Need help- Induction cooktop

[chloe5susan]

I need help with info about induction cooktops.

I am from US(Indiana) Induction cooking is very new for us over here

We are getting ready to do a kitchen remodel. I love a electric fla glass cooktop( easy clean up) but want to have gas for better contro so they showed me the new Induction cook top. Said the UK have bee using these for years. So that's why I post here!! One I am looking a is a Thermador 5 induction burner (not alot of brands available here

What are the down sides to induction? yes, pricey, and need new cookin

equipment but other than that what is there. Everyone here worries abou health issues,( heart monitors ect... no one in our house or family ha one Are they costly to operate? and what about lighting during storms? Ar they a drawing factor? meaning do not use during bad weather?? This on I think calls for 50 Amps. We will be putting in new wiring in the ne kitchen anyway

We plan on staying here for about 10 yrs ( have been here 23yr already We don't put things in new very often and what I buy I have to liv with for a LONG time. per husband!

Thanks for ANY help you can send my way

Susan from Indian

-- chloe5susan

[Peter Parry]

I've used an induction hob but not owned one. Based on a few days use I wouldn't be inclined to ever replace my gas hob with an induction one.

The owner liked it a lot - but their food preparation was mainly warming things up rather than real cooking so non moving iron pans boiling gently for 30 minutes suited them well.

I found having to use iron a pain and probably the single most important reason I wouldn't want one. Most cast iron pans are too heavy to move properly and thinner ones heat unevenly (despite what the sales toad says) and lack the heat conduction of aluminium. A traditional steel wok simply didn't work at all well.

Control wasn't as good as the manufacturers make out as you can't easily achieve fine control of heat by varying height above the burner. Trying to caramelise sugar on one was an exercise in futility but good practice in cleaning carbon off pans.

Overall, nice for people who value fashion over function but not for people who like cooking. Not a substitute for a good gas hob at all.

The least you should do is try one for real with the style of cooking you like before committing to it. Despite what your salesman said they are not all that popular in the UK, especially amongst cooks, although they have been around for some time.

[John Rumm]

I can't see there being any particular health issues to worry about really.

Probably not more than any other form of electric hob - although compared to gas, then yes (assuming the relative difference in prices between gas and electricity there are similar to here - in the UK electricity is three to four times the price of gas per kWh).

Can't see why - they don't need a roof mounted antenna!

That's fairly high powered one then (I am assuming that it will run at

220V being a fixed appliance rather than your more usual 110V stuff?)

It might be worth you looking at a halogen hob if you have those available there. Same advantages as induction (easy clean flat top), and probably more controllable (although still not as good as gas). They also work with normal cookware.

[S Viemeister]

You might want to ask over at

[gymratz]

Hi Susan, we have had an Induction hob for about 12 months now. Benefits include being really easy to clean if pan boils over when you are distracted waiting for it to boil, also they are pretty cool to the touch once the pan is removed so much safer if you have small children/grand children in the house.

They heat up pans of water in double quick time. Ours has a "power" button that allows one plate of a pair to use the power from both cooking areas to deliver even faster heat-up times.

We don't do a lot of frying or wok cooking etc, mainly heating up and simmering liquids etc. temperature control of the "rings/plates" is very easy as on ours once you have the correct temp you hit the "C" button and the temperature is automatically held with a rapid on/off cycling of the power. Because there is very little residual heat in the hob top and the induction energy heats the pan very quickly this is very effective but it is still an on/off/on/off electrical hob control rather than the infinitely variable control gas gives.

Cooking a Christmas dinner with all 4 induction rings on the go presented no problems.

As Peter pointed out though, it very much depends on your style of cooking as to whether it would be better than Gas. I would say it's hugely better than traditional and more modern (halogen etc.) electricity hobs but It will never replace gas especially if you lots of pan-moving style of cooking.

Hope this helps a little. Cheers Pete

--

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[Ian_m]

Try

't ever go back to gas after having an induction cooker, just so much more controllable and cleaner. Didn't think it could burn things, as I assumed it didn't get hot enough, but I can vouch it can just as well as any other type of cooker.