

Is Induction Cooking Ready to Go Mainstream? - bigwill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/dining/07induction.html?hp

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dedward
Finally something I can comment on, as I like to cook, and I upgraded to
induction about a year ago.

Upside: It's like cooking with gas, without the risk of fire. It looks slick.
If you get a good and powerful model, the install footprint is small and
cooking on it is very reproducable... (setting 7 on burner 3 with this pan is
always the same). You can also get maintain lower temperatures than you can
with other stovetops, negating the need in some cases for a double-boiler and
making it easy to keep food warm - there are a plethora of other technical
coolies too - like how as soon as I lift up the pan to dump the pasta, the
power to the element shuts of. It's more efficient. The cat can walk on it and
even though he hits the buttons, he can't turn it on - elements are reactive,
they won't activate if they don't sense enough ferrous material above them.

Downside: It's ceramic. Don't drop stuff on it. Downside: It's ceramic, if you
like to sautee stuff by lifting up the pan and/or sliding the pan around, it
will just scratch up your cooktop.

A professional restaurant, for this reason, would probably benefit from both
gas and induction at the same time.

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VolatileVoid
Do not confuse "induction cooking" with "cooking by induction." The latter
often goes something like, "well, you cooked dinner _last_ night..."

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stck
I didn't realise they still make non-induction stoves. I haven't heard that
anyone that I know of has bought an old-tech electric cooktop in the past five
years. But this is scandinavia, so I guess it's like living in the future.

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roel_v
Here in Belgium & the Netherlands all new kitchens in the medium to upper
price class (read: non-rentals) are sold with induction plates, too. I love
ours, perfect control over pot/pan temperature, warms up really quick, cools
down very fast too, easy to clean.

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JulianMorrison
It's all fun and games until somebody sticks their hand in the field while
wearing a steel watch.

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roel_v
Actually, I have an RFID tag implanted in my hand, and I was rather worried
that it would blow up or something when I would put my hand on our stove.
Turns out it's no problem at all, I have tried everything possible to get a
tag to explode, break, get warm or even just stop working, but I haven't been
able to find a way.

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drtse4
Stupid question, why do you have an RFID tag in your hand?

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roel_v
Mostly for the body hack value of it, at this moment I only use it to log on
to my computer. There's a book out there ('RFID toys') that describes how it
could be used to unlock/start a car or unlock a door. Maybe if I ever have a
spare weekend or two (heh) I'll make something like a 'hidden' safe, a
seemingly normal wall that springs open when I wave my hand past it. Maybe put
a gun safe in there or something. If I ever build another house for myself I
will try to put some hidden areas like that in it.

Overall and right now it's of limited practical value. Still makes for a cool
story and discussion starter on transhumanism.

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fhars
I'd like to nomminate the article for the "stupid metaphor of the year" award,
though. I mean, why would I want to by a stove that only allows me to cook
meels tested and approved by as well as procured through the stove
manufactuer? Or what is the character sequence "iPad of the kitchen" meant to
signify?

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ErrantX
Ugh, I hate induction for cooking. We have one at home (UK) and it is a pain -
you have to be on the ball _all_ the time when making a meal.

I prefer gas or standard electric hobs personally; more fine grained control
and actually a little more predictable in my experience.

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AndrewDucker
Can you explain why you have to be on the ball all the time?

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ErrantX
It heats faster for one thing - I used to be able flick on the gas at my Uni
flat and dump something into it then get distracted for a few minutes
chopping/cutting etc.

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dedward
That implies either you have it turned up too high for the task at hand (finer
control is one benefit of induction - maybe your unit is really cheap?) - and
possibly that it's way overpowered for the typical use you use it for.

They aren't really much faster than gas - just a lot more energy efficient...
I know mine is faster than previous gas stoves that I purchased, but I also
went out of the way to make sure I had high-powered elements because I hate
waiting .

If it's so fast - why wouldn't you just turn it on after you chop everything?
No need to pre-heat when things heat up so fast....

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ErrantX
> why wouldn't you just turn it on after you chop everything? No need to pre-
> heat when things heat up so fast....

We'll that's an essay in itself - it's quite an inefficient way to cook, I
went through a stage a while back where I quite religiously prepped
_everything_ before beginning to cook a meal. Not fun.

> They aren't really much faster than gas

Example: I find doing sauces a lot easier on gas (particularly things like
white sauce or gravy) because the heating is generally a lot slower and more
gradual. It is a pain with induction having to tweak up the heat every few
minutes to make sure it doesn't heat too fast.

Control with gas is as granular as induction I would say (we had an electric
hob a few years ago that had a dial - but only 4 actual settings...)

I personally find our induction hob heats faster than gas - could just be
particular circumstances though.

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RyanMcGreal
Can you use cast iron on an induction stovetop?

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sstrudeau
tl;dr? Yes. The article indicates even enameled cast iron works well.

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rimantas
Have been using for 1.5 years and never thought about it as some future
technology…

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hackermom
Interesting fact: induction heater plates are pretty much standard here today
in Sweden when buying a new kitchen - you just won't find any kitchen
appliance reseller in the country featuring the normal conductive hot plate
stove as the major presence in their full kitchen kits. Conductive hot plate
stoves are still the standard presence in normal rental apartments, though.

