Induction Stoves

[Jerry Bruette]

Wife and I are doing a complete reno of the kitchen, floor, cabinets, lighting, wow stuffs expensive.:eek:

Has anyone here gone to an induction stove? What's good what's bad? Tell me what you like or don't like about it.

[Jim Becker]

Our new Café induction range will be delivered this Friday, as a matter of fact. I'm a long time gas cooking fan ... even had a fabulous Thermador 48" range at the old property and actually miss it dearly. That's not in the cards here at our new place and I absolutely DESPISE regular electric cooktops. Zero control. Constant fight for temperature. Not my cup of tea. Induction, on the other hand, gives heat control that rivals high end gas because of the way it works...it heats the pan directly via magnetism and can react "on a dime" when you want to change the temperature. Of course, that's the one downside...you need induction compatible cookware. Since I've been pre-planning for this possibility for years, all my cast iron, enameled cast iron, carbon steel and ceramic non-stick cookware is induction compatible. The other downside to induction is it tends to cost more than regular electric, at least for now. I think that will change over time, honestly. Aside from the control upside compared to regular electric ranges, there is also the "clean air" benefits of not using gas. That's important to us, both because of our own health, but also for our birds. It's just safer all around.

And yes, kitchen renovation can be costly. I did a gut level at the old house, but saved a huge amount of money doing the work myself, including the cabinetry. Only the drywall, gas line and soapstone countertops were subcontracted. I don't need to do that here at the new, smaller place, but in addition to the new range, I'm putting in real ventilation over the range which includes ducting to the outside. And some lighting improvements.

[Lisa Starr]

I have a Wolfe Induction Cooktop and will never have anything else again. It is fast, responsive and a piece of cake to keep clean.

[Kev Williams]

I have a portable induction cooktop. I love the thing, except that this unit has an about 6" dia. magnetic coil, and that's where all the heat is concentrated. Not sure if whole range cooktops don't have this problem?

I love gas stoves, we have a 5 burner GE Cafe I got the wife a few years ago. What I DON'T like about most gas stoves is the burners themselves usually suck, because the flame emanates outward from a several=inch diameter burner ring, leaving the center region of most pots/pans without any heat while the sides of the pan get so hot the pan edges will burn wood and silicone utensils left leaning in the pot. The center burner on our Cafe is wonderful, a 3-ring burner with a 1-1/4"ish inch center burner, and a center 2-sided ring that flames out both outward AND inward. (I've noticed Rachel Ray's new stove, all 6 burners are like this)... I use the center burner almost exclusively...

And while I agree cal-rod electric stoves leave much to be desired with heat control, our Cafe replaced a 5 burner JennAire ceramic cooktop (which is in storage), which was pretty darn good for heat control; it uses electric coils, and they react MUCH faster than cal-rods. It had 1, 2 and 3 coil burners, and each coil of each burner could be controlled separately. Cleaning the thing was its main drawback!

[Jim Braun]

We switched from a gas cooktop to induction a few years ago and I would never go back for all the reasons already mentioned. We had a 30inch gas cooktop so the easiest thing to do was replace it with a 30inch induction cooktop, we went with a GE profile unit. If I was starting from scratch I would look into a 36" cooktop or possible a modular one were you could add a wok "burner".

Think about your cookware and what you use at the same time, it might help you narrow down your choices. Our top has 2 7' elements that can be bridged to form an oblong element, an 11" element and a 6" element; it is more efficient and better for even heating if the pan and the element are of a similar size.

[Brian Elfert]

If induction was a bit more popular in 2014 I probably would have gone with that instead of a dual fuel range with a gas top and electric oven.

[Jerry Bruette]

So far all good stuff.

I grew up using gas and we've had gas for over forty years. Not happy with how dirty it is, in the air, on the cabinets etc.

Anyone have any issues with cleaning the induction top or is it as easy as the manufacturers claim. Any problem with scratching the top?

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Be aware - induction stove needs appropriate cookware. Not every pot will work on induction stove. This is only one negative about this kind of stove.
Very fast warming up, easy control temperature, not hot surface after use - easy to clean. Boiling water faster than gas stove.
Ed.

[Andrew DiLorenzo]

Induction is hot quickly. I can put on small pot for tea, and before I get the tea bag out, the water is boiling. A convection oven under the range took a little while to adjust to. The fan heats more evenly, and to the uninitiated, it cooks quicker! I am a convert.

