I cannot be sure if Wokmon is the same person, but there was a guy on youtube does similar mod.
Yeah, I found the lower power but more concentrated EPR-A heats up my wok much better
I think you can still consider induction as your main setup, but you will just need to acknowledge that wok cooking is perhaps a weakness and find another solution for that type of cooking (eg Iwatani or a high BTU propane burner)
All setups have limitations - as I mentioned further up the thread I find many (not all) gas stoves struggle with a low simmer that induction does well.
I think you just have to pick the solution thatâs right for how you cook most of the time - and then you can work around the limitations of that solution for other things you still want to be able to do.
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Hi:
Iâve waited until now to make a substantive reply to your original query. Because of the work I do,I frequently switch from gas to coil, to radiant, to induction, and even to solid fuel cooktops. I consider myself quite familiar with the various modesâ advantages and disadvantages. Ignoring your rhetorical questions:
I doubt it, unless you have a higher need for the $ right now. Having gas service in your kitchen is good for resale value, as is having a high grade gas range or cooktop. Unless your HWH is very far from the kitchen, a line extension in the crawlspace should not be that expensive.
If you can afford the switch, I wouldnât fret over ditching the induction cooktop. Plenty of cooks give up high end gas ranges just to check out induction. Maybe you can find a premium or superpremium gas unit that someone else is ditching just to have induction.
Your OP makes plain that your thinking is not one-sided. I think youâve already IDâd the advantages and disadvantages pretty well. Gas burners either take time to clean, OR you take a more relaxed view of what âcleanâ means. How highly do the convenience features of induction rank in what you want to do and enjoy in your cooking?
Let me ask: How often, really, are you using more than one of your induction burners at a time for things for which that mode is arguably preferable (e.g., x-low settings, speed boiling water)? If itâs seldom, youâre already set with your CF. You may find that gas allows you to do more things (e.g., char peppers and other vegetables, and cook in a far wider range of cookware (e.g., pottery, aluminum, copper, non-ferrous SS, even ceramics and glass.
My personal approach and preference is to minimize electronics and maximize analog (or analog-emulating) controls and safety systems. I like judging heat output by looking at the flame and whatâs happening in the pan,rather than watching a digital screen. The only way I wouldnât have gas is if I absolutely couldnât get it.
Thatâs good. I think before anyone concludes induction is less polluting than electricity, they should consider how their electricity is made. Even solar isnât benignâthe photovoltaic cells have to be made, at a large environmental cost. Same with the semiconductors.
Another thought: You can have both. Quite a few $$$-$$$$ makers offer configurable, modular units with both gas and induction. This can be an expensive proposition in a single appliance, but you can also find separate drop-in cooktop units. I bet someone offers matching units.
This is basically the answer to your dilemma. Follow your bliss.
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I do what I can to be environmentally conscious. I drive a hybrid automobile, I dry my clothes on a line except in extreme weather, and I generally minimize the waste I produce. But given that, where I live, the cost per joule of electricity is some four to five times that of natural gas and the electrical service in my 1950-vintage house is only 100 amps, going all-electric is simply not fiscally feasible. My point being that one cannot solve the worldâs problems single-handedly so one needs to choose oneâs battles. In your case, going to a gas cooktop will not make a great deal of difference in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, the amount of pollution from a properly functioning gas cooktop is minimal.
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It strikes me that the overriding question should be: what are you actually missing in not having a gas cooktop?
Certainly there are times it would be handy to char a red bell pepper over a gas burner instead of using a blowtorch (or the broiler). Or to try your hand at wok cooking, although when doing research I quickly discovered that the installation of a sufficiently high-BTU-output wok burner would necessitate other changes â specifically, the installation of a much higher-powered extractor fan. Not to mention convenient fire suppression. 
(Conclusion: there are good reasons to do wok cooking outdoors)
I guess what Iâm wondering is what you feel you canât cook now (or well enough) using your induction cooktop? FWIW Iâve been delighted using induction for five years, and cannot imagine going back to cooking on gas. When I stay in self-catering accommodation I vastly prefer induction to gas. In Europe even basic induction cooktops tend to be far better performers than their gas equivalents.
Maybe itâs the romantic appeal of cooking over an open flame? Or the warmth of burnished copper cookware sitting on a cast iron grate? I can imagine the allure, but my inner pragmatist would balk at laying out beaucoup $$ for indeterminate returns.
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I keep a plumberâs butane torch for charring peppers. It works much more quickly that a gas burner and can also be used to make creme brĂ»lĂ©e.
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Oops, I meant propane torch. Butane is used in the cute tiny torch someone gave me years ago for creme brûlée that is not really hot enough.
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OK, Iâll start.
- Sheâs missing not being able to use her copper.
- Sheâs disillusioned with her prior choice of induction.
- What she really wantedâeven when she chose inductionâwas gas.
- She wants forward-facing knobs.
- She dislikes the unevenness of induction.
- She already has a Control Freak.
- She realizes she can still cook on gas when(ever) power fails.
- She wonât use a butane hotplate indoors.
- She hasnât drunk the Kool-Aid on efficiency and pollution.
