When television producer Tim Thatcher started working on cooking shows, he had no idea how to cook.
But he said spending long days on the set of MasterChef gave him a culinary crash course money couldn’t buy.
“After producing my interviews I’d try to cook the dishes for the chef’s challenges that were coming up. And there were always the chefs in there – you know Heston Blumenthal … Peter Gilmore, the whole lot,” he said.
“They’d be going, ‘Oh let me show you how to make this properly’. So by the time I finished nine months on MasterChef Series Two, I had probably the best training you could ever have.”
Chefs switching from gas to induction
Mr Thatcher recently switched from using a gas stove at home to an electric induction stove.
He made the switch largely because of the environmental impacts of burning fossil fuels, but also so he could use cheap solar power and avoid the health risks of burning gas inside the home.
“A lot of the chefs are a bit dubious [about induction],” he says.
But he convinces them to use his high-end unit and he says once they use it they are converted.
While plenty of chefs may still be sceptical, there are many others who are making the switch.
The Global Cooksafe Coalition launched in Australia last November with the aim of ridding kitchens of gas. Its launch was packed with a major global property developers supporting the move, not to mention a sea of high-profile chefs.
They included acclaimed Australian chef Neil Perry, who runs a commercial kitchen using induction, and Palisa Anderson, who is the head chef at the Sydney chain Chat Thai restaurants and plans to switch to induction.
Ms Anderson said induction was often better than gas.
“I just did a Thai omelette just then and the temperature got up to a thousand straight away – within less than a minute,” she said.
“Now, to do that on a gas stove would require a lot of heating up, where you’re releasing a lot of methane into the environment.”
Consumer advocates urge all-electric
According to Chris Barnes from CHOICE, people should start planning to switch away from gas.
He points to the health risks – with some research suggesting cooking with gas in the home can be as bad for kids as smoking indoors – as well as the safety of gas and traditional electric, as well as the cost of energy.
“You can’t sink a gas shaft in your backyard and get free gas supply but you can put solar panels on your roof and get very cheap electricity,” he said.
“That’s why an all-electric home is making a lot of sense.”
CHOICE and chefs agree – if you are going electric, induction is the obvious technology to choose.
“If you are used to the instant reaction and fine control with gas, induction is the electric equivalent. It can deliver that same fine control and instant response,” Mr Barnes said.
Costs of the new stove and cookware
Switching from gas to electric could come with a few costs – as could switching from traditional ceramic electric to induction.
First, there’s the cost of the cooktop itself. Those reviewed by CHOICE range from under $700 up to over $4000.
But Mr Barnes warns that “paying top dollar won’t guarantee you the absolute best”.
He said even the cheapest ones they reviewed scored very well, but you’ll need to pay more than $1000 to get the ‘bells and whistles’.
And then the only cookware that works on induction is cookware that has plenty of iron in the base – either cast iron or steel. So you may need to fork out to replace a couple of pots or pans.
It’s easy to check if your cookware will work on induction – if a magnet will stick to its base, then it will almost certainly work on an induction stove.
But Mr Barnes warns that before you invest in the cooktop, you’ll want to check with an electrician to see what costs you are up for to hook it up.
Speak to an electrician
If you are upgrading from an old electric stove to an induction, it could be almost a matter of just dropping in the new stove.
But if you are switching from gas, you are likely to need some work done, as it probably won’t be okay to run the new stove from an existing circuit, explained Malcolm Richards, an electrician and chief executive of Master Electricians Australia.
“You will probably need to run a new circuit from the switchboard to the electric cooktop to make sure it can run on its own circuit,” he said.
“Then you do need a licensed contractor who can do the calculations to ensure the rest of the wiring in the home can accommodate the additional load.”
Most homes will be able to take the extra load, but older apartments can be trickier.
“In some cases, you may need to talk to your plumber – your gas expert – to remove the old gas plumbing,” Mr Richards said.
If you’re upgrading from an old electric stove, things are likely to be simpler.
Induction stoves are more efficient than other electric stoves, but they can have a higher maximum current draw. So your electrician will need to advise you on whether your current circuitry is acceptable.
Mr Richards said in most cases upgrades to the circuitry would cost only a few hundred dollars.
Some very large or commercial induction stoves need three-phase power. Upgrading a property to three-phase power can cost thousands of dollars.
Whatever your situation is, Mr Richards has some advice.
“This is the sort of work you will never, ever do yourself,” he said.
“You only need one wire in the wrong spot and you’ll be putting yourself and your family’s lives at risk. It is simply not worth it. Get a professional and do it properly.”
Woks, costs and rentals
Cooking on induction is not the same as cooking on gas. One of the biggest drawbacks people point to is the difficulty of using a wok.
Chat Thai’s Ms Anderson said induction woks with a flat bottom can produce just as good results. She said you just need to get used to tossing the food with a utensil, instead of tossing the whole wok.
But switching your stove is not always possible. The up-front cost can be a problem for many, and for those in rentals, it’s often not a choice at all.
One cheaper option also possible in rentals is a portable countertop induction cooktop. They start from as little as $50 and range up to about $130 – with even some of the cheapest models receiving very good ratings from CHOICE.
Mr Thatcher said that behind the scenes on cooking shows, a lot of the food you see is cooked on units like those.
While the chef is cooking in front of camera, there are food stylists and food techs off camera cooking food that is ready to be swapped in.
“All of the food techs now use portable induction plates,” he said.
Have you made the move from gas to induction? Or are you considering it? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
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ABC Content Disclaimer
If a person has a good serviceable gas stove and happy with their cooking with it, they would have to be some kind of simple to think that changing to an induction stove would in anyway benefit them. As mentioned in the article, they would be unable to use any of their glass, ceramic or aluminium cookware with the induction top. The cost along there could be considerable.
The cost to put on the wiring for any electric stove where you presently have a gas stove would be well into the $thousands.
If you use only gas for cooking and not for heating, disconnecting from the gas could be saving you around $500/year in the connection service charge. If staying with the gas for heating, that charge will continue,
Ms Anderson is doing something seriously wrong if she is releasing methane into the air while preparing her wok for use. No methane is released during the burning of it for cooking. If there is a leak, she has serious health and safety issues beyond her cooking.
If we are to talk emissions, unless one lives in the ACT, coal remains the producer of an average of 60 to 70% of your electricity every day, so switching to an induction cooker may not be reducing your emissions at all. Burning gas for cooking energy is cleaner than burning coal for the electricity for your induction cooker.
Unless a magic rabbit is pulled from the energy hat within the next decade, the Australian Grid will find itself stretched to the limit for around another two decades and it is very probable that rationing and shortfalls during times of high demand (usually when preparing the evening meal) may mean that a gas stove will be the reliable choice.