Seattle City Light's resource for By Eric Strandberg
Let me start by saying that I love my induction stove.
A little history. I grew up in the northeast and gas was just how you cooked. And I like to cook. Even as a kid I used the stovetop to make hamburgers, fried eggs, pancakes, etc. When I moved out of the house, I had various apartments and dorms that had old style electric coil stove tops, and they were…not great. I didn’t like electric cooking. The more modern “halogen” ones were better but still had a slow warm up and then a laggy temperature control.
When we did a kitchen remodel about 7 years ago, I was eager to get back to gas cooking. We ran a gas line to the kitchen (we already had a gas furnace) and got a really nice gas stove. Not to mention any names, but it was one of the better-quality brands. And for about 6 months it was a cooking love affair. It boiled water faster, it could really sear a steak, and temperature control was great. But over time I noticed that all my pans were getting really burnt on the sides, and when I had the burner up high, there was lots of heat just flowing right past the cookware and into the kitchen (not very efficient). Also, keeping the stove clean was…a process.
So, a few years ago, I started looking into induction stoves and got one that came recommended by Consumer Reports. Let me just say that it does everything better than gas or our old style electric. Boiling water is scary fast, I can sear a steak with ease, the temperature control is almost instant and very precise. And cleaning up is a snap. The glass surface doesn’t get very hot, so things don’t get burned onto the surface. Just spray it with a little cleaner and sponge it off. 
We did need to get some new cookware as the induction process uses electromagnetism and requires that the pans are a ferrous metal (so no aluminum only pans). We can still use our cast iron and stainless steel. You can check your cookware by seeing if a magnet will stick to it.
Another factor is safety. One thing I am hearing about is indoor air quality. Turns out that the “Cool Blue” flame isn’t as benign as we were led to believe. Who knew that having an open flame inside your kitchen could lead to air quality issues. If you have a good quality exhaust fan, and use it, most of those issues will probably be minor. But another factor is fire and burns. A major cause of grease fires are open flames or very hot burners. An induction stove only heats the pan that it is cooking, so no hot coils or flames to start a fire. Also, the stove top doesn’t get excessively hot, so no severe burns from an unattended burner.
Did you know that an induction stove is more efficient than other stoves? Here is a quote from Consumer Reports: “They’re more environmentally friendly. Induction stoves are up to 10 percent more energy-efficient than conventional electric smooth top stoves and about three times more efficient than gas stoves.”
One downside of induction stoves is the higher cost. Even though prices are coming down, they are still higher than most mainstream gas or conventional electric stoves. But the good news is that there are rebates and tax breaks available on the state and federal level, so be sure to investigate that. On a personal note, we are in the process of decarbonizing our home energy use, so the added cost of switching from gas to electricity was something that we could accept.
But mainly I want to leave you with the idea that beyond the energy and decarbonization benefits, beyond the health and safety concerns, is that they just cook better. There is no compromise in performance. If you can, try one out, I think you will be pleased.
Happy cooking!