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Comment by macinjosh | Hacker News Reader

I didn't say it was impossible full stop. I said it is impossible to cook things _properly_ with just electric which is true if you know much about cooking.

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I used to think the same thing, but now I have an induction stove and it is significantly better than the gas range at my previous house. It heats the pan instead of the air/element, and so it is significantly more efficient. A side benefit is significantly reduced exhaust load and a much easier to clean cooktop.

Also, water boils so fast now! You'd be amazed.

Agreed. I've heard people make this argument for years but they always seem to ignore changes in tech. A high quality range can reach the temperatures necessary for canning (another thing I've been told you can't do without a flame) and hold a consistent temperature the entire time.

I'm very happy with my electric ranges.

It not that people are ignoring changes in tech. It is the fact that most people don't have this "high-quality" range or an induction stove.

I've never seen an induction hob ever. Almost everyone I know has gas or electric and electric has always been more difficult to cook on.

It's just a different way of thinking about it. Not sure how it could be impossible to use an electric range to "properly" cooj.

I find it MUCH easier to simmer at a low temperature with electric, and I prefer the dial a temp, over dial a volume of natural gas. You don't have to tinker nearly so often. Want a nice slow boil, just set the temp, watch it run at 100% till it reaches the temp, then throttle back as the temp is reached.

Similarly when cooking any kind of reduction you don't have to keep tinkering as larger fractions of the water cooks off.

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