Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The case for induction cooking

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 647 posts

Re: The case for induction cooking

#21

Post by amelius »

rexreed wrote: post #15
hprotagonist wrote: post #4

my local library will let you check out a portable induction hob. The last time i checked, the waiting list was about a month long, which certainly speaks to the interest in the idea. As long as my rangeware doesn't warp, I'm all for more even heating! It didn't occur to me until very recently that a reason why pans might warp on an induction hob is that they can now heat up fast enough to thermal shock on the way up…

Ikea sells a portable one for $55 (in the US). I know not free like the library, but if you want quick and portable access, I've used it and it's very good: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-coo...

You also need a special pan, which is probably at least as expensive.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#22

Post by eyeball »

noveltyaccount wrote: post #16
leoedin wrote: post #10

I fitted an AEG induction hob in our kitchen about 3 years ago. It is absolutely amazing. It's so controllable - you can go from "barely hot enough to melt chocolate" to "so hot your pans start discolouring and everything burns" - and back again - in seconds (and everything in-between obviously). I always thought gas was the best for cooking. But I was wrong - induction is. Gas is great for medium-high power cooking,…

I got a flat bottom wok that I am happy stir frying on my induction cooktop. The flat bottom gets rippin hot and the sides only warm. Have to work within that smaller hot zone but I prefer the wok to skillet for containing the mess.

wok cooking is the main place I find induction lacking

sides stay far too cool.

luckily I don't do it that often so just bought one of those butane table top burners for those cases.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#23

Post by beachy »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #9

"perils" is just a tad dramatic here. And while there are many advantages to induction over gas (the faster boiling times have me sold alone), there are some disadvantages in my opinion to placing even more reliance on a electrical grid that we learn each day is more fragile than we once thought.

Not just the grid but the fickle nature of power electronics.

Our induction cooktop fried its driver circuitry last year and we were stuck cooking off a camp stove for weeks while waiting for a part from Germany. Old school cooking methods are less high tech and more repairable.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#24

Post by buran77 »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #9

"perils" is just a tad dramatic here. And while there are many advantages to induction over gas (the faster boiling times have me sold alone), there are some disadvantages in my opinion to placing even more reliance on a electrical grid that we learn each day is more fragile than we once thought.

I think today more than ever we can agree that relying on gas may put any country in a far more precarious position. Remember that you can make enough electricity at home if need be, even if at a hefty cost maybe. The same cannot be said for the gas to power your stove and heating for any reasonable cost.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#25

Post by schroeding »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #9

"perils" is just a tad dramatic here. And while there are many advantages to induction over gas (the faster boiling times have me sold alone), there are some disadvantages in my opinion to placing even more reliance on a electrical grid that we learn each day is more fragile than we once thought.

But isn't gas not also reliant on power, nowadays? Do modern gas stoves still work without power / allow manual opening of the gas valves?

Re: The case for induction cooking

#27

Post by matthewowen »

amelius wrote: post #21
rexreed wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea sells a portable one for $55 (in the US). I know not free like the library, but if you want quick and portable access, I've used it and it's very good: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-coo...

You also need a special pan, which is probably at least as expensive.

Unless there’s something weird about that cooktop, you almost certainly don’t need new pans.

Copper doesn’t work, but cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel all do.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#29

Post by jandrese »

musikele wrote: post #5

"Although induction technology has been around for decades and is established in Europe, it has yet to catch on extensively here. According to Consumer Reports, induction cooktops and ranges are installed in only under 5 percent of homes in the United States." That's why, for a european like me, an article like this one seems totally extraneous to hacker news front page

They aren't as popular in the US because they're considered commercial appliances and it's assumed you are on a business budget if you want to buy one. This means the store carries like 3 models and they cost literally ten times as much as a traditional glass cooktop. $250 vs. $2500.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#30

Post by prometheus76 »

Amateur home cook offering my experience using a portable induction cooktop next to my electric stove top. I'm in the US, so my induction cooktop is an anemic 1800 watt one because it's 120V, instead of the beefier European/Asian models that are 3500W 220V versions.

That out of the way, here are the positives from my perspective: * induction boils a pot of water dramatically faster

* the pots, in general, heat up much faster and reach cooking temperatures VERY fast (as in, under two minutes)

* the surface itself only heats up as a result of the pan itself back-heating the surface of the cooktop.

* fixed, known heat settings for specific temperatures.

* almost instant pan response to temperature setting changes.

Here are the downsides from my perspective: * No fine control of the "heat". I have eight temperature settings ranging from 140F to 460F. That's a wide range with only ten steps, so I frequently wish I had more fine control of the settings, especially at the lower end. The steps are 140F, 212F, 260F, 300F, 350F, 400F, 425F, and 460F.

* Fan noise. The unit has a built-in fan that is very noticeable.

* It's much easier to burn sauces, because the heat right at the cooking surface seems to be much hotter because it hasn't radiated throughout the whole pan yet. (Please feel free to just say "git gud" at my poor skills.) I don't really know how to articulate this well, but I find myself adjusting for a certain level of boiling, but being surprised at how hot the bottom of the pan actually is, which leads to a burned sauce.

* Only works with certain pans. Most of my cookware is newer and designed to work with induction stoves, but I have a complete set of expensive stainless cookware that I inherited from my mother, and it doesn't work with the induction burner. Works great with cast iron and enameled cast iron, and I have a nonstick aluminum pan that has an iron plate on the bottom, so it works fine. I also have an all-clad stainless frying pan that is triple-layer, and one of those layers is iron, so it works well also. Any non-magnetic pans will not work (copper, aluminum, and older stainless pans).

I use my induction burner when I am cooking something for a long time outside, when I am boiling pasta or making lighter soups, and for deep frying.

I use my conventional electric stove when I am cooking meat, sauces, or thicker stews.

Post reply on HN