Induction Cook Tops (a womans view)

[oldmansax]

Chaz,

Great minds run in the same direction... or ditch sometimes!! 

I was just thinking about a water heater. Polaris

http://www.americanwaterheater.com/products/productDetails.aspx?ID=1053

makes a very nice condensing gas water heater I use and like. It has a stainless tank and a stainless spiral flue. You replace the flue with the induction unit and PRESTO! an induction water heater.

WHERE IS RED GREENE WHEN YOU NEED HIM!! 

TOM

[Chaz]

Tom,
  I fired out a seperate thread on this. Maybbe somebody witt know if that is possible. It definitely sounds cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
   
   See ya in the ditch!!   
       Chaz

[Sean]

OK, look, I have an induction cooktop, and love it dearly, and therefore also have a full set of ferrous cookware (All-Clad) that works with it.  And I am all for selling everyone on the benefits of induction cooking, which primarily have to do with the energy efficiency of the technology and the higher degree of control versus radiant electric.

However, let's cool it on the fear-mongering:

...

1  aluminum has been proved to be a major factor in Altzimers [SIC] (no I do not sell cookware)

No, it has not.  It is speculated that aluminum might be a factor in Alzheimer's disease.  And, for this reason, many people choose not to use it, and there is some pending legislation to reduce the exposure.

This is a particularly specious argument against using aluminum cookware (or beer cans, or airplane bodies, for that matter) that is primarily advanced by people or firms with an axe to grind -- often someone selling something made of plastic or steel.

2 Teflon is so bad that it is being banned from cookware (where do you think the Teflon goes that comes off the pan)

...

Also flatly untrue.  Teflon® is, for all intents and purposes, inert, especially as concerns ingestion into the human body.  I will gladly sit in front of you and eat a spoonful of it -- it passes through the body completely harmlessly.  Again, an urban legend advanced primarily by people trying to sell you on the alternatives.

The fact is, Teflon® is no longer used in most cookware simply because other alternatives (fundamentally, more advanced versions of the same base polymers) are better at adhering to the cookware (getting Teflon® to stick to anything, including the pot, is an engineering challenge), and consumers prefer cookware that lasts longer.  (Manufacturers prefer cookware that wears out and needs to be replaced, but not if consumers don't buy it in the first place.)

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com
(who is not a chemist or chemical engineer, nor do I play one on TV, and I did not even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but, c'mon -- these facts are easily verifiable with a mere five minutes of research)

[belfert]

Does All-Clad plate their stuff with gold?  $75 for a saucepan?  I probably paid that much for an entire set of pots and pans for my house.  I'm not a fine chef and I can't hardly tell any difference between cooking with my inexpensive stuff and more expensive stuff.

I am liking the idea of induction for cooking, but not if I have to buy pans that cost as much as the stove.  I like to keep a seperate set of pots and pans and dishes in the RV, but I certainly don't use the RV enough to justify anything too expensive. 

I suppose there is something less expensive that will work too.  I just don't want to want to use cast iron for weight and other reasons.

[Sean]

Does All-Clad plate their stuff with gold?  ...

I am liking the idea of induction for cooking, but not if I have to buy pans that cost as much as the stove.  I like to keep a seperate set of pots and pans and dishes in the RV, ...

I suppose there is something less expensive that will work too. ...

Brian,

Back when we were shopping for induction cookware, stainless was out of fashion and so All-Clad was about the only choice if you wanted a full set of pots in a variety of sizes.  They are expensive, but they are also well made and will last a lifetime.  The key was to buy the set rather than individual pieces, and wait until the one time during the year when they went on sale at Macy's.

Stainless is making a comeback now, and I expect that renewed interest in induction will cause the manufacturers to start paying attention to induction performance.

We got fed up with the fact that our All-Clad frying pan was not non-stick, and decided to replace it.  When we shopped around, we discovered Farberware Millennium Stainless, which was sturdy and induction-capable for a lot less money than All-Clad.  I think we bought it at Bed Bath & Beyond.  (One nice thing about All-Clad -- I was able to sell our old one on eBay for as much as I paid for the Farberware.)

I still like my All-Clad, but I am just as happy with the Farberware.  I suspect you could pick up every size you need in that brand.

When you go to buy cookware for your induction range, take a magnet with you to the store.  If the magnet does not stick to the bottom of the pot, don't buy it.  If the magnet sticks, the pan will definitely work well with induction.  If the magnet does not stick, it might or might not work, and even if it does, it will not work as well.  I find that with stainless, you can't tell just by looking, and you often can't tell by reading the labels either.  When we forget our magnet, we just wander around the store until we find refrigerator magnets or some such.  One time, we found a small peppermill with a magnet on it (for sticking it to your fridge, or whatever) that we liked so much we bought it -- it travels stuck to our microwave.

