[nemo44x]

Get better pans, then heating up isn't an issue.

I think it's nice to have an induction burner but I prefer gas for many reasons. One is the visual feedback from the flame. Another is that a flame is a 3D surface to cook on so I can tilt the pan to get certain sides hot when needed.

Induction is good at boiling water though.

[0xffff2]

As a general rule, the better the pan, the thicker it is and the longer it would take to heat up.

[nemo44x]

Conductivity matters. Copper pans that are thick heat-up really fast. This is one of their primary benefits in that they change temperature quickly based on the input. The heat-up and cool down quickly. This is why they are popular with chefs - fine tuned control on pan heat which you generally want to change while cooking.

Cast iron is the opposite. They take a long time to heat-up and a long time to cool down. Steel is somewhere in between.

[bob1029]

Precisely. This is why I started moving towards induction after I became obsessed with the capabilities of cast iron cookware.

[nemo44x]

Cast iron is excellent for storing a lot of heat and then releasing it over a long period of time for searing things, etc. I love my cast iron cookware. But it's not a good choice for more delicate cooking where you want to change the temperature of the pan quickly and temperature control matters. Copper is noted for this and is popular in professional kitchens for precisely this reason. And gas allows you to tilt a pan to blast one side which is important when reducing sauces or when you want the oil to rise up the side of something to crisp it, etc. Alas, copper won't work on an induction stove.

I've never heard a chef say that getting a pan hot and staying hot quickly is their number 1 optimization. Except for boiling water, which induction is great for.

But every home cook has different things they like I guess.

[bob1029]

> I've never heard a chef say that getting a pan hot and staying hot quickly is their number 1 optimization

I am certainly no chef. Just an engineer trying to optimize my time as much as possible, especially in areas where I do not really enjoy spending it.

Reduction of delicate sauces, et. al. is not something I am strongly concerned with. Fast meal prep is the name of the game for me. I do still have the ability to use gas if I really wanted to, I just like the speed of induction.

Do you prefer the cleanup required for a gas range as well? My induction cooktop can be perfectly cleaned within 10 seconds and I don't have to wait for it to cool down either.

When you look at all of this through the lens of time-value, I think it gets much more complex.

[nemo44x]

For sure - different tools for different jobs. We use different software Dev tools for different projects.

I’m a hobby home chef so I guess my optimizations are different. I insist on an offset smoker when a pellet smoker would use much less of my time, for example.

Awesome you cook though especially when it’s not your preferred way to spend time! It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of just getting delicious restaurant food all the time but cooking for yourself and family builds something.

[bob1029]

> I’m a hobby home chef so I guess my optimizations are different.

Yep there you go. If it's something you enjoy, you almost want to slow things down a bit.

> It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of just getting delicious restaurant food all the time

Absolutely. Virtually all of my friends & family are 100% addicted to other people cooking & bringing them food now.

I try to eat out rarely, especially any sort of cheap fast food. The quality & nutrition you get out of a $5 burger these days is absolutely appalling.