Science Advances report also finds people of color and low-income residents in US disproportionately affected
Using a gas stove increases nitrogen dioxide exposure to levels that exceed public health recommendations, a new study shows. The report, published Friday in Science Advances, found that people of color and low-income residents in the US were disproportionately affected.
Indoor gas and propane appliances raise average concentrations of the harmful pollutant, also known as NO2, to 75% of the World Health Organization’s standard for indoor and outdoor exposure.
That means even if a person avoids exposure to nitrogen dioxide from traffic exhaust, power plants, or other sources, by cooking with a gas stove they will have already breathed in three-quarters of what is considered a safe limit.
“When you’re using a gas stove, you are burning fossil fuel directly in the home,” said Yannai Kashtan, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at Stanford University. “Ventilation does help but it’s an imperfect solution and ultimately the best way is to reduce pollution at the source.”
I want to say now since we just got one that modern glass-top electric stoves are pretty great. They heat up quickly and they’re very easy to clean. So the latter part is already a huge advantage over gas stoves.
We didn’t even get a fancy one or anything. A basic model.
I keep seeing people say this as a benefit of glass-top electrics, but this has never been the case with any one of those I’ve used. A boil-over invariably leaves a grimy black ring that can’t be scrubbed off even with hours of scrubbing. So they end up looking grimy.
Meanwhile, my sealed gas burners are easy to get clean. I just sweep up the crumbs and then dump some boiling water and a couple drops of dish soap and wipe it up.
I just spent almost two weeks on vacation in an apartment with an induction stove. I’ve had gas my whole life. I was impressed. It heated the pans faster and more evenly, the temperature was more tuneable and it was easy to clean.
While standard resistive stoves do get those rings, the inductive one almost certainly wouldn’t, because the glass only gets heated by the pan, rather than the other way around.
The only difficulty was the Samsung UX. It was a bit of a chore to get the pan centered on the coil, and there was insufficient feedback when you got it right or wrong and if it wasn’t in the right place it just wouldn’t work. I got used to it, but I’d have liked some better markings, and an LED ring that would show when it was on. It also didn’t automatically heat the pan quickly on startup. You had to set it to 9, then back off, otherwise it would heat the pan on a duty cycle.
If I were to upgrade my kitchen, I’d absolutely go with induction. However, even beyond my usual research, I’d make damn sure I got the best option on this. I love cooking too much to screw it up.
We were going to go with induction, but it was just too expensive.
My main beef is that I have pretty thorough knowledge of appliance warranties and induction stoves are near impossible to repair. I think it’s partially because the techs don’t know how they actually work, so getting an accurate diagnosis was rough. Most of the time they had to be replaced outright.
If I were to get one I’d probably get a countertop one with a single burner so that if it fails I don’t have to replace the whole induction range, I can just replace that single point of failure.
You also need specific cookware and we’d have to replace a lot of ours.
You mean no aluminium or copper? Im not sure if that’s difficult tp remember or do. Am i missing something?
No glass either. We have a bunch of glass pots.
Pick up a portable induction HOB and use it on the side. Even though the cheap ones are pretty crappy in many regards, they still work great for what they are and give a good idea of what to expect from a high quality one.
Side note on cost, the inflation reduction act provides rebates to switch to induction.
What were you using to clean? I’ve been able to get those rings off with the regular glass cooktop cleaner and a little elbow grease. You could probably use something a little more abrasive but still glass-safe if you wanted.
My main issue was it’s harder to get greases off completely instead of leaving a slight streaky film, but that’s mostly just an aesthetic concern.
I’m using a non-scratching scrubbing pad and the recommended stovetop cleaner. I can get most of the worst of it, but there’s always a ring of carbonized food that just sticks around.
Admittedly we’ve only had it about a month now, but it’s been fine so far.
A word of warning: if it’s a Samsung appliance it will fail within the first year, or right outside of it. Samsung appliances are garbage, their electronics are solid.
Even the electronics are kinda crap, the number of samsung monitors I’ve seen die on people is absurd, and then they try to weasel out of the warranty
It’s a GE.
