Lars, 1800w is about the maximum that a 110 volt circuit can carry. As far as on a dedicated line, that just means that if you have something else running at the same time, it might trip the circuit. Just turn off anything else major on the circuit and it should run just fine.

I know I sound like a broken record about pressure cookers, but if you don't have a pressure cooker, the set at the link works fine with induction. (In fact, I used it on an induction 'hot plate' like yours--actually, one less powerful than yours--during a kitchen redo. ) The pots are pretty well made, too, and work well for non-pressure applications as well as as a pressure cooker. If 8 quarts is big enough for use as a stockpot, this may be the ticket.

I've found that a lot of European pots work well on induction, and as induction is getting a little more popular here in the US, more and more cookware is being designed for use on induction. My MIL recently got a set of Wolfgang Puck cookware (very inexpensive--$99 for the set, at Sam's) and they work on induction.

ECI (Le Creuset, Staub, or the more reasonably priced Lodge Enamel) works very well on induction.

Some of the 'Tramontina' stainless from Wal Mart works on induction. I have a Tramontina stock pot and I like it.

Here is a link that might be useful: fagor pressure cooker

That looks like a good set, Arley, and I am tempted, but the cost of the pans is greater than the cost of the burner. However, I do not have a pressure cooker (they scare me), and so this might be the one to try. I like that there are two pans in the set with interchangeable lids.

Thanks!

Lars

Lars, yes induction is good news and bad news. As pictured in my thread, I emptied my cabinets of non-induction compatible pots and pans and I continue to find more--garage, etc. only to fill up the vacant storage with new pots.

I have been browsing the HomeGoods/Tuesday Morning genre for pots and pans and have been pleased with the quality I have found using the hodge podge method versus sets (which is odd given my borderline OCD).

Yesterday I was checking out at HomeGoods, I said to the clerk "Obviously you didn't get the memo"; "What memo?". "You are not allowed to sell pots and pans to me!" LOL

I do have a single burner for canning as my canner isn't compatible.

The good news is that I am having an Adopt-A-Pot get together with Bobby/ Vacuum/Freak.

Lars, Speaking of lids, I think you would love these from Ikea. They come in three sizes, replace numerous lids, fold flat handle takes up little space, glass.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lids

I don't understand why you can't imagine making crepes with it? You won't know until you try. It may turn out to be the best thing for crepe making.
I'd be powering that thing up, seeing how well it fry's an egg and so on LOL

btw, how the new dishwasher doing?

Gas makes for a better picture on cooking show sets, but just about every cooking demonstration on the news morning shows is done on induction. If you look at ajmadison.com, a large online appliance retailer, nearly 60% of smoothtop cooktops are induction. Just a few years ago there were very few choices. People who specifically like traditional electric cooking are few and far between. I doubt you'd find many people who willfully switched from gas to electric before induction. Now you do. In short, I clearly see induction making a strong presence, and I don't think that this "wave of the future" is far away at all.

The DW is doing fine, and I'm very happy with the results. It was a bit difficult to take the plastic off of the front, but I finally got it off.

I do not fry eggs, and so my omelet pan would not be good for that. It is the one pan I have that has a single use! I suppose I could use it with the induction burner to make crepes, but as I said, when I make them, the pan is off the burner more than it is on it.

I do not watch any morning news cooking shows and do not consider them to be representative of anything other than morning news cooking shows. They've been cooking on hotplates since forever, and so I would expect them to use induction hot plates, now that they are available. The only national morning news I watch is CBS because I hate the newscasters on the other networks (except PBS). Also, I do not watch morning news after 8:00 AM. The main thing I do not like about CBS morning news is that they have clips of David Letterman, and I hate him as well. I used to watch Good Day L.A. on Fox until they fired Dorothy Lucey and Jillian Barbieri - I liked those two women, but the replacements they have for them are lame. In the evening, I tend to watch PBS news, if I watch news at all, but I will not watch the ones who have extremely strong British accents and singsong inflection, which is common among Britons and even infects some American newscasters, such as Rita Braver, whom I also will not watch because of her inflection. I prefer to read news than to watch it.

