Written By: Annette Mashi
Induction vs. gas stoves is a hot topic. The Consumer Product Safety Commission made it clear that emissions from gas stoves can be hazardous to your health. For quite a while, there’s been discussion on the gases that your stove releases into your home: benzene, methane, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide. And there are other risky health effects like raising the risk of asthma. As a professional interior designer, I recommend induction stoves when my clients ask me what’s a good alternative.
Don’t worry if you love your gas stove. Gas hasn’t been banned yet. You can always turn on a fan or open a window. If you are building a new home or remodeling the one you own, the Arizona building code requires that you add a vent hood. This will pull the smells, grease and gas fumes out of your kitchen and vent them outside. You just have to be sure that the vent hood has the right specifications to remove the hazards or unwanted contaminants from the air.
You could consider an electric stove. It’s easy to clean and produces heat evenly, but they use a lot of electricity and are very inefficient. Induction stoves are best. Here are 3 reasons why they are better than gas stoves:
Since induction stoves don’t give off dangerous fumes, they are a healthier choice for you and your family. Gas stoves can leak methane even if they are turned off. Air pollution and smog result from both methane and nitrogen dioxide, which negatively affect climate change. Having fresher air for you to breathe is much better than hazardous toxins.
One of the biggest problems with gas fumes is human behavior. The exhaust fan works to remove fumes from your home, but you have to use it. Most people only turn on the exhaust fan when they cook something smoky or greasy. And it is important that it actually vents the air outside rather than just filtering and returning it to the house as some fans do.
In addition to being a healthier choice, induction cooktops are more energy efficient than electric stoves and three times more efficient than gas stoves. Induction stoves won’t heat your kitchen the way gas stoves do. As much as 80% of the energy produced by a gas cooktop is wasted and put out into the room rather than being used for cooking your food. With an induction cooktop, almost 80% of the energy directly goes into cooking.
Gas stoves have the danger of open flame where clothing or other items could catch on fire. The cooktop remains hot enough to burn even after turning it off for both the electric and gas stoves. Induction cooktops are cool enough to touch within seconds, with the only heat being residual from the pan and not the cooking surface itself.
Preventing dangerous fumes from entering your home, avoiding open flames and eliminating the possibility of burns, as well as saving energy, make induction stoves a healthier, safer alternative to gas and electric stoves.
Induction stoves are a healthier, safer and energy-efficient choice, but how well can you cook using one?
An induction stove has electric current passing through a coiled copper wire underneath the cooking surface. This creates a magnetic current that produces heat directly in the pot or pan. Your pans need to be made of ferrous metal like steel or iron, not aluminum, copper or glass. The stovetop itself doesn’t heat up, so you won’t have to worry about your children reaching up and burning themselves. The glass surface doesn’t get hot, even if it is turned on by mistake.
The heat of the induction cooktop is controlled so well that you could set a pan with chocolate chips on the burner, on ultra-low heat for a whole day, and the chips still won’t burn. Or go to the other extreme and boil water in less than two minutes instead of five to eight minutes on a gas stove. By controlling the temperature, you can cook food faster—saving precious time you can devote to your family and other loves in your life.
Temperature control, faster cook time and safety features make induction cooktops a great choice.
In addition to temperature control and cooking, induction stoves are easy to clean. Cooking is more precise and even, and because the cooktop doesn’t get hot, food won’t burn on if it boils over or splatters. What will you do with your extra time now that cleanup is as simple as wiping down the cooktop?
Sleek and aesthetically pleasing induction stovetops can be purchased at a range of prices. All major appliance brands carry models of different sizes suitable for your kitchen. Choose the size and number of burners that you need. Remember that you may have to replace the pots and pans you currently have. As long as a magnet attaches to your cookware, it will work with an induction stove.
Gas stoves have been around for years, but as we all become more conscious of living a healthier lifestyle, it’s time to reevaluate having one in your home. The release of toxic and dangerous gases into the air you breathe can cause asthma and other health issues, so selecting an induction stovetop is a healthier choice for you and your family.
You can control the cooking temperature on an induction stovetop, and you won’t have to worry about burning yourself if you touch the surface. Cleanup is simple and easy with an aesthetically pleasing cooktop. When you are looking for a kitchen that is high-end and green, an induction stove is a great choice.
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