We have one of those glass-top cooktops in our current rental and despise it. We had propane before, and in our new rebuild we're going propane cooktop with electric convection oven. Mostly because we're used to using a propane cooktop from before.

From what I've read, had we decided to go induction, we probably wouldn't have regretted it either. But since we're going propane for a fireplace, generator & BBQ hookup, seemed less "risky" to stick with what we know.

Other than maybe requiring new cookware (iron-based), from all I've read you'll likely be happy with induction.

Go to a higher end appliance store and ask to test induction. I'm a gas lover so I didn't bother...I can't give up the flame.

Truly, there is nothing to compare between glass top electric and induction. Induction is super responsive, quick, gentle ( no need for double boiler for melting chocolate,) easy to clean, a dream cooktop, as opposed to the nightmare that is smooth top electric. Have no fear.

Gas versus induction is a real debate. Induction versus smooth top electric is not debatable.

I agree with Zalco, there is no comparison between smooth top electric and induction. With resistance cooking (smooth top electric) you first must heat the coil, then the glass and finally the cooking vessel. All this takes time, once you finally have it where you want it, and are ready to remove the heat, the coil and cook top then cool slowly, which leaves a lot of residual heat, therefore response time is horrible. With induction, just as gas when you command heat, you get it, when you remove the current it's gone just as immediate and in many cases much more powerful than resistance cooking and in some cases gas. You will not regret it, I made the switch years ago and I would absolutely die if I had to go back to resistance cooking. I occasionally go to my sister n laws who has a smooth top and help prepare a meal and I feel like I am cooking with wood and an Iron stove.

There are historical threads here on this topic. As I recall, the biggest loss with induction, besides the Paleo experience of having a flame, is inability to light marshmallows and to directly blacken peppers. Of course, for the larger gas cooktops with suitable venting, indoor char-broiling is also possible, but requires almost twice the hood volumetric flow rate that I normally suggest.

Electric cooktops and induction are night and day. Hated the old electric cooktops. I had induction in a rental and loved it! I have a gas cooktop now, but if I had my choice I'd go with induction. It's so much easier to control for a simmer and boils liquids quickly, too.

Your children at 10 and 12 are plenty old enough to learn how to cook with gas.

We bought a KitchenAid induction range when we were updating appliances in our last home. LOVED it. We are now building a home in an area with natural gas and have decided to stick with induction we were so impressed with the temperature control and just everything about it. Our rental has an electric range and I can’t wait to get back to cooking with induction with a “real” range of temps.

Turnip truck vs. Tesla.

That’s your comparison.

So far as gas vs. induction, I am all about induction.Every time. For me, the clean-up factor alone was life-changing. I was so glad to get rid of gas I will never go back.

I switched from gas to induction. I have cooked 3 meals on induction and I already know I prefer it way more than gas. My gas stove simmered too hot and the heat wasn’t distributed evenly. Gas took longer to boil water. My induction will simmer perfectly and not over cook my rice and I’m boiling water in under 2 minutes. I don’t think I’ll regret the induction choice.

A good gas stove is absolutely amazing. You'll take away my Bluestar open-burner range when you can pry it from my dead cold hands. It's amazingly powerful, it has super precise control, it's easy to clean up, I like having physical knobs on the front instead of digital controls on the top, and I use my round-bottom wok so frequently, I really would miss having to give it up with induction.

But that's comparing one of the best gas stoves ever built. If you have a more average gas stove, you might not be quite as enthusiastic.

On the other hand, most induction ranges have come a long way in the past five years. They still don't address all of the issues that drove me to gas. But they unquestionably have become a very real alternative. You still need to do a little research to find a model that has a good user interface and overall usability. But I absolutely wouldn't have a problem recommending induction to most people.

“Turnip truck vs. Tesla”

That’s funny. For me, a more accurate comparison would be Corvette vs. Prius. One is sexy af, the other is a Prius. You can guess which one is in my garage, and which one is in my kitchen. ;)

We really like our induction cooktop. Never going back to gas. No idea why anyone would want gas anymore.

