I suspect the backlash is mostly because an interview is already stressful. Then, when you ask someone to code with a marker, all of the muscle memory associated with how they usually code is gone...adding to the stress. You may be missing out on good candidates that just don't "whiteboard well".
Of course, some interviewers are better than others, and can manage to do things to make it a reasonable experience. You outlined some of the things that you do that make it seem like you're in that camp.
I'm not sure there's any one-size-fits-all interview technique that is universally better than others. The homework approach seems popular here, but then there are others that are put off by it. Probably the best thing is an interviewer that's smart enough to change gears when they sense the approach isn't really testing the candidate's skill.
Of course, some interviewers are better than others, and can manage to do things to make it a reasonable experience. You outlined some of the things that you do that make it seem like you're in that camp.
I'm not sure there's any one-size-fits-all interview technique that is universally better than others. The homework approach seems popular here, but then there are others that are put off by it. Probably the best thing is an interviewer that's smart enough to change gears when they sense the approach isn't really testing the candidate's skill.