Gas stoves fill the air in your home with particulate matter (pm), which has been found to increase cancer risk in the long term.
So next time you buy a stove, consider choosing an induction stove.
Btw, gas stoves being better or faster than induction is a myth.
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Dihydrogen monoxide is a dangerous chemical 😉
YSK: Everything causes cancer. Drinking water causes cancer. Living causes cancer.
Everything else being equal, of course electric and induction stoves are preferable to gas. I spend most of my life with an electric stove, no apartment I ever saw had induction, but I didn’t particularly like the gas stove I had to use for some years.
But if you want the worst user experience ever, find an electric stove with touchscreen controls. What the hell, landlord, where did you even find that one?
Having only cooked on radiant electric and gas, I gotta say I prefer the experience of cooking on gas, but not by enough to accept the documented risks, even if they are small. I hope at some point I’ll be able to have an electric range top as my primary.
Yes, but…
Cooking itself also does this. If you are searing or frying that will also release dangerous particulates. Make sure you have and use a vent hood that vents outside the living space when you cook regardless of fuel.
I can say from personal experience of using every kind of home stove, that gas is both the worst and slowest. Boiling water for my morning coffee is fastest on induction, which takes about half the time as resistive or radiant electric, and gas takes nearly three times longer than that.
Though it might just be the american style of burner that directs the flame away from the center of the pan. I’ve not yet tried any other kind.
How lomg does boiling water with a good kettle take? It takes like 60s to boil water for me.
What heat source are you using? In my experience induction about matches electric kettles.
It probably has to do with the type of burner I’m going to guess.
We’ve had both induction and electric stoves for our whole lives. And the home we recently moved into has a fancy dancy natural gas stove with star shaped burners.
It is night and day compared to anything else we’ve used before, water boils so much faster, I can actually sear a pen full of vegetables now instead of just making them mushy.
Honestly I love it. I just wish the hood wasn’t so shitty and actually had a hood to capture all of the output from the stove.
I’ve got a gas stove that I love, but my shitty little induction hotplate that I hate for anything other than searing is better at searing. It’ll get a cast iron pan up to 700-800 degrees and my carbon steel gets to like 900, which is perfect for searing.
But the damn thing turns off when I try to toss anything, and it can’t maintain a low temperature because the pulse-width modulation is 1Hz.
Check and see if you need to change the filter in the hood.
You can wash the oil out of metal hood-filters, in the dishwasher.
(Extra: Heat-pump(reverse-cycle) air-conditioner filters can be washed out with water, takes 5 minutes)
Oh dear Lord. The hood has a filter???
Yeah, that’s probably fucked up, none of the filters in anything in this house had been changed in years when we got the place. The filter for the furnace was black.
And it’s been over a year since then I’m sure if the hood fan has a filter it’s absolutely disgusting.
But I also meant that the hood could have a shape to it so that it collects air from the front burners which it doesn’t.
Yeah, fam… airborne grease particles. They’re the reason for hood fan filters, and the reason they clog. I would recommend getting a full box of nitrile gloves. And definitely clean the screen cover over the filter.
Edit: re-shaped for collection of fumes from the front burners… Idk, sometimes people change the stove but not the hood, or get a stove and think the hood that would work best with it “clashes” and gets an objectively shit hood instead. Beauty is pain. Or some shit. Idk. I put stones on top of other stones for a living…
What doesn’t?
Even tea causes cancer
I hate this mentality. There are things that are legit concerns and then there are things which aren’t. Please don’t use the same logic for taking up smoking.
Since this is the stove thread:
I had a pot of salt water overflow from boiling on a electric stove and now there is this tough ring of residue around the burner caked on and it won’t scrub off. Is using a razor blade to scrape it off really the only option?
I’m worried I will scratch the stove top and the landleech will have an excuse to steal my security deposit.
One thing I like about gas stoves is the ones with sealed burners are a hell of a lot easier to get clean-looking than the glass tops of electric stoves. They get nasty so quick I prefer the old-style coil ones.
For your problem I’d try soaking a paper towel in CLR cleaner. It’s probably lime from the water and not salt.
I legit used car polish once to clean my electric glass stovetop
Works fine as long as you work it by hand and wipe the residue off with a wet rag
Magic eraser might be worth a shot. Melamine foam is the generic name for it and you can get a ton of it cheap. It destroys stains easily. Even if it doesn’t handle the burner stains I highly recommend it for cleaning around the house anyway.
Bartender’s Friend or Pink Stuff should take it right off.
*Bar Keepers Friend
Nothing stopping you from using diluted lye / oven cleaner and wiping it off, just be very sure you take the necessary precautions. Do not breathe that shit in or let it get on your skin.
I mean… paying for shit you damaged during your stay is kind of the point of a security deposit.
I’ve used a razor for really stuck on bits on our glass top stove, but this cleaner also seems to do quite well: https://weiman.com/glass-cooktop-cleaner-polish
For the razor, keep it at a shallow angle (I tend to go around 20 or 30 degrees above the stovetop), and keep a small amount of water on the surface. I usually have a damp rag that I wipe the razor and stovetop with occasionally during the scraping process, to remove the small pieces that come off.