Lars

Geez, doesn't sound like you like much! (just kidding!)

For us to pick your pans is like someone picking someone else's vehicle. Each person's needs and likes are different. Sounds like money is no object to you so budget isn't a constraint. Not knowing what you cook doesn't help either. For me, I like a 9" and 10"-11" pan, a chicken fryer, and a couple 3 quart sauce pans. All must have lids, but I use universal lids too. I also like about a 6 qt sort of a "Dutch oven" but since it's not cast iron I guess it's technically a stock pot. I prefer square pans to round but they're not easy to find and the only universal lid for them is foil. I don't use or like griddle pans, grill pans or a wok. That's the base cookware around here.

You should know what pans you use most and just replace those. If you like dealing with the weight of cast iron, go for it. If you like to flip and toss the food while it's cooking you need more strength than I have if you're going to use cast iron.

Enjoy your new toy. BTW, running a couple lines isn't that expensive or difficult to do. You probably won't need it at first. If you're popping breakers/fuses, then call an electrician and add some outlets and you probably have some others you'd like done anyway. I know most people could use some more outlets and circuits in their houses!

It's true that I don't like much in the way of news on TV, but my dislikes do not go much further than that!

I have a double outlet beside the stove, and I was planning to use that for the induction plate. The toaster oven is also plugged into that, but since it has four sockets, I figure it should be able to handle two appliances. The kitchen was remodeled around 1994, and so I think it should have sufficient outlets.

I will be hiring an electrician to install some outdoor lights for my back yard fairly soon, and so if I need anything done inside, I would want to do that at the same time. I want to put a flood light on the fountain, and that can be on the wall of the house, but I also want lights in the pergola so that we can eat there after dark. In the summer it is not so much of an issue, although we do want to stay there after dark when we eat late, and it would be nice to be able to use it in the winter, since the weather is not that much different from summer, and most winter evenings are pleasant.

I probably will order the pressure cooker, since the price seems good, but I was going to wait to see if anyone else had a common on that brand. I have a reversible grill/griddle for the gas top, and I realize that this is not an option for the induction burner. I don't mind the weight of cast iron.

I believe I have Dutch oven that I have not tested yet, and it is either in the garage or the cabinet above the refrigerator. You can tell I never use it, and the only reason I have it is that I found it for cheap at a garage sale.

Lars

Despite the ratio of induction to other smoothtops at AJ Madison, I can't see it replacing other types of ranges/cooktops until the price comes down. WAY DOWN!!! For now, it is an uber-premium priced option, and the majority of the population cannot even consider it, even assuming they are among the fraction of folks who actually care or know how to cook.

I think those of us who hang out here at GW could find it a bit too easy to think everyone is like us - knowledgeable and caring about all/most things concerning food and cooking, often with the income to make real choices.

I decided to go ahead and order the Fagor pressure cooker set, despite some of the bad reviews it got at Amazon. I think it will be a crap shoot whether I get a good one or not, as some appear to have defective tops that do not fit on properly. However, I noticed that it has a 10 year warranty, and so I thought it would be worth the risk. The odds are that I will get lucky, but if not, I will return it immediately.

I am looking forward to being able to do some pressure cooking, possibly some canning, with the new pot, and I think it is the perfect pot to go with the new burner. I don't think I need any more pans, since this one can function as a saucepan as well. I really did not plan to use the induction burner very much anyway, and I do not want to clutter up my kitchen with duplicate pots and pans.

Lars

Cooksnews I agree on both points. 1) For me it was timing -- I needed a new cooktop and was fortunate to find one for $900; it was a no-brainer. 2) My neighbors and friends all looked at me quizzically not understanding my excitement.

Lars,

I have the 8 qt Fagor pressure cooker and have found it to work perfectly in the 3+ years I've owned it. It works with induction, one of the few that do. I use the pot alone to cook big quantities, and I like the solid build of the stainless steel.

