>
A government move to force Australians to ditch gas stoves and switch to white goods has sharply divided opinion in the hotel industry, with some criticizing the enormous cost and impracticality of the switch.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has struck a deal with the Greens to force households and businesses to stop using gas stoves and buy “cheaper, cleaner appliances”.
In the recent Victorian state election, the Greens went further and pushed for a ban on all gas connections to homes from 2025.
Anthony Albanese (pictured) has agreed to a Green-led plan that will switch homes and businesses from gas to electricity.
The establishments of the hotel industry would have to change their equipment according to the ambitious plan (file image)
Wes Lambert, vice president of the Australian Foodservice Advocacy Body, criticized the plan, saying the aussie that switching to electric would cost restaurants millions when they were already making it difficult.
Most commercial kitchens have gas cooktops as it heats up quickly and the temperature can be adjusted more quickly.
“If restaurants are forced by skyrocketing gasoline prices to recondition their kitchens, the cost could be in the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.
Redfern’s Sunshine Inn head chef Lizzie Tillett explained that restaurants still need and value gas stoves for quick service.
“Everything needs to be fast in a kitchen, so having gas that can be adjusted in a second is critical to quickly cooking for service,” he said.
“Plus, with real fire you can manipulate the ingredients, as if charring things directly over a flame would give you a completely different flavor than indirect heat.”
But Executive Chef of Flying Fish at The Star Sydney, Adam Hall, says that while gas was great for high-temperature cooking, it was time for establishments to switch to electric.
I’m 100 percent for it: Gas is old school. Since there is so much focus on sustainability, it should be a major focus for any business and every household,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“Plus, anything that makes a chef’s life easier is music to our ears, especially when the industry is still battling staff shortages.”
Hall said many kitchens already run on “electric induction cooking” because it’s “quick to heat up, safer for staff and very easy to keep clean.”
Redfern’s Sunshine Inn head chef Lizzie Tillett (pictured) said restaurants still need gas stoves for quick service
Flying Fish executive chef at The Star Sydney, Adam Hall (pictured), is in favor of the move to white goods, saying gas was “old school”.
Mark Munro, who works for a food manufacturer and has more than 20 years experience as a chef, said there are certain ‘benefits’ to using electrical appliances, such as making the energy supply renewable.
But he explained that changing the equipment “would raise a number of issues, in addition to the effect on food preparation in restaurants.”
“Good-quality electrical equipment is expensive, and parts replacement and service can often be significantly more expensive than gas-powered equipment, which is much simpler by comparison,” he said.
“Gas appliances like deep fryers and sauté burners have some tricky parts — valves that may need replacing, maybe a thermal couple — but they’re generally reliable and durable. Electrical appliances are usually much more complicated.
Munro said that the most effective replacement for a gas cooktop is an induction cooktop.
“Induction cooktops are very expensive, and in a commercial kitchen the 6-10 gas burners you are replacing would cost tens of thousands of dollars, perhaps a good investment, but prohibitively expensive for most small businesses,” he said. .
‘I’ve worked with some amazing equipment for resorts and hotels, but when it comes to small restaurants, I’ve achieved amazing results with old gas ranges and charcoal grills.
‘Add to all this the cost of repair in the unavoidable event of damage, and replacing gas cookers in commercial kitchens becomes unfeasible.’
Former chef Mark Munro said changing the equipment “would raise a number of issues, in addition to the effect on food preparation in restaurants” (file image)
The debate over gas stoves comes after a recent US study found that pollutants from gas stoves can trigger asthma attacks and other respiratory problems (file image)
The debate over replacement of gas stoves arises when a recent study in the US found that pollutants from gas stoves can increase asthma rates and worsen symptoms.
The peer-reviewed study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, said gas stoves in American kitchens accounted for about 12.7 percent of childhood asthma cases nationwide.
Gas stoves emit significant amounts of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde, which can trigger asthma and other respiratory problems.
arrives days later asthma australia published a report which found that 48 per cent of Australian households used gas stoves and that cooking with gas was contributing to the “burden of childhood asthma” in the country.
“Cooking with gas is estimated to be responsible for up to 12 percent of the childhood asthma burden in Australia, which is comparable to the risk of tobacco smoke exposure in the home,” the analysis said.
The report revealed that exposure to polluting gases can lead to the development of asthma and that a third of Australians with asthma and allergies experienced worse symptoms at home.
A 2018 Australian study also found that 12.3% of childhood asthma cases were linked to toxic chemicals and carcinogens released from gas cooking equipment.