Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: question about your cookstoves

[Katie Henry (katie-henry]

At Heartwood Commons Tulsa, now under construction, we eliminated gas from the 
project for environmental and financial reasons. (It was something like $50,000 
just to run gas to the site.)

The design originally called for a 48-inch gas range, so we needed a Plan B. We 
never considered a regular electric cooktop. If not gas, it was always going to 
be induction. 

We looked at equivalently sized induction ranges but they were shockingly 
expensive. We also had safety/logistics concerns about cooks needing to bend 
over and remove heavy casserole dishes from the oven while other cooks were 
using the cooktop. 

We ended up redesigning the kitchen to incorporate two electric wall ovens and 
a standalone 30-inch induction cooktop (no oven below). We had concerns about 
such a small cooktop, but there are a bunch of highly rated and *cheap* 
portable induction burners on the market. The plan is to keep a couple of these 
burners on hand and use them for overflow. They can be parked in a quiet corner 
of the kitchen to keep food warm or for dishes that don't need a lot of 
attention. 

This one has 10,000+ positive reviews and costs $54.99. Hard to beat that!

https://www.amazon.com/Duxtop-8100MC-Portable-Induction-Countertop/dp/B0045QEPYM/ref=sr_1_3?crid=TUUQMPQSVTR5&dchild=1&keywords=portable+induction+cooktop&qid=1632284076&sprefix=portable+induction%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-3



We made these changes right as construction was starting. There were redesign 
and change order fees, but we think the changes were worth it and we'll have a 
much more user-friendly kitchen. I'm afraid I can't provide any real-world 
feedback yet.

Katie Henry
Heartwood Commons - Tulsa