https://reasonstobecheerful.world/induction-cooking-joy-health-benefits/
"It’s a busy evening at Bauman’s on Oak, the popular new taproom in Southeast
Portland. At the bar towards the back of the room, customers are ordering
drinks from a 30-strong list of intriguing-sounding ciders including Looking
Glass and Forbidden Fruit. Over to the right is a window into the tiny galley
kitchen where Chef Daniel Green is expertly sautéing squid with sofrito and
black rice in a cast iron skillet.
So far, so to be expected in a trendy neighborhood joint such as this. But
there is one notable thing missing from the scene (two if you count the lack of
sweat from the chefs) and that is the flash of flames licking their way around
the pots and pans, and flaring up at moments of culinary intensity. Forget
industrial gas stovetops altogether, in fact, because Green is cooking on a
single Mirage Cadet induction cooktop.
“It’s perfect for all our needs,” says the chef, who has earned acclaim for his
simple menu and house-made bread and pizza. He especially likes that the
cooktop is mobile, so if need be the kitchen crew can move it to another room
to create more counter space for kneading dough or slicing veggies.
Green is part of a growing cohort of professional chefs and home cooks who are
ditching gas burners in favor of induction stoves, driven by everything from
personal choice to policy. A number of cities and states in the U.S., concerned
with the health and climate impacts of gas stovetops, are taking action. In
2021, New York became the first city in the country to set an air emissions
limit for indoor combustion of fuels within new buildings, effectively banning
the installation of new gas-burning stoves. Over the past few years, more than
129 cities and local governments across the country — from San Francisco to
Washington D.C. — have adopted policies to encourage or require all-electric
buildings. Five states — California, Colorado, Maryland, New York and
Washington — have also passed such policies.
Cooking over an open flame inarguably comes with a certain charm, but it turns
out that it is seriously detrimental to our health. The evidence is piling up:
Gas cookers release noxious fumes like benzene, methane, carbon monoxide and
nitrogen dioxide. These chemicals aren’t good for anyone, but they are
particularly damaging to children, whose lungs and immune systems are still
developing. Scientists at Stanford have found that using even a single gas
burner on high can increase indoor concentrations of benzene, which is linked
to cancer risk, to levels on a par with those found in second-hand tobacco
smoke.
You’re not even safe when your burners are off, it turns out. Alarmingly, three
quarters of a stove’s methane emissions leak out of the stove when the burners
are off. Long-term methane gas poisoning can cause lasting cardiovascular,
respiratory and neurological problems."
I switched to induction cooking a few years ago, first on a mobile cooktop and
now our new house has it built in.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
