I've been experimenting with a plug-in induction cooktop with my cast iron pan, overall I like it quite a lot and I can picture a dream house for me having both induction and gas. I still prefer gas (and have been using a butane camping stove rather than my rental's crappy electric, which is relegated to long-cooking things like boiling or steaming) but induction is easier to keep clean. I've been keeping the glass from scratching by putting a layer of baking/parchment paper between it and the pan, and that makes things even easier to clean since I can just toss the paper when it has too many grease splatters. I also tried one of those silicone pads but I think the weight+heat of the cast iron caused it to start melting, so far my friend's use of non-cast iron pans with the silicone pad hasn't been a problem.

By mess do you mean scratching the glass surface? My ~$15 lodge cast iron has been fine on the electric stovetops in my last 3 apartments. They weren't super high quality cooktops either: the last nonstick pan I owned scratched the crap out of one of them in a matter of days.

I don't move the cast iron pan around a lot when I cook, but they're too heavy to do that anyway really, and unlike some thin stainless pans they don't warp so won't "walk" around the surface.

>I have seen the mess heavy cookware creates on those glass top cooktops - old style coils seems to be best for those.

I have successfully removed the cast-iron crud from a glass-ceramic cooktop using a paste of 91% rubbing alcohol and baking soda. You can speed up the process by scraping with the back of a knife a few times first. Overall, it's not slower than cleaning the grease traps on a coil stove.

I used a big cast iron pan on an electric stove for years. It takes a while to heat up but not to the point where it’s a large burden.

I just love cooking everything with it, including eggs.

The weight of the cast iron also helps even out cooking on electric stovetops since they cycle the heat on and off.

Unfortunately with electric stovetops, pans only get heated under the electric source. I love my large cast iron frying pan but only getting heat in the center makes cooking with it a pain/doesn't work well. Gas stoves don't have this problem as the heat from the burner rises up and around the pan heating it all up.

Induction, on the other hand, works great with cast iron.

We've got a glass top electric stove and regularly use cast iron pans with no real noticeable damage - I'm not certain where you got that impression.

We have a GE electric glass top stove which works fine with our stainless steel, carbon steel, and cast iron cookware. My only complaint is I prefer the control and instant heat of a flame over an electrical burner. Electric is slower to heat up, and retains its heat after its off compared to a flame. But I adjusted and got used to it.

> If not, are there good electric stoves that work with hard cast iron pans?

Induction works great. You onnly need gas for wok. It also doesn't become dirty like a resistive stove but you do have to be careful not to drop the skillet onto the glass.

I have never had an issue using caste iron on my glass cooktop.

Induction works exceptionally well with cast iron, but not with carbon steel.

Why do you say it doesn't work well with carbon steel?

It works well (I use carbon steel on induction daily).

What the poster may mean is that a carbon steel pan must be heated slowly (i.e. on half power) until it is all the way hot. Then you can use a higher power setting if you want. If you don't do it this way supposedly the pan warps, but I haven't been brave enough to test whether or not that's really true.

That said, heating on medium until it's hot takes a few minutes at worst. I don't really see what the big deal is.