[Wojciech Tryc]

I have a Wolfe Induction Cooktop and will never have anything else again. It is fast, responsive and a piece of cake to keep clean.
I agree, we have Induction stove for over 5 years and I also would not switch it for gas nor bass electrical.
It's quick, safe and efficient.

[Lisa Starr]

Cleaning an induction cooking surface is easy. I use heavy, antique cast iron skillets on mine just about every dinner. Seven years down the road, I still haven't scratched it. Scratching it is possible and I chose to accept the risk.

[Jim Braun]

So far all good stuff.

I grew up using gas and we've had gas for over forty years. Not happy with how dirty it is, in the air, on the cabinets etc.

Anyone have any issues with cleaning the induction top or is it as easy as the manufacturers claim. Any problem with scratching the top?

I dropped a exhaust filter on mine and got a little nick, no big deal, the Schott ceramic glass used in these tops is very tough. I have an old cast iron pan that is a bit rough on the bottom, I just put a paper towel down btw it and the cooktop, if your not blasting the heat it works fine. I regularly take a hot pan from the oven and put it on the cook top to finish a dish. The Crerma Bryte (sp?) cleaner recommended by Schott works great for bigger messes. For normal cleaning I just use soapy sponge and wipe it off with a towel, since the top is black as are my counters you will see a film. I follow up with a spritz of a mix of 75% isopropanol , 25% water a few drops of dish detergent; that I have pre mixed in a spray bottle that, and a fresh paper towel gets you back to good as new.

[ChrisA Edwards]

We re-did all our kitchen appliances about 5 years ago. Wife wanted an induction stove and she absolutely loves it.

Ours is a Jenn-Air and they actually gave us a set of pans to use with it, although we haven't taken those out of the box yet.

[Jim Becker]

I have a portable induction cooktop. I love the thing, except that this unit has an about 6" dia. magnetic coil, and that's where all the heat is concentrated. Not sure if whole range cooktops don't have this problem?

Many of the current induction ranges are pretty flexible around pot size with each "burner" having a minimum coverage requirement, etc. Different "burners" are optimized for purpose and pot size, too...the big one brings the heat to a big pan/pot. Many can combine two areas for heating things like griddles, too. The Café I have arriving on Friday has four cooking areas an one warming area...coincidentally the same general layout as the "regular glass top electric" Samsung it's replacing. Here's the cooktop of the Café:

https://sat02pap002files.storage.live.com/y4mY28IifrrYGpOaOuYMJnvhFMeRCLbYIL7pSDOcUkCalR-HgZYWeMX-vn5ZkId_gIUA02Bv0hWJHKUBYMvlVRLAcXs63USa2WzLhh0dE6 49-0BJqUoznRzOI9b8nQKNKcYSRTVJPtKC0IVkFTHfwVZMBL9B3Sj ADPfl3AHn0zeTmsm5sBPo2Z4oJU8gYyhBJx5?width=705&height=641&cropmode=none

One thing I appreciate about the model I chose is that it uses "standard" front controls like a gas range, rather than touch controls, at least for the "burners".

I have a portable one like you mention and I suspect it also has a smaller coil.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

my wife has the kitchenaid cooktop, it smooth and ez to clean. there's a small chip on the edge of the top about the size of the end of a finger nail...no big deal, a meteorite hit it when we were out. ;)

[Roger Feeley]

We had gas at the old house. We went with induction and I will never go back.

Induction is fast. I timed myself making chocolate pudding. I started the timer when I opened the fridge to get the milk. I got out a 1qt saucepan and fetched the pudding mix. Measure the milk, heat it up, add mix and stir. Get out little cups and pour hot pudding. Put the cups in the fridge and the saucepan in the sink. Elapsed time was 7 minutes.

induction adjusts like gas. Turn it down and the heat is gone.

it’s easy to get a good simmer. Our old gas stove was too hot until I bought simmerplates. No problems with induction.

induction is a bit safer. Our cooktop won’t heat unless there is a pan to heat. The cooktop does get hot from the heat radiated by the pan. I’m told that isn’t as much of a problem as other cooktops. I’ve never tested it.

Smooth cooktop is easier to clean than gas.

you can still use your cast iron pans. The all aluminum and copper have to go. I have a 14” CI skillet that has a ring on the bottom. I haven’t gotten around to grinding that off yet.

[Frank Pratt]

I can see that an induction range is in my future. I love cooking with gas because of the control, but it's a huge pain to clean the darn thing and there's the whole air quality thing. Question for you people that have used them; how well does stainless clad aluminum cookware work as long as a magnet will stick to the stainless steel?

[Lisa Starr]

Frank, I have All Clad stainless pots that I use and they work just as well a my Cast Iron fry pans.

