Remodeling Your Kitchen? Consider Induction for Cooking.

Information from Steveworks; reprinted with permission

Many Boston Building Resources members who are remodeling their kitchens are making the switch from gas to electric cooking to reduce their use of fossil fuels. An induction range or cooktop is a newer electric-powered technology that makes an excellent choice for ease of cooking, health and safety, and energy efficiency.

Ease of cooking

You may have seen ads highlighting just how quickly water comes to a boil on an induction cooktop. That’s no joke. This blog post on the Green Building Advisor website extols the virtues of induction cooking. The author conducted an experiment: cooking eleven pounds of potatoes—half on an induction burner and half on a conventional electric burner. In the end, the potatoes on the induction stove were done before the pot on the conventional electric burner had even come to a boil. Talk about saving time!

Some induction stoves include a “bridge” element, which is ideal for those who, for example, love pancakes and want to use a griddle on their stove. It can also be used to make gravy in a long roasting pan rather than transferring it to a pot. So many possibilities.

Pancakes aside, the bottom line is that induction cooktops cook food more quickly and are quicker to adjust to temperature changes. The temperature is more precise than either traditional electric or gas stoves. The “magic” happens in the electromagnetic field below the glass cooktop surface. It transfers current directly to magnetic cookware, causing it to heat up. This is also why you may need to buy new pans when you add an induction stove to your kitchen. Induction will work with stainless steel and cast iron, but not with copper or aluminum.

Health and safety

Induction stoves are much safer than their gas counterparts for several reasons. Many people don’t realize it but turning on the exhaust fan every time you use a gas stove is imperative—not just when something has scorched on the stove. Richard Shaughnessy, Ph.D., director of research and manager of the indoor air program at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, states in this New York Times article, “Any time you’re cooking or searing something in a pan, you’re producing ultra-fine particles in the air that are not just particles, but coated with all sorts of other chemicals that you don’t want to be breathing.” In addition, nitrogen dioxide may be produced during the combustion process which is known to cause breathing issues, particularly in children.

In case it’s not obvious, gas stoves have open flames which can accidentally catch pot holders, aprons, kitchen towels, etc., on fire. Additionally, a very low gas flame can be blown out by a breeze coming through a nearby window, which may cause flammable natural gas to leak into the kitchen space. These are risks if you have children who “get into everything,” as well as for older residents who may have hand tremors or slower reflexes.

Induction stoves only heat items with iron particles in them. In other words, it can’t catch anything on fire, and induction burners aren’t as hot to the touch, even if you’ve just removed the pan. (Some of the heat does transfer from the pot to the element—just like it would if you placed a hot pan on a granite countertop—so it’s not completely cool to the touch as some people believe.)

Energy efficiency

From an energy efficiency standpoint, research shows that induction cooktops are 84% energy efficient, while gas cooktops are only 40% energy efficient. We’ve also read that induction is 10% more efficient than traditional electric. The trick is that heat isn’t lost as it is transferred from the heating element to the pan. You won’t feel waves of heat around the bottom of the pan as you do with a gas stove as the flame heats not only the pan, but also the air around it. All the heating energy goes right into the pan. The result is energy savings—and faster cooking times.

That’s enough blogging for now. Time to make some pancakes.