Submitted 5 weeks ago by Zwiebel@feddit.org to youshouldknow@lemmy.world
Gas stoves fill the air in your home with particulate matter (pm), which has been found to increase cancer risk in the long term.
So next time you buy a stove, consider choosing an induction stove.
Btw, gas stoves being better or faster than induction is a myth.
The studies I read, there was no ventilation / exhaust fan. The point was that low income households using these stoves often don’t have proper ventilation and it makes them dangerous. I didn’t find much evidence that using them with proper ventilation is actually a serious problem.
Further, cooking releases all sorts of chemicals from incomplete combustion in the air if something is burning, as well as the toxic chemicals release from nonstick cookware at very high temperatures, so cooking without ventilation is bad for your health would be the message I’d take away. I find most people are completely unaware of the hazard.
With proper ventilation you can do everything, you can work with hazardous gases and nuclear materials, if the ventilation is sufficient.
Radiation ventilation is fun to say
Nuclear particles perhaps but nuclear radiation is not affected by airflow
Very few residences have proper ventilation. In the US, a microwave above the stove is common. Microwave often do have a fan function, but the vast majority don’t vent outdoors. I doubt that running air through a very thin filter will do much good.
I hate this. I think it should be illegal. Or make a building code that there has to be a real extractor hood above the stove in all cases.
Even charcoal grills inside are fine with proper ventilation. So you’re right, but your also not saying very much.
Yeah I’m not sure what the purpose of the comment was. To convince people to continue using gas on the off chance it won’t increase cancer risk? That’s not a compelling reason to use gas. It might not kill me.
I’m not even sure I would call it “low income households”, more like “older building/houses”. Plenty of expensive apartment units are in old buildings (I’m looking at you NYC) without proper ventilation.
I own a unit in a co-op in a building that is over 100 years old. I have a gas stove. There is a vent on my above-range microwave but it’s just a filter that blows it back into the room. I do a lot of cooking. I’m in danger.
Indeed. Charcoal filters are to catch some odours, the aluminum will catch some grease, but ‘natural gas’ is a whole lot more than methane, and think the same is true for propane.
Thanks for the clarification.
Gas stoves without extraction are also a lot more likely to use a liquefied gas fuel (i.e. bottled butane/propane) rather than a plumbed in utility gas mains (typically methane) which makes a big difference in particulate emissions during combustion
the maillard reaction causes cancer. I’m still not boiling my beef.
Photons cause cancer so I guess I may as well do nothing at all.
I mean photon is a pretty broad category so I’m not sure if you’re saying that gamma rays cause cancer or 5g does.
The few times I have prepared meat while trying to minimize the maillard reaction, it was still quite tasty.
That said, I agree that cancer risk is relative, and you can’t avoid all risk, even if you are happy to try.
I hear sous vide steak can be quite tasty.
I hear sous vide steak can be quite tasty.
It is the best way to prepare steak, but you still need to sear it afterwards. The steak can be cooked to a perfect medium-rare all the way through… But you still need to throw it on an ultra hot skillet with some butter and rosemary afterwards, to add the crust to the outside.
You can also minimize the maillard reaction by not eating meat. Just putting it out there.
Appliance repairman here. What I tell my clients about gas in general is that: 1. When natural gas burns it create CO. 2. There is a none zero chance the thing can blow up.
Electric cooking appliances have an absolute zero chance of either of these two things happening.
I try to get people to switch to electric for these reasons some just like the aesthetic of cooking on gas.
a non-zero* chance
We like to see it - fire, heat.
We like using pans that may not be induction friendly.
Ceramic stoves also work on other types of pans and emit a bright red glow when they’re hot. However, they are less efficient.
You like using cheap aluminum pans?
I absolutely agree. I’m happy to switch to a new technology as long as it performa at least as well as my current implementation.
I have a few cast iron and carbon steel pans, but most of my cooking vessels are thick copper (not copper inserts, full 3mm or more copper). Copper pans are superior to any other material (unless you prioritize cost) and are sadly incompatible with induction.
Don’t even talk to me about electric element (non induction) stoves, they’re garbage for heat control.
Regular old coil electric stoves will be fine with, for instance, your old rough-bottomed cast iron pan. And despite no flame, the coils glow red hot like a horseshoe at a blacksmith’s, to hit that emotional spot.
