ᐅ Switching to induction cooking – how has your experience been?

ypg schrieb:

Induction is the new gas 🙂 It combines many advantages of a gas stove with electric.
Touch controls take some getting used to, but you can learn them 😉

My last kitchen purchase was almost 6 years ago. Back then, the kitchen consultant still asked whether we wanted a traditional hob or induction, and could hardly believe we didn’t want induction. That was because I had nice cookware for traditional dishes that otherwise would have had to be replaced.

During consultations this year, I would have had to explicitly mention if I did not want induction.

Now, I’m ready to give up the traditional cookware if the pan or pot heats up faster on the hob. For example: I boil pasta water in the kettle beforehand and then pour it into the preheated pot, because otherwise it feels like it takes forever to boil.

I also have a touch control hob now, and I’m managing very well with it.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

With my current cooktop, I usually start sautéing things while simultaneously chopping other ingredients. I’ve read that with induction cooking, the temperatures rise so quickly that it’s best to finish all the chopping first and then start cooking. Can you confirm this?

The time it takes for a pot or pan to heat up is reduced to 60 seconds (1 minute). It can be halved by heating on high power and then switching to medium heat.
The actual sautéing process happens just as quickly as before – if you used to chop bell peppers while sautéing onions for 5 minutes, you can continue to do that.

You no longer need to boil pasta water in the kettle when using induction cooking. It doesn’t save any time anymore.
Heats up quickly, cools down quickly, so there’s no longer a risk of children burning their hands on still-hot cooktops, etc.
It’s best to do your chopping beforehand; otherwise, just turn the heat down briefly.

I would even argue that using the power level (available on only one cooking zone on my cooktop) induction cooking in the pot is actually faster than a kettle. I also suspect that it simply delivers much more power.

Our cooktops are adjustable from 0 to 9, with level 9 heating up very quickly, while levels 4 or 5 heat up significantly slower.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

I can’t quite remember if you can also regulate the heat by sliding the pot around 🙂

This feature is called "powerMove Pro." Our cooktop is a bit older already, and the names change all the time. Congratulations on a good choice. 😉

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

With my current cooktop, I always start by sautéing things while I’m chopping other ingredients alongside. I once read that induction heats up so quickly that it’s better to finish all the chopping first and then start cooking. Can you confirm that?

I wasn’t asked, but no, I can’t confirm that. There are differences in technology and design between devices, and some induction cooktops offer very precise control like the one you will get (assuming it hasn’t gotten worse). Your routine will continue to work fine.

You’ll notice that level "7" on the heat setting isn’t the same temperature with every cookware. A cast iron pan will get quite hot, while an aluminum pan with a magnetic base stays relatively mild. It’s not rocket science—just try it out quickly to see how your cookware and cooktop interact.

A somewhat funny but not often used feature in our kitchen is the temperature sensor, which works reliably as soon as the pot is filled with more than 3cm (1¼ inches) of liquid. No boil-overs or cooling down, temperature stays fairly constant, and power supply is adjusted accordingly.