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. They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
Obligatory Technology Connections video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUywI8YGy0Y
bull. shit.
Induction is the best, I’ll never go back
Induction is best in theory, however in practice it’s unfortunately often paired with these shitty buttonless capacitive controls that are harder to decipher that hieroglyphics as well as “”“smart”“” features
They do still sell induction stoves with classic dumb buttons but they are either hard to come buy or aimed at professional chefs, which instantly adds two zeros to their price
Mine has simple capacitive controls. Turn it on, higher number is more hotter. Very simple.
Apparently it has other features, not bothered with them.
My stove apparently has wifi. But why I would put that thing on my network is beyond me.
Yeah, I hate the interfaces, but especially the super-loud non-mutable beeps which seem to be common on every model I’ve seen. My two-burner induction setup has analog knobs for temp control, which is awesome, but it stills beep when you turn them, with every single temperature increase. Drives me crazy.
I’ll never go back to gas though. My new apartment came with a gorgeous brand new gas range, and it absolutely sucks compared to my $50 countertop induction.
I have a regular flat top glass stove WITH KNOBS that works with ALL PANS, not just magnetic… then I have a standalone induction unit for when I need to really crank up the heat.
Works a dream!
That one that works with all pans is an electric resistance coil. It’s slow as molasses. But hey, more power to you if you can use it well. I have a standalone induction unit as well and it’s amazing how little I have to use anything else.
Induction also doesn’t work with aluminum items like a moka pot without an “induction adapter” which is just a steel plate.
It’s the best, got one not too long ago, and same, I’ll never go back. Immediate temperature control.
It’s significantly immediate-er with induction - particularly going from cool to hot. Boil water in 2 minutes and handles don’t get hot in the process. And since nothing is heating except the metal of the base of the pan there is no residual heat from the cooktop parts or the sides of the pan when you turn it off. The temperature drops much faster.
I went back to gas after 5 years cooking on induction and miss it a lot. Cooking something like pasta that requires boiling a sizeable quantity of water takes 2x or 3x longer on gas, even with a very powerful burner.
Unless it costs you $15k+ to upgrade your house to 220 :/. Ask me how I know
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Appliance repairman here. What I tell my clients about gas in general is that: 1. When natural gas burns it create CO. 2. There is a none zero chance the thing can blow up.
Electric cooking appliances have an absolute zero chance of either of these two things happening.
I try to get people to switch to electric for these reasons some just like the aesthetic of cooking on gas.
In my third world country the real issue is about costs. At this very moment cooking with gas is cheaper than cooking with electric.
The gas provider company mandates an inspection on every home gas apppliance and the installation every 5 years to check for good connections and correct ventilation (if a home does not pass the checks the service is suspended), so I guess at least it diminishes the risks to some degree.
But still since gas is going to be a lot expensive in the following weeks, maybe the tables will turn. But then you’ll need to get an electric stove.
Vent your home as much as possible when cooking, that should help with the health risks.
Maybe you can get a small induction stove like this to use the gas stove less
yeah blah blah blah but honestly… we are humans, we do crazy shit daily like driving 200 kph in a metal can while blasting rave or metal music. If something goes out in flames just say that new years eve came in early - if you are still alive. Life isn’t for the faint of heart for sure
I hate anime but I enjoyed mad max fury road. It lets you appreciate innate insanity of surviving as a human that’s only temporarily suppressed by advanced civilization goodies. 9 meals away my friend, 9 meals away
Humans are fundamentally crazy and I love it. We detonate massive amounts of explosives in the sky once a year?? for some reason, just cause we can. 12:00 at new years eve is the essence of humanity. Louder, brighter, higher, make it visible from the cosmos
We invented nukes for some reason which crazily is a fundament of global peace. WTF
There are no crazier motherfuckers in Milky Way I bet my car on that
C02 isnt the only dangerous chemical.
And most peoples electricity generates huge amounts of GHGs
I absolutely hate that I have a gas stove and water heater mainly for reason 2. It fills me with pure anxiety.
