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Pandora's avatar

If you have an induction stove I would like to hear your personal experience with them.

Asked by Pandora (32439points) September 10th, 2024

I am looking to buy a new stove in about a year so I’m researching to find which ones are best. So I came upon induction stove tops and wondered if anyone has experience with them. Online, they say there is a learning curve. Why is there a learning curve because it cooks faster because every part of the pot distributes the heat evenly. Why would this be a problem?

I also would like to know if you like your induction stove and maybe some brand suggestions.

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8 Answers

Tropical_Willie's avatar

I don’t own one but have taken cooking classes that use counter top (individual) and stove tops, Some pots and pans can’t be used, Aluminum and Pyrex. One class had repeated problems using one pan, never figured out why.
You can use cast iron on it but you need to put down a piece of parchment paper or a silicon trivet to keep it from scratching the glass surface.

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Edit: You’ll have better luck by matching size of your pot or pans with the size element.

seawulf575's avatar

I have a portable induction cooktop. It is good and bad. You have to have pots and pans that are compatible with induction cooking. If you tried putting a cast iron pan on it, it won’t do anything. You can look on the bottom of your pots and pans to see if they are induction compatible or not.

The thing I like about it is that it cooks amazingly fast. You put a pot of water on it and it seems to start boiling in about half the time of a regular stove top. Also, unlike many electic stoves, if you change the temperature setting, the change on your food is almost instantaneous.

The things I’m not so keen on with my cooktop is that it is a single burner unit. Only one pot/pan at a time. And if you are frying something, you still have to deal with splatters. That may be on your stove or on your counter or even on your table or floor. The issue of only one burner would not, of course, apply to an entire stove with induction cook tops.

Forever_Free's avatar

I used one last week in an AirBnb I was staying at in Canada. It works fine with the right cookwear.
The learning curve is that there is a complete timing and rhythm difference to gas or electric burners.
They heat up very quickly and people tend to scorch things or undercook things. Start out slow to get the feel and rhythm of this new tool.

As an aside, they also emit an audible sound.

Pandora's avatar

@Forever_Free I read that some do that and some don’t. Is it an annoying sound? Or like a soft hum that just reminds you, you are cooking still.

filmfann's avatar

My son has one. He and his wife love it. I don’t care for them because they need particular kinds of pots.

Forever_Free's avatar

@Pandora I had to prepare some food for a wedding party of 40 people and that and a countertop oven was all I had. I was actually very impressed with the process and the results of using it.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

If a magnet sticks to a pan, it works on induction stovetops.

If someone is scorching food they’re simply turning the heat to high. Induction tops are great for simmering because you can turn the heat down very low.

seawulf575's avatar

@Call_Me_Jay I thought the same thing about the magnet sticking to a pan being all that is needed. I have some pots/pans that are not right for my cook top and when I try to use them I get an error message (it indicates it isn’t the right kind of material). So I tried a cast iron pan figuring that would work fine. I got the same error message. When I put a pot on there with a bottom it says is acceptable for induction cooking, it works just fine. Maybe it’s just my cook top. It is pretty old and maybe they have made corrections to it. But ferromagnetic is not the final answer on mine.

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