[Jim Becker]

Question for you people that have used them; how well does stainless clad aluminum cookware work as long as a magnet will stick to the stainless steel?
The fact that it's magnetic is a positive sign, Frank.

[Jim Braun]

I can see that an induction range is in my future. I love cooking with gas because of the control, but it's a huge pain to clean the darn thing and there's the whole air quality thing. Question for you people that have used them; how well does stainless clad aluminum cookware work as long as a magnet will stick to the stainless steel?

Yes as Jim suggests it is a positive sign, i would try it and if it performs well keep it. The cheaper stuff does seem to heat as quickly and makes some noise. I bought a cheap non-stick from Costco (Gotham Pro) it was rated for induction but it never really works as well as the better brands. In my experience these work well:
1. Induction rated All-Clad
2. Cast Iron
3. Le Creuset Enameled cast Iron
4. Carbon Steel Pans such as Matfer Bourgeat. These are relatively inexpensive and once seasoned are low stick like cast iron, just a lot lighter.
5. Calphalon tri ply stainless

[Jim Becker]

Yea, my arsenal is a couple pieces of actual cast iron, Staub enameled cast iron, Made In carbon steel and Zwilling ceramic non-stick. I'm not anticipating any issues, but will certainly test everything out once the new range is here on Friday. I do need to pick up a griddle...that was built in on the Thermador gas range at the old property.

[Kev Williams]

Induction is hot quickly. I can put on small pot for tea, and before I get the tea bag out, the water is boiling. A convection oven under the range took a little while to adjust to. The fan heats more evenly, and to the uninitiated, it cooks quicker! I am a convert.

Oh yeah! If you want REAL quick heat, pick up a couple of flimsy, thin steel pans from Goodwill or wherever-- even my small portable cooktop, within 20 seconds I can be deep-frying corn tortillas, burning sausage patties or boiling a half cup of water :D

[Lisa Starr]

Roger, you can probably leave the smoke ring on that skillet. Mine works fine on the induction.

[Derek Meyer]

Jim, how do you like your Made In cookware? I'm looking at getting a full set of it for my wife for Mother's day. She's now the dining services manager and head cook at a local care facility, and she would like some better cookware for home. Besides the cast iron, most of what we have is cheap stuff, so the Made In cookware would be a big upgrade. It's expensive, though, so I'd like to get the opinion of someone who has used it.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, how do you like your Made In cookware? I'm looking at getting a full set of it for my wife for Mother's day. She's now the dining services manager and head cook at a local care facility, and she would like some better cookware for home. Besides the cast iron, most of what we have is cheap stuff, so the Made In cookware would be a big upgrade. It's expensive, though, so I'd like to get the opinion of someone who has used it.
I have one Made In carbon steel pan. The quality is absolutely top notch. But it's also a specialty pan for me...proteins only, never anything acidic because that will strip off the seasoning. So as far as quality, I'm very happy with the product and it delivers what I bought it for. I do have one beef with the company right now and that's their ads that bill their new non-stick as "100% totally safe Teflon". That's not something that exists. Even with all the other bad stuff out of the formula, Teflon (PFTE) remains deadly for birds and we are owned by three birds.

[Jack Frederick]

How do the ovens work on the induction tops?

[Jim Becker]

How do the ovens work on the induction tops?
Normal electric ovens, most with convection. The Café I ordered comes in two versions...one larger oven with a warming drawer on the bottom and two smaller ovens; one larger than the other. All of them are convection and have some additional features, too. It's brand specific relative to features, however. But for an oven and baking/roasting, electric is actually preferable as it tends to provide more even heat. That's why dual fuel got popular with gas ranges at the higher end...gas on top for control and electric in the oven for consistency.

[Lisa Starr]

I can't comment of the ovens as I have an induction cooktop. My oven (electric, convection) is a built in under a counter in a different portion of the kitchen.

[John Goodin]

From what I have read induction has the temperature control of a gas unit and boils water a little faster. Definitely the way to go if you can swing the price and cook something besides pasta with any regularity.

Jim,
I have the Cafe dual-fuel, double oven range and had a hell of a time with the clock. I am not sure if your control panel functions the same but our must be hooked up to wifi for the clock to keep accurate time. Not sure why that is required -- at that price point I would think the clock should function as well as the non-smart ranges.

[Jim Becker]

I guess I'll find out how the clock works tomorrow. :) I'm OK with the WiFi thing, but I agree that one should be able to set something like a clock without such a connection.

