[Teronzhul]

My mother is currently looking to build a new house, and I remember several years ago while browsing through a local "builders showcase" I came across a magnetic induction cooktop.

If you aren't familiar with these, they use alternating magnetic currents to create heat within the metal pots and pans, without creating external heat with coils or gas. They are safer, more efficient, and faster than any other cooktop.

I wanted to find one for her new house, however that is becoming more difficult than I had realized. Apparently all the major players in home appliances in the US stopped producing these units about ten years ago since they never caught on.

All the ones I can find are European and I am trying to decide if it is worth going to all the trouble to get one imported, especially if it were to break. There can't be too many experienced techs around to deal with that, not to mention parts etc.

So does anyone have experience with them? Sears Kenmore and GE both made several models 10-15 years ago.

If you want more info on these things, do a quick google for "induction hob."

Also, on a sidenote, what prompted europeans to call them hobs? I mean... I just can't think of how "hob" came to be the generic name for a cooktop.

[f1000]

For those who have never seen magnetic inductive heating at work, check out the following videos:



http://www.ameritherm.com/videoindex.html

[MaxPower2k3]

that's pretty awesome. i've never heard of it before

[awaspaas]

I remember Ming Tsai's wok on "East Meets West" having that technology. Maybe you should contact him. (He seemed awfully proud of that and his porcelain knives... )

[yukon]

wow, that seems awesome. and more energy efficient? wow, that's odd. I'm setting this thread to email me, sounds like yet another superior thing that got tossed aside (dvorak, polyphasic sleep, scsi, you get the point).

Perhaps you could find one used (please don't, someone find a store ;-).

[cszar2001]

As far as I know you need special pans and pots for it to work - it doesn`t work with all the regular ones.
It never caught on over here either.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by yukon:
wow, that seems awesome. and more energy efficient? wow, that's odd. I'm setting this thread to email me, sounds like yet another superior thing that got tossed aside (dvorak, polyphasic sleep, scsi, you get the point).

SCSI? It was fast, but it was really a nightmare in terms of user-friendliness...

[Teronzhul]

Originally posted by cszar2001:
As far as I know you need special pans and pots for it to work - it doesn`t work with all the regular ones.
It never caught on over here either.

Only special in that it requires steel or cast iron. Pretty much any pot you can stick a magnet onto will work with the range. The biggest player in induction cooktops is a company called De Dietrich which I assumed to be german. I figured they would be more popular over there.

And here is an ebay link to one of the 15 year old GE models.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

It is pretty much what I want, except that I know GE no longer makes replacement parts. This is for my mom, not me, so a product with no support is not going to fly.

Otherwise I think I might import one from Brandt. Their website has several different models shown at http://www.cookpower.com

The Brandt models are made by De Dietrich from what I understand.

[Teronzhul]

Oh, and if you're made of money unlike myself, there is ONE American company that has them available. They are Diva De Provence. http://www.divadeprovence.com/

The problem is that from what I understand, their cooktop is ALSO made by De Deitrich, BUT costs $2995 and $3995 and that comparable Brandt and De Deitrich models in Europe sell for 450-950 pounds ($800-$1700 roughly).

Quite a markup.

[milhous]

Originally posted by Teronzhul:
My mother is currently looking to build a new house, and I remember several years ago while browsing through a local "builders showcase" I came across a magnetic induction cooktop.

If you aren't familiar with these, they use alternating magnetic currents to create heat within the metal pots and pans, without creating external heat with coils or gas. They are safer, more efficient, and faster than any other cooktop.

I wanted to find one for her new house, however that is becoming more difficult than I had realized. Apparently all the major players in home appliances in the US stopped producing these units about ten years ago since they never caught on.

All the ones I can find are European and I am trying to decide if it is worth going to all the trouble to get one imported, especially if it were to break. There can't be too many experienced techs around to deal with that, not to mention parts etc.

So does anyone have experience with them? Sears Kenmore and GE both made several models 10-15 years ago.

If you want more info on these things, do a quick google for "induction hob."

Also, on a sidenote, what prompted europeans to call them hobs? I mean... I just can't think of how "hob" came to be the generic name for a cooktop.

Wait before you import anything!

I see 4 of these ranges that I think you're talking about at Best Buy's website (not sure if you have one near you) but if they have them, then I'm sure others do as well. Go to bestbuy.com > Home Appliances Tab > Ranges.