Incidentally, our induction "hob" is a "Mr. Induction" by Sunpentown.  I think we paid $110 for it on-line several years ago.  We keep it in a drawer and take it out when we need it -- at the time, the only built-in style hobs were over $600 per burner, and all the residential manufacturers in this country had abandoned induction -- you simply could not buy a consumer drop-in range with induction burners.  I am glad to see that tide slowly turning.

In any case, we went with a two-burner Princess LP model for our built-in, on the theory that LP would be more efficient and economical with all the boondocking we do.  I have to say that, if I were doing the bus again today, I would skip the LP altogether, and put in a two- or three-burner induction cooktop as my only stove.  Eliminating the LP tanks, plumbing, safety valve/alarm, and venting requirements would be so worth it for the slightly larger battery capacity we would need.  (The stove and the BBQ are the only things aboard that run on LP -- our heat is diesel and our fridge is electric.)  And, while I always fancied myself a cook who prefers gas (I do almost all the cooking aboard Odyssey), after using the induction for three years, I have to say I like it just as much.  In fact, there are some things (e.g. simmering, cooking rice) that the induction hob does much, much better than the gas range.

As always, YMMV.

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[belfert]

My stove/range is also the only thing that would use LP in my bus which is why I want to go electric for the stove.  We do cook a lot on gas stoves ands grills outside of the bus and I do need a way to transport 20# cylinders for that or have a propane system in the bus and tap into that for outdoor use.

On my only real trip to date I hauled two 20# cylinders of propane for outdoor use in the unvented luggage bays.  I didn't think of it then, but I realize now it was stupid to do so.  They either go on the open trailer next time or I come up with a vented place for them in the bus.

[Christyhicks]

As I stated in another post, we have both a 5 burner built in cooktop and a portable induction unit, and having cooked on both gas and electric cooktops in the past, I wouldn't trade for this induction one.  This thing cooks faster, it responds WAY faster than even my gas one did, and it is tremendously easier to clean.  Another nice feature is a timer that allows me to set how many minutes I want the burner to run, and then it just shuts itself off!  How cool is that?!?

I, too, bought AllClad cookware when I bought the cooktop.  I tried a cheaper set of cookware, but I found that the AllClad cooked much more evenly and cleaned up a lot better too.  My Mother told me (and I always listen to my Mother!  ) that you can spend more money up front, and buy a lifetime set of cookware, or you can spend the same amount of money or more, buying cookware throughout your life.  I realized that she was still using the cookware she bought when I was a young child, and since she didn't plan on kicking the bucket any time soon, I decided I'd better go ahead and just buy my own set of cookware.  My daughter-in-law checked out my AllClad and promtly stated that since she was the only "daughter" so far, she was first in line to inherit mine!     Having said this, as stated earlier, if a magnet sticks to the pot, it will work for induction cooking.  My griddle and panini pan are both cast iron.

I consider induction units to be the safest way to cook, as they shut themselves off if they get too hot, if someone forgets to turn the burner off, or if the pan is removed from the burner for more than a minute or so.  Since the glass is only heated by the conduction of heat from the pan itself, it stays cooler and is less likely to burn someone.  In demonstrating the cooktop to friends and family, I can bring a pan of water to a boil, remove it and rest my hand on the glass immediately after.  Cool stuff.

I had to import my cooktop from New Zealand, but now they are becoming availble at some very reasonable prices in the U.S.  Portable induction units can be had for a song on Ebay.  Although I will have gas for cooking in our bus under conversion, I will also likely carry portable induction units with me also.  I prefer the induction, but want the freedom from dependence on electricity also.  Just my way of doing things, Christy Hicks

[niles500]

>>>>>>>>>My Mother told me (and I always listen to my Mother!  ) that you can spend more money up front, and buy a lifetime set of cookware<<<<<<<<<<

But Christy - how long can you stand to cook with Avacado Green?

[Christyhicks]

But Christy - how long can you stand to cook with Avacado Green?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA

Are you kidding?  If I wait long enough, it'll come back in style and I'll be on the forefront of the decorating curve! 

Seriously, you'd be amazed at the number of people who, when building a house, choose items that are trendy right now, but they don't realize they'll be stuck with them forever.  I try to steer people away from colored tubs, especially whirlpools, and the same with wall mount faucets.  Sure, they look cool right now, but it's a major remodel to tear out tile and re-route plumbing to remove a wall mount faucet and get back to a counter mount one. 

Everyone wants a pot filler right now, and yes, they are pretty cool.  Course, wait a few years till they are a bit grimy and greasy, and they start to drip.  People build these 3500 sq ft houses and then get cheap and order faucets off the internet, handing us some no-name, "one of a kind", to mount in the wall.  They think we're just put out because they didn't buy an "expensive" faucet from us, when really, we're just trying to save them from headaches when those faucet's finish flakes off or they start leaking.  It's one thing to have a faucet drip into a sink. . .but a whole 'nother ball game when it's dripping on your new stove, ha ha.  Oh well, that was pretty funny and there's nothing like a good chuckle to start my day.  Thanks!  Christy Hicks