Induction cooking

[JustJoel]

I bought an induction cooker (NuWave) about a year ago. For reasons I need not go into, I just started using it last night; I made my Japanese fried chicken. It did very well. I also boiled water for macaroni very quickly.

I’m now (yes, right now) trying to heat oil in a CI enameled Dutch oven to fry my Dolly breasts, and it’s taking FOREVER to get to 360°! Any clue as to why?

 

[Andy M.]

The enamel coating gets between the cast-iron and the hotplate, reducing the magnetic attraction the induction hot plate needs work.

 

[JustJoel]

The enamel coating gets between the cast-iron and the hotplate, reducing the magnetic attraction the induction hot plate needs work.

But there’s no enamel on the bottom of the pot!

 

[pepperhead212]

I've had a Burton induction burner for several years, to cook on in the summer, so I am not putting all of that heat into the house. It cooks very well, bringing a gallon of water to boil as fast as my high heat (20k) burners, unless I have them turned up so high that the flame is up and around the pots. And it is great for simmering, too. I never heated a lot of oil in a dutch oven on it, but I never had a problem heating any of them up when cooking other things.

I got rid of a bunch of my old pots, and got induction capable pans, just for this, even though I only use it during AC season.

 

[CraigC]

We have 2 NuWave induction burners and have never had a problem with our enameled CI on them. Do you have it set on the highest wattage?

 

[tenspeed]

The enamel coating gets between the cast-iron and the hotplate, reducing the magnetic attraction the induction hot plate needs work.

Induction heating will work on any electrically conductive material, and not just magnetic materials. It works by inducing a current in the object, which generates heat by resistance. You can heat aluminum and copper objects via induction, but for cooking applications it's just not efficient. Induction heating is used in many industrial processes.

 

[medtran49]

Yes, check your wattage button, you might have hit it by accident.



BTW, Andy, in addition to what Craig wrote, the NuWaves give you an error message and just won't work at all if the pan is not induction ready. JJ would know because the display would say error and it would beep at him. I have no idea about how other brands of induction cookers react though.

 

[Andy M.]

First, I've never heard of an enameled cast iron pan with no enamel on the bottom. Wouldn't it rust if it wasn't seasoned?

Second, my thought was that the enamel coating partially interfered with the induction process, reducing its effectiveness, not making it inoperable.

 

[pepperhead212]

I have a few old Copco pans (a couple gratin pans, and a grill pan) that are plain CI on the bottoms. They might not make them anymore, but they are out there.

 

[Andy M.]

I have a few old Copco pans (a couple gratin pans, and a grill pan) that are plain CI on the bottoms. They might not make them anymore, but they are out there.

Do the bottoms rust? Are the bottoms seasoned? I'm not understanding how this works.

 

[pepperhead212]

Do the bottoms rust? Are the bottoms seasoned? I'm not understanding how this works.

Yes, they did; the two gratin pans are in the basement, and I'm sure that those are rusted. The grill pan stays seasoned, to some extent, though even that one isn't used much. This is why I stated that I didn't even know if they made them anymore! After looking at those I realized that one gratin pan was coated, while the other wasn't, so maybe they did stop making them. I bought all of those for next to nothing in the early 80s, from a place going out of business.

Way back, those uncoated bottoms were a selling point, supposedly conducting the the heat better than the coated ones, but let's face it - this wasn't something that really mattered, in this type of pan. But then, maybe it would have helped, on the induction, if the enamel is what is slowing the heating down for Joel.

 

[Silversage]

I have a full induction range, and all my enameled CI works just fine.

Some of the pieces are enamel on the bottom, and others aren't. I've never seasoned the bottoms, and never had a problem with rust.

 

[roadfix]

I've never owned one of these cooktops. I assume the cooktop surface is fairly scratch resistant and can handle rough bottomed skillets, particularly bare cast iron?

 

[pepperhead212]

I've never owned one of these cooktops. I assume the cooktop surface is fairly scratch resistant and can handle rough bottomed skillets, particularly bare cast iron?

Mine is almost scratch free, but I don't use the scratchy things on mine, too often. One of my Dutch ovens is smoother than the others, but then, I don't make many things in them in the summer - not soup or stew season. Occasionally I will make a Thai curry in my CI wok, but that just sits where I put it - not something I would be moving around, like with a skillet. Anything like that gets done in smooth bottomed SS pans.

 

[JustJoel]

No wattage control



I don’t see any control to adjust the wattage, unless that’s synonymous with adjusting the temperature.

Would there be a wattage control somewhere other than the control panel?

 

[caseydog]

My leCrueset enameled CI DOs have coating on the bottom -- as do most of the other coated CI pots and pans I have seen. I can imagine that reducing the induction performance, perhaps. I know my leCrueset CI is induction ready -- it says so on the box.

I suppose there could be some difference between heating water and heating oil using induction (???).

I am hoping to replace my ceramic/electric cooktop with induction soon. I may get one portable unit to experiment with. I am curious to see how it works with my collection of cookware.

CD

 

[Andy M.]

View attachment 33887

I don’t see any control to adjust the wattage, unless that’s synonymous with adjusting the temperature.

Would there be a wattage control somewhere other than the control panel?

The temperature settings are achieved by changes in wattage. To boil water, for example, set it to the highest temp to get the speed you want.

 

[roadfix]

So, if you have a pot of oil and set the temp to 350 would the oil eventually reach 350? Or would it all depend on the pot used? Or best to just set on max high til it reaches temp...?

 

[JustJoel]

The temperature settings are achieved by changes in wattage. To boil water, for example, set it to the highest temp to get the speed you want.

So, to get oil heated to 360°F I should initially set the temp to high, then keep an eye on it til it reaches 360°F, then dial the wattage back to my desired temp?

 

[JustJoel]

So, if you have a pot of oil and set the temp to 350 would the oil eventually reach 350? Or would it all depend on the pot used? Or best to just set on max high til it reaches temp...?

Ah, my question exactly!