Note: If you have spilled, especially grease, be sure to lift the whole stovetop to clean underneath, nobody taught me that at first.
We like to see it - fire, heat.
Exact reason why I built a fire in my kitchen. Gives that camping feeling
C02 isnt the only dangerous chemical.
And most peoples electricity generates huge amounts of GHGs
Just pointing out the person you replied to said CO which is carbon monoxide, not CO2
The lack of formatting in their comment was confusing.
That said, you’re right that CO (or CO2) aren’t the only harmful outputs of combustion.
They didn’t say CO2. They said “CO. 2. Etc”
In my third world country the real issue is about costs. At this very moment cooking with gas is cheaper than cooking with electric.
The gas provider company mandates an inspection on every home gas apppliance and the installation every 5 years to check for good connections and correct ventilation (if a home does not pass the checks the service is suspended), so I guess at least it diminishes the risks to some degree.
But still since gas is going to be a lot expensive in the following weeks, maybe the tables will turn. But then you’ll need to get an electric stove.
Vent your home as much as possible when cooking, that should help with the health risks.
Maybe you can get a small induction stove like this to use the gas stove less 1000060659
yeah blah blah blah but honestly, we are humans, we do crazy shit daily like driving 200 kph in a metal can while blasting rave music or metal
I’m guessing that you’re around 20 and a huge fan of anime.
I absolutely hate that I have a gas stove and water heater mainly for reason 2. It fills me with pure anxiety.
I know there’s a relatively small chance, but whenever we’re turning the corner and I see the house is still there it’s a huge relief. In the next year or two we should be able to put out the money to put in outlets and get rid of gas.
I do almost everything in my house but the 2 things I won’t touch are electric and gas.
heatpump water heaters are looking good. Super easy to install. No venting needed and they run on 120v.
I wanted to comply this data specifically for you. I found the data myself but had GPT formatted for me because I’m lazy. It looks like they’re actually more deaths with electric equipment than there is with gas but I’m guessing that’s because there’s more electric appliances than gas appliances. Even so the data speaks for itself there is no significant safety Factor associated with gas versus electric in terms of explosions or fire hazards. The only significant differences is that gas produces more harmful chemicals when it’s burned
Gas and electric appliances both pose fire and explosion risks, though in different ways.
Gas Appliances (Stoves, Furnaces, Water Heaters):
Fire Incidents: 44,210 home fires annually from heating equipment (NFPA).
Explosions: 23 gas-related home explosion deaths in 2023, the deadliest year in two decades (PHMSA).
Health Risks: Emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
Electric Appliances (Stoves, Furnaces, Water Heaters):
Fire Incidents: 51,000 electrical fires yearly, causing ~500 deaths, 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in damages (ESFI).
Recent Recalls:
LG (2025): 500,000 ovens recalled due to fire hazard (28 fires, injuries, pet fatalities).
Samsung (2024): 1 million electric ranges recalled due to fire risk (250 fires, 40 injuries).
Both require proper maintenance and safety precautions, but gas carries additional explosion and health risks, while electric fires are often linked to faulty wiring and design flaws.
I haven’t met an electric stove I like cooking on as much as gas. I’m willing to give induction a try, but I’m not dropping three grand on a stove and another grand to get a 240V line run to my kitchen just to find out the damn thing burns my marinara like every other electric stove and the induction hot plate.
My ideal stove would be induction, but it would be on one end of a long, thick sheet of stainless steel. There’d be a thermometer embedded in it, and if I wanted a proper low heat I could just move the pot the cooler part of the stovetop.
Yes, the entire thing would be blisteringly hot, but I could get a nice, even heat and use any pot I wanted.
They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
This entirely depends on the stove. Consumer-lever stoves? Sure, definitely. Commercial stoves? Probably not. Commercial stoves put out 3-4x the BTUs of a high-end consumer stove, and usually can’t be installed in a home because they require significant shielding around them (so you don’t burn a building down) and a very high flow hood. The highest-end Wolf range has a single burner that has a maximum output of 10,000BTU, and costs a whopping $17,000; a fairly basic range top for a commercial kitchen has six burners that can all output 32,000BTU, and costs about $3700. For stir-frying specifically, you can get a single ring wok burners outputting 92,000-125,000BTU starting at about $700 for natural gas (and a helluva lot more if you use LP).
