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The case for induction cooking

nytimes.com

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Re: The case for induction cooking

#71

Post by tedunangst »

azalemeth wrote: post #58
nemo1618 wrote: post #46

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 induct…

120V is only standard in a part of the world. It's much more helpful to talk about power -- where I am 3 kW is limiting on a standard socket, at 230V. What is it for the US (I don't know!) Note -- electric hobs and ovens are often wired into far far chunkier circuits and the high efficiency of induction is a big boon. It's wonderful to cook on -- all the responsiveness of gas, none of the pm2.5. It's just a shame tha…

Somewhere around 15 amps is almost always the limit for basic circuits, making voltage an easy proxy for available power.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#72

Post by whycome »

miduil wrote: post #65

I love induction stoves, I'm always a bit sad when people tell me they dislike induction cooking. I wish there was more granular heat control aka faster on/off switching/temperature modulation, some stoves are really bad which makes frying especially complicated as the heat comes in pulses of seconds. Btw. for my new apartment I was wondering if there are ways to avoid scratches on the induction glass plate and turns…

I'd be too scared to use it if its only good up to 480f -- I don't want to have to think.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#73

Post by vetinari »

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,…

> but it falls apart for lower temps, and it's very hard to get it consistent.

There are gas hobs that make it easy; I like my cooktop with FlameSelect exactly for this, it has 9 discrete positions and exact flame size for each position.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#74

Post by gwinsyth »

itcrowd wrote: post #35

Induction cooking is good. UI is terrible: touch screen that only allows control over one heat source at a time. Please, please please give me knobs like the ones in gas tops

Depends on brand. I have one with 4 distinct controls for each heat source. But when I was changing my stove, this was something I looked for - I've used those that can set only one heat source at the time, and they are infuriating for me too.

As for knobs, I'm willing to bet that there are some induction stoves with knobs.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#75

Post by gcheong »

ptomato wrote: post #42

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.

Are there any like that anywhere? I would think part of the problem is that induction settings are usually in discrete steps so a knob, which is what I assume you mean by physical control, may not be any better than a simple +\- control and would stick up from a seamless cooktop. Also, the highest end ones like Thermadors seem to focus on making the entire cooktop usable which kind of breaks the discrete burner area paradigm that knobs would suggest. Closest I’ve seems is a little puck on Samsung cooktops that you can use to adjust the controls but I would hate worrying about losing it.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#76

Post by smiley1437 »

I like induction but it's hard to find portable induction with a true hob size larger than 6". Any cookware outside the induction disk zone only gets warm, not really hot.

The largest one I could find is the Max Burton 6600 which claims a 9" induction disk but the middle 3 inches of the disk is not energized.

I suppose for a 15 amp plug there's only so much area it can safely heat.

Maybe built-in ones can be bigger?

Re: The case for induction cooking

#77

Post by whycome »

ptomato wrote: post #42

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.

I suspect we will finally see a return to buttons in a couple years. I'm picturing an iPhone with a side ridge of multiple buttons. Like, little mini haptic-feedback touchpads (like the main pads on macbooks....but smaller)

Re: The case for induction cooking

#79

Post by mytailorisrich »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #61

I did not know that induction cooking is a novelty (or at least worthy of an article) in the US. When you go to an appliance shop in France they would be 90% of the offer (and 9% gas, 1% vitro-electric). BTW the big photo on the top of the article is not induction but vitro-ceramic (the first version of something that would look at glass and not have flames, but this is not induction, just heating of a tingie under t…

France moved to 100% electric in many places decades ago because of their strategic choice of nuclear energy.

Re: The case for induction cooking

#80

Post by finiteseries »

BrandoElFollito wrote: post #61

I did not know that induction cooking is a novelty (or at least worthy of an article) in the US. When you go to an appliance shop in France they would be 90% of the offer (and 9% gas, 1% vitro-electric). BTW the big photo on the top of the article is not induction but vitro-ceramic (the first version of something that would look at glass and not have flames, but this is not induction, just heating of a tingie under t…

I’ve always wondered how Italians will handle the transition when it inevitably happens, that tilting & just a ton more movement in general over the flame seems super common there
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