https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/06/how-the-fossil-fuel-industry-convinced-americans-to-love-gas-stoves/

Surveys showed that most people had no preference for gas water heaters and furnaces over electric ones. So the gas companies found a different appliance to focus on. For decades, sleek industry campaigns have portrayed gas stoves […] as a coveted symbol of class and sophistication

[…]

The sales pitches worked. The prevalence of gas stoves in new single-family American homes climbed from less than 30 percent during the 1970s to about 50 percent in 2019.

[…]

Beginning in the 1990s, the industry faced a new challenge: mounting evidence that burning gas indoors can contribute to serious health problems. […]

Cooking is the No. 1 way you’re polluting your home.

https://archive.ph/Aiyd2

You have more control over temperature on an induction cooktop than you have with a gas cooktop, but there is a learning curve. Samsung induction cooktops show a blue “virtual flame”, which can help a new user visualize the amount of heat going to the pan.

  • SSJ3Marx [he/him]
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    137 months ago

    The gas stove thing is so wild to me. I grew up using them exclusively, but the first time I cooked on an electric stove it was exactly the same except ten thousand times faster and easier to clean. I can’t imagine ever going back, I might as well get a wood burning stove and live in a log cabin or some shit if I’m gonna use gas again.

    And it’s not that I don’t appreciate other cooking methods - I grill with lump charcoal whenever I get the chance - but damn for daily cooking glass is class.

    • @[email protected]
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      7 months ago

      The funniest part is that nobody even brought up the supposed better performance of gas (again, skill issue) as some kind of attack against gas.

      The entire thing is about not fucking poisoning yourself and your entire family every time you cook a meal.

      Lead and asbestos are great for performance too, yet you don’t see comrades obstinately defending adding those into everything.

      It is simply not a logically, ethically, physically safe, or morally defensible position.

  • EllenKelly [comrade/them]
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    437 months ago

    Phasing out gas cooking should always be a health and safety issue, I see people talk about the effects on children, but never about cooks who work in kitchens with a dozen burners running all day

    One thing that really bugs me is we use gas to create steam to generate electricity to boil an electric kettle to boil water, really a minor pet peve here

    another thing on cooking. so many home cooking appliances are dogshit, unsafe, too loud, and emit fumes with poor ventilation, and my new conspiracy is the modern nuclear family thing takes away power from unionised workplaces

  • @[email protected]
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    7 months ago

    My partner insisted on a gas stove despite my protests in our last two places because of the “control”. The few times we used electric or induction cookers on vacation she would get really frustrated.

    Cut to our current place that just came with an electric cooker with no option for gas. A few months in and she’s got no complaints and even comments on how it’s not that different once you get used to it.

    The learning curve is real, and some people will push back at first, but if forced to, I’m pretty sure every single person can figure out cooking just as well with electric.

    • goferking (he/him)
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      47 months ago

      I’d love one but would also be constantly terrified of breaking the top when cooking

      • ButtBidet [he/him]
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        77 months ago

        I’ve never had a problem, nor have I ever heard of this issue. Although to be fair I haven’t looked into it.

        • REgon [they/them]
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          77 months ago

          I know one dude who broke it, but I imagine that had a lot more to do with him than the stove

        • goferking (he/him)
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          47 months ago

          Just the thought of accidentally bringing the pan too hard down on the glass.

          Or past trauma from shattering iPad screens

      • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]
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        77 months ago

        My current place has a glass electric cooktop (please let me upgrade to induction) and I was worried about it to but I’ve had no issue. Just don’t be slamming things around I guess. I think you’d have to be pretty crazily just like dropping cast iron pans on it or get unlucky.

        • goferking (he/him)
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          37 months ago

          Unlucky is my fear haha.

          Big pro for them is also easier to clean if you don’t have to remove parts when cleaning

          • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]
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            47 months ago

            I use huge pans, cast iron, and more on the stove and I’m not exactly a graceful creature and so far not broken. I really think it would be bad luck to like put a pan down and the top shatters haha. Definitely possible though.

            Cleaning is nice though. Spray down and wipe. Maybe a little powder sprinkled on for extra power of something got cooked on. Easy

    • nothx [he/him]
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      157 months ago

      The induction stove top i had at my last apartment was one of my favorites because of its ease to clean. It functioned really well, but it was also like wiping down any other flat surface. With my current gas stove top i need to pull all the grates off, dismantle the burners, scrub in hard to reach places that seem to attract food… It’s honestly a miserable chore.

    • lil_tank [any, he/him]
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      87 months ago

      Can confirm, I’m so frustrated trying to boil water on a gad stove because I’m used to how fast it is with induction

  • SSJ3Marx [he/him]
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    17 months ago

    The gas stove thing is so wild to me. I grew up using them exclusively, but the first time I cooked on an electric stove it was exactly the same except ten thousand times faster and easier to clean. I can’t imagine ever going back, I might as well get a wood burning stove and live in a log cabin or some shit if I’m gonna use gas again.

    And it’s not that I don’t appreciate other cooking methods - I grill with lump charcoal whenever I get the chance - but damn for daily cooking glass is class.

