What do you cook on?

[amboseli]

I have a vitroceramic stovetop but, as soon as it dies, I want to replace it by an induction top. I'm not into gas at all.

[tod2]

In my kitchen - a ceramic stove top and Thermo - Fan oven below.
But, many nights we cook like the rest of Africa - on hot coals outdoors. We use charcoal but the majority use wood.

[chexbres]

After 7 years or so, I finally got accustomed to cooking on an electric convection cooktop. Now, I have a gas cooktop which dates from the mid-'60's but still works. I keep forgetting that it stops cooking when you turn it off, unlike the electric thing, which held the heat much longer.

[Deleted]

I only had gas for about two years of my life and hated it. So I am an expert using "retained heat" on an electric stove. Whenever I change to induction, I'm sure I am in for a shock.

[tod2]

Kerouac - That induction contraption is good for quick heating but it also has to have the correct equipment. No aluminium at all. I hated it when forced to use it in one of the apartments in Paris.
I do have one gas burner totally seperate from my ceramic electric top. It was supposed to be used for stir-frys but realising the gas burner in a Chinese kitchen is blasting away at thousands of degrees, it is only useful in my kitchen when there is a power cut.

[chexbres]

I finally found my toaster - which I had packed in the same box with my color-copy printer, for some reason.
There are just some times when you really need a good slice of toast, so now I'm quite happy.

[onlyMark]

And then you could always make a colour copy when you want extra.

[htmb]

I had a gas range for 23 years. I hated it except for those rare times when the power was out. I've has various smooth cooktop, electric ranges ever since.

Are induction cooktops something new? What are the advantages over a regular electric cooktop like I have now?

[Deleted]

Pots are heated instantly by a magnetic field (no aluminium or glass or copper!) without the stovetop getting hot. Temperatures are controlled much more precisely, including an ultra low lukewarm setting which other stoves do not provide. 30% less energy consumption. Easier to clean because even if your stuff boils over, the stovetop is not hot and things don't get burnt on.

[bjd]

What Kerouac says. And induction cooktops are not new. I have had one for over 5 years and they had been available for a while by then. Prices have gone down on them since they are much more popular now.

The only thing is that you need stainless steel pots (or anything a magnet will attach to), but these are better than aluminum anyway. Just cost more.

[rikita]

i have a gas stove that my landlord bought second hand when the old one broke. the stove is alright, except you have to hold in the buttons forever until they finally stay in and the flame stays on. the oven is really bad though, you can't adjust temperature and it gets very hot, so a lot of things burn, but frozen pizza for some reason often stays cold in the middle.

[tod2]

Rikita, it may just be a build up of grease and cooking splashes around the buttons inside.
Can they not be removed to see what the problem is? Does'nt your Landlord have to supply you with a cooker....that works and does not cause you so much stress. ?

My one and only gas burner started to play up when I pushed the button down it would light the gas but when I took my finger away the flame cut out. I eventually had to pull up a chair and sit holding the darn thing down.
My husband noticed and in no time took the button off, cleaned it, and it works perfectly.

[rikita]

i will check, though we have cleaned there before as far as i remember, and it didn't make much difference ... there is kind of an unspoken agreement with my landlord that my rent is about a third of what is common in this area, and i accept that the apartment isn't perfect ... i suppose at some point i might say the oven is not working well anymore, though, and see if i can get something better, i will see ...

[casimira]

Scrolling around this morning looking for another thread, I ran across this one and thought it would be interesting to have an update from y'all who have either never posted on here or those who have and may have updated and or changed what you cook your meals on.
Mine is exactly the same as the OP.

[kerouac2]

These old threads are almost always fascinating.

I am used to my induction stove now but am still not in love with it. I do like its incredible speed for boiling water.

I do not use my oven enough to make it worthwhile, and don't tell anybody I said this, but I thought that my toaster oven was much more useful. That is probably true for a lot of people who live alone, since we are not cooking turkeys, massive legs of lamb or gigantic tarts and cakes.

[cheerypeabrain]

We have a Neff gas hob and electric oven. I LOVE my oven because the door slides out of the way when I open it...like the ovens on Bake-Off.

[questa]

First time I've seen this topic...Gee you foreign folk have some 'you beaut' ways of cooking. I gather up the wood chips around the dead trees and start the fire, then add the redgum logs as needed. I've got a cast iron pot that takes all the meal in it and this slowly cooks almost buried in the sand. Tonight it's mushroom soup, roast lamb and veges and rice and raisin pudding. The pudd and soup are done in billy cans inside the big pot.

