Induction vs. Gas: I Swapped My Range and Here's How It Went

By Emily Farris

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Two weeks before I made the switch from gas to induction, I almost poisoned my family. I was up late writing and wanted a midnight quesadilla snack, so I set a frying pan to warm on the stove then went back to the couch to knock out a few more lines. A few lines turned into a few paragraphs and I forgot about my pan…until the smell of natural gas wafted from the kitchen through the dining room and into the living room, where I was working.

Yes, I’d broken one of the cardinal rules of kitchen safety—never leave an active stove unattended—but instead of starting a fire, I failed to notice that the burner hadn’t ignited, so dangerous fumes were seeping into my home. Luckily, I’m fairly sensitive to smells and caught it early enough to open the windows before gas started making its way upstairs to where my husband and children were sleeping. But it was still unsettling.

While I’m embarrassed to admit it wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, I’m happy to report it was the last. Because somewhere out in the supply chain, a gorgeous Italian induction range was making its way to me.

At first, my husband was resistant to the idea of swapping our gas stove for induction because he was so unfamiliar with the technology. He’s a four-season griller and a former line cook, so he understood fire. His experience with induction was limited to a live cooking demonstration a decade ago. No one told him he’d be working on an induction hob and he spent a frustrating amount of time waiting for the glass surface to get hot. My introduction to induction was similar and, unfortunately, televised.

What neither of us knew back then was that induction uses electromagnetism to transfer energy directly from the induction element to the cookware—in a sense teleporting through or completely bypassing the cooktop surface altogether. With induction, the pan becomes the first and only heat source, and without one on the stove, there’s nowhere for the energy to go and nothing will happen. Even without compatible cookware (more on that later), the cooktop itself never gets hot, though it does absorb minimal heat from the pan. This makes induction an incredibly energy-efficient way to cook.

Conversely, both gas and electric cooktops rely on thermal energy transfer—a process in which heat moves through one thing and into another, with the open flame or electric coil serving as the initial heat source. (And on some electric stovetops, the heating elements are embedded under a smooth top, hence our early confusion about induction.) Because so much heat dissipates into the air and onto the stovetop during thermal energy transfer, gas and electric cooktops take longer to heat a pan and waste more energy in the process.

The energy efficiency argument was enough to pique my husband’s interest in induction, and since we were long overdue for a new range, I started sending him articles about the dangers of cooking with gas. I also regularly reminded him that any time he wanted to cook over fire, he could step outside and use his charcoal grill, or his gas grill, or his kamado grill. In the end, it was a picture of a sexy stainless-steel Bertazzoni induction range that tipped the scale in my favor.

If you’ve only ever cooked over gas, there’s a bit of a learning curve with induction. At first, it’s unsettling to turn the knob and not have any visual indication of what’s happening (even cheap electric burners turn bright red when they’re hot). But we were both thrilled the first time we watched a pot of water reach a rolling boil in less than five minutes, and it just got better from there. Everything we prepared was evenly cooked and nothing ever burned. My husband became a true convert when he made breakfast for our kids and every single pancake was perfect. Yes, even the first one.

With some trial and very little error, we figured out the best settings for our favorite foods, and it wasn’t long before we developed our own language around the Bertazzoni’s settings:

“Cook a quesadilla at six.”

“Scramble eggs at five.”

“Fry an egg at six.”

“Clarify butter at four.”

“Perfect pancakes at six.”

As a bonus, the glass top is ridiculously easy to clean. My old gas burners each had four removable parts, including the grates, and cleaning that stove was a whole thing. With my induction stovetop, cleanup is a breeze because the entire cooking surface is a single piece of glass, so I just wipe it down with my favorite spray cleaner and a microfiber cloth.

I’ve become such a nerd about induction that I now boil water as a party trick, and if we ever sell our house, our Bertazzoni (which I’ve lovingly nicknamed Bertie) is definitely coming with us.

Because my house was built in 1916—and at some point was half-assedly updated to accommodate builder-grade kitchen appliances—I didn’t have the proper hookups for an induction range. I hired a contractor to install a 240-volt, 50-amp outlet and properly cap my gas line. If your kitchen is already wired for a conventional electric range, you likely won’t need additional electric work. But if you’re switching from gas to induction, it’s important to have your gas line properly capped or removed.

When I tell people I switched to induction, I usually get some version of: “But you had to buy all new cookware, right?” Wrong! I didn’t have to buy any new cookware, because I was already using cast iron and stainless steel on my gas cooktop. While it’s true that not all pots and pans are compatible with induction burners (glass, ceramic, copper, and aluminum won’t work) it’s also true that you don’t have to buy anything weird or super expensive to cook on induction. As long as your cookware has a flat bottom and a magnet sticks to it, it will work on an induction cooktop.

Now that I’ve lived with an induction range for three months, I consider myself an induction evangelist. Still, I’m willing to admit induction cooking has its drawbacks, starting with the fact that induction ranges are often about 20% pricier than comparable gas ranges, depending on the brand and retailer. That said, induction cooktops use less energy than any other type of cooktop so it may even out in the end.

Some induction ranges (including my beloved Bertazzoni) also produce a slight buzzing sound with certain cookware. This is related to the activity of the magnetic fields, and though it’s mildly annoying, it’s barely noticeable with the oven hood turned on.

Even if I sometimes temporarily abandon my quesadilla pan, I am Epi’s resident safety nerd, so I appreciate that I don't have to worry about an open flame or a dangerously hot electric coil with induction. Induction cooktops also have a built-in safety feature: If you accidentally bump a knob when there’s no pot on the stove, nothing will happen (except maybe a warning indicator of some kind). Removing a pan from the magnetic field stops the transfer of energy too.

From an air quality standpoint, induction is also much safer because gas cooking pollutes indoor air with nitrogen dioxide—which can lead to or exacerbate respiratory conditions. Some armchair experts have raised concerns about possible radiation from induction’s electromagnetic fields (EMFs), but all electrical devices emit some form of radiation and there is no scientific evidence [PDF] linking induction cooktops to negative health outcomes (and induction has been around for nearly a century, so there’s been plenty of time to study it). There are, however, legitimate studies linking induction cooking to delicious pork belly.

In my circles, the “induction versus gas” question comes up as a matter of preference when people are renovating their kitchens. But for all the reasons mentioned above, induction will eventually become the standard residential cooktop whether people want it or not. Natural gas (a fossil fuel) is now outlawed in all new construction in New York City, and many states are working to enact similar legislation.

For now, I’m very happy to be part of the induction trend—especially when professional chefs are ditching gas in favor of fancy induction ranges at home too.

If you’re not quite ready to swap your gas or electric range for an induction stove, you can still start cooking with induction by using a portable induction burner on your countertop. They’re easy to use, easy to clean, and easy to store, and it’s always nice to have an extra burner available. These models were the top picks from our portable induction cooktop review.