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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by TankieTanuki@hexbear.net to c/chapotraphouse@hexbear.net

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/06/how-the-fossil-fuel-industry-convinced-americans-to-love-gas-stoves/

Surveys showed that most people had no preference for gas water heaters and furnaces over electric ones. So the gas companies found a different appliance to focus on. For decades, sleek industry campaigns have portrayed gas stoves [...] as a coveted symbol of class and sophistication

[...]

The sales pitches worked. The prevalence of gas stoves in new single-family American homes climbed from less than 30 percent during the 1970s to about 50 percent in 2019.

[...]

Beginning in the 1990s, the industry faced a new challenge: mounting evidence that burning gas indoors can contribute to serious health problems. [...]

Cooking is the No. 1 way you’re polluting your home.

https://archive.ph/Aiyd2

You have more control over temperature on an induction cooktop than you have with a gas cooktop, but there is a learning curve. Samsung induction cooktops show a blue "virtual flame", which can help a new user visualize the amount of heat going to the pan.

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[-] TrashGoblin@hexbear.net 52 points 1 month ago

Induction ranges are as good as gas, but they're also new and expensive. Coil element ranges are not as good as gas, because they are slow to respond to changes.

You absolutely can get used to a coil range and do good cooking on them, but it's disingenuous to say they're as good as gas, and it hurts our argument for phasing out gas ranges to say that they are.

[-] Palacegalleryratio@hexbear.net 20 points 1 month ago

Absolutely true. I have used gas, induction, electric coil, ceramic. In terms of utility for cooking, gas and induction are the top two, with induction being slightly better in my experience.

Electric coil is bad and the ceramic version isn’t much of an improvement. It’s possible to cook well, but the pulsed nature of the heat is not great for fine temp control with a reactive pan (e.g. steel and aluminium ply) but it’s still fine for something like cast iron which is non responsive anyway, it smooths the heat out just fine.

[-] Adkml@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

I'll give you induction is just as good but they're fucking expensive and it limits what cookware you can use if I understand correctly from when we were last looking.

We were stuck with a shitty old electric stove in our house and upgrading to a gas stove is a massive improvement. Idk what trying to say that electric is as good as gas does other than get anyone who cooks daily to disregard your opinion.

It's pretty nice ro be able to actually bring a full stock pot to a boil in less than 40 minutes.

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[-] EllenKelly@hexbear.net 50 points 1 month ago

Phasing out gas cooking should always be a health and safety issue, I see people talk about the effects on children, but never about cooks who work in kitchens with a dozen burners running all day

One thing that really bugs me is we use gas to create steam to generate electricity to boil an electric kettle to boil water, really a minor pet peve here

another thing on cooking. so many home cooking appliances are dogshit, unsafe, too loud, and emit fumes with poor ventilation, and my new conspiracy is the modern nuclear family thing takes away power from unionised workplaces

[-] keepcarrot@hexbear.net 37 points 1 month ago

I kinda assumed most people here rented and thus it was their landlords choice if they used gas or not

[-] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I rent and way prefer gas stoves to any electric ones I've ever had available to me. I don't have any real experience with induction stoves, but I know if I moved into a place with one, I'd have to buy all new pans.

[-] Dessa@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

One of the most frustrating things about induction for me is that if a pan develops any sort of curve, it's as good as a paperweight. It will heat only on that tiny point of contact.

Great for the electricity bill tho

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[-] hypercracker@hexbear.net 36 points 1 month ago

anytime somebody claims it is impossible to cook without natural gas I just say "skill issue" and it is a hard counter, they cannot possibly respond to it without sound like they are very mad

[-] tactical_trans_karen@hexbear.net 21 points 1 month ago

Def a skill issue. But I must say, I hate electric glass top, way too much heat retention in the glass. I love the quick control I get with my gas burners, but if I had the money it'd be induction all day for me. There's literally no downside.

[-] TomBombadil@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

Absolutely. For cooking gas is ok but induction is purely better if you can swing it. I'm thinking of upgrading my electric stove because like the only thing bidens climate bill has done is like give $800 rebate for em.

I mean if my state ever bothers to implement it .

100% skill issue though. I cook better shit on my electric stove than anyone with a gas stove I know

[-] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 10 points 1 month ago

let's have some tips then

I cook way better with gas

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[-] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 32 points 1 month ago

My boomer parents always insisted on having gas stoves. They also never fucking cooked lmao

[-] nothx@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

Yeah, there are so many people where the extent of their cooking is boxed mac & cheese, but they insist they NEED a gas stove. I grew up with gas until college, then had electric until recently (sellers left their appliances). The main difference is expectations, most people who only know gas, only know how their pots/pans react to a flame, but try cooking on it more than one time and its pretty easy to adjust.

