Gas has an advantage against traditional stoves with a resistive element that heats up from electricity, that you place the pan/pot on. It has a disadvantage against modern inductive stoves, where there is a coil in the stove that directly inductively heats the pan/pot.

The only disadvantage is that you need to use a pan/pot with a large ferrous bottom for best effect, but it's well worth it. Lag from changing heating setting is similar to gas, but the big advantage (aside from safety) is that the stovetop is typically just a large panel of glass. Super easy and nice to keep clean.

Pure resistive heated stoves yes, most inductive ones are actually quite fast and nice to use.

I was pretty against electric stoves, but just moved into a place with a modern induction setup. Extremely impressed. It can boil water amazingly quickly and the exact heat control is great. I do miss the ability to char things, but not massively.

Few other benefits of induction are easier cleanup (you can wipe it down) and no long term "soot" accumulation around the stove.

> Few other benefits of induction are easier cleanup (you can wipe it down)

With the downside that the surface is more fragile and susceptible to permanent damage, particularly if you have heavy cookware.

> no long term "soot" accumulation around the stove

I have lived extensively with propane, natural gas, and electric ranges/cooktops. I have never seen a "soot" accumulation, or really any difference in discoloration between any of those fuels.

> I have never seen a "soot" accumulation

You're just generalizing your individual experience and it's just plain wrong. Very few people dismantle gas burners after every spill to properly clean around and under the burner plate so eventually there will be a burnt layer of soot. The uneven surface of a gas stove doesn't make cleaning too easy either.

A perfectly flat and smooth glass surface it's a lot easier to clean. It's a matter of wiping it, especially on induction stoves that don't really heat up that much. And in case of more serious neglect you can use a cooktop blade to scrape this soot.

> You're just generalizing your individual experience and it's just plain wrong

That's unfair, and TBH a bit rude - they didn't generalise, they explictly stated "I have never seen...".

Another data point here, from someone who's been cooking with gas for a looong time, and who does regularly take the burners to piece and clean them well.

I've also never seen any soot accumulation. Maybe it varies and happens on some models ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

> That's unfair, and TBH a bit rude

You are correct but I'm sure OP didn't mind and might even agree with me. That's quite literally a quote from one of their comments responding to a similar assertion.

> Maybe it varies and happens on some models

I think it's mostly because of people's cleaning habits. Since cleaning a gas stove is a lot more involved it's likely that more people are putting it off until the soot is there. Old stile electric stoves (with elevated burners, no glass plate) are in a similar situation, albeit still easier to clean than gas stoves. I assume that if you're cleaning it thoroughly after every spill (or just don't spill) this wouldn't happen.

I meant for "regular" electric hobs - it's absolutely true that these are horrible to cook on.

I've only cooked on induction hobs a few times, and I was surprised by how good they were - not as good as gas, IMO, but miles better than a standard electric hob.

I'd meant to meantion this in my original comment, but couldn't remember what you called the "good" electric hobs (ah, induction!!)

For the cooktop. You're still stuck with a crappy (relatively-speaking) resistive element in the oven.

I have an induction stove I cannot tell a difference in speed. If anything when I use the overdrive button thing I boil water with it quicker than on a gas stove.

Induction can be way faster than gas.

I've not seen non-induction electric stove installed in any building younger than 10 years.

I've seen non-induction electric stove in many brand new swedish apartments, and they are still sold and installed.

Are you sure you have not seen any halogen stove at all in the last 10 years in modern construction ? That seems very odd, I see quite a few of them in France as well.

> I've not seen non-induction electric stove installed in any building younger than 10 years.

You've never been to the hell that is belgium then. For some fool reason the standard remains the absolute shit that is vitro-ceramic electric cooktops.

This is so not true. Induction (or at least the one I have) is ridiculously fast and goes way hotter than any gas stove I've ever seen in a house. It goes so high it can make the bottom of my pan orange glowing if I turn up the heat enough. It even has a boost mode, but I never use it because it will literally burn your food black in around 5 seconds without stirring or 2 minutes when continuously stirring.

> electric ones take forever to heat up and cool down compared to gas.

Induction electric stove are pretty much the best you can get there, they heat nothing but the pan, they heat quickly, and the cooldown is instant.

They're not as flexible as gas, but they're more than sufficient for >95% of the population, and are safer & more efficient.

Call me paranoid, but I prefer not to have a gas line in my apartment, because it eliminates the risk of the whole place being blown up when a gas leak happens.

Here in the UK, most buildings have gas central heating anyway, so a gas hob makes a lot of sense.

Yes, because gas is significantly cheaper than electricity for water and space heating.

Its not scary - you just need to ensure it gets maintained properly and preferably have an annual inspection requirement for the gas plumbing and appliances in each apartment in an apartment building, along with proper design to prevent fires from spreading from apartment to apartment too quickly.