Induction Cook Tops

[Lenox637]

Does any one out there have one of those new induction stove tops? If so... How do you like it? Do you prefer it over a gas burner? How quickly does the heat adjust to your preference?

[ThreeGigs]

Induction responds instantly, as the only heat mass involved is that of the metal in the pot or pan you're using, just like gas (not counting heavy support grates on gas).

I prefer gas, simply because it's more versaitile. I don't have to worry about pan shape or construction, i.e. I'm not limited to 18/0 stainless or cast iron, and flat bottoms don't matter, so I can cook with a wok or chef's pan if I like.

*If* you buy and use the right kinds of cookware, induction is the most efficient form of electrical cooktop there is. It heats the pan, not the air. In summertime, with the windows closed, this means a much lower load on your air conditioning compared to electric resistance or gas cooktops. Since the metal is heated directly, the heat is spread very evenly across the bottom of the pan, so hotspots aren't a problem. Induction performance in that regard is the best, even better than if you used thick copper cookware on other cooktops. Cleaning the stove is easy, as it's a smoothtop.

Heat output is generaly more limited than with gas, for example I can order a gas cooktop with 18,000 btu burners, or a wok burner with 24,000 but output. You'd need a 4500 watt induction burner to equal 18,000 btus, and most stop at about 3500 watts. Gas cooktops are also generally cheaper to run than induction, aside from the air conditioning load costs. In winter, it's a wash as any excess heat from cooking simply warms the house, and overall, gas costs less than electricity for a given amount of heat. Induction cooktops also generally require 40 or 50 amp 220v circuits, which is no big deal if you're replacing an existing electric stove, but can be problematic otherwise. Induction cooktops cost more than gas cooktops, however that's somewhat offset because you can use thin, cheap pans on induction and still get good performance, instead of having to buy thick aluminum or copper cookware. It's also difficult to tell just how much heat you're applying with an induction burner, as aside from some LEDs or knob position, there's no real visual indication, like flame size, to judge by.

I've cooked on both, and while induction definitely has its benefits, I prefer gas. Now, if I lived in a hotter climate (say Texas or Florida), I may have preferred induction as there's less 'waste heat' for the A/C to remove. It might also be that I've cooked on gas for years, and I find it comfortable and intuitive to use.

[Buckethead]

I prefer induction to gas for a few reasons. The biggest one is response time, which is nearly instantaneous. If I'm simmering something and it's bubbling a little too much, I can adjust the power down a notch and two seconds later I can see the results in the pan. That somewhat mitigates the problem ThreeGigs mentions of not being able to see visually the size of the flame. Also, after a little while you learn the power levels of the cooktop (mine has 19 power levels) and don't really need any other indicators.

Another big factor is energy efficiency, induction is something like 90% efficient, gas is much less, like 50 - 60% I think. As natural gas becomes more expensive, this will be more of an issue.

While it's true that you can get higher BTUs with gas, also remember that with gas, much more of the heat is being wasted than with induction simply because the heat escapes around the sides of the pan. With induction, the heat is generated in the pan, so much less heat is wasted. Using a 24,000 BTU gas burner does not mean that 24,000 BTU are actually making it into your pan. The waste heat produced by gas also means that you need a bit more exhaust power with a gas stove than with induction (which is important if you're remodeling).

The biggest issue with induction, as ThreeGigs says, is using the right cookware. This isn't much of a problem if you're already using stainless cookware, or if you're willing to buy some new cookware. But if you just invested in a ton of expensive anodized pans, they won't work on induction. Also, some specialty pieces are hard to find in induction-compatible versions. For example, I don't think anyone makes a big pressure canner that works on induction. Basically if a magnet sticks to the pan, it'll work with induction.

[paulj]

An indication of this efficiency is the fact that I can bring water for a mug of coffee to a rolling boil, and still be able to touch the rim of the small enameled steel pan. This is with a low end 1300W induction hotplate.

What price and power range did you have in mind?

paulj

[embee]

About magnets: although I don't understand the reasons why, it isn't true. Although most pans that will hold a magnet work with induction, not all do. I also had some pans that would not hold a magnet but did heat up on the induction burner.

Note that I was using a 110 volt portable burner for these tests. I was very surprised.

[dscheidt]

18000 BTU/hr is about 5300 watts; however, your 18000 BTU/hr is not all going to the pot, only about 40% is. So you're delivering about 2100 watts to the pan, and 3160 to the room. Induction, on the other hand, is between 75 and 90% efficient, depending on the pan in use. At the low end, to deliver 2100 watts to the pan, you need 2800 watts of output to deliver 2100 watts into the pan; at the high end, just 2350. That 3500 watt induction burner is roughly the same as 20K BTU/hr gas burner. Open flames are amazingly inefficient at transferring heat into objects. (They're very efficient at heating air, but a stove top lets all that air get away.)

If you're trying to air condition the kitchen, high output gas burners can require more electricity input for the AC, than the induction burner does to cook with.

