Cooking on Induction Cooktop

17 years ago

I am looking for ways to adapt recipes for induction cooktop or at the very least getting a better understanding of how the power settings relate to Low/Med/High and simmer for induction cooking. Taped to the underside of my Sears Kenmore 30" Induction was a service manual which also lists the power settings and their percentage of power.

I have heard of people slow cooking on an induction, but wouldn't the power setting needed relate to the quantity of food and size of pot? I want to cook a LARGE pot of food for my dog on induction instead of in oven, which I usually cook at 250 deg. for 12 hours *** it is a BIG stock pot. I cook 5 lbs of Normandy Veggies, 4# of rice and 16 chicken thighs and enough water to fill the pot almost to the top.

Previous experiments with cooking this on the induction have resulted with it burning (I had it on power boost for 10 minutes to get it to boil before turning the heat down. Maybe I should have just started it at low heat and let it gradually build up without removing the lid... or maybe I should just stick to cooking it in the oven, since it is a large quantity. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Doug.

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Comments (5)

JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)
17 years ago
I've had the same cooktop for 3 years now and I have never thought about your question. Induction is nothing special, it's just a high output source of heat. I only use the power boost for boiling pasta water. I consider "high" to be 7 and ordinary cooking to be a 5 or 6. If I try to saute or sear at 8 or 9, I'll burn something. I don't really look at the numbers though, instead I go by how the food is cooking.

The cooking zone on the left in front is higher power than the slightly larger one on the right.

I might add that I love my cooktop despite it's slightly hinky controls. I'll never go back to an old-fashioned gas or radiant electric cooktop. My parents just bought one at the demise of Home Expo and are awaiting an electrician to run a line out so that they can replace their hated gas unit.
shambo
17 years ago
I can't add much to JXbrown's information. I got my Kenmore Elite induction unit close to the same time. I only use the power boost setting for things being cooked in large quantities of water -- like pasta, potatoes, and even soup bones. However, I don't walk away. I hang around the pot until I see that it has started boiling and then I immediately turn it down. Usually I settle on levels between 2 - 4 for braising & stewing.

However, if the pot is chock full of ingredients and there's not an abundance of liquid, I wouldn't use the power boost at all. I do what Jx mentioned, just set at seven (7) and wait to see some bubbles bursting before turning it down. I'm another one who goes by what the food is actually doing in a pot or pan and not by the numbers.

For something that you'd normally bake at 250 degrees for 12 hours, I'd think you could set the pot on the largest burner and leave it level one (1). You might want to give it a head start by cooking it for a few minutes on a higher temperature, but if your pot is jammed full of meats, you run the risk of burning them. Maybe the thing is to get your water or liquid boiling before you add it to your pot.
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I have Gaggenau, which is made by the same company as Bosch, but all induction units are pretty similar. I'm concerned about the instructions you have, however. For deep frying you should never use top heat. You don't want to overheat your fats. They can catch fire. You can use the high numbers for wok cooking where you're constantly adding cold items to a low volume and need to return to high heat fast, but even then you need to be careful not to overheat and scorch your oil. My unit will boil peanut oil on number 6.5 or 7 if there's no food in it. If the oil is boiling it's already past the smoke point, and is breaking down, chemically. Not good. Power boost is especially for boiling. What it does is use more of the incoming current just for the element you're boiling on, for a limited duration (usually 10 minutes, maximum), so that you can boil faster. On my unit as well, when I don't use boost, it takes a good while to develop a boil. With boost it's impress the neighbors time. This is good for one's cooking because there are some things one wants to bring to a hard boil, but slowly, and there are pots of water that one just wants to get boiling already. Just for clarity (you might have meant the same thing, but I just want to be sure), about the pan touching the glass, my old favorite pot has curved sides. Chefkev once explained why it was such a great shape for cooking from a food science point of view, but I forget. It's not so great on the induction because a smaller part of the bottom is in contact with the glass. My old not so favorite pot, which I've had about as long, is my new favorite pot of the same approximate size, because it has a very flat bottom which has more area in contact. Try the power boost. You'll like it.
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cotehele
17 years ago
Last week I chatted with a chef at a large appliance dealer about induction cooktops and cooking. He specifically mentioned long cooking times and cautioned that there is only one brand (he didn't say which one as I don't do long cooking times) that can be set for long times (10 hours or more) and left alone. The other cooktops turn off after a set time and/or need to have the heat setting changed as the amount of moisture in the pot changes.
arley_gw
17 years ago
Some of the Cooktek Apogee induction units can have a long cooking time (up to 11 hrs 59 minutes).

I actually do see an application for such an extended time. I make and can all my own chicken stock. You could (once you figure out what the appropriate power setting is--the Apogee has 100 settings) assemble all the stock ingredients at night, let it simmer ever so slowly overnight, and then can the stock in the morning.
Fori
17 years ago
Hmm. My induction cooktop goes really low and although I've never cooked anything longer than 6 hours, I find it perfect for low temp stuff. I don't need a double boiler for anything!

If I'm going for a simmer, I'll crank it up until it boils, then turn it down until it barely bubbles. Doesn't take long to find the perfect simmer since the response time is almost instant. Maybe a heavier Dutch oven type pot would be better?

My cooktop is a bit older and doesn't have timers...

Cooking on Induction Cooktop

Comments (5)

JXBrown (Sunset 24, N San Diego County)

shambo

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