Wife and I are doing a complete reno of the kitchen, floor, cabinets, lighting, wow stuffs expensive.
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.
[OP]
Contributor
Wife and I are doing a complete reno of the kitchen, floor, cabinets, lighting, wow stuffs expensive.
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.
Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation
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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.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
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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.
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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!
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ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now- fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
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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.
Contributor
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.
[OP]
Contributor
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?
Confidence: The feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation
Contributor
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.
Member
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.
Member
I agree, we have Induction stove for over 5 years and I also would not switch it for gas nor bass electrical.Originally Posted by Lisa Starr
It's quick, safe and efficient.
Contributor
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.
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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.
Last edited by Jim Braun; 02-01-2022 at 7:17 PM.
Contributor
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.
Last edited by ChrisA Edwards; 02-01-2022 at 10:20 PM.
Moderator
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:
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.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
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.
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