However it is a pressure cooker, not a pressure canner. There is no gauge or weight on the Fagor, so it is not possible to know what the pressure is. I know reviewers on Amazon say they have canned with it, but there is risk of bacterial growth if you don't follow safe canning guidelines.

Cheryl

Cathy, I can relate to your excitement about finding the cooktop at that price, but you did not say what brand it is. When I was looking at them, nothing was under $1600, and so you got a sweet deal. I think you will have fun when you and Bobby get together as well. I'm sure you have lots of stuff that he will love.

Thanks for the info, Cheryl, and I feel a bit better after your testamonial. I have never really canned before myself, unless you count making fig preserves, and I did not use a pressure canner to do that. Now that I think of it, I cannot think of anything that I would want to can, since I do not have excess fruit and no fig trees. I freeze my excess limes, and the rest of the trees to do make more than I can eat ... yet. I am very happy that my Eureka lemons are just about to start getting ripe, as I have only a handful of Meyer lemons left on the tree and won't get more until next season. I also picked my last blood orange yesterday, but the tree is full of blossoms.

I also agree with Cooksnsews about the popularity of induction cooktops. If the price does not come down, most people are not that fanatic about cooking to be concerned, although they may choose it for aesthetic reasons and because it is easy to clean.

Lars

The price has come down a bit. I also got a bargain on my second induction cooktop. I put in an induction cooktop at my last house because I hated to cook on electric, didn't want to add a gas line, liked the power savings, and didn't have good ventilation. Now I'm hooked. As it turned out the house that we just bought also had an electric cooktop and so the induction was a given, but had we purchased a house with gas, I would probably have switched over.

The buyer's inspector on our old house last week declared the cooktop to be non-functional since none of the burners would heat up. Uh-huh, that's right. None of them heat up. He also said our furnace and AC didn't work. I'm not sure how he thought we lived in the house. We thought he was a little stupid.

Congratulations, Lars! Enjoy your new toy.

For the record, ROger Mooking of Everyday Exotic has an induction top. Food Channel. And I love the high function of his kitchen. Worth a look.

Carbon steel works well on induction, too. I have a Paderno fry pan; it's about half the weight of cast iron, has to be seasoned like cast iron, but once it is seasoned it's nearly nonstick.

They are available in several sizes, from 8" to nearly 16"--though I'd imagine you'd need to be a weighlifter to handle the 16" one.

Here is a link that might be useful: paderno frying pan

I've thought about an induction burner just for canning but wasn't sure it would be powerful enough. I'll have to keep an eye out (and will probably need a new stockpot to use as a BWB, would definitely need new PC).

I guess I'm out of my league here b/c $900 for a cooktop (no oven) seems a splurge to me, we paid slightly over $1000 for a Kenmore Elite smoothtop range (couldn't swing the convection oven) 6 years ago. I don't think it's all that easy to clean (boiling water just from BWB spitting has left mineral deposits on it, even though I clean it as soon as it's cooled). Is induction really easier? Maybe it's our water.

I had thought of putting in gas but don't want a propane tank sitting outside the house. Induction might work. But the benefit of propane is that we could add a gas fireplace or 2 coupled with a small generator to keep the house above freezing when we lose power in the winter. Of course we could put a woodstove in the basement instead.

jxbrown, I can see someone who's never heard of induction claiming that the cooktop didn't work, but why did he think the HVAC wasn't working either?

ajsmama - I've seen posts on the Appliances forum about induction ranges priced around $1000. These are sold by Samsung and Ikea. You have to shop carefully to find these bargains, like Cathy/mustangs did. I don't know anything about the ranges but I have read posts which indicate the buyers are happy with their choice.

I don't know if the ceram used for induction is the same material as used for smoothtops. So far we've had our induction cooktop for about a year and I don't see any pitting of the surface.

Cheryl

We'll just have to see what's available and prices in about 9-10 years when I need to replace kitchen appliances. In the meantime, I've been looking occasionally at HE washers since my W/D are older and are probably just going to up and die on me someday, as much laundry as I do. But I haven't liked any that I've seen, and the prices are still pretty high.

