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Concerns About Induction Cooktop

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Hi all

I should make final decision about the new kitchen appliances tomorrow and one thing that remains an open question from the beginning is whether to take the induction cooktop. Gas is not the option, it's either electrical or induction. My priority is general safety for my family and knocking down a minute, two or five from heating or cooking does not play any role.

People who have induction cookers rave about the speed (same as gas) and safety (no danger of burning, but the kid is old enough so that's not a big issue any more), those who don't have it keep mentioning insufficient knowledge about the health effects in the long run.

I keep reading about both sided of the argument and am frankly confused. Time to ask you about your guidelines, wisdom and experience.

Thanks in advance.

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25 replies

Latest reply was from ramya

Inge

(website)

I wish I could help, Ornella, but I've only ever had electrical and gas cookers. But I'm sure some of the other ladies have more experience with this.

Astrid

Veteran

I'm not an expert but I think it boils down to the question if the induction cooktop saves enough energy in comparison to justify the higher initial cost in most cases. There are also people who warn about health concerns, but as far as I know there has never been anything proven either way. The only thing I've heard is that they say you shouldn't get an induction cooker if you have a cardiac pacemaker (although the modern ones can deal with it I think). Another point is not only speed but that the cooktop can be switched off instantly when it's done, you don't have to worry about overcooking as much when you leave the stuff on the cooker. You should also think about pots and pans, depending on what you had before you would need to buy new ones that work with an induction cooker and that might be a big additional expense when you want to buy quality. I think I personally would go with the electrical, but that's what I'm familiar with - we have an electrical cooker with ceramic stove top at home. My cooker in Berlin is electrical too.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Thanks Inge. That is my experience too.

Astrid :: you summed up all my findings brilliantly. I could do with updating some cookware, but that's the least of my concerns. I have talked to people (very little, but enough) who actually say that they feel odd when they're standing next to the induction cookers. There is no scientific proof for the health concerns, it's individual, yet it's one of those things that make me feel uneasy, while at the same time I don't want to miss the opportunity to have a good thing now that I effectively have to start from the scratch.

ManidipaM

Veteran

I use induction as well as gas. I find I can fine tune the heat on gas just a bit better but that may be due to greater familiarity.

no experience with all-electric ezcept very basic hotplates so can't compare.

cannot imagine how induction would be a health hazard! all electrical appliances and also most other cooking methods at least partly involve induction... just not magnetic induction. and magnets are nothing new to households or workplaces. electromagnets ditto. we know these better than microwaves and most of us don't eat magnetic food apart from water so what could it possobly do to the food?! aluminium cookware is a way bigger issue for most people's purposes.

ManidipaM

Veteran

oh just one big upside to the instant switchoff and cooling fans most models have... pots cool way faster. I don't know if it the way I cook but I hardly replaced pots. only issue was not being able to use a wok for high-heat stirfrying or deepfrying in less fat. so depends if you rely on those methods much.

missvee

Veteran

My friends rave about their induction stove tops and I would definitely consider one if I had to replace my current stove. The only negative thing I've heard is that someone with a pacemaker cannot come near it when it's in use.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

When we moved into the house where we live now, we were not excited about the induction cooktops (especially since there are only TWO burners! talk about juggling a Thanksgiving dinner!). We had to buy all new pots and pans that were stainless steel so they would work, for one thing. But I do like that they cool quickly and are very easy to keep clean. At the ranch, we use gas, and I love seeing the flame, but cleaning those burners is a PITA. All in all, I would consider another induction setup when we redo our kitchen, although I definitely want more burners.

I'd never heard about the pacemaker thing! One of our good friends has a pacemaker and has cooked on our stove quite a few times. He never has said a word about it, and you'd think he would know if he was supposed to stay away from them. I'll have to ask him what his doctor says.

Anonymous

I have a pacemaker and went with an electric smoothtop instead of an induction. It may not be the pacemaker itself that is impacted by the induction, but the lead wires that go from the pacemaker to the heart.

