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My sister has one and loves it. They can be finicky to use though. Water spilled on the surface can badly affect it, you need special cookware designed for induction tops, but otherwise she thinks it is marvellous.
Thanks, Nancy. I am wondering how water affects the surface? First time I've heard that.
Induction cooktops have had faster adoption rates in Europe versus the US and have been used in many restaurant kitchens for well over a decade.
You do not need special cookware. Magnetically conductive cookware can be used directly on the cooktop and will reap all of the induction cooktop's benefits (fast heating/cooking).
Non-conductive cookware can still be used, but you need to place a steel disk on the cooktop to act as an inductor, which basically turns that burner into an old-school electric coil in terms of performance. You do not need to throw away you old pans to use an induction cooktop, but in the future, you will want to purchase magnetically conductive pans.
My next stove will be induction. I currently have two pans that are not magnetically conductive.
And thank you, cv. I've checked my cookware and find that almost all our pans will hold a magnet. But of course, it is interesting to hear about using a steel conductor to make all of our pans suitable.
I'm happy with mine, no complaints! I love the feature that allows us to crank up the power and get a pot of water to its boiling point extremely quickly.
For folks that have one-- did it take some adjusting of your cooking technique when you got it? How would you compare it to the transition between an electric and gas stove?
I had one when I lived in Europe and just installed had a new induction cooktop back in the US. It's Miele, about an inch thick, which means that almost all of the space underneath the cook top is usable for storage. I love it. It's really easy to control temperature and, as Hemz7781 says, the blast feature allows you to boil water in a flash.
Re: Water spilled on the surface. Too much water spilled on the cook top turns all the burners off, that's all. It can be inconvenient, but it does no damage--other than to the timing of your meal, perhaps, as you wipe up the water.
Thanks for the clarification re water on the surface. I am guessing you used Miele while in Europe?
I don't remember the brand I had in Europe, but the one I bought this year is a Miele and I'd recommend it.
I bought a portable induction burner when I lived overseas in an apartment with a woefully underpowered gas cooktop; I was soon planning meal prep around the one burner. I now have a full-size induction cooktop and just love it. I have a set of All-Clad Tri-ply and a carbon steel skillet which work extraordinarily well. The learning curve was minimal; just had to learn the temperature range. It reacts almost as rapidly as a gas flame and isn't at all fiddly.
Another helpful answer. I am thinking this will be the answer to cooking without the option of gas. I am weary of the lag time when trying to control the heat on a conventional electric cooktop. Thanks to everyone for the good advice.
With any electric stove (induction or conventional), you really need to spend some time with the stove to understand the cooktop's temperature range because there is no real visual cue from the burner itself.
With a gas cooktop, you can see the flame. When I cooked on a gas stove and I was adjusting a burner, I didn't even look at the dial: I looked at the flame and set it to where I wanted to. You can't do that with electrics.
It pays to be initially cautious with a new electric stove.
As responsive as gas.
Heat. Now. As good, no, better than gas. And infinitesimally more responsive. Yes, cookware care can be/is an investment. But, one and done.
You ain't nevah goin' back!
We just got our first induction. I was leaning toward gas but my hubby insisted on induction. It's been great (tho we've only had it for two weeks and haven't put it thru its paces yet). We got a GE Cafe. Miele was out of our price range. Some preliminary observations: water heats to boil super fast. Can do micro adjustments on burner temp. Water boiling over shuts off burner (I guess because the water breaks the magnetic connection) so watch out (also, on our stove anyway, when the burner shuts off like that there is no audible indicator, which seems ridiculous, given how many other bells and whistles - literally - this thing has). Switches all touch pad and very responsive. We've found that only our super cheap junky cook ware doesn't work. Even the IKEA 365 stuff works. I was worried that we were going to have a major cookware replacement expense, but no!
I love it. I use gas at work but induction at home.. The reaction time is immediate when you turn up the temp.
I love it. I use gas at work but induction at home.. The reaction time is immediate when you turn up the temp. I prefer it when cooking sugar.
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I think that induction is in my future as well. Any advice about converter disks, so that I can continue to use my ceramics?
The only advice is to spend as little of money on this as possible. You can pay $15 for an "induction interface disc" or $50 but they all work the same. It's just a piece of metal that's magnetic.
You can even use an old-school cast iron flame diffuser if you have one, thus saving yourself fifteen bucks.
I only have a couple of pans that aren't magnetic and I just put them inside a cast iron skillet. Problem solved.
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