PSA for Glasstop Stove owners

[BUTCH1]

The biggest problem I have with induction or, electric in general is the lack of immediate feedback in cooking temperatures. Indicator lights or knob position doesn't cut it.

Too many people take the easy way out. They believe what their house came with, what their neighbors have or, what's available at their local home improvement store is all that's available. ATOTers will search the ends of the earth for the latest and greatest computer technology but, never seem to apply the same effort to cooking or feeding themselves. Fair enough, most 'youts' prioritize things differently. Would you settle for a Celeron if that's all your local stores carried?

However, once you buy or build a home, you really owe it to yourself to try and raise the quality of your life. Food should be a part of that. Think of all the times you or someone you knew bought an appliance based on the size of the place where it was supposed to fit. Say what?

Kitchens don't need to be all stainless, all white/black or, the trend of the month. Kitchens need to fit the way you live or, the way you want to live. I'm totally against the trend of buying or remodeling kitchens with an eye towards saleability unless you view your home simply as an investment and nothing else. Local equipment companies, kitchen designers and, department stores have a vested interest in getting you to buy the equipment they sell.

People have been eating and cooking for a while now. There are techniques and equipment to aid them in every country on the planet. Don't make the mistake that the place where you grew up has the best or only way to do things.

If there is no NG in the house your then using electric, that's your only choice. I have a NG feed by my house but IIRC I have to pay for the install to use it, I like gas cooking but can still do well with electric..

 

[Codewiz]

Where the hell do you live that propane isn't available? I have difficulty believing that there's an area of the country where everyone is forced into having a charcoal grill (vs. propane grill) because you don't have propane available to you.

I agree wholeheartedly with Magnus - gas cook tops are superior, except for people who value style over function. However, I believe that electric ovens are superior to gas ovens for a number of reasons; at least for at home cooking. (One big reason is the amount of heat vented into the kitchen with a gas oven - great on a cold winter day, but enough to make tasks such as roasting a turkey very unappealing for half of the year. But, in a restaurant setting, at least with commercial pizza ovens, electric ovens don't have sufficient recovery; gas is able to maintain the high temperature more effectively.

Is propane generally available? Sure. But IF I wanted a gas range(propane), I would have to pipe my house to do it. Houses here just aren't built with gas unless you make the demand when you build the house.

So no, unless I want to retrofit my home, propane is not available.

EDIT: And I would add, if I could get gas, I would have it for more than just cooking. I hate heat pumps. They just suck, but again, I don't have gas and neither do many people here.

 

[kage69]

Induction cook tops need to DIAF. They cater to one group only, the "looks are more important than function" bunch.

Yeah I have a glass top (came with the house) and I loathe that thing. I want to swap it out for a real propane range. I'll admit they look nice when they are clean, but when it comes to actual cooking I think it's hard to beat a well designed range that runs on propane.


I don't think grease is the bitch to remove, that distinction belongs to SUGAR!

 

[Mark R]

Uhm... Ok... scraping is actually recommended FYI. We use the razor blade about once a month to knock down the high spots and our stove top looks great after five years.

Correct. Scraping with a razor blade won't damage glass. In fact, most steel can't scratch glass, because glass is harder than mild steel/stainless steel/brass and bronze. (Damage to watch glass, iphone glass, etc. in pockets usually comes from grit, scraping against bricks/stones or contact with hardened steel tools).

The glass can be damaged by impact (I've seen glass-top hobs severely damaged by people using knives or spoons to "chip" the burnt on debris off). However, razor blades don't impact.

Indeed, severely burnt on debris is often resistant to most chemicals. The most corrosive chemcials, e.g. sodium hydroxide, will often attack the glass damaging the finish. (Again, on the same hobs that have been chipped, they have often been "hazed" due to the use of oven cleaning checicals containing sodium/potassium hydroxide). I've also seen glass damaged by the use of strong metal polish. Industrial metal polish may contain very hard abrasive powder (e.g. alumina), this is much harder than glass and will scratch and damage the surface.

A razor blade based scraper has been the easiest and safest way to clean glass top hobs that I've ever tried. It doesn't just work on hobs, but also works on oven bottoms (which are often glass enamel coated). I used such a scraper on an oven bottom that I had given up, and had resisted everything (including industrial cleaners). 5 minutes with a scraper and it was looking like new, and not a scratch in sight.

 

[MovingTarget]

I've never really understood Induction stoves. At least with gas/electric, the tech is very simple to clean and maintain. Cooking with gas is superior, but electric works just as well as long as you leave sufficient time for the calrods to heat up. Induction stoves...seem to fragile and complicated to me. That, and most cookware will work with gas/electric, but not induction.

 

[Codewiz]

I've never really understood Induction stoves. At least with gas/electric, the tech is very simple to clean and maintain. Cooking with gas is superior, but electric works just as well as long as you leave sufficient time for the calrods to heat up. Induction stoves...seem to fragile and complicated to me. That, and most cookware will work with gas/electric, but not induction.

