Cooking with Maxwell (range question)

[spopepro]

This guy:


... so I hate my range. I'm gonna get a new one, but while I'd love to burn copious amounts of gas to make great amounts of heat, I live in a condo, at the front, on the bottom floor, so I have no hood, nor any way to vent to the outside. I'm thinking a pro-style gas range is probably out.

So... I'm thinking induction. Am I nuts? Is this a reasonable path for someone who is *really* into cooking? All the science seems right (thanks James!)... but I guess I'm having a hard time just wrapping my head around it. Are there others here cooking with this:

[jitahs]

I had investigated this for the helluva it once but I really, really like my copper/gas analog see-the-flame open-senses-type cooking vs. by-the-numbers. I can see using it for its speed when you need water boiled or a hot pan for a fast sear.

You may need a new set of pots and pans that are the right shape for the burners, lest hot spots.

Condo association rules permitting you could add an outdoor propane burner (I have 2) for natural venting and/or a small kettle like a Smokey Joe (I cooked a hen-house worth of chicken recently at National Night Out on 2 - more fuel-efficient than with the big Kettle, coals closer to the protein) to fill the gaps.

Bottom line if your food isn't spattering and smoking it will come out differently than otherwise, hence I'm skeptical it can do a nice sear or char. Even with induction you'd want a decent hood, I'd guess.

Anyway Faraday (sic) wasn't known for his burgers, I hear.

[jitahs]

I'd also want to test drive an induction range before the big install. Could be an expensive mistake.

[maunahaole]

Get a house for fucs sake. Burn whatever whenever .

**i posted this into several drinks, so treat any offensiveness appropriately.

[spopepro]

Get a house for fucs sake. Burn whatever whenever .

**i posted this into several drinks, so treat any offensiveness appropriately.

People who buy in SF (or Manhattan or anywhere else with stupid prices and no space) deserve all the needling, poking, and other derision. That said, other than my "yard" being where the locals turn tricks and not being able to install a vent hood, I really like my place (that and I'm paying $1k less for my mortgage than what rents currently are for something similar)

In the end... I think I'll pass on the tech. I really, really, really like the idea, but two problems cropped up. The first is solvable through money: these suckers require a 9000W circuit, for which I'd have some non-trival electrical work done. The second is much harder: you can't shake, toss, or otherwise be active with the pan between the auto-shutoff if it senses no cookware and the smooth surface. That would just be too hard for me to unlearn.

I'm convinced induction is the future... and I'm resigned to being old and in the way. Again.

[Jeffrey Borisch]

I'm convinced induction is the future... and I'm resigned to being old and in the way. Again.

Shit could be worse, as they say.