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Portable Induction Cooktop invaluable in reno

mississippirose

14 years ago

I must say that my portable induction cooktop has been worth every penny during our remodel. We haven't eaten out yet using it and the crock pot. For future renovators this might help ease your pain.

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Comments (12)

back2front
14 years ago
Portable induction cooktop is a must, we used one with the help of a toaster oven and microwave. We even cooked Christmas dinner with this trio (and had guests).
mississippirose
Original Author
14 years ago
Microwave along with the portable induction cooktop, grill (outside),toaster & crock pot has allowed me to have guests as well. We will be starting week 3 and things seem to be moving slower now that cabs are in. Carol
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Yes, I did a quick look on the induction site. I don't think I found the single plates because I got distracted and forgot to stay focused! I will probably still have the 50 amp installed even though I've decided on an LP gas range. It's a difference of $2000. Maybe after the dust settles and by next fall prices might be better I might look into the induction range again. Sears has just burned me out with their "SALE" prices which aren't really sales if they are the same two prices every two weeks. And they jacked up the "regular price" by more than $1000 so the sale price is still what regular price used to be. I've been watching it every day for about 3 months. I did order the Max Burton 60001 tonight. I kinda wish I would have done that in the first place instead of the electric hot plate I already bought. But I was thinking I'd have the range so thought the $50 hot plate was good enough for the remodel time period. Live and learn. My cabinets are here! I hope I get to see them tomorrow. And I hope this knot in my stomach goes away pretty soon!
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I agree about Fagors. Cook's Illustrated/ATK recommends Fagors and those are what they use in the test kitchens. I have and frequently use both a 6 quart Kuhn-Rikon and a 10 quart Fagor. I find the KR is easier to use but, when I needed a bigger PC (for when making larger quantities of stocks and broths, among other things), the Fagor Duo was 1/3 the cost of the comparably large KR. FWIW, one can buy a 10 quart Fagor "Rapida" model from Costco/Costco.com for $100 and they also sell a combo-kit with both a 4 quart and an 8 quart PC for less than that. Some folks find a that 8-quart capacity PC is sufficient for their broth and stock-making. I was taught to make stocks and broths the way mkeys does it --- which was a long time back in the previous century --- but I find the PCs are so much faster and better. The big deal with making stocks and broths in spring valve PCs like the Fagors and KRs (as opposed to the old style jiggle top/weighted-valve style of PC or the long stockpot simmer) is that the spring-valve models vent very little steam thereby leaving better and more concentrated flavors in the stock or broth. For a somewhat scientific testing of how much better spring-valve PC cooking of stock/broths is over the traditional methods, check out this testing and verification by Dave Arnold at the French Culinary Institute at: http://www.cookingissues.com/index.html%3Fp=2561.html The PCs get the job done in under three hours. Acceptable results often in less than an hour but a bit richer if you go an hour or so longer. I've used PCs on gas and electric burners, but I prefer using a portable induction cooker (PIC) because its digital power/temp settings and the timer-controlled burner give me near fire-and-forget ease of use. I've sometimes taken stocks and broths out to 6 hours --- requiring one-timer reset on my Max Burton PIC --- but the improvement over two to three hours in the pressure cooker seemed so marginal as to be barely noticeable. For folks who want their bone broths with more calcium, gelatin, etc. suspended/emulsified into the broth --- as you would get if you had the broth at a higher simmer/low boil than mkeys uses with the 24-hour stockpot simmer -- Laura Pazzaglia explains the pressure-cooker technique here: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/pressure-cooker-bone-broth/ But, for folks wedded to the 24-hour still simmer (almost sous vide) technique, the Caso seems like it might be the only induction-game in town for the PIC market, at least until the probe-controlled Paragon is released. Apparently, that same Bluetooth temp probe is also supposed to work with the newest GE Cafe and Monogram full-size induction cooktops, too.
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sandlll
14 years ago
Any rec's on which unit to get? My reno starts next month!
mojavean
14 years ago
Plus, in Reno you can pawn it if you have a bad week at the tables.
warmfridge
14 years ago
I have the Max Burton 1800 watt portable unit. It was only $100 and works well. Fan is a little noisy but not bad, and it would be better if there were more than 10 settings to fine tune the heat a little more precisely, but for the price, I can't complain. I previously bought a Viking unit for $500 which worked just once before it died and I had to return it.
pinch_me
14 years ago
I also have the Max Burton 1800 watt portable. It came the day I moved back into my kitchen but I finally used it a few days ago and like it very much. Thinking about buying a couple more instead of wishing I had the full sized range @ $3,000! Micro, toaster oven, crock pot, and old style electric hot plate was more than adequet for the remodel cooking. On the other hand, my electric stove was available under the construction dust 99% of the time. My carpenter left it on rollers so all I had to do was roll it in and out of the space as we worked but I rarely used it. My remodel only took a month so the cooking issue wasn't the problem it might have been over a longer period of time.
tarheel72
14 years ago
I have my eye set on the Viking model. It has gotten very good reviews and I like the looks of it. Any comments from owners?
guadalupe
14 years ago
Because it says viking I am sure it is way over priced
patrick_808
14 years ago
I bought a Magneflux for close to $200. I love the way it works. However, the controls are quite cumbersome on it. To go from 250 degrees to the next lowest setting, 200 degrees, requires 4 taps on the control panel. The same is true when going from 400 to 350. It has 9 heat setting more than some, but not quite enough. Really needs a 225 degree setting. If I had done better research, I would have saved money, and bought a Max Burton. I believe it has 10 settings, and better controls. I believe Viking has continuously variable heat control, and a $500. price tag.
warmfridge
14 years ago
I had the Viking. It was very quiet with minimal fan noise, and its knob made it much easier to adjust the heat than the Max Burton up/down buttons. However, it died the second time I used it. There wasn't any difference in the speed of heating between the two brands.

Basically, I think you pay $400 extra for less noise and a knob in piece of electronics with new technology and unproven reliability.

Just my 2 cents.
tarheel72
14 years ago
I assume you got your Viking replaced under warranty? So how is the replacement doing? The reviews I read were online in places like Kitchen.com. I remmever several commented on the build quality and the heft of the unit. We plan on leaving this out all the time, next to our Dacor gas cooktop, so I want one that looks good in the kitchen.
warmfridge
14 years ago
As mentioned above, I returned the Viking for a refund and bought the Max Burton instead. I've had the latter for a few weeks now and it's working fine.

Since the Viking never made it through two uses, I'd have to give it negative marks on build quality. Not sure about significance of heft? The Viking looks a little more clunky and the Burton more streamlined, but I think appearance is a matter of personal taste.

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