I’ve always been tempted by induction cooktops, but I’d never buy one for my small kitchen — here’s why
As Tom’s Guide’s Homes Editor, I write a lot about how to choose the right appliances for your kitchen.
And while the best option for you will depend on your home and cooking preferences, there’s no denying that induction is the future of cooktops. It’s more energy-efficient, safer and a cleaner way of cooking.
However, when the time came to renovate my kitchen last year, I just couldn’t bring myself to make the switch. And it wasn’t because I prefer gas cooking, or that I’m scared to scratch it. The reason I stuck to gas cooking is that in my small kitchen, every surface is at a premium.
Why I wouldn’t make the switch
I test a lot of appliances and cookware on a daily basis, which means I’ve accumulated quite the collection over the years.
Break out your tiny violin, because my small kitchen simply can’t contain my extensive collection of luxe cast iron cookware. Which is why if you were to walk into my kitchen right now, you’d find my Le Creuset or Staub skillets on display on my gas stove’s grates.
That’s something you just can’t do with induction. I know because I’ve tried it, and it’s my grandmother’s biggest gripe about her induction cooktop.
When you leave compatible materials (be it a frying pan or even a metal utensil) resting on your induction cooktop, it will start to beep at you, thinking you’ve placed a pan ready for cooking on your stove without switching it on.
Pros and cons
This is also one of the many safety features that can also be a big selling point of induction: your cooktop will warn you if it thinks you’ve left something you’re not meant to sitting on the stove, and it will also prevent you from sitting and waiting for a watched pot that will truly never boil.
But if you’re simply short on space to store your cookware, or you need somewhere to rest a cake tin or cooling rack while doing some baking, it’s a premium piece of countertop real estate that you simply can’t access.
Or rather, you could, but the beeping would get annoying very quickly.
Here’s what I chose instead
Instead of induction, I switched to a gas-on-glass cooktop. This offers the looks and style of a glass-topped cooktop like an induction or ceramic option, but with the addition of cast iron grates that can be used to rest everything from cookware to spare coffee machines (like I said, I test a lot of gadgets) when I’m playing kitchen tetris.
Maybe when I’m able to upgrade to a bigger kitchen (or, God forbid, downsize my appliance and cookware collection), I could stomach the switch from gas to induction, but for now, that 30 inches of countertop space is simply too precious to spare.
