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A little OT, but just a suggestion RE "induction" or anything smooth top. Unless you procure thick bottomed, completely flat, flush pots & pans, guaranteed not to warp or your money back, cooking on a smooth top is like chasing clouds. My last flat bottom, non-warped cooking vessel (ScanPan 2001, purchased in 1988) finally bit the dust last year. As for my smooth top? I quit. I bought a Presto electric skillet and a combo pressure cooker/slow cooker ($65 total) and now rarely use the smooth top for anything other than a little extra "counter space" and its oven, below
BTW, I have (2) luxurious looking, $50 - $60 name brand pans which acquired rocky-docky bottoms in less than maybe ?15? uses, despite being heavy as heck, and purchased in a high end kitchen store in the mall. That did it!
I’ve cooked with plain glasstop and induction for many years. Yes, one really should use flat bottomed pans, because warped pot pottoms will not perform well.
However, I am now using aluminum disk bottomed, thin encapsulated and thick encapsulated bottomed, and iron pots and pans. I also am using one non stick frypan. I have no warpage. The iron skillets and grill pan were used on my older glass top with no issue.
I’ve had my induction top since 2013. Before that, I used a glasstop 1999-2013.
If your pans are decent quality, but you get warping, I am guessing that you are cooking on high heat a lot. So, stop it!
Especially if you use non stick pans, stick with medium heat. High heat ruins the non stick finish.
But, yes, you will get better results with good, heavy, quality pans. Buy some basic ones, if you haven’t already, and treat them with care, and you’ll get 20 or more years of use from them.
I’ve cooked with plain glasstop and induction for many years. Yes, one really should use flat bottomed pans, because warped pot pottoms will not perform well.
However, I am now using aluminum disk bottomed, thin encapsulated and thick encapsulated bottomed, and iron pots and pans. I also am using one non stick frypan. I have no warpage. The iron skillets and grill pan were used on my older glass top with no issue.
I’ve had my induction top since 2013. Before that, I used a glasstop 1999-2013.
If your pans are decent quality, but you get warping, I am guessing that you are cooking on high heat a lot. So, stop it!
Especially if you use non stick pans, stick with medium heat. High heat ruins the non stick finish.
But, yes, you will get better results with good, heavy, quality pans. Buy some basic ones, if you haven’t already, and treat them with care, and you’ll get 20 or more years of use from them.
Or, you could ditch the "non stick" pans, use a normal stove, and cook at whatever heat you want.
And I would expect 20 years of life to be unacceptable for pots and pans, quite honestly. We have Farberware stuff that's 40+ years old and I still use my grandmother's iron skillet that's got to be 80 years old.
There is another thread regarding electric to gas. The winner is put in an induction cooktop. It is way cleaner than gas. To clean after a meal and in the entire house. That gas fume sticky spreads. After dinner, while doing dishes I just wipe off the cooktop and dry. Another poster's mom puts a paper towel under her pan and no cleaning is required.
I have had 2 induction cooktops in 2 houses the last 15 years. I'll never have another gas stove. DIL only wanted gas until she used my induction. She got one. The price was way cheaper than running a gas line.
You don't want to be using cheap ass aluminum pans anyway. I have some Le Crueset that my mom used. Macy's has a copy that's is very reasonable. I use a scan pan and Le Crueset. If you want to heat a can of soup, IKEA has some good cheap stainless steel. Plus, most of the time you will never need a pot holder. Only the pan bottom and contents get hot.
Here's a thought that is outside the general norm yet effective .
Our cabin had a propane stove /oven. We bought the adapter and the propane bottle. That way we didn't have to hassle with calling in a professional. The bottle got refilled when we got gas in town. We often had relatives use the cabin and none were the wiser as to its functionality in gas usage. It's not like we were baking 24/7.
If you consider refilling it a hassle then get a spare and store it in a safe place.
Or, you could ditch the "non stick" pans, use a normal stove, and cook at whatever heat you want.
And I would expect 20 years of life to be unacceptable for pots and pans, quite honestly. We have Farberware stuff that's 40+ years old and I still use my grandmother's iron skillet that's got to be 80 years old.
I ditched my old Farberwear about 20 years ago after about 25 years. The newer pots were so much better than my old stuff. The aluminum bottoms were thin in comparison with newer pots. My stuff was bought in the 1970s. I like my Profiserie pots very well. My chef's pan is very responsive.
I also use vintage iron quite happily.
If people are happy with their pots after 40 years, then the pots in question must be very good quality. I'd rejoice in my good buys all those years ago.
I had to learn to back the heat off. I stand by this. Boil water on high. Use less heat for everything else except for a wok.
I have decided not to buy another non stick because of environmental concerns. But I like using my non stick frypan for eggs. I never heat it beyond medium. But when it goes bad, I will not replace it.
There may already be gas in back of the present stove. In one case there was.
If not you need to run a gas line. The cost depends on how complicated that is. It could be as little as a few hundred $ or could be much more. I would expect a plumber to at least be willing to give an order of magnitude.
As far as I am concerned, Lowe's, Best Buy, and Home Depot are perfectly fine places to buy appliances. They don't make them after all. Sears is lower on the list because they have some proprietary brands and the company has been in decline for decades. Your local store could close tomorrow.
I will disagree with you about Lowe’s, Best Buy and Home Depot and the reason is service. The staff at those big box stores know very little about their products and delivery and installation is usually done by independent contractors to the store. The store has little to no control over them. I have heard/seen way too many horror stories from friends and family about them. I also found Sears to be better than the other three and Sears brand appliances, Kenmore, are very highly rated by Consumer Reports.
The best place to buy is your local appliance store. They usually have knowledgeable staff and are committed to giving the customer good service. I have never had a problem with the local store and because they belong to a cooperative (a large group of small independent stores that purchase appliances), the prices are comparable to the big box stores on the same appliances. The difference though is the big boxes have appliances made for them that are cheaper but I don’t trust them. There is a reason they are cheap and according to an appliance repair guy we used, that is because they are made cheaply. You get what you pay for. Jay
I will disagree with you about Lowe’s, Best Buy and Home Depot and the reason is service. The staff at those big box stores know very little about their products and delivery and installation is usually done by independent contractors to the store. The store has little to no control over them. I have heard/seen way too many horror stories from friends and family about them. I also found Sears to be better than the other three and Sears brand appliances, Kenmore, are very highly rated by Consumer Reports.
The best place to buy is your local appliance store. They usually have knowledgeable staff and are committed to giving the customer good service. I have never had a problem with the local store and because they belong to a cooperative (a large group of small independent stores that purchase appliances), the prices are comparable to the big box stores on the same appliances. The difference though is the big boxes have appliances made for them that are cheaper but I don’t trust them. There is a reason they are cheap and according to an appliance repair guy we used, that is because they are made cheaply. You get what you pay for. Jay
For refrigerators, washers, dryers, "installation" is minimal. Plug it in. Maybe screw on a hose.
Whether an appliance store is better depends on the store. As in your case, your store belongs to a co-op to manage prices...depends on the store. Very likely these days, their installations are also done by independent contractors.
There is no reliable thumbrule--everything takes doing the homework.
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