AJsmama, you'd need to check to see if your canner has enough ferrous metal so that it works on induction. If a magnet sticks to it, it's probably okay. An 1800 watt induction unit may be all you need.

But since a 110v circuit can only handle a max of around 1800 watts, if you wanted a rip roaring powerful induction unit, you'd really need 220v; the induction unit at the link is really powerful, but it's about $500, plus the cost of having an electrician run a 220v line. (Cooktek also makes a 220v countertop unit, but it costs more than twice that.) For that price you may as well spend a little more and get a built in cooktop.

A good site that lists just about all the induction units available is theinductionsite.com. Worth browsing there.

Here is a link that might be useful: sunpentown 220v countertop induction unit

Late to the discussion, but I have had a Waring 1800 W induction single unit for three years. It has never tripped a breaker and has been plugged into several of the kitchen outlets. It was an Amazon purchase. It is mostly used for boiling water, which it does splendidly. Since I am accustomed to using copper cookware on gas flame, I am not inclined to switch to an entirely new system. However, all of my non-copper cookware happens to be induction compatible, e.g. Staub tea kettle, Le Creuset soup pots, Viking fry pan (which I think is a splendid piece of stainless steel cookware). Enjoy experimenting!

Edited to add that mine is the V7, made in Belgium. I cannot speak to the V3 line, which may be made in Indonesia, but I am not sure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Viking V7

This post was edited by kitchendetective on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 13:25

Ajsmama: We have no idea why the inspector came to the unlikely conclusions that he did. He was pretty weird according to the realtor.

The induction cooktop is made from the same material as a radiant glass top, but it doesn't get as hot so gunk doesn't cook on. The area under the pot will get hot from the heat of the pot (the pot heats the cooktop and not vice versa) and I used to have to buff off a little haze now and then with Cooktop Magic, but my new Electrolux is lightly textured and that haze doesn't seem to form. So mostly it's just spritz, wipe, done. If I'm doing something messy, I sometimes wrap a dishtowel around the base of the pot which I would not recommend on any other type of cooktop.

My parents have a fancy Miele that they bought for half price as a display model and my new one was a new, out of the box return at a significant discount. My last one was a Kenmore Elite, so I've never owned one of the high-end ones, but they do the trick! I would hate to go back.

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).

One advantage of induction: you can put a paper towel between the pot and the glass surface, and it'll absorb that stuff that spits out. Since it doesn't get heated, it doesn't get cooked on.

Lars, you are going to love induction. Since August 2010, I have had just 1 cooktop - a portable induction. Our remodel has taken way longer than planned and we are holed up in a small in-law unit in the back with a small kitchenette with a $99 portable induction from Amazon. I must say it has changed how I cook. So much so that I cancelled my order for a beast of a gas rangetop (capital culinarian) and am doing an Induction instead. My pressure cooker (Kuhn rikon), a couple of the old enameled cast iron cousances pots, debuyer Carbon steel skillets, and a new Scanpan I bought work great. Also IKEA is a great source for inductin compatible pots.

Induction is way more powerful than most gas - so canning should not be a problem. The appliance forum guys have done the best for the curious. The most wonderful thing is that the pot itself does to GE too hot. I can lift the pot with boiling water with bare hands as the rim of the pot is still cool.

".... the pot itself does to GE too hot...."

????????

Jim

jimster - I think she meant to type "the pot itself doesn't get too hot".

Cheryl

Thanks for that translation, Cheryl - it had me stumped also, as I was trying to figure out how GE got into the discussion.

GWlolo, you were lucky that you had pans that would work with induction, but for those who would have to buy all new pans - that is a somewhat hidden expense to switching to all induction, and a main reason why I would not do it. At this point in my life, I am emotionally attached to certain pots and pans, especially ones that my mother gave me. Perhaps that attachment will fade in the coming years, but not any time soon. The Viking V7 looks like something I may want to invest in, in the future. Thanks for your suggestions, they are very helpful. The Paderno frying pan looks just like my French crepe pan except larger.

Lars