As a middle European I haven‘t really seen anything else in like 10 years. A few years back they were a bit more expensive than regular electric ones, but nowadays even the cheapest model from IKEA (which is produced by a reputable company here in Europe) works pretty well.
I love magnets
Ive just switched to an all electric household. The cooking got a little challenging initially but once we replaced all pans with high quality ones it became good. We have a Bosch hob and oven.
Yeah, some of the older pots don’t have a ferrous layer and won’t work with induction.
Its great to hear the tech is progressing. I’ve had terrible experiences with them 10+ years ago. I really wish there was a practical way to try before buying
I got one last year, replaced a shitty old school electric coil one.
Similarly, I was kinda skeptical, but in my mind I reasoned it can’t be possibly worse than the shit electric one I had at the time and I’m not going to pay to have a gas line installed sooo I went with it.
It’s the best fucking stove I’ve ever cooked on in my life. By a LONG shot.
I can watch a pot of water boil
Oil is up to temp faster than you can turn around and grab your meat and seasonings
Almost-magic fast temp adjustmentsThe best part? You know those black burned on crud spots(that are most prevalent on glass tops) that you have to scrape off? Non existent. Idk if its unique to Samsung, but it’s surface is fucking dead easy to clean, it never got the burned on crap after a year when I’ve had new stoves in the past develop it in a matter of weeks
The easy clean is really due to how the induction coil heats the pan but not the cooktop surface. With the surface only heating indirectly it’s really not possible for stuff to burn on nearly as badly. At least when compared to a conventional radiant electric. The surface just doesn’t get as hot.
I went from induction to a house with a gas cooktop and miss the induction a lot.
Ah gotcha, I wasn’t sure because my surface feels so…weird (it doesn’t feel or look like glass or ceramic) so I wasn’t sure if the “magic” was in that or just the way induction worked
I actually got a silicone cover for my induction stove, that can handle cooking temps, and it means the surface stays pristine.
Full agree though, never want another coil/glasstop stove, induction is the way to go.
I had a terrible experience with one just last year. Had to replace it. Went back to an electric cooktop with simmerstats just last month. We’re much happier now. Can cook again without all the burning and boiling over.
I know an induction cooktop could be much better but the one we had couldn’t simmer anything: it could only intermittently overheat it. And occasionally it would switch to either full power (very dangerous - it was very powerful) or no power (absolutely ruins a steak when you’re trying to sear it). Technicians came multiple times and concluded ‘there’s nothing wrong’. Fortunately, after almost two years, they agreed to an ‘upgrade’.
I expect commercial induction cooktops are much better than consumer grade but they’re too expensive.
I wouldn’t buy another that I hadn’t tried first. I know one place that has a showroom with everything powered. Not that they would let me actually try cooking anything, but at least one can put a pot of water on and try out the controls.
I think you had the same problem I have with my induction hot plate: The pulse width modulation is too long. When you’re going low and slow having it at full power for a whole second is going to burn/boil things over.
I still love it for searing or boiling big pots of water, and even for making stock.
That was exactly the problem with simmering anything.
Also, only 9 power levels wasn’t enough. It was very powerful (nice when I wanted full power) but the steps in power were too big. For many things the only options were too hot or too cold.
But the fault that made me replace it was an intermittent one: occasionally (about five times in 18 months) it went to full power. This could happen at any power setting. No change in the indicated setting, but the power would come on continuously. Anything other than a pot of water would, in just a few seconds, be burning. Very dangerous! Fortunately, it never happened when I wasn’t standing right there to turn the power off at the wall switch. Being intermittent, technicians couldn’t find/fix the fault. It also occasionally stopped heating for a minute or so at a time, as if there was some thermal lockout even when nothing was unusually hot, but at least that wasn’t dangerous.
That was exactly the problem with simmering anything.
Also, only 9 power levels wasn’t enough. It was very powerful (nice when I wanted full power) but the steps in power were too big. For many things the only options were too hot or too cold.
The old Frigidaire (Eletrolux) induction range I am still using uses .5 steps from “Power Boil” (10) down to 3. From power level 3 down it offers .2 steps, so 3, 2.8, 2.6, etc.
