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Cooking with gas gets more expensive as Americans face rising prices into 2026
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2025
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Induction is so much better anyways. And I don't mean that induction plate that costs a few bucks and you plug into an outlet. I mean a real stove. My pans are hot in seconds. My wok starts glowing in 10 to 15 seconds. So much faster and better than using an open flame. And safer with all the fire and VOCs and such.
How does it work with the wok? Wouldn't it just be the bottom getting the heat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJKxUCKOBg
TLDW: You can get a flat bottom wok, or there are neat rounded induction heaters that cradle a normal wok.
Though you should watch, technology connections vids are always delightful.
They were better until he started using AI to write his scripts.
Got a source for that?
You need a special flat bottom wok that probably costs a fortune.
Not at all. My wok is a simple steel wok. Cost about 20 bucks. No coating no bells no whistles. But perfect for induction. It loses heat quickly but thats what you want for real stir fry. You have imidiate control over the heat on the wok.
For reference it looks pretty much like this:
They're pretty much the same price as round bottom ones actually, under $100 easily.
And as soon as they're cheaper than a shitty coil-top, people who rent will actually see them in apartments
Coil tops are the absolute worst to cook with. I hate mine. They take forever to get hot and then stay hot well after you're done cooking
Oh they can absolutely be worse than that. Introducing: sensi-temp burners! No longer will your burners stay hot, or be capable of even a stable water boil.
And assuming green energy, no emissions
Even without that it it's better. For one gas plants have a high efficiency. On the other hand even if you have efficiency gains you still have no VOCs, much faster heating and no open flame. Gas loses a lot of heat by it just flowing up the sides of the pot. Induction literally heats up the bottom of your pot with magnets. Yes there are transmission losses. But it's really amazingly fast. I can make my steel wok glow red in about 10-15 seconds seconds if I use the boost program on my stove. And it is not even a fancy stove.
Yep, no objections there.
Yeah, unfortunately in my area gas range is actually more efficient than induction because the electricity is mainly by natural gas anyways.
Efficient in what way?
A combined cycle natural gas power plant can get about 60% efficiency, and induction is usually above 90% efficiency. Even with some transmission efficiency reduction, you should still get over 50%+ total efficiency.
A gas stove on the other hand is only about 30-40% efficient.
Per unit of gas, it's more efficient to use induction in that case.
Maybe on a really old stove top? High efficiency burners with the right pan can be 85-95% efficient.
Source for that?
You aren't talking about that $2000 dollar pan with the heat fins on the bottom are you?
I forgot about that, it's a little pricey but not that expensive! https://effium.com/collections/all
Gas gives you much better heat control.
I own an induction stove now and would agree with this. The induction makes hot spots which are inconsistent across my larger cast iron pan, requiring me to rotate the pan or move food in the pan around to get everything evenly. My families gas stove does not have that issue at all with similar pans. I wonder why the down votes? Ive had to change the way I think about even heating with the induction stove.
But it sure is fast and I used to leave my old stove on accidentally too often. The induction turns itself off pretty quickly when the pan is removed.
I don't know (they weren't from me) but let's remember that heat control is not the same as heat distribution. Some induction ranges don't offer any good low-heat modes, so people quickly discover that their gas stoves are better for delicate work than the induction model they tried, and assume the technology is responsible. In reality, the problem is not induction, but stove models that implement it poorly. So people may be downvoting the misconception.
It could be the stove model. It's the cheaper option from Frigidaire bought in the U.S., but I haven't used anything else that is induction so idk.
I can't say I've experienced this with my cast iron pan and induction range. Can I ask how big of a pan you're using?
It's a 12"/30cm pan on a 9"/23cm induction pad. It's a Frigidaire FCFI3083AS, bought in the U.S. at home depot (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-30-in-5-3-cu-ft-4-Burner-Element-Slide-In-Front-Control-Self-Cleaning-Induction-Range-w-Convection-in-Stainless-Steel-FCFI3083AS/323867171)
So I don't expect the entire pan to heat perfectly, but the center area 23cm heats up in a crescent shape, like you can see the coil and the top half heats way hotter than the bottom half of that area. So I rotate it, but then get uneven heating as the other half cools down and the new top gets the hot part of the pad. I really like the stove, but that drives me nuts.
Is that size pan just not going to work well? What size do you use? I'm guessing you don't see the crescent shape heat spot on yours?
You got me curious. I also have a Frigidaire, but its circa 2012 I think. I took my largest cast iron skillet (12" Brizoll) and put it on the range dry with nothing in it. I turned on the range and here's what it looks like under a thermal camera after 50 seconds:
I see crescent you're talking about, but the thermal difference between the hottest and coldest part of the pan is less than 1.2 degrees C. This was only on for less than a minute. The next time I'm cooking something I'll perform this test again. Additionally, my range has 2 induction elements to cook on on the right hand side, and the left hand elements are electric thermal, so I can perform a non-inductive test too.
That's really interesting, thanks for the numbers and thermal view! I did not try that and am surprised there is not more of a difference shown here. Mine was purchased last year. I do see some reviews of my model with people complaining about the same thing but it's drowned out by positive reviews.
I wonder if there is more inconsistent behavior with mine, or the pan somehow? I have an unmarked 12" pan that is thicker cast iron with higher sides, and another 12" from Lodge that is thinner with shorter sides. I do notice it more with my unmarked pan, like it can't keep up somehow.
Keep me posted! Curious what yours shows next time you are cooking!
I can't agree. I can keep my pots ripping hot or barely simmering. And without delay apart from the heat retention of the pan. If I set to 2-3 I can let stuff simmer for hours with little risk of burning. I think most people have just not used a proper induction stove top. And mine wasn't even very expensive.