To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.
Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).
After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared…
For gas vs. electric vs. induction vs. infrared:
I’ve never cooked on gas so I can’t speak to it. I always had normal electric ranges.
Then I got an induction stovetop and it was a game changer. Instead of using a heating element to heat the pot, it uses magnets to agitate the atoms in the cookware and that turns the pot into a heater.
For example, I can boil a pot of water in 2 minutes, faster than a microwave.
The downside is you HAVE to use magnetic pans for it to work (like cast iron.) If you have, say, an aluminum pan, you have to get a stainless steel plate, which will heat the pan and the pan heats the food, just like a normal electric stove.
Infrared works the same way as electric, it heats the pot which heats the food.
as a man who exclusively cooks on gas and wood stoves (see pic in diff comment thread for proof)
I love cast iron.