I expect it would depend on what cleaning product you use. Bar Keepers Friend does wonders on stainless steel; perhaps it’s safe for glass as well?
Induction, or just standard electric burners under glass?
The latter.
Same. The upgrade in cleaning effort is beyond words. These are what the “rich people” had when I was a teenager. I’ve just inherited my first. I yearn for the induction model, though.
I bought an induction hot plate that I keep on the counter next to the stovetop. Not only do I get a fifth burner, it heats up confusingly fast. It’s incredible for boiling a large pot of water.
I have an induction hot plate and while it’s great for boiling water or searing steak it will invariably burn anything I attempt to cook on low because it just uses high heat for a shorter amount of time instead of doing a constant lower power.
I’m probably going to get an induction stove next, but I’m not buying one that I don’t get to test out first to avoid this. I really hope the full-size ones don’t do this but I don’t trust companies on principle and they’ll do something stupid like that to save money.
What kind of pan are you using? Maybe a heavier one like cast iron would work better.
But I’ve used regular full ones and they didn’t have that issue. I’ve also seen them used just fine in commercial kitchens.
I’ve used both cheap steel pans and cast iron, and while the effect is less it still turns my sweated onions into sauteed onions intermittently. I’m glad to hear that mine is just built cheaply and that proper induction tops can handle consistent low temperature better. Still not buying one without trying it, though
Honestly, I would love a stove that’s just a 3" thick steel top with induction burners on one side. There would be a steady temperature gradient the whole way across, and pans of any size, shape, or material could be put anywhere on the surface for just the right amount of heat.
I’ve been considering replacing our gas stove with an Indication range.
We were going to, but they’re so much more expensive than electric. We did opt for a conventional plus convection oven though. That was definitely a good purchase.
Convection ovens are game changers for sure. Our current one is convection. We haven’t gotten an Induction range one yet due to the pricing.
Between the cost of the range and the fact that we would have to replace a bunch of our cookware, it just wasn’t worth what we would have to spend.
That’s fair
Thanks for sharing!
Any additional information you may like to share or any links or research you did before buying?
Pros and cons you have seen, over the weeks/years?
Good or cheap basic model, $700 plus?
I’m sorry, I don’t. My wife did all of the research and stuff for it because I was focused on health issues (also, she’s a librarian, so research is her thing). All I said was try to get one that didn’t involve some stupid app or whatever.
I’m not even 100% sure what model it is because I just looked and I can’t see if it says anywhere. It’s a GE and they have a whole ton of models on their website, so I couldn’t tell you, but I’m guessing she paid significantly less than $1000 for it.
She’s still asleep, but if I remember to ask her when she wakes up, I will.
Thanks for taking the time to explain what you can!
Sorry to hear about the health issues, I hope you are doing better!
edit: format
Anyone with more/better info or experience please feel free to chime in!
Quick search results:
Seems cheapest I found from:
GE ~$528 no tax included, at local diy chain store and big tech store
GE site: $588 no tax
costco $679.99 no tax
Gas:
Elec.:
https://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/kitchens/gas-vs-electric-ranges-is-one-better-than-the-other
https://reviewed.usatoday.com/ovens/features/pros-and-cons-of-gas-vs-electric-cooking
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/g2875/best-electric-ranges/
https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/ranges/pros-and-cons-of-induction-cooktops-and-ranges-a5854942923/
Yeah we have a propane stove, I think it’s cleaner than natural gas, but we’re rural and we lose power more often than urban zones.
The study in this post says it’s not.
Yeah :(. No winning yet.
My searching shows me a lot of astroturfing on both sides of that debate, which makes me think it’s either far more complicated than that or we don’t actually know.
Oh undoubtedly there is a lot of biases to sift through.
Your power network is really letting you down with how uncommon the damn things are. Glass cooktops in Europe are like 200€ for a decent 60cm one nowadays.
Apparently it’s a big PITA to get the model number because it involves opening the range up, so I told her not to bother, but she says the oven is both standard and convection if that helps.
Thanks for your effort!
That is appreciated!