I haven’t had any trouble simmering with it.
That would solve one of my major problems with induction stoves.
Now to just have my house wired for it and to be able to afford one.
This is a far worse experience than I have had with a consumer induction cooktop. Im able to simmer, low-temperature frying, and the likes just fine
It’s good to know there are some decent productions. That’s what I was expecting. I understand the technology. I know what is possible. It was very frustrating and disappointing. The largest appliance manufacturer in the world is selling poorly designed rubbish. The documentation doesn’t describe essential parameters. If only there were a practical way to distinguish the good from the bad before buying… try before you buy is my advice.
Which brand was this? On mine, which is a Samsung (so if any brand was going to poorly design it, it’d be them lmao) I have had no issues simmering
It was Haier. And I see they are no longer the biggest by revenue, but still #3
The problem with simmering is that the cooktop was very powerful (nice when you want to heat something quickly) but it only had two modes: one or off. The power was regulated by turning it on briefly, once every 30 seconds. Even at the lowest possible setting (there were 9 power levels), a pot of water would boil each time the power came on for about 3 seconds. Then it would cool for 27 seconds. Even a pot with a thick base, designed for induction cooktops, and heavy cast-iron pans had this problem.
It would be easy to turn the power on and off more frequently than once every 30 seconds. It wouldn’t be much more difficult to have a mode that delivered less than full power.
A thick iron plate under the pot smoothed the power delivery to the pot, but then it’s not really induction heating of the pot: just a hot plate.
Sounds like a crappy product. I’ve cooked on 2 Whirlpool/KitchenAid induction ranges (they’re the same company) and two cheap brands of countertop induction. All four were able to simmer easily and cycled on much more often and more briefly than you describe. And all were plenty powerful.
I did the most cooking on the KitchenAid and it could melt chocolate in a saucepan without scorching. I could hear it pulsing on probably for 1/2 second every 3-5 seconds. On the next setting hotter it could maintain a simmer in silly small quantities. And it could still boil a big pot of water for pasta in a couple of minutes. Pot handles stay cool and spoons don’t get burnt if you leave them hanging over the side. Loved it. I miss that range.
The only thing I had more trouble with was making caramel. The sides of the pan don’t get as much indirect heat compared with radiant or gas, so it wanted to crystallize at the edges. I had to use a thick tri-ply pan for that and still kept a blowtorch on hand to add a little side-heat.
Pulsing the power every 3 to 5 seconds would be fantastic! One pulse every 30 seconds is not good. But I haven’t yet found a manual or sales person that can tell me the period of the pulse width modulation for any brand/model. Not that I have tried very hard.
Maybe I should try KitchenAid. What you describe sounds wonderful.
Get a decent counter top induction plate. Don’t get a fancy one, because they are all limited to the same power. So get one that has the basic features you might want to try. Also try to get one with a reasonable size heating zone.
Then get a good solid stainless steel or cast iron pan.
It won’t be quite the same power level as a full cook range, but it will show you how the heat can be managed. It will probably be able to boil water faster than gas, but not quite as fast as a modern electric. Try something that requiresgood heat control, like pancakes.
These induction plates are also just generally useful for doing stinky/messy things outside or adding another burner to the kitchen during big holiday or family events.
Pancakes, steaks and simmering anything were my biggest frustrations.
Any recommendations? All the countertop ones I’ve seen online max out at 8 inch diameter cooktop, and almost all my skillets are 12 inch
I’d caution against buying any of them for pans that large, honestly. Manufacturers are not required to match the size of the coil to the ring that indicates the ‘cooking surface’ on the cooktop. I bought the Duxtop one that all the review sites seem to recommend, and while it’s still a capable burner, the actual coil does not extend to the full diameter of cooking surface (it’s a lot closer to the minimum pan diameter, about 4 inches). No pan is actually going to adequately compensate for this, I’ve tested it across several different cookware materials, and multiple different brands of multi-ply stainless steel. You end up needing to treat pans somewhat like a wok, with hot/cold zones and a very clear temperature falloff when not in the center of the pan. I didn’t have issues with warping, but I was also extremely careful when it came to preheating pans that were 10 inches or more.