Complicated?

Induction is just magnets man.

http://gizmodo.com/5348493/cooking-with-magnets-an-intro-to-induction

Electric is no where near as good as gas. Not even in the ballpark. With gas you have so much more control over temp. Induction while not as good as gas is far superior to electric for the same reasons.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm assuming you don't have natural gas lines to the homes in your area?

We do, but it's really only used for heating / water tank, and fireplaces. Never seen someone with an actual gas stove, nor have I ever seen one in an appliance store here. Maybe we have a code that does not allow it or something.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Where the hell do you live that propane isn't available? I have difficulty believing that there's an area of the country where everyone is forced into having a charcoal grill (vs. propane grill) because you don't have propane available to you.

The only way to get propane here is by the bottle, which is extremely expensive compared to electric.

 

[Mike Gayner]

I've never really understood Induction stoves. At least with gas/electric, the tech is very simple to clean and maintain. Cooking with gas is superior, but electric works just as well as long as you leave sufficient time for the calrods to heat up. Induction stoves...seem to fragile and complicated to me. That, and most cookware will work with gas/electric, but not induction.

America's education system as once again failed.

 

[MovingTarget]

Complicated?

Induction is just magnets man.

http://gizmodo.com/5348493/cooking-with-magnets-an-intro-to-induction

Electric is no where near as good as gas. Not even in the ballpark. With gas you have so much more control over temp. Induction while not as good as gas is far superior to electric for the same reasons.

I understand the science behind why it works. Its pretty nifty. I've only seen one induction stove in a kitchen though. When I learned to cook, induction stoves simply weren't available. Nobody had them, and the local appliance stores didn't either. We had gas, and my relatives had electric. I've had to work on both types of stoves, which is why I consider the tech 'simple'. There's really not much to them. Induction stoves are a bit more complicated in comparison.

 

[MovingTarget]

America's education system as once again failed.

Get off'a my lawn! Damn kids!

/shakes fist in air

 

[WelshBloke]

Complicated?

Induction is just magnets man.

http://gizmodo.com/5348493/cooking-with-magnets-an-intro-to-induction

Electric is no where near as good as gas. Not even in the ballpark. With gas you have so much more control over temp. Induction while not as good as gas is far superior to electric for the same reasons.

Yeah but how the fuck do they work?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah but how the fuck do they work?

From what I understand it's just a coil with a couple turns with very thick wire and very high frequency high current is put to it. Because of the amount of current rather than just magnetize the metal, it actually makes it heat up. I believe frequency has a role to play too, though I think it's all in the current.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7DBS2Is0ws

I want to play with that some day. Looks fun.

Though, I don't know how it works with aluminium, I always figured it only worked on magnetic metals.

 

[silverpig]

From what I understand it's just a coil with a couple turns with very thick wire and very high frequency high current is put to it. Because of the amount of current rather than just magnetize the metal, it actually makes it heat up. I believe frequency has a role to play too, though I think it's all in the current.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7DBS2Is0ws

I want to play with that some day. Looks fun.

Though, I don't know how it works with aluminium, I always figured it only worked on magnetic metals.

close. I think it's acutally a lot of turns, low voltage, high current. It generates a magnetic field which induces a current in the metal pot on top of it. The currents in the metal pot resistively heat the pot directly.

It does work with aluminum, but not very well at all. Cast iron is best, magnetic stainless steel is also very good.

 

[Howard]

Yeah but how the fuck do they work?

 

[Wreckem]

Where the hell do you live that propane isn't available? I have difficulty believing that there's an area of the country where everyone is forced into having a charcoal grill (vs. propane grill) because you don't have propane available to you.

I agree wholeheartedly with Magnus - gas cook tops are superior, except for people who value style over function. However, I believe that electric ovens are superior to gas ovens for a number of reasons; at least for at home cooking. (One big reason is the amount of heat vented into the kitchen with a gas oven - great on a cold winter day, but enough to make tasks such as roasting a turkey very unappealing for half of the year. But, in a restaurant setting, at least with commercial pizza ovens, electric ovens don't have sufficient recovery; gas is able to maintain the high temperature more effectively.

What he probably means is

1. there are no city/county propane utility lines
2. in most places you aren't allowed to have large propane tanks in residential communities that reside in city limits.

Yes he can go buy that 5 gallon propane tank meant for a grill but thats not practical for a running a stovetop

Honestly what I want eventually is

gas stovetops
large built in electric griddle
double ovens, electric convection units, fuck gas ovens in Texas.

 

[Wreckem]

We do, but it's really only used for heating / water tank, and fireplaces. Never seen someone with an actual gas stove, nor have I ever seen one in an appliance store here. Maybe we have a code that does not allow it or something.

If you can use it for heating, then you can most certainly use it for ovens/stoves.

 

[maziwanka]

v. interesting. mine's not so bad at the moment, but ill keep this in mind.

also i much prefer gas.

 

[Leros]

I used to clean my glasstop stove with one of these: