Induction cooktops

I have personally never used an induction cooktop but they seem like an interesting alternative to a gas range. Definitely more efficient than other cooktops and apparently responsive temperature control (unlike conventional electric stoves I've used). What are Veeky Forums's experiences with using these things?

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I have a plug in induction top. It heats the pan up very quickly. It feels a lot faster than my gas stove. It's kind of awkward lifting up the pan and having my device turn off, although that might be because I have a cheap one.

Anything other than high end, professional tier ones are pretty shit. Expensive ones will heat up a pan in seconds, but take a little getting used to.

>but take a little getting used to.
How so? I've always had a gas cooktop where I have lived, but I have used electrics at friends and families houses enough to sort of get the hang of them (and honestly dislike them).

How responsive are they? If I bring something up to a boil, can I turn it down to a simmer quickly? My number 1 gripe with using electric stoves in the past was the heating coil stayed too hot long after I turned something down to simmer. It was easier/necessary to move the pot from the hot burner to a second burner just so I could "bring to a boil then turn down to simmer" without hard boiling my food for 2-5 minutes while the coil cooled down to simmer.

I wouldn't mind dropping money on a nice range if they really are as nice as they seem.

>I have used electrics

That's mainly what I was referring to; how it's a flat-top instead of a flame on a range.

>can I turn it down to a simmer quickly

Yeah, that's one of the main advantages of induction over electric. Of course you have to take into consideration heat retention in the pan if you're using something like cast iron or carbon steel, but that's normal for whatever heat source you use.

>how it's a flat-top instead of a flame on a range.
Oh, alright.
Induction intrigues me, it seems like it would be the best of both worlds. Or if not necessarily the best, than a nice happy medium.

OP here. Only downside I know of is cost. Gas (if you have a hookup) is going to be significantly cheaper than electricity in most places (although the annual cost of running might only differ by less than $20 for regular use). An induction cooktop is also more expensive than a quality gas equivalent.

Before you even consider buying induction you should pull out all your pots and pans and try sticking a magnet to each of them. If you can't, they wont work with an induction range. (i.e. aluminum.)

Biggest issue is finding one that can be turned down low enough for a proper simmer. Most induction tops can only be turned down to 400W or so, which is still way too much. Even with a big pot of potatoes ffor four people that setting will boil off an inch of water over thirty minutes of cooking time. That is all wasted energy. The only affordable induction top I know that has 300W and 100W setting is the IKEA Tillreda cooktop. Other than that induction is the bomb, even on a shitty top. Make sure you get one that has temperature settings as well as power settings. The 60°C setting is great for keeping tea or ccoffee hot, and heating up sausages. I hhav even sucessfully employed it as a poor man's sous vide cooker, worked pretty well. The absence of that function is the biggest drawback of the Tillreda.

I sold appliances a few years back and everyone who bought induction did so because the actual burners didn't stay hot like a traditional electric stove top

the most memorable people who bought them had young foster kids, or cared for the elderly and didn't want to risk burned appendages

the single induction top you plug into a wall is nice, though, i like using that one

>the actual burners didn't stay hot
oh yeah another great advantage. Stuff doesnt burn onto the cooking surface if it boils over. You know how badly pasta or potatowater stinks when it touches a glowing metal or ceramic cooktop, that doesnt happen with induction.

I have gas in my home and my brother has induction.
Overall there’s not a lot of difference, but I still prefer gas. Biggest issue with induction, at least my brother’s, is what says.

Wrong though, it works with any metal.

You are all wrong.
The thing is: you cannot stirfry with induction heating without going insane.
The moment you lift the pan of the cooktop it goes: "Beeeeep - Excuse me sir! surely you are not trying to remove this cooking utensil while I am trying to heat it. How dare you?! Beeeeep!! Beeeeep! Beeeeep."
Every fucking time.

Why would you lift the pan off the cooktop? Just use a spatula for lifting, stirring and flipping the food. Tossing the pan adds absolutely nothing to the dish. Unless you are using a proper wok burner and let you food get a taste of the flame while it is airborne.

Flipping the pan makes me look like I know what I am doing and it's ultra comfy.

Seriously, am I the only one? Are there so many housewives who are too bloody stupid to keep the pan in the correct spot??
Could these autistic engineers not study for 5 minutes how normal people actually cook and install a 10 second buffer?
I maintain this is bullshit.

What does stir frying have to do with anything? If you're not stir frying over at least a 55000 BTU outdoor propane burner you're not even coming close to stir fry. Niggah, even a gas stove isn't hot enough for stir fry.

>Are there so many housewives who are too bloody stupid to keep the pan in the correct spot??
Need you even ask that question?

It-is-normal-to-move-the-pan

>Temperature control

Honestly this is what makes me stick to a gas stove. Any type of electric heating element does not immediately heat up/cool off when you decrease the heat, but a gas stove's flame gets bigger/smaller immediately. I feel like this is way more important than the benefits that electric stoves offer. It's very frustrating to do things like bring something to a boil then quickly reduce to a low simmer on an induction stove compared to a gas stove.

BS It takes literally two seconds to click your induction top from 2000W down to 300W. That is already way faster than the frigging COOKWARE can cool down.

The ones I've used have been super fucking fast, especially for boiling water and shit. Blows ceramic ones out of the water, atleast. They can be a bit finicky though - don't get one with touch-based controls, they short out when you spill water and it's a big fucking hassle. Oh, and they require some special care when cleaning, but nothing major. Also not being paranoid about leaving it on is nice.

I don't know about more "professional" use, I can imagine it heats up cast iron too quickly and unevenly maybe? Also generally less control I guess, since everything heats up so quickly and it's kinda hard to gauge temperatures sometimes. I would trade in my ceramic stove in a heartbeat though.

Having used both I can confirm induction is a lot faster.

I got a portable one but I was super disappointed, because they constantly run a loud fan while on.

I hate induction cook tops. You cant flambe on the, theyre terrible for wok cooking and arent serviceable

It's breddy gud. Mine just resumes if you put your pot or pan or whatever back on it, doesn't beep or anything. But it gets upset and beeps at you if the touch control surface gets too hot because you're clumsy and didn't put the pan in the correct spot. I've learned to avoid doing that rather quick though.

>Any type of electric heating element does not immediately heat up/cool off when you decrease the heat
>an induction stove
Are you confusing a electric coil stove for an electric induction stove? They are both electric, but very different in terms of how they work. Induction stoves can change temperature very quickly, much quicker than an electric coil stove.

Gas is superior because of the control it gives you

I wouldn't indulge in it yet, as the current safety standards are rather dodgy:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bem.21739/abstract

I feel like the evidence against induction stoves having health impacts is lacking. Meanwhile, it is fairly well established that combustion by-products in gas burners can have human health impacts (as an irritant). That risk is mitigated fairly well with proper ventilation.

In both cases, the most dangerous thing is probably the fatty steak you're cooking and not the method you've chosen to heat it.

Yeah it's really gay. My roommate/landlord has one and you need special pans for it and they're all trash. It's cool that it gets hot in 10 seconds but it's not actually very useful

I have one and it’s actually great for stir fry because of the heat control, and the hottest setting is nice. I lift the pan to flip the food. Mine doesn’t make any noises but the temp display kinda spergs out some. There is a loss of heat for a second but it really doesn’t make a difference.

Probably depends on what model you get. If it beeped at me for lifting the pan that’d be a deal breaker.

Also, the coolest thing about it is that, when you have several
Pots and pans going at once it starts making some pretty cool sci-fi noises.

Do Europeans not have access to natural gas?

Wot?
When yanks not be starting a war in the Ukraine, we do

Idk about europeans, but huge areas of the US only have access to the unregulated propane jew that charge outrageous prices for it when the weather gets cold and to add insult to injury have tanks that have a gauge w/o measurement markings, lol.
>oh we filled your tank to 80% today, user.
>I don't see an 80% line on my gauge
>oh, don't worry about that our trucks have an accurate gauge, hehe, hehe.

It's more expensive because they have to import it from outside the EU (mainly Russia and Norway).

I'd imagine the EU governments themselves also try to discourage its use because it makes them more reliant on Gazprom which is not always a good thing.