Induction stove
Sandra Guzek
18 days ago
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Comments (11)
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Advice/Opinion on Induction stoves, particularly the Invisicook
Comments (92)I try to keep emphasising the the Inviscook shouldn't be your only cooktop. It won't bring a full pot of water to a boil at all. I have boiled up to 4 cups of water on it but much more is questionable. The issue is wattage. The 2 burner models have 1200 watts, 3+ burner models do have a 1500 watt burner, but that still isn't enough to heat up a large pot of pasta water to boiling. Our 3700 watt induction burner on our other cooktop does .The wattages make a huge difference in performance.. I have a 3 burner invisacook under Decton porcelain and a GE induction installed. The GE was damaged by the installers so I had only the Invisacook for a number of months The 1500 watt burner on the Invisacook could not bring a pasta pot of water to a boil, ,so I heated water to a boil in my electric teakettle and poured it into my pot. It took 2.5 kettles of water. The 1500 watt burner on the Invisacook could keep the water boiling though to cook the pasta.. I was thrilled when my GE was installed. The 3700 watt burner on that will bring a pasta pot of water to a boil in under 10 minutes. I do not boil more than 4 cups of water nor do I sear anything on the Invisacook. I also love my Le Creuset pans and my cast iron pans and you cannot use them on the invisacook. I do use my Invisacook often, because I love the location in my Island where I can actually be facing other people in my kitchen. When using my GE, my back is turned to everyone....See MoreWhich induction stove top allows you to cook at high setting all zones
Comments (10)As far as the Bosch cooktop - I considered the Benchmark with the flex zones. I did not like how you had to select a burner and then a level. I prefer a one touch operation - some call it “direct select”. I did not look at other Bosch cooktops as I wanted a cooktop with bridging capability. Bosch makes a very good induction top and many on this forum have been pleased with them. I did find Wolf has better pot recognistion on the large burner. I can put my smallest saucepan there and have it recognized - not so with the Bosch benchmark on the larger burner. That is not a big issue as how often would you put that small of a pan on the large burner. If you use a lot of smaller cookware - the flex units will allow you to put more than one or two on the flex/bridged space if they fit and are recognized. Same with my large burner. Say I want to keep 2 or 3 sauces warm and can fit them on my large burner - I can put them all there and use a low setting to keep them warm If I wanted to. There have been several new entries to the market since I was looking 5+ years ago. I did take my pans to a showroom with live units and tried out the interfaces and layouts to see what would work best for me....See MoreWould you do an INDUCTION stove top?
Comments (67)A fascinating thread! I believe the induction cooktops are made of Ceran (not Corian). Regarding scratching: I use heavy stainless steel cookware (Demeyere), and have slid the pot across the top, especially if it is too heavy to lift off the burner. I am not overly neat, but have never noticed scratching on the cooktop in the almost two years I have had it. For cleaning, I use a sponge, or on occasion, a Dobie pad. Never had reason to use a razor. Even if I didn't clean drippings when it was still wet, usually a damp sponge is sufficient to remove any spills on the cooktop. I am more disappointed that the stainless steel frame around the cooktop has shown scratch marks; not deep ones, but you can see the lines. I've learned to live with it because I don't think there is anything you can do about them. Regarding the questions as to the number of positions on the dial and whether they are continuous or discrete, please see: Induction cooktops: how fine is the control? (lots of levels?) and GE or Bosch slide-in induction range? (That last post is from 11/26/18, not sure why Houzz lists it as "last year" - I note this because GE has updated its Cafe models, not sure if Bosch has.) The point is do your research, make a list or table of the features of each that you are interested in. On some the placement of the large hob is important (back or front), and can make a difference in your choice, so think about how you cook now and whether placement of the burner would make a difference to you. For instance, having the large hob in the back bothered some people because of having to carry a heavy pot full of water even the few inches to the back burner (and back over the front burner to the sink) was more than an annoyance. Read reviews (you will learn which are helpful and which are simply griping), of cookware as well as the range. Buy the best you can afford, even if it means beginning with three pieces of cookware and slowly adding on. Also think carefully about whether you want or need that second oven when the main oven is so far down you must bend low to lift a potentially heavy pan, whether it be chicken or turkey or anything else. Even with the extended sliding (telescoping) shelves, you still must lift that pan out of the oven to the stovetop or counter. Also, the hob (at least on my GE Cafe) does NOT turn off immediately if the pot is lifted, you have a few seconds, so if you put it back on the burner almost immediately, you don't have to turn the burner on again. But, if you do have to turn it on again, it is not a big deal. Also, some misunderstanding above about the responsiveness; an induction range does NOT have to "heat up" -- if you put the dial on 5, it pulls electricity to get to 5 immediately. A gas stove always begins at the lowest or highest flame and has to be adjusted to the setting you want. Similarly, if you want to turn the setting down or up, it will respond immediately, not phases, like a flame. Therefore, if you turn off a boiling pot of water on an induction stove, it will stop boiling immediately; if you need to begin on high (such as boiling water for rice) and then lower the heat (such as after you put the rice in the pot), it will respond immediately, a sensitivity cooks appreciate. Don't drag a pan across the surface as you would in pulling it quickly to mix or rotate food. Don't expect to lift the pan to flip the contents and then put it back on the stovetop; I would think the hob might turn off in that amount of time of no contact. However, it is a safety feature, not one to be upset about in general. As to keeping the top clean, there have been discussions on cooking on paper towels or silicon or silpat (such as: WARNING: Silpat, induction and wok do not mix! and Avoid scratching induction cooktop and kas - use of silpat on induction cooktop?and General Search: "Houzz and silpat on induction"). I have used a thin silat under and beyond the pan when making spaghetti sauce as I find it 'burbs' over the top as it simmers and reduces. Regarding things being manufactured with a set number of uses in mind from the beginning, I think you are referring to planned obsolescence (where things are created to work for only so long before they break, compelling you to buy a new one sooner than your old appliances would have broken down). Some accept this as the reason things don't last as long as your old appliances. Some say the electronics don't last as long as the old mechanical way of manufacturing, such as 'less moving parts.' It's a difficult call, since we can know the experience people have had because of the reviews or talking with repair people or friends, however, the manufacturers are not transparent as to their goals. Your own research is important, learning if any companies have a higher incidence of repairs when compared to others. Consumer Reports publishes reliability findings as does Yale Appliances (here is one from May 2020 bottom of article has a comparison of reliability of induction ranges vs cooktops vs electric ranges). Do consider paying for extended warranties as electronics are very expensive to repair. Do not assume that the higher end models never need repairs because they were more expensive to begin with; in fact they can be even more expensive to repair. Also consider leaving the oven door open for 10-15 minutes after cooking until the fan stops, so the heat escapes and does not gather into the electronics portion below the cooktop area. Hope some of this helps. Much has been touched on by the answers above. Please do let us know your decision!...See MoreGas Stove vs Induction Stove
Comments (18)If your family regularly cooks in a wok, gas is the only option. None of the induction solutions work as well. On the other hand, BlueStar's built in wok ring is almost as good as cooking in a restaurant kitchen. If wok cooking isn't a concern, then differences between both technologies are more subtle. You can easily find pros and cons for either, and honestly I don't think there is a clear winner. Make sure you research the models though. Just as gas has lots of horribly designed and cheaply made models, that's also true for induction (and in that case, induction is probably a more expensive repair). But you absolutely can find high quality gas and high quality induction. Personally, I'd only ever buy a stove that has analog knobs for each burner. So, that limits product selection somewhat....See More
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