different physical phenomenon, even if it confusingly comes with a similar-sounding name.

Both operate as constrained by Maxwell's equations, so they are the same in that sense. Magnetic field lines have to have a transverse E-field. What is different is that the "antenna" composed of the hob coil is not designed to radiate the field, and with pan presence protection is unlikely to leak very much.

On this subject someone wrote but evidently deleted after this post: I'm not an nuclear engineer so this was an interesting article I found on the matter by an actual engineer reviewing stats on actual exposure and the translation of that information in more layman's terms. https://www.quora.com/Do-induction-cookers-give-off-radiation

No nuclear engineering is necessary for this topic. The link asserts a 6-inch safety zone is desirable. In my induction cooktop configuration, the closest hob edge is 8-inches from the counter edge, so unless I lean into the cooktop nearly touching a low sided pan, I'm unlikely to intrude into the suggested safety zone. I don't think that there is a safety issue here for people who do not have attached medical devices.

Another take on the induction question with a little sprinkle of humor. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/induction-cooking-emf-magnitude-vs-other-things-missus-is-a-bit-concerned/  Tim says,

Ugh...

If she's worried about cancer... dump her now? There's no convincing someone like that, to understand statistics and significance. At least that I've heard of.

If you're looking for the opinion of an EE, I would gladly give you my opinion on the subject -- if you'd like it in writing, I can even sell your wife a certificate saying as much!

Maybe that wouldn't help. I don't know.

What are we talking about, anyway? Cooktops aren't always-on. They're either off until turned on, or pulsing infrequently to check if a pot is present. The RMS EMF at the surface is not very large either way, when not actively heating something. When heating, it's only large under the work being heated.

EMF drops off rapidly with distance. If your wife is so strange that she finds it enjoyable to read books while laying over the cooktop, I might be concerned, but only for mental health reasons, not for EMF reasons. Or if shoving her head towards a pot that's being heated, I would be more concerned for safety reasons, and then mental health reasons...

There are biological effects of EMF, but not at these field strengths. Not by orders of magnitude. The primary effect is simply dumb old heating. Diathermy machines, microwave ovens, and the military's ADS, operate on this mechanism. There is no biological effect beyond heating (obviously, too much heat and you cause burns, but that's not unique to EMF). Strong pulsed fields can induce voltages in neural tissue (transcranial magnetic stimulation), which do have direct neural effects, but these are temporary.

Anything that produces fields with too little energy to cause noticeable heating, or pulse peaks strong enough to cause noticeable induction, is completely and utterly inconsequential. Example: ESD can have quite large (peak) EMF, but is over very quickly, and delivers very little energy (on a human scale). (Anyway, sparks are well known to cause people to involuntarily jump or twitch. But again, that's just a neural stimulation thing, nothing more.)

Yes to electric......but only if it's an induction electric. You've heard it already, but I'm throwing my hat on the pile.

"On this subject mxk3 wrote: I'm not an nuclear engineer so this was an interesting article I found on the matter by an actual engineer reviewing stats on actual exposure and the translation of that information in more layman's terms. https://www.quora.com/Do-induction-cookers-give-off-radiation"

You quoted the wrong person - that was not me.

I don't like cooking over an open flame.

Just FYI: I went ahead and purchased a Frigidaire Gallery gas range. It was affordable and had good customer reviews. Since I'm not that much of a cook, I couldn't justify shelling out more for induction or dual fuel. Thanks for your help, everyone.

mxk3

Sorry, the post I quoted seems to have disappeared so the mystery author will remain incognito. I'll fix my post.