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Re:We need physical audio kill switches by dheera on Sunday September 20, 2020 @02:48PM (#24536283)
I use an induction stove and it is even more pleasurable than gas in terms of the speed of response of the pot. Response is literally instant because the pot is the source of heat, and not something external. They are also by far the safest since the hottest thing in the entire system is the bottom of the pot, which is usually at about 100-200 C depending on what you're cooking, which is usually not hot enough to start a fire. Compare to a electric stove whose element reaches upwards of 800 C or a gas stove which has an actual open flame which can easily catch nearby flammable vapors, hair, or clothing on fire if not careful.

Gas stoves are the next most responsive because the fire doesn't "store" heat; only the grill does.

Finally electric stoves are the slowest-responding because the coil stores quite a bit of heat even after power is cut, and that heat continues to transfer into the pot. Conversely, when starting them up, it takes quite a while to heat up the element hot enough to only then transfer some of that heat into the pot.

You do want a quality induction stove with an analog knob for the best experience, though. The low-end induction stoves typically have touch-step controls and pulsating simmer, which IMO is still way better than an electric stove if you're on a budget, and still responds faster than gas stoves but lacks the fine-grained simmer controls that some of the higher-end models do, if that is important to you.

Re:We need physical audio kill switches by downut on Sunday September 20, 2020 @06:09PM (#24537851)
I cook on a 30 yo gas range with all high capacity burners and regular knobs. The response is nonlinear: there's a big jump in flame intensity as you pass through nominal "low" to "medium". In practice I don't look at the knobs at all, I can fine tune the heat by looking directly at the size of the flame. My visual judgement is instantaneous. The results are stellar throughout the range.

When I travel, for instance to cook for the inlaws on holidays, I have to spend time physically correlating how hot each of the burners is for its particular settings. It seems to vary between each individual burner, which are different sizes. The way I correlate is to use my bare fingers to quickly touch the bottom of the pan. Or I lift the pan up and touch the bottom there. This seems suboptimal. When I travel to AirBnBs, induction ranges are all the rage. Same process. I suppose if you're boiling a pot of water, the induction speed is great. If you're making something sensitive like a hollaindaise, lordy what a PITA, in my experience.

I make delicate sauces like hollaindaise reliably and speedily on my nominal 15,000 BTU gas range. I have had the family twiddling fingers more than once waiting on me to get results from an induction burner. Same burner is an outstanding large volume frier.

Now I get that the induction technology is safer, but then I use a big chainsaw with a real chain to cut down trees on my property. Chainsaws are highly dangerous and exceptionally useful. Similarly I raised up a child that learned to cook quite sophisticated things on that big gas range. She was also using very sharp 12" knives from an early age. There can be a deep pleasure in "be here now", paying attention to your tools, using them competently and safely.

Re:We need physical audio kill switches by ghostpepper on Sunday September 20, 2020 @11:39PM (#24539555)
I have always believed in the adage that 'a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one.' Good for you for making sure your kid learns to use a proper tool correctly and thus safely.
Re:We need physical audio kill switches by mhh__ on Sunday September 20, 2020 @03:03PM (#24536428)
I don't mind cooking on induction but I like to manage the heat by moving the actual pan i.e. if I am cooking bacon I will hold the pan edge up to catch the oil and concentrate the heat up
Re:We need physical audio kill switches by Zitrax on Sunday September 20, 2020 @03:46PM (#24536787)
There exists modular cooktops where you can mix and match and thus get both gas and induction.
Re:We need physical audio kill switches by sib on Sunday September 20, 2020 @04:41PM (#24537229)
I hate induction stoves (cooktops) because they seem to hit intermediate temperatures by cycling the power on and off rather than having a continuous intermediate setting.

(It's possible I've only ever encountered crappy induction cooktops...)

Re:We need physical audio kill switches by afiori on Monday September 21, 2020 @04:13AM (#24540963)
I have no idea if this poses some safety risks, but it worked when I was a student with a cheap induction stove. You can simply put a pair of kitchen clots under your pan to "dampen" the induction and use higher levels that do not cycle between on and off.

Again, I don't know the safety characteristics of induction so maybe I did something really stupid...

Re:We need physical audio kill switches by dheera on Sunday September 20, 2020 @08:47PM (#24538726)
Mine pulses for the lower settings but has continuous control for the higher settings.

I believe higher-end stoves will either not pulse or pulse fast enough to effectively be continuous when you factor in the thermal inertia of the pot.

Re:We need physical audio kill switches by lathiat on Sunday September 20, 2020 @09:50PM (#24539013)
This is sadly a problem with cheap and/or crappy induction cook tops. And it is quite annoying.

One of those little traps that it's often hard to know about in advance.