1 kW is 3412 BTU/h (=BTUs)
Most induction stovetops have a boost function with around 3-4 kW (that’s about 13000 BTUs).
BUT contrary to a gas stove top, almost all of the energy is actually put into the pot instead of the surroundings (only 30-40% of the energy from a gas stove is used to heat the pot). Meaning that a 4 kW induction cooktop should be comparable to a 40’000 BTUs gas stove (single burner).
4 kW induction cooktop should be comparable to a 40’000 BTUs gas stove (single burner).
So this is 4000 watts? What household circuit can support that?
Okay, good deal. So, in theory, an induction stove that’s 3500W should be approaching the heating ability of a typical commercial range.
a natural gas or LP stove will continue to function when the power is out
LP camp stoves work without power and are a good backup for an electric stove
Yeah, a coleman (or equivalent) 2 burner camp stove combined with the adapter to use a full size propane tank is super handy. Combine it with a cast iron griddle, and you can functionally replicate a Blackstone for much much cheaper. It’s also way better for high heat cooking if you don’t have a good stove fan that actually vents outside.
Also, sometimes when power goes out, gas does too (it’s still a grid that can fail).
Oh, and FWIW - if you live somewhere with an unstable power grid, a natural gas or LP stove will continue to function when the power is out, albeit you’ll need to light it manually.
This is only true on the simplest (or older) gas stoves. Most models these days have all sorts of electronics, including features to prevent gas leaks.
I also live in an area with frequent power disruption. We have a backup generator. It is more than enough to power the electronics in our propane gas range, but nowhere near enough to power an electric range.
I have a Viking with 15k burners. No shielding needed, but huge upgrades to air exchange and a really powerful hood fan were.
Yeah, I don’t mind electric stoves but I gotta have a large burner for woks and griddles
It’s completely baffling that there are people unironically still defending gas stoves in 2025. There’s no discussion to be had on the subject any more, induction is superior and that’s final.
I would agree in places with good infrastructure. I lived somewhere with rampant power outages, sometimes for 5 days at a time.
Gas was sure nice then.
I think the people who claim gas stoves are best likely grew up either not cooking much, or had a decent gas stove, so their first exposure to an electric stove was super cheap, crappy electric coil stoves in student housing, or wherever they first lived as a young adult. Then when they were able to afford better, they got a better gas stove.
I have a really crappy gas stove, and it makes me yearn for the cheap electric coil stoves of my youth.
People say that gas stoves are more powerful and responsive, when the truth is that more powerful stoves are more powerful, and “responsiveness” is a fake concern. My crappy gas stove takes forever to get a pot of water boiling, especially compared to coil stoves. Yeah, you can turn a gas stove to 100% quickly, but that’s only better if it can put out more power. It won’t heat up any faster than an electric stove if the electric stove takes double the time, but also has double the power. There’s also not many cases where “time to maximum heat” is what you care about, I can’t think of any.
Responsiveness the other way (hot to cool) doesn’t matter when you have a high thermal mass in the pan (or the pan itself has high mass), it only matters when the pan and contents are light, in which case, you just take the pan off the heat.
In places where natural gas is cheap and electricity is expensive cost is a factor
When the power goes out in sub zero temperatures, and your heating does too, it helps to be able to make hot water on the stove to warm up.
Otherwise, yeah induction is better.
Yes, a little bit… Burning any kind of fuel in your home is going to produce carcinogens.
But it’s really nothing to get too excited about, and cooking on electric is bullshit
As other people have said, induction is alright. Way better than traditional electric anyway.
Yeah, I prefer my gas stovetop than any crappy induction.
Have they reinvented buttons yet or do you spend your time long-clicking and watching out not to short the touch-screen-top with 1 drop of water?
Jesting aside, induction is probably good but the bullshit that gas stoves causes cancer is just an unfounded lie. It’s like being scared of the microwave owen or “3G mobile”.
we have a decent quality induction range and electric stove and we’d never bother considering to go back to gas
Yes, but…
Cooking itself also does this. If you are searing or frying that will also release dangerous particulates. Make sure you have and use a vent hood that vents outside the living space when you cook regardless of fuel.