(I wish)

[casimira]

Of you scroll around enough on here you never know what you're going to find. There's some real gems hidden in these pages.

[casimira]

The photo in the OP features the stove we cooked with for 25+ years.(I couldn't get the quote button to function so...)
It was not damaged in the fire and is fully functional aside from needing some "elbow grease" to clean it real well.
We decided to give it away as we wanted to upgrade to a bigger stove as the new kitchen will be bigger and we were ready for a change.
I may regret this on down the road.
A lovely young couple were looking for one and saw my message on an online list of free items.
They came yesterday and carted it off. (it weighs 400lbs.) so I made sure that they knew ahead of time that they had to bring their own "muscle" and hand truck to remove it.
Many a loving meal was prepared on that stove over the years but I surprised myself by not really batting an eye once it was loaded and driven away.
My main objective was that it go to a "loving" home to someone who would appreciate it as much as we did.
Since it was given to me, I had decided I wasn't going to try and sell it. It just didn't feel right.
So, off "she" went.

[kerouac2]

I'm glad you were able to give it away, but it was definitely time to upgrade. I have no idea what the workers did with my old vitroceramic cooktop. Theoretically, everything was supposed to be "dumped" but I would be happy to know that they took the stuff and resold it or used it themselves.

[bixaorellana]

Well, you may not have batted an eye as the old girl was carted off, Casimira, but I am shedding a tear over the world's best banana bread that came out of that Chamber's oven. Be advised that I'll show up at the new place & station myself in front of the new oven to make sure your famous banana bread is just as good.

I see that I never updated my stove story. When I moved downtown in 2013 I gave my four-burner tabletop gas stove to a young woman who needed it. It wasn't all altruism, as that apartment had a built-in two burner. As it turned out, the apartment was a disaster for other reasons, but meant that the necessary house-hunting for something else led me to where I live now, a place I love. This house was completely unfurnished. The stove space was for a six-burner, so I had an excuse to upgrade. I'm quite happy with what I have. This is it, except for the color & I suspect this is a slighter newer model ~ www.shopcourts.com/belize_ksc/stove-30%27%27-6-burner-gas-%20emi7659bfis1-mabe.html

[casimira]

Wow Bixa!! That is certainly a huge upgrade from what you cooked on in the pic on page one of this thread. I'm impressed!

The description in the link says it has a griddle but I don't see one in the pic featured. Am I missing something here or just blind as a bat, missing the obvious?

I think we are going to go with a Viking of some kind. My brother has one and there was one in my mother's cottage. When we visited we were super impressed with it's "performance".
I know they're rather pricey but I think we can swing it.
I think of it in terms of being an investment which is what it is when one considers that as we age cooking on it will be so much easier than the Chambers as little quirks popped up over the years. That and the fact that the Chambers sits on 4 legs that could rust out at any time and give out.
It happened to someone I know and they had to use bricks to make it level again.
I don't want that kind of hassle.

Again, BRAVO Bixa on your new treasure. As you are one of the finest cooks (and gardeners) that I know. I have learned so much about cooking techniques from you both when you lived here and then in many of the recipes etc. in this section of the forum.

And, I promise you some banana bread for when you come and visit.

[bixaorellana]

Aug 1, 2021 15:45:04 GMT casimira said:

The description in the link says it has a griddle but I don't see one in the pic featured.

Yes, there is a rectangular griddle which fits over any two of the burners.

Aug 1, 2021 15:45:04 GMT casimira said:

I think we are going to go with a Viking of some kind. My brother has one ... we were super impressed with it's "performance".
I know they're rather pricey ...

Re: committing to the super-quality but expensive stove ~ when my mother had her kitchen redone, she waffled about getting a Viking, which was her heart's desire. Her husband told her to get what she wanted, plus he would have been able to get a professional discount on the price. She ultimately was not able to make herself buy it and has been kicking herself ever since. I think that kitchen renovation was @30 years ago or so, so she would have had all that time to enjoy the "too expensive" stove she really wanted. That's my long-winded way of saying I hope you decide to get what you really want.

Thank you for overly kind words & I will hold you to the banana bread promise!

[casimira]

An endorsement from your mother* gives me even more incentive to getting a Viking. I feel a tad sad that she didn't go for it but, that being said, I will think fondly of her when I go to cook on it.

(another great chef, likely who taught you many of her dishes)