Decant from an electric kettle. The footprint is minimal (not like an additional induction cooktop), and if you pick one of those 1.7L kettles, you can have enough water for preheat, rinse, and full batches without much of an issue. Stick a small thermometer in the kalita to verify brew temp. Not a whole lot of extra effort for the gain (less scale issues, faster heating than gas stove, less concern with flame impacting kettle handle, etc).

OK ... I had to check my Sweet Maria's account to see when I purchased my Hario Buono kettle. It was back in July of 2010. Shortly after, I installed the flow restrictor form Barismo. FWIW, I've been heating water in that kettle, on a gas stove, since day one. However, I do use a temperature probe/thermometer from Podler to monitor water temps which, depending on the coffee, range from 200F to 205F. On occasion, I did use my Pino kettle to preheat and then transfer to the Buono ... stopped that a long time ago. Like Doug (from OE) said in another post: "just keep the flame under the kettle". When done brewing, I always completely empty the kettle of any residual water. No scale, no rust, no nothing!

jaybar wrote:We are dealing with a NYC apartment kitchen which is not large. I doubt if I would have room for a cooktop. For better or worse, it's the gas range.

Jay

I use a portable induction top. Super fast, super easy, and it's cheap (about $50 and up). It's easy to reheat the kettle if necessary. Just put the cooktop in a kitchen drawer between use.