An open flame is a different type of heat than induction generates. Reason being is that induction doesn't heat the cooktop -- it heats the pan and food.

If there's space, budget and gas is available it's always possible to do an induction cooktop plus a double gas burner.

As for cooking individual dishes, there is always more than one way.

Actually, induction heats the pan. I mean, that's the whole idea.

I prefer the low heat and control of induction for candy and stuff like that.

Induction most definitely heats the pan, which heats the food. What it doesn't do is heat the cooktop (which does get warm - heat transferred from the hot pan - but not super hot)

I've always thought that if your flame went up the side of the pot your pot was too small and you were wasting most of your gas/heat! Major issues I see are the ones you point out. Otherwise I love the good low heat control for simmering or melting chocolate. Heat is very even - I can make pancakes on my 12" skillet and they are completely evenly browned (on gas they were always half brown and half not cooked well). I suppose eshmh is correct about the output, but I've never wanted my boost on for longer than it defaults too. On Miele I believe you can boost 3 things without taking away power from other things, but I can't imaging ever wanting to do that - I only use it for boiling (it will even burn rice on the bottom of your pot in a minute - in a pot full of cold water!). You just don't need that much heat output all at once - unless you want to burn your food or boil a whole bathtub full of water at once (and I do use 4-5 burners at once a lot). A low end induction will have more heat output that most gas cooktops unless you are looking high end. Also a fan of the ease of cleaning (although agree aesthetics are less appealing unless you have a modern kitchen). All in all I find it equal to gas for the vast majority of things, much better at some, and unable to do those last few (wok and charring pepper).

I don't mean gas flame goes beyond the diameter of the pot, but gas still heats the side because hot air from the flame rises. Running 3 or more high-power-required tasks are very rare if ever happen.

I also think that if you have young children induction is safer. I also think that as you're getting up there in age, induction is again safer.

Oh one thing I won't be able to do on my induction cooktop that I could do on a gas cooktop? Roast marshmallow's. Thankfully I'll have an outdoor gas grill for that.

Another thing against induction for some: most large volume pressure canners are made of aluminum, which won't work on induction. That plus the possibility of power outages in my rural area has me ruling out induction.

There is a small butane camping stove and a small butane torch that can be used for roasting marshmallow's when it is really cold outside :-)

Woking on induction is fine, even a round bottom wok on a flat induction hob. With induction wok adapter ring and a control small amount of food, result should be as good as any sealed gas hob rated up to 22 Mj (around 21k BTU). Those Capital and BlueStar 25k BTU open burners probably will be in a different league and offer a different experience for wok cooking with the extra amount of heat they can generate in the middle of the wok as well as directional flame towards the centre. Capital power wok, and Wolf 15" wok burner are probably in that better league, also.

Personally, I think a directional heat towards the middle of the wok is important to a style of wok cooking where you rest an ingredient to the side of a wok, and and new ingredient in the middle where it is hottest. Majority of dual rings or triple rings 15k - 21k BTU burners have a weak spot right in the middle where small inner simmer burner ring stands.

Induction folks: I live by saucier pans, those sauce pans narrower at the very bottom and flared/curved at the sides designed to facilitate evaporation. They are both great for reducing/building sauces, and for preparing food that require a lot of stirring (especially with a whisk) like a roux. I'm wondering how a saucier pan would work on an induction burner given that only the very bottom of the pan will make contact? So if eliasgrace uses sauciers, that could be a consideration.

Regarding heating the middle of the wok, from what I get, it should be rather around the middle. The liquid gathers in the middle/bottom of the wok. If heating right in the middle, the flame will just keep vaporizing the water, and the temperature is then capped at 100 C, which is not searing. The residential burner is not powerful enough to vaporize water fully as it comes out of the food. On the other hand, one does not wants to heat the very side of the wok for obvious reason. So the better spot for the relatively weak residential burner is to focus the heat to the ring area and a bit beyond around the middle spot.

Thanks everyone! Seems like induction is great for most things. Stevep2005, good point about the saucier pans. I don't own one, but I hear they're great.

For heat focused towards the middle of a pan for residential stove, there are two sample videos on youtube that demonstrate the subject.

First one is from trevor@eurostoves who compares a dual ring sealed burner with a modified one with a seal cap removed. Trevor shows that the modified one boils water more rapidly.

Another video is in dutch, an advertisement video for the gas hob that I have. At 2.36 mark, Chef Réne demonstrates an effect of focusing heat towards the middle of round bottom wok versus heat from outer ring. Spec-wise, inner wok ring is rated only at 3kw (~10k BTU) while the outer ring is rated at 6kw (~21k BTU) comparable to the outer ring from Wolf in the above video as well as many other 5" dual ring wok burners on the market. What he shows is that water boils more vigorously when heat using inner ring, and water barely boils when outer ring is used.

I have these Asko/ATAG hobs in my kitchen and can attest wok cooking with round bottom wok is better when using more focused heat inner ring flame compared with using larger, higher rated heat output outer ring flame. Food sears quicker, water evaporates faster. Despite saying that, it is still a residential stove where portion control is critical. It won't handle large amount of food being dumped into the wok. However, when cooking with the right amount of food, generally around 2-4 serving size for multiple plates meal, there is a good amount of wok her to be had from this hob.

Cooking with flat induction hob with round bottom wok and wok ring adapter also works similarly to a degree in that heat is more focused towards the bottom of the wok. One critical element is to find the right combination of wok shape and adapter ring such that the bottom does not sit too close nor too far from the induction surface. When it is too close, heat control can be a bit more difficult.

@stevep2005 and eliasgrace, I use all-clad sauciers (1qt, 2qt, and 3qt) myself. Their very bottom is flat to a large degree, and have curved rim where it joins the side. They work great on induction.

Chanop, so you do get heating/cooking up the curved portion of the bottom of the pan (awkward wording) then, that's great to know. I might have to bring one of my All-Clad sauciers over to a friend's Bosch induction to try that out.

I have evasés and use them on radiant electric. There's actually better with that than a straight sided saucepan. Can't imagine they would be worse on induction. One is Demeyere which has superb heat conduction and the other is Sitram which is an aluminum disc bottom with stainless sides.

stevep2005, I would say direct heat goes up just a little bit, may be half the height of the radius portion for not too scientific gauging by eyes, and definitely not a lot of heat along the side. Most of the induction load would be on the flat portion at the bottom. Compared with gas hob that sometimes has gas and heat licking towards the side, induction keeps most heat at the bottom for sauciers.