I can say from personal experience of using every kind of home stove, that gas is both the worst and slowest. Boiling water for my morning coffee is fastest on induction, which takes about half the time as resistive or radiant electric, and gas takes nearly three times longer than that.
Though it might just be the american style of burner that directs the flame away from the center of the pan. I’ve not yet tried any other kind.
I read that running an extractor hood mitigates the risk a fair amount. Not completely, but enough that you shouldn’t worry if gas is your only option
We swapped out a gas for induction, it’s amazing to be able to put the temp down below very hot. Also very responsive to power changes, and can wipe clean.
Everything else being equal, of course electric and induction stoves are preferable to gas. I spend most of my life with an electric stove, no apartment I ever saw had induction, but I didn’t particularly like the gas stove I had to use for some years.
But if you want the worst user experience ever, find an electric stove with touchscreen controls. What the hell, landlord, where did you even find that one?
Since this is the stove thread:
I had a pot of salt water overflow from boiling on a electric stove and now there is this tough ring of residue around the burner caked on and it won’t scrub off. Is using a razor blade to scrape it off really the only option?
I’m worried I will scratch the stove top and the landleech will have an excuse to steal my security deposit.
The only thing I know gas stoves to be better at than other methods is traditional wok. But that’s hardly a reason to jeopardize your health for.
YSK: Everything causes cancer. Drinking water causes cancer. Living causes cancer.
What doesn’t?
Even tea causes cancer
Alright so you screwed up posting this, because I’m actively looking for a dual induction burner setup, and now I want your advice. Ideally I want a “linked” dual burner so that I can put a square skillet pan across both burners, there’s basically like one of those online, and then a bunch of dual burners that are not linked and slightly different power on either side. Wat do? Anyone have a good experience with this situation yet?
gas stoves being better or faster than induction is a myth. They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
If you have 380V 16A induction, it’s not even close.
But be careful, if you have ceramic pans for instance, and you use the high power settings to heat it up, your pans won’t last long, as the ceramic may crack because of the fast heat up. We lost 2 pans that way. 😋
We also had a cheap cooking pot, where it developed a crack between the main pot and the apparently cheaply attached heat spreading bottom.
This made the pot sputter because water was collected in the crack when washed.
When I boil eggs, i time it from the moment the water is boiling. But with out new stove, the water boils so fast, I’ve had to add 2 minutes to the time they boil!!
Our electric kettle is 2.2 kW. But boiling a liter of water on the stove is still more than twice as fast!! Meaning the stove must be putting more than 4.4 kW to the pot, on the smallest cooking spot!!
Obviously that is only possible for 1 spot at a time, I figure the max must be around 6kW combined.
They have certain specific advantages, but they are actually slower.
I can’t think of any advantages, gas stoves are slower, they are harder to clean, they give off an insane amount of wasted heat, which is uncomfortable in hot weather, and they noticeably degrade air quality unless you have very good ventilation.
The only possible advantage I can think of, is that you can use cheaper equipment on it. but not always, because non metal handles tend to get ruined on gas stoves.
All in all induction is superior. 😎
I overall agree with technology connections on this with two caveats.
I have, in my day, used some truly craptastic electric stoves that seriously struggled to get a normal sized pot of water to a rolling boil. This was definitely the cheapest, crappiest stove that an Airbnb owner could possibly find to furnish the kitchen with.
I’ve also used some really crappy gas stoves but none have struggled that hard. So I think if you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for budget brand stoves, you may find yourself really frustrated with some electric options.
Also, my home stove is a somewhat less craptastic electric stove, but still not at all high end. I find that for some of my cookware the burners are too small resulting in some serious hotspots in the middle while you can barely cook on the outer edges even after letting the pan preheat for a decent amount of time. You’re always going to have some amount of a hotspot with almost any stove, but this one is really drastic, and I’ve never experienced anything so bad on gas stoves, probably because the heat escaping around the edges manages to heat the outer parts of the pan a little better.
I’m not exactly pining for a gas stove, and I can’t have one in this house even if I wanted one, but it is a little frustrating sometimes as someone who likes to cook, which technology connections has admitted is not one of his many niche interests.
My next stove will be induction, and probably every stove I ever buy after that.
I guess the overall takeaway from this is, if you’re buying an electric stove and actually like to cook, don’t cheap out and make sure you get one where the burners can handle the size cookware you might use.