Also, if you are nervous about damaging the stovetop itself, maybe try something only lightly abrasive and warm water, and let the water work it’s magic. (I see you have already tried this, so maybe that isn’t helpful :/ ) From a chemistry perspective, salt water shouldn’t exactly leave behind an insoluble residue, but IDK what else was cooking in the water.
BarTenders friend is really the best for everything in the kitchen, but leaving some CLR on it overnight should break it down enough to clean up with a warm sponge. Calcium is probably the white stuff.
as long as you’re careful, it will be fine. been using a razorblade on them my whole life
Alright so you screwed up posting this, because I’m actively looking for a dual induction burner setup, and now I want your advice. Ideally I want a “linked” dual burner so that I can put a square skillet pan across both burners, there’s basically like one of those online, and then a bunch of dual burners that are not linked and slightly different power on either side. Wat do? Anyone have a good experience with this situation yet?
You should just get the impulse cook top last range you’ll ever need, super cleanable, magnetic knobs— is expensive but will be the last one you’ll need: https://www.impulselabs.com/
This looks brilliant in a lot of ways. For me being able to set a precise temperature would be incredible. I have some doubts about the battery system though. I can understand the utility but surely it will degrade over time? I can’t see how it’s the last stove top I’ll ever need. The battery combined with the software update thing makes it feel like another product I’ll have to rebuy every 3 years or so.
I am with you on this, I don’t want a cooktop with a damn battery and software updates. That’s ridiculous.
IT HAS KNOBS IT HAS KNOBS ITHASKNOBS OHMYGOD
Sorry, I got a bit over-excited. I hate capacitive touch controls in absolutely anything with a passion and I in particular hate them on my stove because I don’t want my stove to start beeping when I wipe it, nor do I want the controls to malfunction any time they get wet because I accidentally overboil the water.
Receives Software Updates
I feel iffy about this part though. I don’t want my stove to have software on it.
God that looks good, the power and exact temp display is pog
That one does look amazing! I’m unfortunately limited to a portable one in an apartment. Added to the bucket list though for sure!
Again… You can and should swap in hot sunny areas specially California. I’m from California originally. You gotta be retarded not to have solar panels now. But over in places where shit freezes like here near Seattle, the entire north, and or maybe also texas, thar doesn’t work. Here in the PNW, we have all electric kitchen, but also a wood burning chimney and a gas burning central heater. If the power is out you get no heating and die…or you keep warm with a chimney fire. Well heat pumps also work using propane or natural gas. There are also gas powered heaters that don’t need electricity.
We swapped out a gas for induction, it’s amazing to be able to put the temp down below very hot. Also very responsive to power changes, and can wipe clean.
I love my induction hob for all the reasons you mention. It is by far the best hob I’ve used - much better than gas - and I cook a lot. The only slight downside is ensuring you have the right pans, but they’re widely available. My enamelled cast iron casserole pot works a treat.
I’ve always cooked on radiant electric (not induction) stoves, but gas stoves are amazing. Literal fire just works like nothing else. Faster cooking != Better cooking, why are you conflating them?
I’ve never lived in a closed up efficient new house either, those seem like anything you cook would be problematic. All cooking releases something.
Will almost certainly stick with electric personally (whole house is electric only) but if I had an unlimited budget it would be gas stove, big whomping vent fan, and ovens with both steam and fan.
Induction worries me because we had an induction plate and it made a terrifying shrill noise, I worry that the high end ones do the same but we can’t hear it. Which seems awful for the dogs and cats.
Why bother with gas if resources aren’t an issue? Something savagely luxurious about cooking over wood. Primal but decadent.
Most induction burners are silent. I was an adamant supporter of gas over electric, but induction is just superior.
I’ve got a gas stove and a highly inefficient house. I recently got an air quality detector and yeah, it goes off every time I cook anything on the stove. Not so much if I use the oven.
I’m pretty sure the premise is correct… though unsure as to the degree. I would get an induction stove in a heart beat. Just… you know… cost and all. (Buy the stove, update my wiring to not suck where the stove would go, things like that)
The studies I read, there was no ventilation / exhaust fan. The point was that low income households using these stoves often don’t have proper ventilation and it makes them dangerous. I didn’t find much evidence that using them with proper ventilation is actually a serious problem.
Further, cooking releases all sorts of chemicals from incomplete combustion in the air if something is burning, as well as the toxic chemicals release from nonstick cookware at very high temperatures, so cooking without ventilation is bad for your health would be the message I’d take away. I find most people are completely unaware of the hazard.
I’m not even sure I would call it “low income households”, more like “older building/houses”. Plenty of expensive apartment units are in old buildings (I’m looking at you NYC) without proper ventilation.