- It seems sheâd be happier cooking on what sheâs always wanted.
Thereâs just what I glean from her OP.
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Your characterization of efforts to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution as having drunk the Kool-Aid is far right-wing nonsense that does not belong here.
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LOL, Iâm about as far from being Far Right as you could possibly imagine.
Iâm actually in strong favor of efforts to increase efficiency and reduce pollution. What I was referring to as Kool-Aid was the untruthful campaign to convince American that induction accomplishes those goals in a meaningful way. That campaign hinged on claims that the heating efficiency at the point of use was all that mattered, and the US Dept of Energy basically blessed the claim. However, DoE has since recanted. But nevermind, the claim, once having rooted persists.
If, as it appears, youâre in Europe, there may be strong economic and strategic reasons why induction is a responsible choice. For instance, if Germans canât get enough gas from Russia, they face a terrible choice between capitulation and short-term resort to generating electricity by burning coal or nuclear fission.
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The use of the term Kool-Aid in this context is unnecessarily inflammatory. Personally, I would not have an induction range because I do not want to have to replace much of my cookware. However, there is no question that such cooktops are the most efficient available.
From the Department of Energy,
âThe per unit efficiency of induction Cooking Tops is about 5-10% more efficient than conventional electric resistance units and about 3 times more efficient than gas. If all Cooking Tops sold in 2021 in the U.S. used induction technology and met these draft criteria, the energy cost savings would exceed $125 million and the energy savings would exceed 1,000 GWh.â
Source: https://www.energystar.gov/about/2021_residential_induction_cooking_tops
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Thatâs at the point of use.
Do the math. The alleged potential monetary savings (again to the end user) is around $125 million. This is âAustin Powersâ-level insignificance. Also, the TOTAL electrical generation capacity of the US is only 1,175 GWh. Induction would save/spare the lionâs share of that? I donât think so.
Uhm - I think the US generation is larger than that. I saw a number of 4.12 trillion kWh or 4.12 million GWh in 2021.
That would make the purported saving from induction a tiny fraction of the total electricity generated. Insignificant? Maybe. But every little helpsâŠ
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We used to have a glass top electric stove that I disliked (though Iiked it more than the metal coils). When I found out how easy it would be to have a gas line run from the basement to the stove I couldnât believe it. I love our gas cooktop. If you have the means, get the gas.
I have an old gas Wedgewood stove and also have a two burner Wolf induction and use both daily for the last 10 years and really like having both. The induction I use mostly for boiling water, slow simmering sauces and letting my daughter cook since she doesnât have to mess with the ignitors on the gas that never work. I love the ease of cleaning and the glass seems scratchproof.
Iâm in the planning stages of a kitchen renovation and am similarly undecided whether to ditch my gas and go full induction. Iâve been back and forth on it and still am not completely decided but leaning towards keeping the gas. I find the gas a pain in the ass to clean, the holes get clogged with grease and the ignitors never work. But here in San Francisco theyâve banned gas for new construction so I think for resale gas is going to be be a better option for me down the road. For what itâs worth I have a good friend who is an avid cook and has gas in his city house and switched to induction at his country house and says he prefers induction if he had to choose one - but has a grill to char peppers etc.
But it sounds like you really want gas, and you already have a Control Freak induction, so best of both worlds if you go gas.
I have two houses, one with a good gas unit (Bluestar running on propane) and one with induction (a simple range not a sophisticated one).
Iâm also a big believer in induction for many reasons.
You seem to have the money and the interest, and I assume space. Why limit yourself? You can have it all. There are many smaller units available (24"??) in both induction and gas. Put in one of each and use each when it is the appropriate choice. I know it sounds a little crazy but clearly you are interested in what you want and not what anybody thinks. Is it any nuttier than two dishwashers? I have two DWâs and as far as Iâm concerned it is a great setup. A good hood is advised either way.
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Exactly.
There are actual trade-offs being discussed here, though.
The OP doesnât have space for both kinds of cooktops; it would be one or the other, per the original post. And since the electric ovens are staying, that means a gas cooktop potentially replacing a fairly new induction cooktop. And if so, probably a new, more powerful extractor hood would be necessary, as well.
In my experience even the best PICs (the Control Freak included) donât begin to compare with full-size induction cooktops, especially the more full-featured models.
And many of the higher-end gas cooktops â BlueStar, for example â donât have forward facing knobs â only their ranges do.
âAt the end of 2021, the United States had 1,143,757 MWâor about 1.14 billion kWâof total utility-scale electricity generating capacity and about 32,972 MWâor nearly 0.03 billion kWâof small-scale solar photovoltaic electricity generating capacity.â
Electrical use for cooking amounts to a minuscule share of the average US homeâs overall electricity use. Thatâs why they donât even bother with EnergyStar ratings for stoves and ovens. Saving (the alleged) 10% over coil or radiant? Pick a word that describes the decima of a minuscule share⊠scintilla?
I defer to the op preference and judgement. If she has truly wants it and sheâs fine with the trade offs I say do it without hesitation. Regret nothing.
