Anybody have a Magnetic Induction range?

[tasty-italian-cook]

My husband and I are looking to remodel our kitchen in the near future and we are thinking about a magnetic induction stove... specifically the Stainless Steel Kenmore Elite 30 in. Freestanding Induction Range... has anyone ever cooked on one? Are they really as great as they're being made to seem? I know they are relatively new technology, I don't actually know anyone that has one!

 

[jabbur]

I didn't know and had to do a google search. It sounds interesting. I wonder if any appliance rental places have them that you could rent one for a month to see if you like it or not. Lots of money to spend if you find it doesn't suit your needs! It seems like most of the professionals I know prefer gas but then it's all what you are comfortable with. I grew up with electric stoves and so prefer them. Hope you get some answers! Enjoy your new kitchen too!

 

[Jikoni]

We use an induction stove from De Dietrich and I find them amazing. It's hard to burn anything, and kids can't turn it on unless they use the right pots and pans. It's so easy to keep clean as it has no hidden places one has to look for to clean as it's flat.

 

[tasty-italian-cook]

thanks jikoni...that's what i've kind of heard too. we don't have access to a gas line, and am concerned about all the work involved to put one in, but we really like the look of the induction stove and if it works, i'd rather do that than rip up the floor boards and try and install all those pipes. thanks for both your responses!

 

[SnickersMom]

My mother-in-law bought an induction cooktop 20 years ago when she redid her kitchen after a house fire. The first time I went over she was cooking and the pots and pans had paper towels under the pans! I was so shocked that I pulled up a stool next to the stove and just watched and asked questions for the next thirty minutes. I have always wanted one. I am concerned if it creates an electromagnetic field, which I have found to be detrimental to one's health. So I have more research to do....

 

[ricelover]

Tasty-Italian-Cook, I've had both electric cooktop and gas cooktop and always thought gas cooktops were superior in many ways. Then I purchased a portable Viking induction cooktop, primarily with the thought I would use it in my backyard patio to cook those odor causing meals like fish or deep frying. Instead, I find myself using it whenever I can indoors. The heat control is so much faster and responsive, both when preheating, adjusting during cooking, and when turning it off. It does not behave at all like electric cooktops with their slow heat up and slow cooldown. The amount of wasted heat to the surrounding air is soo-o-o much less, it's a pleasure to cook in the heat of summer. When I use it with my Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, the energy efficiency is unbelievable. I would love to have an all-induction built in cooktop, but with my GE profile gas stove only 3 years old, I really can't afford to toss out a perfectly good gas stove. So, yes, even with all the limitations of a portable unit, induction cooking is a pleasure. As for worries over health effects, one manufacturer warns that people with pacemakers/internal defibrillators should stand no closer than 4 inches to a working induction cooktop. (Magnetic fields would interfere with the pacing function and deactivate the defibrillator function temporarily). Initially, my only induction cookware was a 11 inch nonstick saute pan, an 8 quart stockpot, and a 5 1/2 qt pressure cooker. When I discovered what a pleasure it was to use an induction cooktop, I purchased a quality induction stainless steel 9 piece set by Fissler, and have been happily cooking faster, cooler, with greater precision, lower airconditioning bills, easier cleaning, safer. Even the pot handles don't become hot the way gas cooktops often transfer heat to the entire cookware. I no longer need to use potholders when picking up the pot! There is so much more, but it has already been said by many others.

 

[Robo410]

I have a fine duel fuel range at home, but have cooked on Induction in professional settings. It does require magnetic pans (cast iron, enameled cast iron, carbon steel or magnetic stainless steel), but htat is the only limitation. As to its function? excellent. If I couldn't have gas I'd have induction. If I could have both, I would. I do have a single portable induction unit and like it a lot.

 

[jade]

The induction hybrid stoves are incredible. All I know about them is that they can boil water in under a minute, which sounds like a life saver to me. The information I've learned on this thread just makes me want one even more.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My mother-in-law bought an induction cooktop 20 years ago when she redid her kitchen after a house fire. The first time I went over she was cooking and the pots and pans had paper towels under the pans! I was so shocked that I pulled up a stool next to the stove and just watched and asked questions for the next thirty minutes. I have always wanted one. I am concerned if it creates an electromagnetic field, which I have found to be detrimental to one's health. So I have more research to do....

Magnetic fields are the same fields that suround the Earth and protect us from much harmful radiation that is constantly bombarding our planet. And if you don't already know it, every time you activate an electric appliance, be it an iron for your clothes, your washing machine, a light, your tv, your stereo, or any other device that uses electricity, you create electro-magnetic waves. The physics of electricity is such that any time any electrical current passes through a conductor, an electro-magentic field is created, it's strength being proportional to the amount of current. Conversely, any time a conductor is passed through a magnetic field, an current is induced in that conductor. That is how an induction stove works.

An electric current is passed through a winding (wire wrapped around a usually metal core), which creates a magnetic field. Since alternating current is used, the field is alternately growing and collapsing. This moving field passes through the metal pan, usually steel or iron. This creates eddy-currents in the pan metal, and teh pan metal being a relatively poor conductor, the eddy currents encounter resistance. This resistance property creates heat in the metal. It's the same thing that happens when you turn on a light. The wire filament in the bulb heats in relation to the current passed through it, until it get hot enough to glow.

And if you want to talk about magnetic fields, think of the bass speaker in your stereo. It takes subtantial amounts of current to generate a moving field strong enough to move the big speaker mebrane at anywhere from 15 cycles per second (15 herts) to 2500 yccles per second. I would suspect that the magnetic fields created by a good sub-woofer, or bas speaker are far greater than those used in a magnetic induction cooktop.

Plus, magentic field strength decrease by, I think, the square of the distance. That means that if you had a magnetic field strenth of 25 gaus at 2 centemeters, then at 4 centemeters, the field strength would decrease to 5 gaus.

Your car generates tremendous magnetic fields, especially around the alternator. Your refrigerator has a fairly hefty electric motor on board that drives a compresor. I generates a powerful magnetic field when running.

So, I wouldn't be so worried about an induction range.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[kamp]

We have it and it works great!! Water boils in less then 2 minutes