I have had experience with both gas and electric and once you get accustomed to your cooktop you will learn which burners are the best to use for whatever and the settings you need to use. My stovetop has 2 burners that I can convert to accomodate larger pots/pans and even have a warming burner.

I would be curious though as to how much money you would actually save. I don't use my cooktop as much as my oven and I use my slowcooker alot. I find that I use my microwave the most of all my appliances even if it is to heat a cup of water.

cade

I switched to induction from gas about three years ago and I am very pleased with it. You will have the initial higher up-front cost of the appliance as well as possibly exchanging some of your cookware. Stainless steel will of course not work on induction and I had to sadly part with my All-Clad. Berndes Switzerland makes a non-stick that is suitable for induction ( a bit pricey, but should last a very long time), and then their is Le Creuset for everything else. I am very much a cook and cleaning up the induction cooktop is a breeze.

rachylou

Veteran

In terms of electromagnetic waves and so forth, I surmise it's too late. We're surrounded by them from cell phones to the old fashioned radio. I didn't know about the pace maker issue and no one ever mentioned anything when I got my insulin pump (but they did say not to send it through the X-ray at airports). But about the funny feeling... I have read that's true. People do sometimes feel tingling. (US FCC page on RF Safety)

We have induction burners in the bakery. I think they're supposed to heat up faster, which may be true, but I never noticed the food heating up faster.

My mum is going to redo her kitchen and we were looking at stoves this very weekend. I think we'll pass on the induction stove top but yield to a glass top in general - they don't seem to make slide-in stoves with coil burners. The reason I think a slide-in would be best is the placement of the knobs/controls. Reaching over hot burners/food is the most immediate danger to my way of thinking. The glass-top slide-in stoves seem to the only ones on the market with the knobs on the front.

Otherwise, to be quite honest, I'd go for a coil stove. The simpler, the better. The onboard computers I think are completely ridiculous and just waiting to go wrong.

ManidipaM

Veteran

Cade, am confused. I use loads and loads of stainless steel on my induction cooktop with great results. Even ikea! It is copper that is problematic I think, or pure aluminium?

cade

An induction cooktop works with magnetic forces and needs an inductive metal like cast iron to conduct heat. As the sales person explained : if in doubt use a magnet. If it sticks it will work on induction. You might have some bottom clad cookware that will conduct, but regular All-Clad will not work.

cade

Sorry, double post.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I use an induction top and don't feel anything weird next to it... looking inside the pot to see what I"m cooking, on the other hand - now THAT gives me a weird feeling

K. Period.

Veteran

Actually, it depends on the age of the All-Clad. Current All-Clad is induction suitable. I own a lot of All-Clad, some old and some new. I'm a fan because it is so durable and US made, which is appealing because I live in the US but also because our labor and environmental controls are more responsible than China's. (I should add also have cast iron enamel Le Creuset for the same reason--high quality and I appreciate the EU's more responsible labor and environmental laws.) The magnet trick is the best way to tell whether your cookware is induction suitable. Sorry for the sidetrack!

On the cook tops, I don't have experience with an induction one, but I grew up with a flat top electric and my mom and sister both have them now. I have gas and an electric flat top at our lake house. The electric are slow to heat up and slow to cool. They are easy to clean, but require constant cleaning because they show every bit of gunk. (We always used a razor blade to skim any big spill off the surface before finishing it off with an appropriate cleanser.) They are very unresponsive compared to gas and I suspect extremely unresponsive compared to induction. However, you learn to deal with it and you'll adapt your cooking style. If you don't have anything else that you regularly use to compare it with, I don't think you'll notice it much after a while. In my experience, they are NOT good for stir frying and other quick blast of heat/fast cool down applications though.

I'm also with RachyLou on the health effects. There are always these shadowy rumors of health concerns and it is hard to know which have much merit. I hear it all the time about microwaves, computers and mobile phones. I remember hearing it about copy machines and televisions. I'm pretty sure that our grandparents heard it about electricity, telephones and radios.

