If you'd asked me about electric or induction stoves a few years back, I would have rolled my eyes. I came up in restaurants, learning from chefs who treated anything other than gas as beneath consideration.
As a homeowner suddenly concerned with things like kitchen air quality and fire safety, I began to consider the inconceivable. The decision wasn't easy, but in the end, induction won out. (Hey, I test kitchen gear for a living; it's only fair that I give induction a shake, having used only gas my whole life.)
I was a gas stove purist -- until I wasn't. Alessandro Citterio/Getty Images
After hours of digging into specs and features, I settled on Samsung's feature-rich Bespoke Smart Induction Range. The unit has app compatibility, Wi-Fi connectivity, a host of modern cooking modes and features you won't find on the average range. Some I find useful, while others not as much -- but more on that later.
I'll admit, there are times when I miss the tactile nature of cooking over fire. That said, after more than a year of use, I'm happy with the switch to induction. It's faster, safer, cleaner and more energy efficient. I have no intention of going back.
Here are the big reasons why.
1. Air quality and peace of mind
There's legitimate concern about the effect of gas stoves on air quality. Brett Tyron
What pushed me to move on from gas has nothing to do with cooking. Study after study has shown that natural gas stoves pose a real risk of environmental contamination. While the scuttlebutt over whether gas stoves are safe and what regulatory guardrails should be in place has largely quieted, the science remains.
Gas stoves are shown to leak more than previously thought and those leaks have been shown to cause respiratory issues, particularly in children. As a lifelong sufferer of asthma and the owner of a new but not-so-well-ventilated kitchen, it didn't seem worth the risk, even if most agree that more research is needed.
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