HH, I read that comparison as smooth-top electric vs induction, not gas vs induction.

Thanks everyone!! I had read all the threads previously and we were comfortable with our decision to move to induction, but just got a little freaked out again. LOL

onward!!

@doc5md I was pretty freaked out too! But the first time I boiled water and simmered something on my new Bosch 500 induction cooktop I was pretty well sold.

Consideration of cooking features and conveniences should not be the only factors involved in the decision. What one needs/wants during a power failure, in some locales lasting days, should inform both the gas vs.electric selection, and also determine the need for supporting equipment. Is survival sufficient or does a dinner party have to go on barely interrupted?

Examples of choices one might consider that may or may not be viable:

• Functioning and accessible restaurants
• Outdoor grill feasible to use in the potential weather conditions including propane powered burners
• Gas kitchen cooktop that can be manually operated (reliability of the gas or propane source must also be considered)
• Gas kitchen cooktop that can be operated with a UPS tied into the electrical feed circuit
• Electric appliance with sufficient home power generation (10+ kW unless more modest electrical hot plates and such will suffice with a portable generator)
• Survival food requiring no heating
• Relationship of these choices to home heating where critical

While I chose a propane supplied motor/generator sufficient for my whole house (with some load shedding of non-essential uses), others may want to consider the overall merits of different approaches or combinations of approaches.

OK my thoughts on your original post. The difference between electric and induction is the difference between a tricycle and a race car. They are two totally different animals.

I love, love, love my induction cooktop (Bosch 800) and I honestly think one of the reasons we gave up our NY rental was so I would never have to cook on an electric cooktop again. LOL.

Boils water in 90 seconds.

Stove stays mostly cool. I say mostly because under the pot it will warm up.

However my favorite feature other than how precise it is for cooking is cleanup with a paper towel and some Windex. No baked on crud to scrub with the special glass cleaner and a scrubby or no need for a razor blade to scrape off burnt on crud.

Why I prefer it to gas:

More precise than gas in terms of simmer or boil. If you need a medium heat for example, it's instantaneous. Turn to the number of what is medium and it's exact and will be exactly the same every single time. No needing to guess if the flame is at exactly the right spot.

I can melt chocolate, butter etc right on top of the cooktop. No need for a double burner.

No need anymore for a rice cooker with my Bosch 800 since each hob has its own timer.

No gas fumes entering the house.

I can put paper towels under the pot and around the surface to keep the surface clean from spattering grease, but I don't. (See above where I said it cleans up with a paper towel and Windex.)

No heavy grates to have to clean and no having to clean inside (if open burners) or try and scrape crud off (if closed burners) because nothing bakes on!

To speak to what Kaseki said. Given the choice of gas/propane or my induction cooktop, I'd first put in a whole house generator powered by gas before switching my stove back to gas. I've cooked on all 3 and will not willingly go back to gas or electric again.

We currently have gas but picked an induction for the new house primarily because we are located in a region that is very hot and humid...don’t need that AC working any harder.

"Given the choice of gas/propane or my induction cooktop, I'd first put in a whole house generator powered by gas before switching my stove back to gas."

I had to laugh...when I was telling my DH about this thread (he's finally on board with induction since cooking on my mom's new induction range), he said exactly the same thing!

(My mom went from natural gas to induction and loves it, BTW!)

We JUST switched out of glasstop electric range for an induction, literally yesterday afternoon, and it really is like night and day even just after cooking 1 meal on it. I've had gas in the past as well, and the induction is, in my opinion, better than the gas ranges I've used.

Hillside House -- With the gas being the Prius.

You all rock about making us comfortable again with our original decision! :)

You really won't regret it. Induction is a dream to work with, and to clean. We found it was easier with kids to have an induction over a gas cooktop.