[-] Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml 31 points 1 month ago

Argued with somebody about this and they were like "what it the power goes out?" idk maybe nationalize your electricity grid if that's such a common problem for you, damn.

[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

What if the gas fucking explode?

[-] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I mean for emergencies we have a camping stove that outside of that is just for camping. Like wow, it's not hard to have a little backup.

[-] tactical_trans_karen@hexbear.net 11 points 1 month ago

Coleman dual fuel stoves can just use gasoline in a pinch, and they're cheap too!

[-] PapaEmeritusIII@hexbear.net 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The more practical answer is to get a small camping stove or something like it. That way you can use gas in an emergency without having to hook up your home to a gas grid

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[-] hypercracker@hexbear.net 13 points 1 month ago

you can buy butane canisters at REI for like the three days a year this is a real concern

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[-] krolden@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 month ago

Gas generator

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[-] AmericaDelendaEst@hexbear.net 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I love all the nerd ass comments telling me UMM ACTUALLY YOU ONLY LOVE GAS STOVE BECAUSE PROPAGANDA YOU'RE A MORON

Im a professional cook and I've cooked more in the last year alone than most of y'all will in your lives, I know what I'm about, thx

literal gaslighting btw "don't believe your lying eyes and years of experience cooking, you've just been lied to bro"

[-] TomBombadil@hexbear.net 24 points 1 month ago

I mean two things can be true... The gas industry wants more homes to have gas stoves while in fact they are useless and wasteful for most people. And gas can be a preference for certain people in certain circumstances.

[-] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'm willing to concede that for what most people cook in the US or parts of Europe, the way most people cook in those places, gas or induction have a negligible difference. That's because most people in the global North can't cook for shit, and at best do some glorified reheating or some basic-ass lmayo techniques. Have them change their ranges to induction, whatever.

But for professional kitchens or other kinds of cooking that billions of people use open flames for? Get outta here. You're going to tell the south American grandma who hasn't left her town and has cooked with gas her whole life that she's been brainwashed by the American oil and gas industry?

[-] Dessa@hexbear.net 16 points 1 month ago

Nah, there are a lot of people in the global north who can cook their asses off. Sure, a lot can't, but cooking is a fundamental life skill and even colonists have culinary traditions.

No matter what, somebody must cook. More people in the global north are eating out, sure, but there are people cooking for them like AmericaDelendaEst, and those numbers add up. Increasingly, fewer can afford to eat out anyhow, and learning to cook at home has become an outright necessity for most.

Prepackaged ready-to-eat meals aren't as cheap as they used to be, and you can get tired of them very quickly too

[-] macerated_baby_presidents@hexbear.net 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

But for professional kitchens or other kinds of cooking that billions of people use open flames for? Get outta here. You're going to tell the south American grandma who hasn't left her town and has cooked with gas her whole life that she's been brainwashed by the American oil and gas industry?

You know, a pretty decent cause of mortality in poor countries is women cooking over wood fires in confined spaces. Combustion is just not good for you, there's really no way around it.

Also the idea that most people in the north can't cook well enough for their tools to matter is laughable. That's just your vulgar reaction to fetishism of high-class French cooking. What evidence could possibly support it? We can joke about the Brits eating like the Blitz is still going on but you can't set up an objective ranking of cuisines.

[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 11 points 1 month ago

My wife is a professional cook too and she love our induction and use almost exclusively the inductions on her job. The fact that they can be timed to be turned off automatically was a game changer for her.

[-] PapaEmeritusIII@hexbear.net 27 points 1 month ago

Here come the treat defenders

grillman grill

[-] SoJB@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The funniest part is that nobody even brought up the supposed better performance of gas (again, skill issue) as some kind of attack against gas.

The entire thing is about not fucking poisoning yourself and your entire family every time you cook a meal.

Lead and asbestos are great for performance too, yet you don’t see comrades obstinately defending adding those into everything.

It is simply not a logically, ethically, physically safe, or morally defensible position.

[-] ButtBidet@hexbear.net 25 points 1 month ago

I use an induction stove top. It gets hot faster than gas.

[-] nothx@hexbear.net 16 points 1 month ago

The induction stove top i had at my last apartment was one of my favorites because of its ease to clean. It functioned really well, but it was also like wiping down any other flat surface. With my current gas stove top i need to pull all the grates off, dismantle the burners, scrub in hard to reach places that seem to attract food.... It's honestly a miserable chore.

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[-] DashboTreeFrog@discuss.online 23 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

My partner insisted on a gas stove despite my protests in our last two places because of the "control". The few times we used electric or induction cookers on vacation she would get really frustrated.

Cut to our current place that just came with an electric cooker with no option for gas. A few months in and she's got no complaints and even comments on how it's not that different once you get used to it.

