Gas or Electric Stove? How About Induction?

by Design OCD

$1200

30 Minutes

Medium

A few months ago, a crack appeared in our 7 year old ceramic smooth surface electric stove. I started researching the possibility of replacing it with a gas stove. Our kitchen does not have a gas line so installing a gas stove would mean hiring someone to run the gas line to the stove. As I did research, I learned more about induction stoves as an option. Although they look similar to the electric smooth surface cooktop we had before, induction stoves work using completely different technology. They do not heat up an element that transfers heat from stove to pot. They use electromagnetism to transfer (induce) energy to the pot itself. That energy heats up the pot to cook the food.

First, I scheduled an appointment at a store that allowed me to test out both gas and induction. I visited the SubZero appliance showroom. Subzero manufactures Wolf cooktops and ranges.

After looking at different models and styles, I did the water boil test. I set a pot of water to boil on both a gas burner and an induction burner at the same time. (See this post for how that turned out: http://www.designocd.com/2014/11/stove-shopping/

I decided on induction and began researching models and brands. Naturally, the type of cooktop chosen depends on your circumstances and whether you are replacing something already there or building out a new kitchen and can design around your choice.

The first thing I cooked on my new cooktop was bacon. I covered the cooktop with paper towels before cooking and then just picked up the paper towels afterwards. The paper towels don’t burn! You could also use newspaper to protect from splatters.

Installation was pretty simple. We had an electrician come to remove the old cooktop and connect the 3 wires for the new one. It took about 30 minutes total. See the blog for more details on pros and cons and the model we chose!