One thought: if you are concerned, why not get a glass electric cook top and then, if you find it too slow for what you need it for, buy a stand alone single burner induction cooker for instances where you really need ooomph?

Faith

I can't really speak to the induction option, but after using gas all my life I am now in a home with a glass-top electric stove, and I HATE it. It takes forever to heat up and even longer to cool down, which means the heat is virtually uncontrollable and sometimes necessitates the emergency shifting of pots and pans around (nearly impossible if you're using 3 burners at once, as I often am). If I weren't so committed to cooking--an activity I formerly loved--for health reasons at the moment, I might be tempted to give it up for as long as I live here. That's how much I loathe the electric cooktop. I also find it a pain to clean, requiring special cleaners and lots of scrubbing (perhaps I am inordinately messy -- probably my tendency to have things boil over, though, is also related to the heat control issue, similarly any stray drip on the still-hot surface will also require special cleaners and scrubs to remove). As a cook, if I had a choice, I would always choose gas, and in your situation, given the description others have given of the induction top, I would definitely be tempted to go in that direction. (On the other hand, to ManidpaM's point, if my primary style of cooking were stir-frying over high heat, the electric stovetop might be quite well-suited.)

Aida

Veteran

I was going to suggest the same as Rachy and KP: get a glass-top coil stove, and a single induction burner if you find you need the speed. I have a glass-top coil stove and, while I'd probably prefer gas if we replaced it, it really is much more useful than a traditional electric coil range. You can set stuff on the stove in the areas you're not using, use it as extra counter space when not cooking, and I don't find it difficult to clean (and boy we do get all kinds of food on ours, especially cheese). It does take a while to heat up and cool down, but such is the case with electric ranges anyway.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Thanks for all the input ladies, it's useful and helpful to hear your experiences.

Gas or combined is not an option, it's glass electric or induction. I have a bit more time to decide and will speak to a few more people.

Thanks again.

Astrid

Veteran

Aida is right - a Ceran stove top (what we have at home) is much different to the crappy inexpensive electrical I have in Berlin. I wouldn't say it's difficult to clean. I think most people with modern electrical stove tops have Ceran (term by Schott I think) these days.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Well, electric it is, the new style electric (Ceran?) not the old-style like the one you're probably referring to Astrid and what I have right now. That IS a pain to clean, but I use great product that looks like white sponge that dissolves during rubbing (Magic Sponge or something?)

We've just finalised all kitchen details after the company's man was in the house to take the exact dimensions of everything last week. Signed, sealed, in several weeks - delivered.

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rachylou

Veteran

Well then, congrats, Ornella!! I suspect we will be following you. My mum and I meet with the architect this evening...

Side note: Faith - It's funny, I'm used to gas stoves for work, where an open flame can be useful and gas is much cheaper when you've got the thing going all day... but I've always been amazed that anyone would want them at home. Now that I have a gas stove at home for the first time ever - I hate them even more! Lol. Big flame, little flame is not temperature control to me. Lol. I'm also afraid of gas leaks.

Not that glass top sounds so great to me. I really think my fave will always be the old fashioned, nice-and-sturdy open coil...

Astrid

Veteran

Ornella, yes, that's Ceran. Looks great! Congrats on making the decision. It's what we have at home too. I don't think people who have their kitchen done and get electrical in Germany get anything else, not anymore. I have an old-style one because I don't have my own kitchen, my oven was provided by the property management (same as the sink). I will leave that one here when I move out. At least I was the first one too use it because I moved in after renovations.

ramya

Veteran

I have the same one as you Ornella :D. I love it. My only problem is I tend to scratch the glass top:( And don't like it all scratched up.

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

Cool Ramya

I'll be careful, I promise However, things are supposed to be used and are therefore not bound to stay in perfect condition forever. That will be my excuse.

ramya

Veteran

Yeah that's what I say to my Dh. He likes things in Pristine condition. I keep saying "your choice Food or Stove :D"