The case for induction cooking
Robert Osborne grew anxious about dinner when his Brooklyn co-op board put the kibosh on a plan to move a gas line for his kitchen renovation. How could Osborne, a math teacher, cook his favorite dishes like skillet chicken with caramelized mushrooms and onions if he couldn’t do it over the classic blue-orange blaze of a gas stove?
Like many of the more than 40 million home cooks in the United States with gas stoves, Osborne considered his to be essential, a nonnegotiable part of his kitchen that, had it not been for the co-op board, he would have kept.
After all, cooking over the open fire of a gas stove sparks something primal and intuitive in our lizard brains. Watching flames leap over the sides of a pan and lick the bone of a sizzling lamb chop is visceral and sensual, two adjectives you might not associate with the sleek ceramic surface of the Samsung induction range Osborne ended up installing instead.
But for all the sexiness of cooking with gas (a concept bolstered by aggressive lobbying and advertising from the natural gas industry), it has been shown to be catastrophic for the environment, emitting potent greenhouse gases like methane into the atmosphere. Worse, a recent study demonstrated that 75% of these emissions occur when the stove is off.
The noxious fumes that get trapped in our homes are also harmful, especially for children.
Brady Seals, a manager at RMI, a nonprofit focused on sustainability, and an author of a study examining the health effects of gas stoves, said indoor nitrogen dioxide levels can spike quickly, reaching hazardous levels in the amount of time it takes to bake a cake.
“For children who live in a home with a gas stove, the increased risk of asthma is on par with living in a home with a smoker,” she said.
So just as someone might want to quit smoking, there’s a strong case to be made for
kicking the natural gas habit.
Happily, there is induction, which uses electromagnets to efficiently heat cookware without the inherent pollution of fossil fuels like natural gas.
While induction stoves may have far less lizard-brain appeal than gas, the latest models gain in unmatched power, precision and responsiveness. And, as anyone who routinely bubbles oatmeal onto the metal hob of a gas stove will be thrilled to read, cleaning the smooth cooktop of an induction range is an absolute breeze.
This figure is likely to increase as cities across the country enact legislation limiting gas hookups in new construction. In luxury buildings, induction is not only seen as more efficient and functional than regular electric stoves — the kind with the red-hot circles that always smell like scorched milk — but it’s perceived as more upscale as well.
But induction stoves are expensive. Starting around $1,000, they’re twice the price of a basic gas range. Still, industry experts agree that, as demand increases, prices will fall.
Rachelle Boucher, owner of Kitchens to Life, a California consulting company that helps cooks electrify their kitchens, said that even as prices for induction stoves begin to come down, she’s seeing quality improve by leaps and bounds.
The newest wave of products, she said, incorporate nuanced technology that allows you to set and maintain precise temperatures — for example, the exact 180 degrees you’d need for a satiny crème anglaise without risk of curdling. Some cooktops will even let you move pans around different heat zones, mimicking a French top.
“The more people learn about the environmental costs of gas, the more they’re turning to induction,” Boucher said. “It’s the future; there’s no going back.”
Induction’s functionality and sustainability have won over a growing number of professional chefs, both at their restaurants and at home.
Before writing this article, I spent time testing induction in my house, various friends’ kitchens and several showroom kitchens.
Then I got to cooking. I boiled huge pots of pasta water in minutes on the highest setting and marveled at the speed. Then I slowly sautéed skillets of slivered garlic on low heat, never scorching them, no matter how long I got lost in my phone. With one burner on high and the other on low, I could make my favorite midnight pasta faster and more easily than on my gas stove.
Using a cast-iron pan and the highest setting, I achieved gorgeously rare lamb chops that were more evenly bronzed and crisp-edged than usual. Wiping up their splatter was the work of 20 seconds with a vinegar-soaked cloth, rather than the quarter-hour it would take to pull off the greasy hobs and scrub them in the sink.
One thing that I did notice was the difference in the two burners. Although both worked similarly (and extremely well) at the highest and lowest settings, there was a huge difference in the middle. The high-end burner — an expensive Breville Control Freak I borrowed for testing — could be set to an exact temperature, like the 209 degrees I need for simmering my oatmeal. With the less-expensive burner (a Duxtop, Wirecutter’s top pick), I could only set temperature intervals of 20 degrees. At 200 degrees, my oatmeal didn’t even bubble. At 220 degrees, it boiled over. Luckily, cleaning it up was a cinch.
In my testing of both burners and ranges, I found that the thing I valued most was precision — that is, having as many temperature options as possible. I also greatly preferred chunky knobs to a touch screen: They were more intuitive and easier to maneuver when my hands were dirty or wet.
As for the knobs from my gas stove, it’s been four weeks, and I still haven’t reattached them. I think they’re in that drawer, but, honestly, I haven’t checked. I haven’t missed the gas at all.
MIDNIGHT PASTA WITH ANCHOVIES, GARLIC AND TOMATO
Tomato paste gives this speedy midnight pasta, studded with anchovy and garlic, its color and umami. If you’re not an anchovy fan, you can substitute a few tablespoons of chopped capers or olives. Be generous when adding the pasta water to the pan. The mixture should look soupy at first, but the sauce will thicken up as you toss.
Yield: 2 servings
Total time: 25 minutes
Salt, as needed
½ pound bucatini, spaghetti
or linguine 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 4 to 8 oil-packed anchovy
fillets, chopped( optional) Large pinch of red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving
1 ½ tablespoons tomato
paste
½ small lemon, zested Handful of coarsely chopped parsley or basil leaves and tender stems, plus more for garnish
Grated Parmesan, for serving (optional)
1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook, according to package directions, until about 2 minutes shy of al dente so the pasta can finish cooking in the sauce. It should still have a slight crunch in the center. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet, combine the oil, garlic, anchovies (if using), redpepper flakes and pinch of salt over low heat. Cook until garlic is opaque and a few of the slices are pale gold at the edges (don’t let the garlic turn brown), 2 to 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook until it darkens, about 1 minute longer.
3. Add the drained pasta, lemon zest and ⅓ cup of the reserved pasta water to skillet. Stir until the pasta is al dente and well coated with sauce. Add more pasta water, if needed, until the sauce is glossy and the pasta cooked to taste.
4. Cut the zested lemon half in half (so you’ll have a quarter of a lemon) and squeeze some juice into pasta. Stir in herbs and taste, adding more lemon juice and salt, if needed. Cut remaining lemon into wedges and serve it alongside the pasta, which should be garnished with more herbs and red-pepper flakes, a drizzle of oil and a generous sprinkle of cheese, if you like.