We have a Wolf 36" Induction Cooktop, and were able to have a flush installation which takes the ease of clean-up up another notch. Additionally, our model has a low profile, so we were able to use the drawer space directly below the cooktop. The cabinet installers trimmed the drawer sides 1/2" and scooped out a place at the back to accommodate the cooktop.

Wow!! that flush mount is amazing!

Wow!! that flush mount is amazing!

Until you have to replace the unit!

We live on an island off of another island, have a fair number of power outages, for our new build we went with propane, but if we had a do over, we would look for the combination propane
/induction cooktop. Hubby didn't want to spend the $$$ for it & now regrets not doing so. We did purchase a single burner induction for the RV and I now use it a lot in the house.

cpartist

Wow!! that flush mount is amazing!

Until you have to replace the unit!

Why is that?

This is left as an exercise for the student. Hint: A quarter inch bond line around a 36 x 20 inch cooktop will have a bond surface area of 28 square inches assuming no sealant gets below the Ceram. If a non-bonding fill with a texture such as electrical duct seal were used (just an example, not a recommendation), then instead of bonding tear strength, the surface tension value would be applicable. Cutting silicone with an Exacto knife all the way around, if it will fit in the gap, leads to a complex combination of molecular attraction and sliding forces of irregular flexible surfaces.

Ideally, one would want a fill that had no bonding strength, but was liquid repellent. Perhaps a narrow circular section seal, such as make-any-size o-ring material, pushed into a properly sized gap, could be prised out intact inch-by-inch if removal were necessary.

So, what is this cooktop set into?

Granite, with a silicon bead filing the gap.

You would unclamp it from the bottom and lift it out. The granite has a lip it's clamped to. It's counter sunk. There just is no cap.

I understand the concept, else I wouldn't be able to understand the issue. My question of "set into" was to clarify that it was silicone sealant.

Without the silicone bead, one can unclamp a flush mount from the bottom and push it up and out from below. But with the silicone bead, the bead must be broken all the way around such that the pressure needed to push the unit up will not unduly stress the Ceran (glass top). This may entail significant time. We here haven't heard from anyone who has done such a removal, as far as I recall. cpartist's comment may be experience based, or an expectation based on material properties, as was mine. I have no dog in this fight, only an interest in providing an explanation. Best wishes on never having to remove the unit.

We have been using induction for a few months in our new kitchen and love it. I can think of no reason other than the traditional look of a gas range to ever switch to a gas stove in the future. I have children so I especially like the safety of no flames. It’s very responsive and there is a boost button if you want to bring to a boil quickly.

Steph P -- Right, you have to change your cooking style a bit. The traditional method is to start the water boiling and then do the rest of the items. With induction the process is to do the rest of the items and then boil the water.

Note that the easiest way to clean the stainless steel backsplash it to turn of the ventilation, boil water (covered) until the backsplash is covered with condensation, and then wipe. No experience on whether this works with tile.

cpartist

Wow!! that flush mount is amazing!

Until you have to replace the unit!

Why is that?

Actually my thinking was different than kaseki's but he obviously has a point. My reasoning is not all induction cooktops are the same size. If it's surface mounted that difference in size if you ever need to replace it is covered by the unit. How do you account for a difference in size if it's flush mounted?

And yes, even if you get the same brand, can you guarantee they won't at some point change the dimensions?

I forgot about that "feature." There is a lot of lock-in, and even for edge supported units, the number that will fit an existing cutout is small. Opening a cutout to fit a larger unit is possible, if messy, but making a cutout smaller is a bit more difficult. Even when the body fits in the cutout and the edges overlap the cutout, the overlap may not meet support requirements, necessitating structural reinforcement.

My reasoning is not all induction cooktops are the same size. If it's surface mounted that difference in size if you ever need to replace it is covered by the unit. How do you account for a difference in size if it's flush mounted?

This would be an issue regardless of whether it's flush-mounted or not. The difference is that it didn't need the band to bridge the two, granite and cooktop.