The chefs turning down the heat by switching from gas to electric

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By Fiona Harvey, The Guardian. 

Excerpt: 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. ...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.... 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, ...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. ...A report from the Global Cooksafe Coalition found that restaurants could save thousands of pounds on their energy bills alone from making the switch. ...Induction hobs are quicker and easier to clean, which is popular with staff. ...Luke Burgess, owner of Scholé in Australia, quoted in the GCC report, found that cleaning time was reduced from 24 minutes for a gas cooktop to 21 seconds for an induction cooktop, which he calculated saved over AU$30,000 (£15,700) over a year in wages alone.... 

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