Leaping flames, searing heat, copious sweat and scorchingly inventive swearing – restaurant kitchens are never a place for the faint-hearted, but this summer they have been sweltering in successive heatwaves to a dangerous degree. Some restaurants, cafes and bakeries in the UK grew so hot that they were forced to close, or reduce their hours, for the safety of their staff. There is still no maximum working temperature, despite calls from the TUC, and tens of thousands of kitchen staff are thought to have carried on working in “furnace-like” conditions.
Now a number of chefs are calling for one route to cooling kitchens that may be deeply unpopular with some of their colleagues. Swapping gas hobs for electric induction cooking can reduce temperatures by as much as 10C, as induction cookers only heat the food in the pans. They are more efficient, can reduce costs, are safer as they avoid the harmful pollutants emitted by gas cookers, and make it easier for air conditioning to work in crowded kitchen environments.
But up to now many chefs have been reluctant to make the change. But we have found that we can get just as high temperatures, and just as good cooking, with electric.” The secret to traditional Chinese cookery lies in the “wok hei” – literally, the breath of the wok, meaning the smoke and heat that the chef must master, to give all ingredients the right degree of scorching and flavour. Pang was worried that this would be harder to achieve with electric, but soon found that he could reach temperatures of 350-400C, and in an easily controllable fashion.
One gastropub was able to cut its energy use by almost two-thirds, saving £9,000 on bills. The cost of the retrofit would be repaid within three years, and the pub was likely to save £65,000 over 10 years, the report found. Ellen Chew, founder of the Rasa Sayang restaurant in London’s Chinatown, found an unexpected benefit: chefs no longer had to shout.
Turbo gas burners raise a racket, but induction hobs are silent. For Chantelle Nicholson, who stipulated electric hobs in place of gas when opening her Apricity restaurant in Mayfair in 2022, cleaning and safety are also key. Induction hobs are quicker and easier to clean, which is popular with staff.
Induction is controllable and really reliable.” She was also concerned about studies showing that gas cookers emit harmful pollutants and have been linked to asthma. Diners at the chef’s table in her restaurant have also noticed. Apricity won a coveted Michelin Green Star for its efforts.
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