[Karin Walsh]

I have had my induction cooktop (Kenmore from Sears) for several months. It is the best I have ever cooked on. I have put a pan on with about 2 cups of water to show many people how fast it will boil, it is amazing- truely 90 seconds.

[gimmeflavor]

I've had a portable 110v induction hob for about 2 years. I love it! Especially in the summer. The difference in room heating is surprising. I typically do any summer cooking I can get away with (single burner can limit things) on the induction hob. I'll have a full induction cook top as the primary stove next time I redo a kitchen....

As for better/worse than gas... different.

Gas allows you to control the heat by moving the pan up/away from the hob. That can be good for some applications where you want a lot of heat but you need quick control. For some pans (thin wok is the main example) gas also feathers the heat more... the bottom gets hottest but the sides warm up too because hot air is flowing up the sides of the pan.

Induction requires the use of the control (and the control must be good) because it heats the part of the pan that's within an inch or so of the ceramic plate. You can move the pan around a bit but if you lift it up as you might do with gas the stove will start beeping and shut down.

The heat delivery is very precise and local. As an example... I sometimes use a flat-bottomed stainless steel mixing bowl (from a restaurant supply place) as a backup pan... I can boil water in the bottom of the bowl and still pick up the bowl by the rim without burning myself. I have a flat bottomed wok I sometimes use on the induction hob but basically just the bottom heats up... move even an couple inches up and food will stay cool. Again, I can hold it by the rim even as food is frying at the bottom, at least early on. A cast iron wok would eventually solve that by conducting the heat up the pan but you'd wait a long time for it to heat up.

Pan material is an issue at first and when you get into specialties. I gave away a stack of aluminum restaurant-style pans because they were useless on the induction hob. It's even worse when you get into stone/ceramic cookware or if you have any money invested in copper. Not only does the pot need to be ferrous and magnetic (some stainless, all carbon steel and iron, etc) but it needs to be thick enough for the electronics to detect it as a pot. The standard restaurant mixing bowl is thick enough but I have a stainless kettle that isn't and the stove will turn off if you try to heat a standard can (as in "open the can of corn and try heating it on the hob) even though the manual has a warning not to heat unopened cans.

Cast iron works great... the induction hob is my excuse for buying more cast iron.

Oh, another fringe benefit: the outside of the pans stay clean. No blackening or discoloration unless you really abuse the pan.

My ideal would be one (high intensity/wok style) gas burner and the rest induction... but I I'd pick induction alone over gas alone.

[macic]

I don't yet have one of the tops but have been doing some research - I found a couple of sites - www.induction-cooktop.com is a great start and then from there a link onto another more etailed site (sorry, forget the address

)

hope that helps

[subal]

About 12 years ago we got a G-E induction cook top (but the internals were Hatichi). I loved it as I do most of the 'serious cooking'. The wife would not have a gas as it is too hard to keep clean. Any way, it kept burning out top electric modules every 6 months or so. Fortunately, we had insurance. After about 6 replacements, GE quit carrying replacement parts, so they gave us their top of line solid top electric unit; free. After being used to the instant response of the induction unit, I burnt most things. My pleadings to get a new induction top went on deaf ears - "their too expensive...!" About $4,000.
So all her favorite meals vanished. It was a game of who out lasts who. It took about 18 months, but I won out. We now have had a 5 burner "DIVA" made in Canada. At the time of purchase, about 3 years ago, it was the top rated unit. However recently I've seen others rated higher. Have not had a single problenm with it. I use "All Clad" magnetic stainless and also enameled cast iron cook wear. Don't notice a difference between them.

Aside from the ease of cooking, induction units are easy to clean. Because the top never gets hot, food will not burn and stick to it. We use "Scrubby Bubbles" bathroom cleaner on it, and also out stainless sinks, and then a shot of Windex and a paper towel.
And here's a good tip for those who already have one - when frying, first lay down 2-3 sheets of news paper on the stove top. You can cook through it and when you're done, just roll up the paper along with the splattered grease!

[Politeness]

subal, our experience parallels yours. We switched to induction in 1999. I grew up using gas, and after we were married, we lived in a home without a gas connection, so used resistive electric (exposed coils) for many years.

No question that induction is superior to either gas or resistive electric for the cooking that we do. Our induction cooktop was Jenn-Air, which was orphaned when Whirlpool bought Maytag, so when one of the induction inverters went down eight or nine months ago, we had the same problem that GE imposed on you: there was no way to obtain the parts to repair it. We replaced it with an induction cooktop from another maker (LG) and we are back in business.

Like you, we use Windex (the "Vinegar" variety) and a paper towel for daily cleaning, and maybe once every six weeks, we use the Weiman's glass cooktop cleaner to get it squeaky clean.

Thanks for the tip about the newspaper; in ten years, during which time we occasionally laid down parchment paper under the bottom of the pot for specific dishes where the vessel we needed to use looked to have the potential to scratch the Ceran surface, it never occurred to us to use a much larger sheet of paper for splatter control. Thank you! Now, if only the newspapers would stay in business long enough to continue to supply us with the raw materials...