Induction vs Gas in 2026: What the Best Chefs Actually Use at Home7 min read

For decades, the question of how to cook in a serious kitchen had a single answer. That answer was gas. The blue flame was the badge of the professional, the centrepiece of every restaurant kitchen, and the choice every keen home cook reached for the moment they had the budget to do so. Induction, for years, has been something else entirely. It has quietly improved in the background, but it hasn’t been the first thing a chef would specify. Nearly halfway through 2026, and we look at how the conversation has changed. You can walk through some of the country’s prestigious homes, and the gas hob isn’t the automatic answer it once was. Induction has certainly moved to the mainstream and to the top of the market. So if this is your year, you are planning a new bespoke kitchen and weighing the two side by side, the most useful question is no longer “which is better in theory?” but “which are the best chefs actually choosing for their own homes in 2026?” Below, we have put together the answer and why.

The Short Answer

In 2026, induction has become the default choice for most serious home cooks, including many Michelin-trained chefs, because premium induction hobs now respond in milliseconds, hold an exact simmer and are easier to live with day to day. Gas still wins for wok cooking, charring directly over a flame and non-magnetic heritage pans such as copper. The fastest-growing option in bespoke kitchens is a hybrid hob: a large induction surface for everyday cooking with a single gas or wok burner alongside for the moments only a flame can handle.

Why Gas Has Held the Crown for so Long

To understand why the shift matters, it helps to remember why gas dominated in the first place. For generations of cooks, gas offered something no other heat source could: a flame you could see. The size of the flame told you how much heat you were putting into the pan. And because it responds the instant you adjust the dials, gas felt like the most direct, tactile connection between cook and food that any technology could offer. Beyond that, gas has worked with everything. Copper, cast iron, woks, the heavy battered saucepans handed down from an older generation, every pan you owned. The heritage of gas cooking hasn’t gone anywhere; it’s how the world has changed around it. Letchworth Project

What’s Changed in 2026

The induction of 2026 has changed somewhat from even five years ago. Today’s premium hobs respond almost instantly, deliver heat with extraordinary precision and offer levels of control that weren’t possible on a flame. Where gas could go from a roar to a whisper in seconds, induction can do it in milliseconds, holding a sauce at an exact simmer without the constant adjustment a flame demands. Meanwhile, the wider context has shifted, too. For homeowners who are thinking carefully about wellness, sustainability and the long-term running of their homes, that distinction matters more than it ever has. Put these two shifts together, and induction stops looking like a compromise and more like an upgrade.

What Top Chefs are Actually Choosing at Home

The most telling evidence is from the kitchens of the cooks who could specify anything they liked. Increasingly, the chefs who have built their reputations on gas are choosing induction for their own homes. Michelin-starred names are switching off the gas the moment they walk through their own front doors and opting for induction cooking. Tom Shepherd, for example, is one of the chefs who is making the choice. It isn’t about trading flavour for convenience; it’s just that induction works better in their own homes. Tewin Project

Where Gas Still Wins

Gas still wins, and the flame has moments where it is the right answer. If you’re a wok cook who wants direct flame licking up the sides, gas remains unmatched. If you regularly char vegetables, peppers or flatbreads directly over an open flame, gas does something induction cannot replicate. And if your most treasured cookware is non-magnetic, like traditional copper or certain heritage pans, gas will work where induction won’t. St Albans Project

Having Both in the Kitchen

This is where one of the most interesting developments has happened in 2026: the rise of the hybrid hob set-up in bespoke kitchens. Rather than choosing one over the other, a growing number of homeowners are designing their kitchens with both. A generous induction surface handles everyday cooking, paired with a single gas burner or wok burner tucked alongside for the moments when only a flame will do. Considered kitchens are turning to the hybrid approach, induction as the workhorse and gas as the specialist. Together they cover every kind of cooking a serious home cook could want, without compromise in either direction.

Designing the Right Hob into a Bespoke Kitchen

Whichever way you choose, the cooking surface is one of the most defining decisions in any new kitchen. It influences the layout of the island, the position of the extractor, the choice of worktop and even the placement of the appliances around it. Getting it right at the start and every decision after becomes a lot easier. Get it wrong, and no amount of beautiful joinery will quite make up for it. This is where a bespoke approach really earns its place in the home. A handmade kitchen, designed around the way you actually cook, can accommodate either choice with equal grace. An induction hob set flush into a beautifully veined stone worktop, almost disappearing when it’s not in use. A statement gas range cooker framed by a bespoke canopy and handmade cabinetry. Or a hybrid set-up, with both surfaces sitting side by side as part of a thoughtfully composed island. The cooking choice leads the design, not the other way around. It’s also where the choice of brand matters. We recommend premium induction hobs and gas options to continue to deliver everything a serious cook could ask for. Offley Project

Frequently Asked Questions

Related blogs: Meet Your Busy Life with a Siemens flexInduction Hob Centre the Kitchen around Cooking with a Neff Hob Elevate Your Culinary Experience with a Wolf Range Cooker Miele Cooking Appliances for the Kitchen   At Planet Furniture, we design bespoke kitchens around how you genuinely want to cook. Whether that’s induction, gas or a hybrid of both, our team will guide you through appliance choices, brand options and design implications, so the decision feels considered rather than complicated. Our bespoke handmade furniture is built to work seamlessly with the appliances you choose, and our long-standing relationships with the very best appliance brands mean you’ll be specifying from the most thoughtfully curated range available in the UK. Every kitchen is handmade in our Hertfordshire workshop and installed across Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, London and the wider Home Counties. If you’re planning a new kitchen, get in touch or book an appointment at our Hitchin showroom. We’ll help you build a kitchen that not only looks extraordinary, but cooks the way you really want it to.