If you do decide to purchase one, you need to find the size of the actual coil itself. Most manufacturers don’t readily provide this information, taking advantage of the fact that most consumers are unfamiliar with the technology or won’t nitpick about the uneven heating. I hate it, because it can lead to an experience so bad that it turns people off from induction.
With the plug in models that’s about the biggest you’ll find. Full range cook tops will offer larger diameters.
If you’re searing or pan frying, then a 12 in might have some cold spots towards the edge, depends on the quality of the pan. A 10 in or less should be fine as long as the pan is decent quality. For something like deep frying, stewing, boiling, etc the size won’t matter so much.
I’ve used a pretty cheap on (Duxtop or something like that) with a 6-8" heating coil. It worked fine on a well-conducting pan - 12" triple layer stainless-aluminum-stainless (like All-Clad, but a cheap version for restaurant use). It also did great with a 10" carbon steel pan. But I wasn’t doing anything that required maximum heat across the width of the pan. I think that’s a shortcoming for sure.
There are also reports of poor performance with larger cast iron pans, which makes sense - they’re not great heat conductors. So I think in part at least it depends on your cookware and what you’re cooking. Boil/simmer/fry in a larger highly conductive pan will likely be fine. Sear in a larger less-conductive pan maybe not so much.
Fuck yes! They already have the appliances set up in kitchens in the stores, let me cook a meal and figure out wether I like it or not!
As great as the improvements have been, I’ve still not seen an alternative that can compete with gas when it comes to tilting a pan or wok. Losing heat every time you lose direct, flat contact is so frustrating for certain cooking styles. Also being able to roast (and not fully bake) a pepper over the flames is so helpful. If an alternative could do those two things, I’d be very excited.
It should be possible to do a 2-3cm gap between induction coils and base of pot.
There are wok induction stoves with a curved surface for a matching wok
The ones I’ve seen online don’t put out anywhere near the same amount of heat. US plugs are limited to like 7000btus for a standard outlet, but most wok burners are like 30000btus minimum. That works out to like 20 amps on a 240v circuit or 40a on 120v.
Some higher end induction cooktops in the EU are three-phase power around 400V like the Bosch PXX975DC1E which uses 11kW max. Not sure what btu output that is though.
If it were putting that 11kw out of one burner it would be 35-40k BTUs, but it’s only putting out 3.7kw per burner, so like 12k BTUs.
That’s true, but the vast majority of hear with those high BTU woks literally just go completely around the side and heat up the air around the wok and is not transferred to the pan. They are just the only good way to give high, encompassing heat on all sides.
BTU output transferred to the pan is likely similar.
Almost nowhere in North America has residential 3 phase
You can’t compare the energy directly like that since induction has a higher efficiency.
That’s fair. I tried to under estimate the wok BTUs, since commercial units can have 3-4 times the output, to make it a little more fair of a comparison though.
Pedantry:
Technically the gas is about 100% efficient at turning gas into heat, but not all of that heat makes it to the pan whereas the induction transmits like 99% of the energy used into the pan directly.
I feel the ideal setup would be to use induction for most things, and then have a separate 100k BTU propane burner outside for wok cooking. It’s more than you’d be able to get from a residential unit.
Yes, you need a full-size unit that plugs into a 240v high-amp stove outlet like a range does. The 120v countertop units dont do it.
I’ve got a cheap, pretty awful induction hot plate and it has no trouble getting a cast iron pan to over 700F.
A half-watt Christmas light is 2000F. That metric is not very relevant to cooking.
Okay, you put your hand on a 700F cast iron pan
Commercial use hopefully will help with the under-specced components that routinely failed when I last looked into induction. My gas stove hasn’t got a chip or board on it, which I appreciate.
This is the main thing. Gas doesn’t need power.
I bought a $50 nuwave induction cooktop 3+ years ago and have since used it as my main stove, and even taken it camping. It’s still going strong and hasn’t shown any signs of wear and tear, other than a sticker peeling off a little. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made, I hate my gas stove.
