The case for induction cooking • Hacker News Board

Re: The case for induction cooking

#41

Post by prometheus76 » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:44 PM UTC

schroeding wrote: post #25

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?

Most modern gas stoves still only use electricity to ignite the flame initially. That can easily be replaced with a match if the power is out.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#42

Post by ptomato » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

Let me know when you can buy one of decent quality in the US with actual physical controls instead of some insane touch system designed by somebody who has apparently never actually been in a kitchen and marketed to people who won't use it but just want a thing that looks cool.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#43

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

hades32 wrote: post #19

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

German here. So few people here have induction because people still think that most pans couldn't be used. But I love it! But also few here use gas. It's mostly ceramic hobs

[deleted]

Re: The case for induction cooking

#44

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

beachy wrote: post #23

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.

[deleted]

Re: The case for induction cooking

#45

Post by lom » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

mikelemmon wrote: post #3

Oddly, the headline image of this article does not appear to be from an induction stove. Induction stoves do not glow red at all.

The article mentioned that some induction ovens come with lights attached to emulate the feeling of fire…

Re: The case for induction cooking

#46

Post by nemo1618 » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

Warning to anyone thinking about buying one of those portable induction cooktop ("just to see what all the fuss is about"): if it plugs into a standard 120V socket, it's probably not going to boil water any faster than your existing stove! In fact, mine boils even slower than my electric stove. Apparently, the portable ones only go up to around 1800W. If you want to experience the true boil-the-oceans power of induction, you have to get a full range that runs on 240V; those can draw closer to 7000W.

Granted, you can still benefit from the precise temperature setting and the ease of cleaning, but don't expect it to be an apples-to-apples comparison.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#47

Post by prometheus76 » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

matthewowen wrote: post #27

amelius wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Older stainless steel pans do not work. Stainless is not magnetic. Most newer stainless pans have a layer of iron sandwiched between stainless layers on the bottom of the pan. I have a set of older stainless pans I inherited from my mother and they do not work with my induction burner.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#48

Post by ginnungagap » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

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

It also depends where you are in Europe, in Italy gas is still by far the most common way to cook

Re: The case for induction cooking

#49

Post by cafemachiavelli » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

I'm German and switched to induction from (old) electric after moving to a nicer apartment.

Despite ostensibly knowing about its responsiveness before I still ended up with slightly underdone food for the first week - if you turn off the stove, it will get cold almost immediately, no/little residual heat to make use of.

It also comes with the vaguely flashy feature of letting you run one stove plate with twice the energy by temporarily disabling its neighbor. Since the dial goes up to 9.5 regularly, I call the power boost setting "19" and relish in the knowledge that I'm 8 steps ahead of Spinal Tap.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#50

Post by throw0101a » Sat, Mar 12, 2022, 9:46 PM UTC

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.

You need pans which you can stick a magnet to. Here's a set of three non-stick frying pans for US$ 30:

* https://www.amazon.com/Utopia-Kitchen-Nonstick-Frying-Pan/dp...

A twelve-piece set of non-stick pots and pans for $130:

* https://www.amazon.com/Induction-Kitchen-Cookware-Sets-Nonst...

Or a ten-piece stainless steal set for $200:

* https://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Classic-10-Piece-Cookware-S...

Would you consider any of these "expensive"?