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Portable Induction Burner, need one?

16 years ago

I've been researching induction for the new kitchen, and I took the advice of some here and purchased a small portable induction burner to give the technology a whirl before investing in a whole cooktop. I wanted 1800 watts, as that's the biggest that can be plugged into a 20 amp outlet. I checked all over, and stumbled on a place that sells refurb Viking units for $300 plus shipping, with a one year warranty. They do warranty repair work for Viking. You have to call them, they don't have enough in stock to put them on their website. I'm not sure if it's OK to link to that site here, but it's McNichol Electric in Michigan. Nice people. Just thought others might find this info useful.

By the way, the burner works like a champ and is fast convincing me that I DO want this technology in my new kitchen! I've also learned that I don't think I want knobs. That's a good thing, because while this is a pretty looking unit, a whole Viking cooktop is way, way out of my budget! :-)

Cj

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Comments (9)

User
16 years ago
I have a smaller one, and I love it. It's my fifth burner when I have guests and I set it up on the porch when I'm canning or cooking lobster. Very useful.

I'll probably get an induction cooktop for my retirement home (sometime in the future) - I'm less likely to forget and burn the house down!!!
chipshot
16 years ago
Thanks for the tip, Cj. How did you find McNichols Electric? Are you a Detroiter? I'm going to keep them in mind should we decide to augment our new rangetop with a portable induction burner.
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Villandry, your Viking portable was an accidental product in way. When they were getting set to launch their 30" and 36" induction tops, they developed the portable so reps could take them out on the road and do demos for dealers, specifiers etc. My reaction to it was, "Can I buy that one?" The reaction of others must have been the same. It's a great single burner cooktop. We loan our little protoype out to customers so they can "test drive" induction at home with their own cookware.
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Is your water bath pot induction friendly? Using a portable induction unit just to boil water to transfer to your canner on the gas stove would probably speed things up tremendously. Even your puny gas cooktop can keep things at a simmer once the hard work is done. On that note, if you're not opposed to using camping gear indoors, you can get something like Coleman's "Hot Water on Demand" system to preheat your water to not quite boiling and give your stove a hand in heating things up.
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Looks like a branding iron to me . . . easier (and safer) to just buy a cheap set of induction pans - my T-fall set didn't cost much and we're plenty happy with how they work. Didn't want to spend a lot of money right off the bat when we switched to induction, but we needed something . . . I'd probably buy the plate just so I could find out if it worked the same as using magnetic pans directly on the hob.
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I was wondering if you had some unusual HVAC, oh, like an outdoor wood furnace and I don't know what for cooling - Nubian slaves with ostrich-feather fans, who just happened not to be there at the time? Our tax assessor has us down for electric heat (partially correct, since the heat pump includes radiant heat for those times when the geothermal can't keep up) and no AC. Guess it has to be that way since they're not allowed to tax us on a geothermal system. But I know it looks strange on the tax card. If we ever sell, it might be hard to convince buyers what type of system we have. Though by then I hope geo will be much more common. We have hard water, so the little bit that spits out of the top of the canner (doesn't have a tight-fitting lid) vaporizes around the bottom of the pot and leaves a ring that I just can't get off. I also have some black burnt-on stuff right on the white ring that marks the smaller front burner, nothing seems to get that off (it's probably grape jelly).
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cj47
Original Author
16 years ago
Nope, I called Viking, and they referred me to them for more information.
c.
jimonthebeach
16 years ago
Run a search on: Burton Table Top Induction Cooktop Stove Top, 110 volts

I found one on Ebay.
chipshot
16 years ago
Thanks, Jim. That looks like a great way to get one's feet wet (poor choice of words?) in induction cooking for a lot less than even a refurbished Viking.

Here is a link that might be useful: Max Burton 110V Induction Cooktop
daven
16 years ago
Although I detest Viking's lack of customer and distributor support, bit and ordered one. I'm looking forward to using this at home and especially as an outdoor burner to cook fish w/o smelling up the house.
jacobsmishpacha
16 years ago
I just saw this portable induction burner for $150- does anyone know anything about it?

Here is a link that might be useful: BergHOFF portable induction burner
daven
16 years ago
I've been enjoying my Viking. I realize that it can't compare to a 220V model but it has been fast, responsive, and fun to use. I'm an induction convert...
cj47
Original Author
16 years ago
Daven, I'm a convert, too! No, it's not a 220V, but I figure that 1.8KW is about the size of the smallest burner on a "full size" cooktop, so it's a fair trial of the technology. And it beats the living daylights out of ANY burner on my 11 year old Jennair smoothtop electric range, even the 'biggest' one. Can't wait for the remodel now. I like that it's so quiet, too. You can hear the fan, but it's not at all loud.
Cj

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