I hate my gas stove
Could you share some details on what you hate about it? I’m super curious. I like everything about my gas range, except for cleaning it.
The top thing I hate about it is that it releases toxic gas into the room, and I don’t (like most people around here) have a vent hood that vents outside. You can clearly smell when the stove, or especially the oven, is running. Better setups probably have less of an issue with this, but even commercial stoves need to be properly vented, and proper residential ventilation is just a rarity in the US.
There has been proper research that shows that pollution from gas stoves contribute to thousands of deaths annually, and that they release toxic gasses even while turned off. Gas furnaces are specifically designed to vent 100% of their air outside. That’s the general guidance with anything gas-powered, except for stoves and ovens for some reason, which vent exactly 0% of their air outside.
The next biggest thing is that it’s just plain slower and less energy efficient than induction (or even electric). Energy efficiency isn’t a huge problem, since gas is just waaayyy cheaper than electricity, but I love the fast heat up times of induction, which are partly due to the great energy efficiency.
Air quality is a huge factor, but I also just like cooking on induction better anyway so there aren’t really any downsides for me besides maybe a minimally higher electric bill.
Not OP, but we’ve had two, multi thousand dollar, high end gas stoves from different brands, and both have had fucked up igniters that constantly need to be cleaned, and in some cases replaced yearly. $300/yr in igniters for cooking breakfast and dinner on it. At one point, the oven broke, and the repairs took three actual months, which was insane. I’ve never had any problems with any stoves aside from these gas ones. Extraordinarily unreliable, especially when the igniters don’t work and you have to light them by hand.
We keep our range and stove in immaculate condition, and it’s still fucked up. It’s most likely our last one.
Just use a BBQ lighter, way cheaper.
under-specced components that routinely failed when I last looked into induction.
Whether mine is an outlyer and this is survivorship bias, but my Frigidaire range from 2007 (2 induction + 2 electric thermal) from 2007 is still going strong with zero failures or repairs.
I think it’s the ones with the capability for “overdrive” were the worst; people used them (as one does) and they simply failed a heat death. Yours may have survived because you’ve got the hybrid, or because it was early before they engineered in the cost savings… If the bean counters let them use then correct components, they’d work well.
My gas stove hasn’t got a chip or board on it, which I appreciate.
You haven’t seen the new gas stoves yet. Touchscreens to control the burners. Brilliant, haha.
Oh, I know. I bought this one specifically because of it.
That’s your own damn fault if you buy one of those
It’s the future!
Have used so many induction stove tops, and none of them match my gas one.
Being able to tilt my pans and concentrate where I want heat is invaluable.
I keep clean as o cook also, and the touch interface they all seem to have on the glass breaks the cook when I wipe over with a damp cloth.
Sure, they can bring water to the boil fast, but it’s not for me.
Got one of those induction round bottom wok setups. It’s great. Especially compared to a flat bottom on an electric. But yeah, I wish it was more tolerant of moving and lifting the wok.
Mine has a lock controls button that I use to prevent things turning on when I clean. You need to long-press it, and a brief wipe with a damp cloth won’t trigger that button
Bro, spaghetti is the ultimate test. What are you even doing?
Oh, that’s a good point.
I literally stopped eating anything from gas after I got my induction stove. I was invited couple of times for dinner by friends who consider them foodies but since I know they use gas I just pass. Once you go induction you don’t go back.
With gas you may think the result is good but it really just more or less where it should be. With induction it takes a little bit of practice but you can repeatedly make it absolutely perfect. Yes, it’s more difficult to cook on induction and I get it that some people simply don’t have necessary skills but good cook + induction will always beat gas stove. Once I got used to it I could always tell when something was made on gas. It got to the point for me that I just as what type of stove restaurant uses and if it’s gas I simply walk out and go to a different place. One with induction stove of course.
…you flake on dinner with your “friends” because they cook with a gas stove. I hope this is satire.
I plan on buying one of those countertop wok induction stoves. I hear enough good about them to want to try. Range oven, I need a new one and have planned on induction for a while