I can cleary see that they are thermal ranges--ones that don't use coils or burners. But if there's some other kind of range you're talking about, then my apologies for misunderstanding you. Here are the models that can be clearly seen.

Whirlpool GR445LXMS
GE JBP66WHWW
Siemens HE2415U
Frigidaire FES367DC

Good luck.

Seven posts to go...

[milhous]

Never mind, you may disregard what I just said, I saw that you were looking for a cooktop and not an entire range unit.

Six posts to go...

[milhous]

I may have redeemed myself

Looks like GE still makes electric cooktops and finding a dealer for them shouldn't be too hard.

Something like this?
http://www.geappliances.com/shop/prd...le=eleccooktop

Five posts to go...

[Teronzhul]

Originally posted by milhous:
Never mind, you may disregard what I just said, I saw that you were looking for a cooktop and not an entire range unit.

Six posts to go...

Actually I don't care if i get just the cooktop or an entire unit. That is irrellevant. The ones you picked out at Best Buys website are not the same thing at all, however. They are flat top electric ribbon resistance heating units. They are essentially normal electric cooktops that produce heat by sending electricity through a resistance coil. That isn't what I want at all.

I want a Magnetic Induction cooktop or range or however I can get it.

Magnetic induction creates heat through alternating magnetic currents within the pots themselves, not with an external heat source. Check some of the links provided up above.

[cszar2001]

I think the biggest drawbacks were that you don`t know if the unit is on or off - and you don`t want to wear jewelry when you cook.

[Teronzhul]

Originally posted by cszar2001:
I think the biggest drawbacks were that you don`t know if the unit is on or off - and you don`t want to wear jewelry when you cook.

Gold and silver aren't magnetic though, so unless you are wearing stainless steel jewelry I don't think there would be a problem. Also, all the ones I have looked at so far turn themselves off immediately if a pot or pan is not present, AND have timers which turn themselves off accordingly if left on for long periods of time.

[MaxPower2k3]

you can't wear a watch when you cook, though. at least, not a digital one.


edit: i guess it depends on the strength of the magnetic field. I don't know if it's only directly around the pan, or if it'll pull things from across the counter to it.


oh, and don't cook your floppy disks with one of those

[Scifience]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
oh, and don't cook your floppy disks with one of those

Floppy ... disks? What is a this "floppy disk" that you speak of?

[rozwado1]

So since it's magnetic, you could touch your hands to the "burner" and not be affected? But the pot itself would be molton hot? This is too cool. I'd have to play with one before I ever bought one - just so I'd trust it.

I wonder how complex the parts are inside of the range itself. I'd imagine it would just be the coils and a temp regulator.

[Teronzhul]

Well, the glass/ceramic top will eventually absorb heat from the pot, but it would take time and wouldn't be a lot. One of the sites I got info from said the surface temp of the cooktop directly under a pot of boiling water would get to about 230 degrees F. Compared to the 740 degrees or so of an electric cooktop that isn't much though.

[MindFad]

Man, that would be cool to stick your finger in there and have it shoot to 1600� in two seconds.

Seriously, though, that that awesome stuff.

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally posted by MindFad:
Man, that would be cool to stick your finger in there and have it shoot to 1600� in two seconds.

Seriously, though, that that awesome stuff.

Only if you're a robot. Or have a prosthetic/bionic finger made of steel or iron.

[Arty50]

Somebody has to say this.

Why? You're really limiting yourself here cookware wise. Most great cookware uses either copper or is steel with an aluminum bottom. I'm assuming the former won't work and the latter's aluminum may present a challenge. And let's say you want to use a paella pan which is ceramic. Totally screwed.

Then there's the other issue that is my huge pet peeve with all electric stoves. How fast does it change temperature? Most electric stoves don't do this very well, especially when it comes to going from high to low. They take forever to cool down. It's the number one reason why I love gas. Frankly gas kicks ass. I ****ing hate cooking with electric stoves.

[G4ME]

i did some digging around last year trying to find an Induction burner for my dorm room, seeing that it didn't create heat I porb could have gotten away with it. But The only ones i found were single burners, they could only be found through commercial dealers, and cost 400 bucks. Seeing that every restaurant has gas and they only reason they would need one of these would be in a buffet style hot plate, where they don't have to worry about catching the table cloth on fire, they only make single burners hot plates. Granted the tech is cool there just wasn't a market for it to sustain in society. hell if you get creative enough i bet you could make a custom one that would fit your needs to a T.

