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Induction Stovetops

Leareth

Leareth

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 11, 2004
1,569
6
Vancouver
Another Random thread...

Does anyone here have actual hands on experience cooking on one of these ?

I have the option of getting one for home cooking use.

and am debating between gas or this.

right now use electric.

Am leaning toward the induction but do not know anyone who has actually used one.

So if anyone has actually used one, or better yet has one, please let me know how it is.
 
Leareth said:
Another Random thread...

Does anyone here have actual hands on experience cooking on one of these ?

I have the option of getting one for home cooking use.

and am debating between gas or this.

right now use electric.

Am leaning toward the induction but do not know anyone who has actually used one.

So if anyone has actually used one, or better yet has one, please let me know how it is.
Click to expand...

Given the option I'd go with gas. You have more control over the heat to the pan and it's more even. Often on the induction tops if you have a pan that isn't even it will wobble and portions will not have contact with the surface. I guess if you have "good" cookware this will not be as much of an issue. Heck, even with my good pans this can happen if something gets lodged between (e.g., salt crystals). Still, my vote is for gas.
 
Induction cooktop was a nightmare for me - due to reasons mentioned by poster above.

I would go with gas.

Induction is nice if you want to boil a pot of water in 30 seconds, but other than that, it's a pain in the azz.
 
Leareth said:
Another Random thread...

Does anyone here have actual hands on experience cooking on one of these ?

I have the option of getting one for home cooking use.

and am debating between gas or this.

right now use electric.

Am leaning toward the induction but do not know anyone who has actually used one.

So if anyone has actually used one, or better yet has one, please let me know how it is.
Click to expand...


I am not familiar with any other uses for induction stovetops besides home cooking use ;)

induction stovetops:
1) Easier to use and cook with
2) Harder to clean
3) Considered sub-par by "good" cooks.

For me, food in general is blah, so either one does the trick. If you are a picky person when it comes to quality, I can see the arguments for gas.
 
Friends of mine just re-did their kitchen in a the house they have had for less than a year and HAD to have an induction stove. I don't see the attraction, though. I would prefer gas, myself.
 
Old induction hobs were a pain in the rear but newer ones are great.
I wouldn't swap the hob I use for anything, all you really need is a decent set of stainless pans and away you go.

Pro's
faster than gas
very controlable more so than gas at times
cheaper per hour than gas (in the uk)
so much easier to clean

cons
wobbly pan issue newer hobs don't suffer this issue.
only a few work with copper cookware.
 
My opinion:

Induction
+ Fast heat - I think this is because the heat is transferred to more area of the pan/pot.
+ Flat surface - easy to clean
- Non-linear heat control - after a year of cooking on our induction stove, I still don't have a good feel for what the temperature will be beyond the major stop points: Lo/1 ("Low"), 4 ("Medium"), and 9 ("Crazy Hot").
- Flat surface - pot sits on flat surface, so if it is wet (from spill over or because you just washed it), it's going to create crazy popping sounds and the pot will actually move/rattle.

Gas
+ Better control over heating
+ Better rest for the pot / pan.
+ More traditional look -- I hate the flat look of an induction stove.
 
those new flat surface induction stovetops...I have the black one in mind...is a total b*%# to clean.

any speck or spill stains and you need to go out and buy special cleaners and put a whole lot of elbow grease into cleaning it. Be prepared to clean it after every use or else you will have disgusting stains all over the place. I'm not sure what the previous posters are referring to when they say induction is easier to clean. Maybe they have the old type induction stove in mind - the one that has the burner uneven from the rest of the stove top?
 
iOrlando said:
those new flat surface induction stovetops...I have the black one in mind...is a total b*%# to clean.

any speck or spill stains and you need to go out and buy special cleaners and put a whole lot of elbow grease into cleaning it. Be prepared to clean it after every use or else you will have disgusting stains all over the place. I'm not sure what the previous posters are referring to when they say induction is easier to clean. Maybe they have the old type induction stove in mind - the one that has the burner uneven from the rest of the stove top?
Click to expand...

We use the special cleaners once every couple of weeks. For day-to-day, I simply wipe it down with a sponge and then go over it with with a paper towel. It picks up a lot of grease and other bits.
 
I've used all three. One thing I've noticed about induction hobs are that very small pans tend not to heat up unless you put them off-center. I've got to admit though, holding an induction pan in mid-air whilst it boils water with the hob itself staying cool is a neat party trick.

What a previous poster said about Low, Medium, and Crazy Hot is very true. I never quite mastered it. You learn to live with it and don't notice it after a while (i.e. you heat the pan to 9 and then reduce it to what you need, but this will eventually warp your pans and costs more) but it's far from ideal.

Plus you can't simply buy a pan from anywhere, you have to check it's induction first.

I think they're equally difficult to clean; gas ones have nooks and crannies everywhere.

My preference is:
- Gas
- Induction
- Electric

Whatever you do, avoid touch-screen controls like the plague. Appallingly hard to use (unless your finger is warm, absolutely bone dry, in the exact correct position, the correct size and there's no splats of food/dots of grease). When you're not using them they beep like crazy if a tea towel/box of food/whatever touches them. Very annoying.

AppleMatt
 
I bought one of those portable induction hot plates to try out. Given that those plug into 110 volts as opposed to the 220 volts of a stove-top, I knew it would not be as powerful as a true induction stove-top, but it was neat to play with. I echo the issues noted above. Heat control seemed a little spastic and I would have had to practice a lot more with it -- it's great for boiling water really fast for making noodles but I kept burning everything else because it was just TOO darned hot.

It was, however, great to use as a hot plate to keep food warm at the lowest setting.

... when I found pots that actually worked with it. Many of mine didn't.

I didn't find it any more difficult to clean than my existing ceramic cooktop. Which may not be saying a whole lot, though.

And after a few months the thing broke (it stopped sensing the presence of any pots), so I tossed it.
 
In my experience induction beats gas hands down. Heat management is more precise and cleaning is a non issue, just wipe down with a damp cloth.

Both the induction hob and pots are new so that might influence things somewhat.
 
I am a bit leery to get gas stove again .
some of my more spectacular accidents have happened on gas stoves.

I am drawn to the induction stoves due to being nice and flat , as well as the cool to touch part.
but is seems a few of oyu have had negative experiences with them.

I am starting to hate my current electric stove
unable to adjust heat rapidly. and cool spots on the burner.
 
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