I know there’s a relatively small chance, but whenever we’re turning the corner and I see the house is still there it’s a huge relief. In the next year or two we should be able to put out the money to put in outlets and get rid of gas.
I do almost everything in my house but the 2 things I won’t touch are electric and gas.
heatpump water heaters are looking good. Super easy to install. No venting needed and they run on 120v.
I wanted to comply this data specifically for you. I found the data myself but had GPT formatted for me because I’m lazy. It looks like they’re actually more deaths with electric equipment than there is with gas but I’m guessing that’s because there’s more electric appliances than gas appliances. Even so the data speaks for itself there is no significant safety Factor associated with gas versus electric in terms of explosions or fire hazards. The only significant differences is that gas produces more harmful chemicals when it’s burned
Gas and electric appliances both pose fire and explosion risks, though in different ways.
Gas Appliances (Stoves, Furnaces, Water Heaters):
Fire Incidents: 44,210 home fires annually from heating equipment (NFPA).
Explosions: 23 gas-related home explosion deaths in 2023, the deadliest year in two decades (PHMSA).
Health Risks: Emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Electric Appliances (Stoves, Furnaces, Water Heaters):
Fire Incidents: 51,000 electrical fires yearly, causing ~500 deaths, 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in damages (ESFI).
Recent Recalls:
LG (2025): 500,000 ovens recalled due to fire hazard (28 fires, injuries, pet fatalities).
Samsung (2024): 1 million electric ranges recalled due to fire risk (250 fires, 40 injuries).
Both require proper maintenance and safety precautions, but gas carries additional explosion and health risks, while electric fires are often linked to faulty wiring and design flaws.
I haven’t met an electric stove I like cooking on as much as gas. I’m willing to give induction a try, but I’m not dropping three grand on a stove and another grand to get a 240V line run to my kitchen just to find out the damn thing burns my marinara like every other electric stove and the induction hot plate I have with pulse-widths measured in seconds.
My ideal stove would be induction, but it would be on one end of a long, thick sheet of stainless steel. There’d be a thermometer embedded in it, and if I wanted a proper low heat I could just move the pot the cooler part of the stovetop.
Yes, the entire thing would be blisteringly hot, but I could get a nice, even heat and use any pot I wanted.
Or I want an induction stove with remote temperature sensors and magnetic stirrers like in lab equipment so it knows how hot the pot is and can adjust accordingly, instead of just turning on and off at five second intervals.
We like to see it - fire, heat.
We like using pans that may not be induction friendly.
Did you know that the vast majority of electric stovetops aren’t induction stovetops and you can use any pan you like on them? Personally, I would rather not breathe in carbon monoxide.
Ceramic stoves also work on other types of pans and emit a bright red glow when they’re hot. However, they are less efficient.
Regular old coil electric stoves will be fine with, for instance, your old rough-bottomed cast iron pan. And despite no flame, the coils glow red hot like a horseshoe at a blacksmith’s, to hit that emotional spot.
There is a little learning curve: they heat up and cool down more slowly, which can be a plus if you work with it.
Note: If you have spilled, especially grease, be sure to lift the whole stovetop to clean underneath, nobody taught me that at first.
We like to see it - fire, heat.
Exact reason why I built a fire in my kitchen. Gives that camping feeling
Instructions weren’t very clear, now my house is burning down. Is there a good way to vent the smoke next time?
I absolutely agree. I’m happy to switch to a new technology as long as it performs at least as well as my current implementation.
I have a few cast iron and carbon steel pans, but most of my cooking vessels are thick copper (not copper inserts, full 3mm or more copper). Copper pans are superior to any other material (unless you prioritize cost) and are sadly incompatible with induction.
Don’t even talk to me about electric element (non induction) stoves, they’re garbage for heat control.
They are garbage for heat control if you use them the same way you would a gas or induction stove. If you learn how to use one, resistive electric stoves cook just fine.
