Induction cooktops

[CeCe]

Okay, DH has put me and BB to the test since I've been telling him it offers more than just conversation on babies ...

Later this year we will be renovation our kitchen as it's still the origial from the 70s.

He's been doing a bit of research into induction cook tops but is after advice or comments from people who may have experienced them first hand.

What do you like/dislike?
Would you go induction cooktop again?
What brand is good?
General thoughs of induction versus electrical and gas, or any other feedback you wish to provide.

Thanks.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

We haven't got one - we decided against it for our new house because they can cause some health issues in certain people. To my knowledge there haven't been proper studies done on the technology and its use or cooking - I definitely know that some people find it makes the food taste different/slightly off. I don't know why it happens, but we figured we'd just go with a gas cooktop to be safe.

HTH chicky

[Nelle]

So sorry to be another one answering who doesn't actually have one. But - apart from loving the idea of boiling water in no seconds flat, I've heard something about them needing a funny power supply or something - as in, if you were replacing a normal electric stove with an induction cooktop, you'd need to make some changes re: power supply...you'll have to google it, but I thought I'd make you aware that it's a factor worth checking out. xo

[kawazuki]

we have one.
just installed it during our kitchen reno.
i love it
only downside is you need good quality cook wear which is suitable for induction cooking.

my brother is a chef and he prefers induction over gas and swear he will never have an electric cook top ever.

heat distribution is good.

we have an italian brand one but got it half price as it was last years model. its great easy to clean with cerapol, special cleaning stuff..

we got touch control not the knobs as we needed the bench space when the cooktop is not being used.

havent had any issues with food tasting different as the food doesnt actually touch the hot plate, maybe the food tasting different was from an induction oven??? not sure

food cooks well and evenly, havent had any disasters or food taking longer to cook

it is way better than our old 70's stand alone eletric stove lol.

[kawazuki]

just add no power supply change needed here and we had an old 70's style,
actually sorry we had to split the wires as we had an oven and cook top in one and went to seperate oven/ cooktop but wires were the same ones that ran from our meter board.
we did have to put in a saftey switch on a power point for teh oven tho, so we can turn off all power incase of fire or disaster of some sort.

[CeCe]

Thanks ladies.

He's still convinced induction is the way to go. Currenlty we have gas, which he'd like to keep but also wants induction. He's ordered a one element induction cooktop from the internet to trial. I don't know if our current cookware will work on induction but I guess we'll find out soon.

Now to wait for the reno.

[Nelle]

I think you can tell if your pot will work with an induction stove by trying to stick a fridge magnet to it. That's what we did when I worked at Myer anyway.

[CeCe]

I have heard that before, but DH is the type that likes to spend money and learn for himself

[Tobily]

We have just moved into a house with one and I HATE IT. Hate it, hate it HATE it.

Oh it's fine to cook with.

But keeping it clean and scratch free...omg those things are designed for housewives with a good supply of valium.

You have to keep the bottoms of your cookware meticulously clean so it doesn't scratch, you can't slide anything around on it or it will scratch, you have to use a sharp blade to clean it or it will scratch, you have to clean off all the spills after every use or they will bake on and stain it...or bake on so hard you scratch it getting them off.

It truly does suck and I cannot understand why anyone would want it. Gas cooks just as well and is nowhere near the hassle.

And forget cooking anything after you've had a few wines...because....you'll scratch it!!!

GAH!!!

[kawazuki]

We have just moved into a house with one and I HATE IT. Hate it, hate it HATE it.

Oh it's fine to cook with.

But keeping it clean and scratch free...omg those things are designed for housewives with a good supply of valium.

You have to keep the bottoms of your cookware meticulously clean so it doesn't scratch, you can't slide anything around on it or it will scratch, you have to use a sharp blade to clean it or it will scratch, you have to clean off all the spills after every use or they will bake on and stain it...or bake on so hard you scratch it getting them off.

It truly does suck and I cannot understand why anyone would want it. Gas cooks just as well and is nowhere near the hassle.

And forget cooking anything after you've had a few wines...because....you'll scratch it!!!

GAH!!!

no its not that difficult
use "cerapol" u get it at bunnings, its easier than using spray and wipe. and makes it shien every time and no scratches.

we dont have the cleanest bottoms of pot and nothing so far i have even chopped veggies on it and no scratching you can also get ceraseal which put a thin coating over it to protect it..

[CeCe]

My parents have a glass cook top, not induction, but that seems okay. I think she just wipes it down with warm water and detergent. I know if it did scratch easily though it would annoy me. I like my new things to stay looking new, at least in the short term.

[Malyna]

CeCe,

Make sure your electrics are up to having an induction cooktop. We have an ancient house and we were told that we could have one and a dishwasher if we got rid of the electric hot water system.

[berrme]

I personally have gas, and love it. If I only had electricity to my home I would get an induction cook top though. Traditional electric stoves/ ovens are soooo slow in comparison. The couple of people I know who have them love them. From what I can tell the only real downside is replacing the cookware.

[Rach75]

I dont have want one but my friend does so I asked her your questions

this is what she said

I like how easy it is to keep clean, can scratch easily though as it is glass basically.
I am not over the top with mine ? give it a polish and scrub once a month.
Yes I would go induction again, for sure.
If I had a house I thought we would be for 10 years I would get Miele brand. I have Smeg which is quite good.
Gas is smelly and dangerous I feel for kids..just my thoughts there. The coil or round hotplates are a lot of work to keep clean and maintained.
If things boil over on mine I just wipe it up! When it is turned off it is extra bench space basically..for when you need it. I would get the auto turn off device for if it is turned on but there is nothing on the element ? not sure what it is called but found out later about it.

[CeCe]

Tarkine - our house was built in the late 70's and we've blown fuses before when we have too many appliances on (kettle, microwave, toaster and maybe dishwasher). DH wasn't impressed when I tured the kettle on and the power went out We may have to look at the circuits then depending on how much power it pulls. I'd hate to be only able to use one thing at a time.

Berme - DH is a wanna-be chef. He almost made it a career but went into electics and then IT. He likes cooking and we have gas which I think we'd keep one or two burners but DH would like induction too.

I also tend to agree with Rachel's friend in that I worry about having the kitchen window open whilst cooking with the gas, especially if there is a breeze. I have a fear of the flame being blown out but the gas still running.

Rachel - thanks for following up with your friend. I'll get DH to look into the auto turn off feature. I like smeg/miele appliances so we'd probably be looking into a similar range.

As I mentioned earlier, DH bought a one element induction over the internet. That arrived last week and DH is very impressed with it. He/we haven't tried all our cookware on it but one of our saucepans work. It seems a little noisey but that may be because it sits on top of the counter rather than being fitted?

[Rommy'sMummy]

We have just redone our 1960's kitchen - oh the joy Joy JOY of a new kitchen!!!!

We looked at induction and decided against it from my understanding it uses magnets/magnetic thingos to work. My son has heart disease and so do some of his little friends we have met along the way. One of then has a pacemaker and my son may need one too so magnets are definately out for us - they interfere with pacemakers working and that is not a good thing (obviously).

We went with a smooth top ceramic with sensor controls. Love it - only trouble is if I am cold and trying to turn on hot plates it takes longs as it works on the heat transfer from your fingers to turn on LOL!

Good luck with the search...