I own a unit in a co-op in a building that is over 100 years old. I have a gas stove. There is a vent on my above-range microwave but it’s just a filter that blows it back into the room. I do a lot of cooking. I’m in danger.
Indeed. Charcoal filters are to catch some odours, the aluminum will catch some grease, but ‘natural gas’ is a whole lot more than methane, and think the same is true for propane.
With proper ventilation you can do everything, you can work with hazardous gases and nuclear materials, if the ventilation is sufficient.
Radioactive particles perhaps but nuclear radiation is not affected by airflow
But if the flow is good enough, all the material will be sucked away before it has time to emit.
Radiation ventilation is fun to say
Very few residences have proper ventilation. In the US, a microwave above the stove is common. Microwave often do have a fan function, but the vast majority don’t vent outdoors. I doubt that running air through a very thin filter will do much good.
I hate this. I think it should be illegal. Or make a building code that there has to be a real extractor hood above the stove in all cases.
Even charcoal grills inside are fine with proper ventilation. So you’re right, but your also not saying very much.
Yeah I’m not sure what the purpose of the comment was. To convince people to continue using gas on the off chance it won’t increase cancer risk? That’s not a compelling reason to use gas. It might not kill me.
it also emphasizes the importance of knowing how the items built into your house work.
I’m pretty sure the comment was to emphasize the importance of a proper working stove hood.
Thanks for the clarification.
Does this apply if you use extraction?
I’ve had induction for many years, but I really want a combo with both. Making wok on induction is crap as the sides don’t get hot at all. I also have a hot spot in the center of all frying pans which is annoying when frying bigger things or several things at once.
My dream is a Gaggenau or Bora top with one side induction and one side gas. I already have the mid extractor with outside piping, so no recirculation.
I just cannot justify the $10k price tag and nobody else makes it with a fan in the middle.They do make professional grade induction burners for woks that are curved, they are beautiful but prohibitively expensive
Yeah I’ve seen those, but not on a hob with downward draft in the middle.
Maybe someone will make them in the future or I win the lottery and can pay Bora/Gaggenau prices….
the maillard reaction causes cancer. I’m still not boiling my beef.
The few times I have prepared meat while trying to minimize the maillard reaction, it was still quite tasty.
That said, I agree that cancer risk is relative, and you can’t avoid all risk, even if you are happy to try.
I hear sous vide steak can be quite tasty.
You can also minimize the maillard reaction by not eating meat. Just putting it out there.
Oh, my primary diet is beans, quinoa, nooch, and almond milk. Snacking is popcorn with, evoo, and Kernel Seasonings ™.
I still eat meat not infrequently, but not everyday, and I rarely prepare it for myself. Still, I should avoid it more. It’s unnecessary, and even just a couple of years ago, I ate it less of it.
The food I cook for my family does involve the maillard reaction for some of it (salmon patties, roasted veg, french fries, lasagna, pasta w/ meat sauce). I pressure cook the chicken and rice, so I think that mostly avoids maillard. I only eat on the family food to clean it out of the fridge when I don’t think it’s worth serving to anyone else.
Thank you for your concern.
I hear sous vide steak can be quite tasty.
It is the best way to prepare steak, but you still need to sear it afterwards. The steak can be cooked to a perfect medium-rare all the way through… But you still need to throw it on an ultra hot skillet with some butter and rosemary afterwards, to add the crust to the outside.
The information I have says sous vide is not as good as a “standard” reverse sear in an oven. But, I haven’t tried either.
My experience is that the “crust” on meat is entirely optional, and while I don’t aggressively avoid it, I don’t seek it out when I am preparing my own meat.
I have tried both, and can confirm that sous vide is superior. With a traditional oven prep, you get a pink rare center and brown medium-well outer edge. With sous vide, you get a perfect light pink medium rare all the way through, with only a thin edge of brown from the sear. With sous vide, you just sort of roll it across the skillet on the way to the plate, to get that crust but avoid cooking the interior more.
But to be clear, if you skip the sear with sous vide, your steak will be pink. You’ll miss out on a lot of flavor and mouthfeel from the sear. Sous vide technically cooks the meat, but doesn’t cause any browning (at least, not when cooking it to medium rare) because there isn’t enough heat to cause the Maillard reaction.
Since the Maillard reaction and all its VOCs are the most likely source of meat-related cancer risk, I will gladly eat pink (but safely cooked) meat. In fact the center pink bits are my favorite parts a traditionally cooked steak / prime rib.
Photons cause cancer so I guess I may as well do nothing at all.
I mean photon is a pretty broad category so I’m not sure if you’re saying that gamma rays cause cancer or 5g does.
Next time you buy a stove, consider a scheffler dish
We really shouldn’t be using electricity for applications like that
Huh TIL. Thats cool
https://solarcooking.fandom.com/wiki/Scheffler_Community_Kitchen
Apologies for the fandom link
Nah, fandom is one of the best links on this subject
I’m sure this wiki page is fine and very useful, but fandom itself is not a very good place to host it. Thats all I meant by that.