  • keepcarrot [she/her]
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    347 months ago

    I kinda assumed most people here rented and thus it was their landlords choice if they used gas or not

    • @[email protected]
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      117 months ago

      Yeah, I rent and way prefer gas stoves to any electric ones I’ve ever had available to me. I don’t have any real experience with induction stoves, but I know if I moved into a place with one, I’d have to buy all new pans.

      • Dessa [she/her]
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        107 months ago

        One of the most frustrating things about induction for me is that if a pan develops any sort of curve, it’s as good as a paperweight. It will heat only on that tiny point of contact.

        Great for the electricity bill tho

    • @[email protected]
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      27 months ago

      When I bought my home, I chose a gas stove because that’s what the builder installed, and I continue to use it because I don’t want to spend $2-5000 for a stove replacement and remodel to power it

      • @[email protected]
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        17 months ago

        If you are thinking on the ecological impact, keeping burning methane gas is better that scrapping a functional stove for a new induction one.

    • newerAccountWhoDis [they/them]
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      27 months ago

      Where I’m from people rent empty apartments - there’s no furniture, rarely a kitchen, and sometimes not even flooring. Most buildings are older than 100 years and have options for both gas and electric stoves. People can rent and still decide how they want to live.

      • keepcarrot [she/her]
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        47 months ago

        Here, you get a stove or oven, but getting one installed would be seen as risky. Also a dishwasher. If your place does not come with these things, you are not using them.

  • CarbonConscious [he/him]
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    67 months ago

    I’ve had both over the last few years, and while the cooking experience is not all that different tbh, the one thing that bugs me about my current glass-top electric stove is that the surface is so flat that my ever-so-slightly warped carbon steel pan doesn’t sit flat and rocks all over the place and doesn’t heat evenly. I’ve basically been unable to use it since moving here, and it’s my favorite pan. :(

    But if I had my choice, I’d ofc go induction, but between the other two I’d still go electric, just for the fumes alone. But I’ll probably be way less hot on the idea of glass-tops in the future, that’s for sure.

  • CarbonConscious [he/him]
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    17 months ago

    I’ve had both over the last few years, and while the cooking experience is not all that different tbh, the one thing that bugs me about my current glass-top electric stove is that the surface is so flat that my ever-so-slightly warped carbon steel pan doesn’t sit flat and rocks all over the place and doesn’t heat evenly. I’ve basically been unable to use it since moving here, and it’s my favorite pan. :(

    But if I had my choice, I’d ofc go induction, but between the other two I’d still go electric, just for the fumes alone. But I’ll probably be way less hot on the idea of glass-tops in the future, that’s for sure.

  • macerated_baby_presidents [he/him]
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    167 months ago

    I have a CO2 monitor (which is probably picking up NOx too, it’s not expensive enough to be selective) and can literally watch the air quality get worse as I use the gas stove or range. I’ve never lived in an apartment with a functioning range hood. I’d like to try induction. I watched a Technology Connections video saying that raw power delivery, e.g. boiling water, is faster.

    Also, a quirk of how gas works in Chicago is that you pay a flat hookup fee of ~$30 a month, and a fee per therm for consumption. Cooking uses so little gas that the consumption part of my bill is pennies. If I had an induction stove, and if I had an inefficient electric furnace instead of gas, I’d probably still save $25 a month.

  • Nakoichi [they/them]M
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    7 months ago

    idk I gotta say I have no scientific basis for this but there’s just something that feels different about cooking on an open flame. grillman

    Like for example I just could not imagine cooking with a wok or making kebabs on anything but actual fire.

  • hypercracker [he/him]
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    347 months ago

    anytime somebody claims it is impossible to cook without natural gas I just say “skill issue” and it is a hard counter, they cannot possibly respond to it without sound like they are very mad

    • Def a skill issue. But I must say, I hate electric glass top, way too much heat retention in the glass. I love the quick control I get with my gas burners, but if I had the money it’d be induction all day for me. There’s literally no downside.

      • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]
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        107 months ago

        Absolutely. For cooking gas is ok but induction is purely better if you can swing it. I’m thinking of upgrading my electric stove because like the only thing bidens climate bill has done is like give $800 rebate for em.

        I mean if my state ever bothers to implement it .

        100% skill issue though. I cook better shit on my electric stove than anyone with a gas stove I know

          • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]
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            7 months ago

            I suppose purely better is hyperbole as I can’t account for taste. But some objective metrics… induction releases far less pollution than burning gas does. It also removes various risks with gas stoves in a home. Additionally it is more energy efficient when measuring the required energy to say boil water.

            As far as personal preference goes I can barely speak to it. Unfortunately my houses have had shitty electric for the last decade or so. Had gas before that at home and admittedly enjoyed cooking on it generally. Also used gas when I worked in a kitchen long ago. I’ve loved Everytime I’ve had a chance to use an induction stove though. The response and speed is incredible with the right pan. As is the cleanliness.

            I do fucking hate that they often have touch screens style controls

          • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]
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            37 months ago

            Weirdly ya I think the direct coils can potentially cook a little better than glass electric. Induction smokes em both. And gas is also better for cooking if worse in other ways than the electric

  • Gorb [they/them]
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    7 months ago

    I rly wanna get an induction hob but costs money :(

    Also wanna get rid of my gas boiler but also costs money :(

    UK homes suck gas everything. I love needing to have a carbon monoxide alarm in my home for pointless fossil fuel shit