Hey, anyone out there with hints about transitioning from a standard glass-top range to an induction range with convection oven? We just backed into this move (story to follow) and are hoping to learn from the experiences of others. So please share if you’ve been through this. What should we expect? What should we avoid? What can we do to lessen the shock of the transition in cooking performance?
Okay. Enough of advice seeking.
There are two parts to the backstory. Here’s the relatively short part. When we started shopping for a new range, we decided to move to an induction range. Our former standard range was purchased at Sears. That’s no longer an option. So I checked the other usual places, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy. Most had delivery time of 4-8 weeks. Then I checked Costco. They had a reasonable item in stock. Well, “in stock” meant in a warehouse on the mainland. But five days later, it was on a ship to Honolulu, and arrived in Honolulu on January 16, ready to be scheduled for delivery and installation. That seems to me an amazing bit of logistics by Costco compared to their big box competitors.
Now, back to the beginning of the story.
It took nearly 10 years, but our electric glass-top range, purchased when we moved to my parents’ former home in Kahala in 2015, met a sudden end soon after the first of the year.
We had a friend visiting from the mainland after a very long absence, and managed to arrange to get together during his all-too-brief visit. We enjoyed an evening on our back deck with dinner and drinks, he with a bottle of sparkling water while we enjoyed a bottle of wine. He had to fly out the next day, so it was not a late evening. Before he left, we ferried our dishes back inside, staging them on the kitchen counter where we then intended to move them to the dishwasher. But, during our goodbyes, one of the cats rubbed against the bottle of water, now mostly empty, and it turned into a lethal weapon as it toppled over, hitting the corner of the stovetop at just the right angle to put a crack in the back corner of the glass top. OUCH!
End of story.
And thanks in advance for any advice you can share.
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Some general advice: Some of your pots and pans will not work on an induction stove. Generally speaking, cast iron works well, as will enameled steel. Triple-layered pots that contain a magnetic layer work well. All-clad D3 is good and expensive. Tramontina Tri-ply, and Duxtop work well. Some stainless steel, and all aluminum will not. You can check the doubtful cookware by holding a magnet to their bottoms. If the magnet sticks, the piece will work.
Some induction stoves are very fast doing things like boiling water. All of them are fast when adjusting temperature, as fast as a gas stove, but without the pollution.
Ian — I’m not easily enraged, but it has happened with respect to these stupid “green new deal appliances” forced upon us. I’m a semi-serious home cook and ideally I would love a gas range. But I live in an electric neighborhood, so enjoyed 2 G.E. electric ranges with heating coils for the better of 45 years (they don’t make appliances the way they used to). When the 2nd range finally gave up the ghost I replaced it, the fridge, and the dishwasher in a package deal from Best Buy. So far, I loathe the glasstop range and the dishwasher, and only like the fridge. Transitioning from a coil range to a glass top has been a nightmare. I had to completely re-learn how to cook because my glass top does not maintain a steady temperature and takes forever to heat up and cool down. It cycles on and off to “maintain” its temperature and is either on full-blast or completely off. If it happens to cycle on at a delicate point in cooking, the result has been burned won-tons, crepes, french toast, salmon, mahi mahi, and boiled over soups and sauces. I could have gotten an induction range, and now regret that I didn’t. I was fearful of the cumulative effect of EMFs because I’m the chief cook and bottlewasher in a large family and spend a lot of time in front of the stove. I don’t entirely trust the pronouncements that EMF’s from an induction stove present a low risk (people with pacemakers definitely have to be careful). But it’s testament to just how much I loathe my glasstop that as soon as it breaks (or I smash it!) I’m running out to replace it with an induction stove. It instantly turns on and off and will allow setting an exact temperature that is maintained precisely throughout cooking. That is what I’m looking forward to instead of having to constantly hover over every pot or setting timers to avoid burning something. The “heating” element stays cool except for absorbed heat from whatever you’re cooking. The stove requires conductive metal pans, though, so you may have to purchase a new set.
OK, this is long enough so I will step off my soap box and won’t add a rant about the *!#%^$ dishwasher!
If you don’t have gas service. Try propane.
Thank you! Never heard of propane. Just checked Home Depot and they have one on sale. It’s still pricey but very tempting.
About 18 months ago, we decided to update our kitchen with new appliances. We have a separate in-wall oven and a stovetop as part of our countertops. Imagine a kitchen island with a stovetop on it…glass, like our previous electric one. When we bought the appliances, I was advised by the salesman at Best Buy to choose induction. When the time came to select the model, we opted for induction.
Once it arrived, the first thing we did was purchase new cookware that would be compatible. The bottoms of the cookware need to be magnetic for induction to work, so we bought new pans, which we needed anyway.
As we learned, there was a learning curve with this type of cookware compared to electric or gas. The first thing was getting used to the heat level (it’s a scale from 1 to 9). The default setting on ours starts at 5, and then you adjust accordingly. If you set it too high, it can scorch the pan and burn your food. However, the high settings are great for boiling water.
The second thing to note is that you must ensure to buy a fully flat-bottomed pan. Otherwise, you will end up with hot and cold spots on the pans. To avoid any cooking mishaps, it’s best to buy some pans with nonstick surfaces underneath (for eggs and similar dishes). You can also use cast iron, which is what my wife prefers at times.
One benefit I noticed from the switch is that the stovetop is much easier to keep clean. We use a glass stovetop cleaner paste, but regular soap and water work just fine in a pinch. While the heating elements do get “kind of hot” at their highest setting, it’s still much cooler after cooking than if you were using glass or gas.
Are we happy with it? Yes. Would we buy another one if this one fails? Yeah. Why? It performs like gas, and the price point is quite competitive with more traditional stovetops.
Here’s something no one else has mentioned. We have a Miele induction stovetop and a cat. Over the past 13 years, we’ve yelled at the cat for jumping on the kitchen counters. The result is that she does it only when everyone is out of the kitchen, generally when we’re in bad. To turn the stovetop on, one has to push an area with to turn the stove on and then pick an individual burner and push that area to turn that on. It takes a bit of direct force. A cat stepping on the buttons does not apply enough force to turn it on. The stovetop does beep when it detects something non-magnetic is on it. Hence, we hear beeping at night and know the cat is on the stovetop. However because of the safety features, I don’t worry about her turning on the stove. In short, if you have cats any stovetop with a turn on/off dial might be problematic if your cats counter surf. So this might be a consideration in getting a ceramic stovetop….no dials to worry about.
As far as induction goes, we really like it. Apart from getting special pots and pans, we find it heats quickly and is easy to clean up with the ceramic stovetop cleaner. And it is supposed to use less electricity than conventional stoves and does not emit indoor pollutants like gas.
In addition to being magnetic, the pans need to be very flat since the induction field is thin. Woks won’t work because of their curved bottom.
But if you’re a serious wokker, there’s a solution for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJKxUCKOBg