On Ovens and Why I Ditched My Gas Stove for Induction
Arguably the baker's most important, and least discussed, tool. Plus tips for getting your oven to work for you.
I got a new oven last week. The old machine baked every practice bake for the Great American Baking Show, everything in my cookbook proposal, and every recipe in this newsletter. It worked well and worked hard, but it slowly died during the past month. Farewell, stalwart companion.
I wasn't overly attached to my old oven. It came with our house. It was my first gas oven, a pretty basic Kenmore model with convection. After we moved in, I nervously tested the new oven with some simple bakes, using an oven thermometer. Wow, it worked great. No notes. Like with a new car, I got used to how it operated. All of my bakes came out as expected, with no drama. Whew, I thought. Better than our last place, which came with a clunker.
When my husband and I bought our first condo, it came with a well-designed, sunny kitchen...and a high-end Thermador oven. That oven was absolute crap. But it took me a while to realize it.
Fancy ovens don't necessarily mean better ovens. I've had cheap, apartment-grade ovens that worked just fine. But this Thermador made me rethink everything. My breads didn't have good volume and nearly every butter-based cake I made had a gummy layer at the bottom or entirely sunk. I thought that I just couldn't make cakes. Macarons burnt or exploded. I had the oven serviced by a "certified" technician. I used an oven thermometer. I calibrated the oven. None of these things solved the problem. Yes, I could produce delicious bakes, but more sensitive bakes, like those butter cakes or finicky macarons, never worked well.
In early 2020, that darn Thermador died, and I didn't want to fix it. About a week before COVID lockdowns, a new oven took its place, and my baking transformed. Breads had more volume, cakes didn't sink, and even macarons worked out (although they're still finicky little things).
I pains me to tell bakers, who seem to do everything right, that the problem might be their oven. Maybe they can simply calibrate it to solve the problem. But they might have to hire an professional to repair it or, in the worst-case scenario, get a new oven if they want their baking to improve. And most folks can't spend money on a new oven.
Some Oven Tips
Every oven is different. For this reason, it's challenging, as a recipe writer, to give exact timing for bakes. That's why we include other cues for doneness like color, texture, smell, or toothpick and poke tests. Here are a few things you can do to help you work with what you have.
Get an oven thermometer: Buy a cheap thermometer to help you know when your oven is heated, and if your oven runs true to temperature. Most ovens are not fully preheated when they say they are. Check your oven thermometer, and start your bake when it tells you that it's preheated.
Calibrate your oven: If you notice that your oven runs a bit cold or hot, most ovens allow you to calibrate them to run warmer or cooler than the temperature you set it at. I know several folks who've done this and their bakes work much better.
has a great post about calibrating your oven.Do a shortbread test: Whip up a simple shortbread cookie recipe. Cut the shortbreads into identical shapes and place them on a parchment-lined half-sheet pan. Set each shortbread on the pan in a perfect grid, like 4 by 5. Bake the shortbread without rotating the pan. Near the end of the bake, watch them carefully. Are some browning faster than others? Is the one in the front corner darker than the one in the opposite corner? This will help you test for hot spots. You can do this again for the convection setting and on multiple racks.
Get to know your oven: Although a recipe says to bake cookies on the middle rack, you might know that the bottoms get too dark if you do that. Try baking them one rack higher. Same for bread. Bake a loaf in the middle rack and see if the bottom or top gets darker and adjust the placement of your next loaf.
Gas vs. Induction-Electric: Why I made the switch
When I posted a story on Instagram that I switched to from a gas oven and stove to electric, I got three responses. First, some folks said that they can't cook without gas and some said I'll have trouble selling your home if I take out the gas stove. Second, several people said that they want to get an induction stove. Third, some cooks proudly proclaimed love for their induction stove.
Honestly there's not a huge difference (in my experience) with baking in a gas vs. electric oven. The stove/range/cooktop is a bit of a change. I've had it for a week and I'm totally used to it, and I adore it.
For those who want to know, here’s a primer on how induction works.
Here are five reasons I chose to make the switch:
Health: According to various studies, gas stoves lead to poor indoor air quality which can have negative health outcomes, especially for kids. The American Medical Association and American Public Health Association recommend ditching your gas stove. This was the most important thing for me.
Climate: I don't want to get into the science of climate change here, that's not my area of expertise. (Despite having a master's degree in public policy from a school that also has an incredible environmental science program.) But the less fossil fuel I can burn, the better. According to the U.S. Department of Energy induction stoves are 5-10% more energy efficient than normal electric stoves and three times more efficient than gas stoves. I will save money on my gas bill.
Efficiency & control: I can boil water so much faster on my new stove than my old gas one. The oven heats up faster, too. Although I've just started cooking with it, I feel like I have as much, or more, control over the heat as I did before. Heck, even The Food Lab author J. Kenji López-Alt said he would choose an induction range for how it cooks.
Safety: This goes along with health, but I am always nervous about leaving a gas burner on or having the oven or stove malfunction. I just feel safer with an electric appliance. especially when we have young folks at the house. With my induction stove, if you take the pan off the burner, it automatically turns off.
Cleaning: It's just way easier to clean the flat top of the induction stove compared with the nooks and crannies of a gas stove.
Steaming: For bread bakers, this is important. My gas oven was vented, so it made steaming the oven (to make great bread) very difficult. The electric oven steams wonderfully.
Would you make the switch from gas to induction? Have you already made the switch? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Baking
Martin
I have the same induction stove! I love it. Awesome for baking.
Big push here in Australia to get off gas for all appliances. We switched from gas stove to induction 2 years ago. It was a strange learning curve, as the usual cues were missing, such as sizzling and the lack of a flame licking Jo the sides of the pan of this impatient cook. Never has a gas oven at home, but used them in large hotel pastry kitchens. Got a new Bosch oven last year - it’s amazing, I don’t need to rotate the trays, it cooks so evenly.