I managed to get the clock on the newly installed vent hood set to the correct time today. LOL I did have to refer to the, um...manual..for that however. :D

[Roger Feeley]

I can see that an induction range is in my future. I love cooking with gas because of the control, but it's a huge pain to clean the darn thing and there's the whole air quality thing. Question for you people that have used them; how well does stainless clad aluminum cookware work as long as a magnet will stick to the stainless steel?

I think if the magnet sticks you are ok. when we switched, all our skillets worked because they were my grandmothers cast iron. Our collection of pots and pans was an oddball mix of cheap stuff. It was a great opportunity to thin the herd to a 1qt, a 2qt with steamer basket and a 6qt multi pot with pasta and steamer basket. And we kept grandmas dutch oven. The smaller pots are all-clad. The big one is Viking. I insisted that no pans be non-stick. I want to be able to scrub. The one exception is a pan just for cooking eggs.

[Roger Feeley]

One other innovation that’s coming is “cafe doors” on the ovens. These are two doors that open to the sides so you don’t have to reach so far. This seems to me to be a good idea. I only see it on really high end stuff now. Hopefully the feature will make its way down to us mere mortals.

[Jim Becker]

One other innovation that’s coming is “cafe doors” on the ovens. These are two doors that open to the sides so you don’t have to reach so far. This seems to me to be a good idea. I only see it on really high end stuff now. Hopefully the feature will make its way down to us mere mortals.

Yea, I like French door type ovens and hope they do become more common on ranges. So far, they have been more of a wall oven thing.

----
Rats...my delivery tomorrow isn't going to happen. The entire crew called in sick and there's an ice storm heading our way. Next available day is Saturday. I guess I'll be working on the venting project a little more tomorrow.

[Derek Meyer]

Well, MadeIn must have been monitoring our exchange, Jim. I got an email offer from them yesterday for $250 off the cookware set I was looking at, so I took it and ordered. Got free shipping too. The set should be here in a couple of weeks.

My wife is very excited to try these pans out.

[Jim Becker]

You will enjoy the MadeIn product, Derek. Really good quality for sure!

[Curt Harms]

Be aware - induction stove needs appropriate cookware. Not every pot will work on induction stove. This is only one negative about this kind of stove.
Very fast warming up, easy control temperature, not hot surface after use - easy to clean. Boiling water faster than gas stove.
Ed.

I seem to recall that one could get a metal plate for use with non-magnetic cookware. It would be induction top - metal plate - cookware. I don't see where that would make the induction top any faster than a resistance heat unit. I guess it would be useful for the occasional use where most cookware works with induction.

[Jim Becker]

I seem to recall that one could get a metal plate for use with non-magnetic cookware. It would be induction top - metal plate - cookware. I don't see where that would make the induction top any faster than a resistance heat unit. I guess it would be useful for the occasional use where most cookware works with induction.
I can see how that might work to heat a non-induction pan, but IMHO, it would be a waste of time and a waste of the true benefits of an induction range. I would not do this even if the pan was a beloved heirloom, honestly...the cost of the range is up there and I'd want to be able to use it fully.

[Roger Feeley]

Induction is hot quickly. I can put on small pot for tea, and before I get the tea bag out, the water is boiling. A convection oven under the range took a little while to adjust to. The fan heats more evenly, and to the uninitiated, it cooks quicker! I am a convert.

Our induction cooktop is on a range. We were very specific in our requirements that the range be the double oven with the small oven on top. Think of a standard range with the warming drawer that no one uses. Move the warming drawer to the top and make it a second oven. We use the little oven almost exclusively. It warms up faster than a big one you don’t have to stoop over much.

[Jim Becker]

Roger I had the choice between two ovens or one when I ordered the Café induction range that arrived yesterday. Professor Dr. SWMBO and I contemplated that for a bit and decoded to go with the single oven version based on both our cooking habits and our lack of storage space in the kitchen. The "warming drawer" is necessary space. But we both agreed that otherwise, the two oven version had some nice appeal. Interestingly, the Samsung glass top electric range we replaced had an interesting feature that one could split the larger oven into two with the insertion of a special metal divider half-way down. "Top" and "Bottom" could be regulated independently and the oven sensed when the divider plate was not present and converted to single control for the whole space.