So its like asking hey, you remember that car way back in the 20's that ran off steam? yeah that thing was really cool, use any type of fuel you want, wood, coal, kerosine, with a perfectly flat power band, yeah that was really cool where can i find one of those cars now.

EDIT: BTW we have 4 induction burners at our commons at the university that we can make stir-fry with never had a prob with my watch i imagine the current is changing fast enough so that eddy currents can't form, creating the magnetic flied, Other wise how the hell would you be able to move the pot?

[Teronzhul]

Originally posted by Arty50:
Somebody has to say this.

Why? You're really limiting yourself here cookware wise. Most great cookware uses either copper or is steel with an aluminum bottom. I'm assuming the former won't work and the latter's aluminum may present a challenge. And let's say you want to use a paella pan which is ceramic. Totally screwed.

Then there's the other issue that is my huge pet peeve with all electric stoves. How fast does it change temperature? Most electric stoves don't do this very well, especially when it comes to going from high to low. They take forever to cool down. It's the number one reason why I love gas. Frankly gas kicks ass. I ****ing hate cooking with electric stoves.

Why? I thought I had given a few good reasons... Faster... Cleaner... More Efficient... and above all, SAFER. My mother is building next door to my sister, and likely will be doing a lot of babysitting in the coming years as my sister has children ages 2-8. She herself is not a spring chicken as she is in her sixties so safety will be a concern not only for the kids, (i doubt she will be able to maintain the control that their parents do) but for herself as well. There won't be any risk of leaving a burner on, or anything catching fire due to spillage with induction.

I don't really care if she can use a paella pan, since I don't know what the heck it is and figure it is unlikely that she has one. Her current cookware is fine, and will work with induction well. If you're so caught up on gas they even make 2/2 split induction gas cooktops, but I don't really consider that to be an option right now.

As for response time, I would imagine it is about as fast as it gets. Remember, there is no electric element to heat, the pot is the element. In terms of heat up time, while a few websites I've visited may be biased, the numbers they provided seem accurate to my real world experiences. To heat a pot of water to boiling they say electric should take 5.5 minutes, gas 3.5 minutes, and induction 1.5.

And G4ME, maybe you should check this out :
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...C-pr1c3grabb3r

It sounds like you want more than single burner, but $120 is a lot cheaper than $400.

[Teronzhul]

Here we go Arty, adjustment speed:

Instant Adjustment
To serious cooks, the most important favorable point about induction cookers is that you can adjust the cooking heat instantly and with great precision. Before induction, good cooks, including all professionals, overwhelmingly preferred gas to all prior forms of electric cooking for one reason: the "inertia" in ordinary electric cookers--when you adjust the heat setting, the element (coil, halogen heater, whatever) only slowly starts to increase or decrease its temperature. With gas, when you adjust the element setting, the energy flow adjusts instantly.

But with induction cooking, the heat level is every bit as instantaneous and exact as gas, yet with none of the many drawbacks of gas (which we will detail later). Induction elements can be adjusted to increments as fine as the cooker maker cares to supply, just like gas, and--again very important to serious cooks--such elements can run at as low a cooking-heat level as wanted for gentle simmering and suchlike. Someday, perhaps not so many years away, the world will look back on cooking with gas as we today look on cooking over a coal-burning kitchen stove.

[G4ME]

i was looking for something high end and was just cutious how much the commons paid for theirs, and if i could sneak it out under my shirt

http://www.selectappliance.com/exec/...t/ck_mcd-2502s


Try rigging out some of those into the counter top. again yeah its great tech but the price out weighs the benefits.

BTW for the safety aspect my grandmother still has a pot belly stove in her kitchen (to keep it warm) and you know what, when she baby-sat us it only took us one time to find out that its freaking hot.

[Eug Wanker]

Gas stoves rule. Everything else pales in comparison.

By the way, many popular pots and pans these days are at least partially aluminum. For instance, a lot of the mid to higher end pans are stainless steel, but with either an aluminum or a combo aluminum and copper base underneath the stainless steel.

Or else if you look at the non-stick pans, many are solid aluminum, covered with Teflon.

Thus, this magnetic induction stove technology seem like a Bad Idea today.

Oh and my watch is stainless steel.

[G4ME]

I want to say that only if you place your watch directly on the hot plate will it create heat, and possibly not considering the size of it. I imagine that the surface area also has to do with the ability to create eddy currents. I never had a problem using a stir fry pan with my watch with the induction burners at my University.