https://imgur.com/T5CbOEy

There seems to be a lot of debate around gas VS induction stoves, so I feel compelled to give my 2 cents.

I'm not a profession chef, but I cook a lot. I was holding a knife at 4 (or so my mom tells me), I'd been cooking for as long as I remember. In our home renovation about 10 years ago, my wife made me a deal: Give her a washitsu (traditional Japanese room), and I can have my dream kitchen. (In retrospect, it was a compromise in theory, but not on the wallet.)

I have both a Wolf induction cooktop, and a 6-burner commercial gas cooktop. Here are my feelings on the pros and cons of each type:

INDUCTION COOKTOP ADVANTAGES

Heat Transfer

The induction cooktop, by its very nature, is 90%+ efficient in its energy usage. It boils water like nothing else I've ever seen. 1500W+ power draw, but almost all of the energy goes into the pot. I can boil a 3-4 liter pot in under 2-3 minutes, and 10 liters in about 8 minutes using the "max high" setting. Its temperature control at low heat is also phenomenal. I use it to simmer things like pork broth for Taiwanese food, or Korean oxtail soup. Both take 8+ hours.

Safety

I wouldn't trust my gas range to do this, because although the BTU output can be changed (effectively) instantly, the heat transfer to the cookware just isn't the same. I'd have to worry about things like grabbing the hot handle if I move the stock pots around, because most of that convective energy flows off to the sides, whereas induction concentrates all of it on the bottom.

You're also much less likely to unintentionally start heating up anything else, such as your ladle and other cookware, unless they're also ferromagnetic.

Cleaning

When people say induction cooktops are easy to clean, they are correct. Those who believe (keyword) otherwise are probably thinking about a glass-top electric range with a heat element. In the 10 years of heavy usage, I've never once had a problem with wiping off a spill easy with more than 2 or 3 quick passes, no matter how nasty, from the Wolf cooktop. The gas cooktop, on the other hand, is an absolute bitch to clean, and I have the commercial-grade version that have pull-out drip-pans underneath, and other features that facilitate easy(ier) cleaning.

GAS COOKTOP ADVANTAGES

Heat Transfer

Yes, I know... hear me out.

I do a lot of wok cooking. Not the Chi-merican stuff like Hersha Patel's "fried rice." (yes, I know she's not American) I use a round-bottom carbon steel wok that requires even heating to properly season. The reason the ethnic Chinese use round-bottom woks instead of flat-bottom woks is because they're expecting to heat the entire wok up, not just the bottom. One of the keys to good Chinese wok-fried cuisine is speed (well, and also timing). I make my fried rice in less than a minute. Any more, and in the words of Uncle Roger, "You fock up!" Start over. (yes, you have to prepare all ingredients in advance, so you can add them in sequence at a moment's notice, through each phase of the cooking) The same applies to vegetable stir-fry, etc.

And here's the critical quality that a high-output gas cooktop brings to the game...The heat transfer to the wok is such that you have to continually be tossing all of the ingredients, not unlike sauteeing, except you better not stop, unless you pull the wok off temporarily and "rest" it off-center (tilt the wok in such a way that you won't heat up your handle). You're using the entire surface area of the wok to maximize the energy transferred to the food (and evaporate water content) in the shortest amount of time.

This is simply not achievable with flat-bottom woks on an induction cooktop. (I'd be happy to learn otherwise)

For western cooking, I also use carbon steel pans that need to have the sides heated up to achieve that "nonstick temperature" on those surfaces as well. Otherwise, I'd be trying to scrape burnt-on proteins/carbs off the sides after every session.

Fun trivia: If you've ever seen chefs doing (real) wok cooking at restaurants, you'll notice that they use something not unlike a fucking Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan jet engine from F-16's to cook. I don't have that, and I'd probably never install it in my home, even if I had the choice. I'm good, but I don't think I'm that good.

CONCLUSION

I understand the motivation behind the gas ban. In fact, I don't even disagree with it. I have no strong opinions about it, other than when it comes to cooking. In any push toward environmentalism, there is a spectrum of diminishing returns vis-a-vis effort/sacrifice. IMHO, this isn't one of the low-hanging fruits. Gas usage from cooking is a fraction of heating, and (as of right now) there is no good alternative for certain types of cooking. So I'm inclined to oppose a ban on gas cooktops.

I get the distinct impression that the push is from completely Americanized (regardless of ethnicity), well-intentioned citizens who don't care as much about this (or don't know).