The learning curve is real, and some people will push back at first, but if forced to, I'm pretty sure every single person can figure out cooking just as well with electric.

[-] Formerlyfarman@hexbear.net 23 points 1 month ago

Where I live electricity is rationed, gass is not. I can afford to cook with gas. If I were to use electricity I would exceed the allowed usage and they would charge insane fees.

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[-] REgon@hexbear.net 21 points 1 month ago

okay but how else am I supposed to light my ciggies or feel like a chef

[-] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

Electric ranges start having those old car cigarette lighters lol

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I have a CO~2~ monitor (which is probably picking up NO~x~ too, it's not expensive enough to be selective) and can literally watch the air quality get worse as I use the gas stove or range. I've never lived in an apartment with a functioning range hood. I'd like to try induction. I watched a Technology Connections video saying that raw power delivery, e.g. boiling water, is faster.

Also, a quirk of how gas works in Chicago is that you pay a flat hookup fee of ~$30 a month, and a fee per therm for consumption. Cooking uses so little gas that the consumption part of my bill is pennies. If I had an induction stove, and if I had an inefficient electric furnace instead of gas, I'd probably still save $25 a month.

[-] REgon@hexbear.net 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I just gotta say, all the induction stoves I've tried have been completely useles on ranges 1-5, had a mild effect on 6 almost medium heat on 7, more than medium heat on 8 and then 9 is just more 8 and 10 is a way to boil water faster than my electric water boiler.
Also whoever it is that designs stovetops with touchscreen needs to go to the gulag I fucking hate them. And whoever decided to add a feature to the last induction stove I had where it would beep when it was turned on and nothing was on it... straight to jail.

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[-] Nakoichi@hexbear.net 16 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

idk I gotta say I have no scientific basis for this but there's just something that feels different about cooking on an open flame. grillman

Like for example I just could not imagine cooking with a wok or making kebabs on anything but actual fire.

[-] comrade_pibb@hexbear.net 10 points 1 month ago

Same. All of my "professional" experience has been on industrial gas tops. There's something about an open flame that get me going

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[-] infuziSporg@hexbear.net 15 points 1 month ago

so there's a chef...

named "Chamussy"...

talking about flexibility...

taking-restraint

[-] Dessa@hexbear.net 15 points 1 month ago

It depends on your method of cooking. Different stoves offer different advantages. I've owned all 3 and actively enjoy cooking, so they've all gotten plenty of use for different purposes. My favorite method of cooking though is stir-fry, so I'll talk about that more.

Quality/Price matters here. There's a reason most restaurants use gas still, and it's because your high-end gas hob can do things no other stove can do. You're not going to find a better way to stir-fry indoors than this (A grill can do a good job outdoors).

Most people are not getting anywhere close to the sort of output -- or proper venting -- that a restaurant has.

As a stir-fry fan, the best stove I've ever had at home for this was a cheap coil electric. They get stupidly hot, and that is the baseline fir stir-fry. You want an old-ass one that doesn't have temperature safeguards. This is likely what a cheap landlord will provide you in an old building.

Glasstop electric looks nice, but I don't get the point. I guess you can't have food fall under the burner? Not a fan.

Induction is terrible for stir-fry. I've read about some specialized curved wok burners, and those might be good, but I absolutely cannot manage a decent stir-fry on these godforsaken things. I've got a mid-range Induction cooktop that does everthing surprisingly well EXCEPT stir-fry. The heat doesn't recover quickly enough when you add new ingredients, there is close to zero heat on the side of the pan, so it's hard to manage temperatures across elements, and you straight up can't season a new wok on them (my wok has a non-removable wooden handle, so seasoning it in the oven is going to require creative solutions too).

Anybody that tells you that an induction can do everything that a gas can is full of shit. This isn't a "skill issue." The technology just isn't optimized for this. I will be buying a single-pan side-burner (probably coil electric, but I hear butane can be pretty good) for my wok unless somebody has direct experience with a specialized induction wok burner and can vouch for it.

[-] Gorb@hexbear.net 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I rly wanna get an induction hob but costs money :(

Also wanna get rid of my gas boiler but also costs money :(

UK homes suck gas everything. I love needing to have a carbon monoxide alarm in my home for pointless fossil fuel shit

[-] the_itsb@hexbear.net 13 points 1 month ago

some of these stove preference comments are pretty heated 🥁

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[-] KoboldKomrade@hexbear.net 11 points 1 month ago

Excellent long-ish video: https://youtu.be/eUywI8YGy0Y

He has a follow up about induction woks. The short: Induction is just as good as if not better then gas for actually moving heat from the stovetop to your food.

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this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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chapotraphouse

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