Our new-build house came with a gas stove+oven. Our overhead microwave does vent to the outside of the house so hopefully it helps a bit. The worst part is the oven’s vents face the front, so the fumes literally go up to your face if you’re standing in front of it. So when we use the oven, we try to keep distance and hope the the microwave vent sucks up as much fumes as possible.
Do you have more detail on this? What types of particulate matter exactly?
Again… You can and should swap in hot sunny areas specially California. I’m from California originally. You gotta be retarded not to have solar panels now. But over in places where shit freezes like here near Seattle, the entire north, and or maybe also texas, thar doesn’t work. Here in the PNW, we have all electric kitchen, but also a wood burning chimney and a gas burning central heater. If the power is out you get no heating and die…or you keep warm with a chimney fire. Well heat pumps also work using propane or natural gas. There are also gas powered heaters that don’t need electricity.
Next time you buy a stove, consider s scheffler dish
We really shouldn’t be using electricity for applications like that
Dihydrogen monoxide is a dangerous chemical 😉
bullshit
I’ve always cooked on radiant electric (not induction) stoves, but gas stoves are amazing. Literal fire just works like nothing else. Faster cooking != Better cooking, why are you conflating them?
I’ve never lived in a closed up efficient new house either, those seem like anything you cook would be problematic. All cooking releases something.
Will almost certainly stick with electric personally (whole house is electric only) but if I had an unlimited budget it would be gas stove, big whomping vent fan, and ovens with both steam and fan.
Induction worries me because we had an induction plate and it made a terrifying shrill noise, I worry that the high end ones do the same but we can’t hear it. Which seems awful for the dogs and cats.
I didnt watch the video yet but do you have any estimates on how much pm is released? Where I live the air contains about 50 mikrograms per cubic meter and I’d like to know which is unhealthier: using a gas stove without ventilation or going outside and breathing fresh air
Does this apply if you use extraction?
I’ve had induction for many years, but I really want a combo with both. Making wok on induction is crap as the sides don’t get hot at all. I also have a hot spot in the center of all frying pans which is annoying when frying bigger things or several things at once.
My dream is a Gaggenau or Bora top with one side induction and one side gas. I already have the mid extractor with outside piping, so no recirculation.
I just cannot justify the $10k price tag and nobody else makes it with a fan in the middle.
AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today 5 weeks ago
Induction is the best, I’ll never go back
EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Induction is best in theory, however in practice it’s unfortunately often paired with these shitty buttonless capacitive controls that are harder to decipher that hieroglyphics as well as “”“smart”“” features
They do still sell induction stoves with classic dumb buttons but they are either hard to come buy or aimed at professional chefs, which instantly adds two zeros to their price
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 5 weeks ago
Mine has simple capacitive controls. Turn it on, higher number is more hotter. Very simple.
Apparently it has other features, not bothered with them.
SorteKanin@feddit.dk 5 weeks ago
Tbf the flat buttonless style makes them really easy to clean.
GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
The interfaces are usually really bad, yes. The technology itself still makes up for this particular shortcoming, but they need to step up their game.
BertramDitore@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Yeah, I hate the interfaces, but especially the super-loud non-mutable beeps which seem to be common on every model I’ve seen. My two-burner induction setup has analog knobs for temp control, which is awesome, but it stills beep when you turn them, with every single temperature increase. Drives me crazy.
I’ll never go back to gas though. My new apartment came with a gorgeous brand new gas range, and it absolutely sucks compared to my $50 countertop induction.
Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
I have a regular flat top glass stove WITH KNOBS that works with ALL PANS, not just magnetic… then I have a standalone induction unit for when I need to really crank up the heat.
Works a dream!
CrayonRosary@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Induction also doesn’t work with aluminum items like a moka pot without an “induction adapter” which is just a steel plate.
GreenSofaBed@feddit.is 5 weeks ago
It’s the best, got one not too long ago, and same, I’ll never go back. Immediate temperature control.
Valmond@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I mean, you have immediate temp control with gas too?
fishpen0@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Unless it costs you $15k+ to upgrade your house to 220 :/. Ask me how I know
Zwiebel@feddit.org 5 weeks ago
Ouch
Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
I cannot wait to finish uni and move to a place without a gas stove. The thing is they renoveated the kitchen just before I moved in but they decided to put in a gas stove for whatever reason.