I did get the new range installed yesterday afternoon...it was yet another case of "no good project goes unpunished" including the corollary that "you can never do only one trip to the home center". This was all essentially my fault as I never checked how the old rahge was hooked up...'found out it was hard wired when the delivery/install folks arrived. That killed both them doing the install and taking away the existing range. I also didn't check the cable for conductors and mistakenly assumed it was four wire, forgetting that the place was built in 1993. It was three wire so a trip back to return the first receptacle and buy a 3 wire receptacle and a three wire cord was necessary. All that plus the leveling took a bit of time, but it got done. TOnight will be the celebratory meal. :)

Jerry, (OP), I'll be sure to post a follow-up after I have a few days of cooking under my belt to let you know how things go, both in initial adaptation to the heating method and relative to getting a handle on the control, etc.

[Jerry Bruette]

Thanks Jim, appreciate the review.

[Lisa Starr]

Jim, I'm can't wait to see your review. I love my induction, but I cooked on electric for a while prior and hated that, so I'm not sure I had a good comparison with gas. It seems you're in a great position to evaluate the two.

[Jim Becker]

Ok...initial experience...um...WOW. Darn, the responsiveness is far better than the $11K Thermador gas range I had at the other house and this Café induction range that cost a third of that. (It's smaller, of course, but still...) I used my 10" MadeIn CS pan for the chicken I was cooking tonight and it was a real treat. The pan was hot nearly instantaneously so I could get the shallots, garlic and mushrooms caramelizing lickety split. Since my ventilation isn't done, I didn't get anything "smokin' hot", but didn't need to, either. The stock I added stayed at a wonderful simmer that I could practically micro-adjust. On the other side of the cooktop, the 3 quarts of water to cook the green beans was boiling in like three minutes. So aside from the control, I can see time savings.

Initial lessons learned was to unlearn everything I had to put up with using the glass top Samsung range (actually a higher end unit) that came with the house as well as to unlearn a lot of the preheating time I used with the gas range to have the pan where I wanted it to be. I'm sure that in a reasonably short period of time, I'll get a handle on actual temps vs the control settings..."know the tool", as it were.

Go for it Jerry!!

[Paul F Franklin]

Great to hear Jim, I look forward to the experience if our Cafe ever arrives! Did you consider the JXPROBE1 accessory? Lets you do sous vide or anything else that requires precise temp control (melting chocolate?). Essentially a temp probe that links to the range to provide closed loop temp control. We have one of those on order too....

[Jim Becker]

Great to hear Jim, I look forward to the experience if our Cafe ever arrives! Did you consider the JXPROBE1 accessory? Lets you do sous vide or anything else that requires precise temp control (melting chocolate?). Essentially a temp probe that links to the range to provide closed loop temp control. We have one of those on order too....

I'm getting the accessory shortly...I didn't order it with the range because it was also listed as on backorder and I didn't want to screw up the range order. HD has the accessory in-stock. I regularly use Sous Vide for beef and pork prior to grilling so yes, I'm looking forward to trying the "smart" setup out for that. This is yet another advantage to how induction works and how keenly and granularly temperature can be controlled. With Sous Vide, one degree can make a difference in some cases.

They are supposedly going to send me a "smart pan" as a rebate. Had I ordered in December, the promotion was a complete set of cookware including the smart pan and the accessory you mentioned. Oh, well...couldn't do that because I needed the sale of the other property to close before committing thousands to goodies for here. :)

BTW, Paul, this is what your range will look like other than the color and I think you opted for the dual oven version. I got the SS backsplash in today after it arrived on the big brown truck. 'Just have to complete the vent duct work now.

473421

[Jim Becker]

Um...don't try this with your glass top electric or gas range...that's boiling water (from cold pan and 3QT cold water to full boil in 5.5 min backed off to a rolling boil) and my hand is about a quarter inch from the pan. The surface is barely warm.

473519

[Doug Colombo]

Pick up our Wolf induction next week. We are excited to try it out. My brother in law has the same unit and loves it !

[Jim Becker]

Congrats on that Wolf cooktop, Doug! I think someone else in this thread has that unit, too.

I've barely started and I'm really sad I wasn't able to go this route until offloading the other property. The last nine months has been very frustrating in the cooking department! And I can really kick things up a bit now that I have proper ventilation completed. The weather cooperated this week for that work to be done comfortably.

[Lisa Starr]

Doug, I think you'll love your Wolf. I have their cooktop and couldn't be happier. We've had it since 2015 and it has worked flawlessly the entire time. You'd have to pry my induction cooktop out of my cold, dead... You get the picture.

[Jim Becker]

You'd have to pry my induction cooktop out of my cold, dead... You get the picture.

I actually am getting that picture very quickly! LOL. I do realize that I'm sounding like a cheerleader here, but it's hard not to. Apologies to folks for that.