Can I learn to love induction cooking?

How does induction cooking actually work, and can I (a long-time gas stove devotee!) learn to love it?

Check out @helenrennie's two awesome induction-related videos here:

𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼𝘀:

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:

𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
-Bill Kornrumpf, electrical engineer at General Electric (now retired)

MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Leonardo Souza, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC.

[beansnrice]

I spent 8 years working in a kitchen with gas stoves and at some point had to work at a korean ramen shop that used induction exclusively. I found that the induction was generally more responsive and aggressive than gas and I liked it. I also greatly enjoyed the lack of fumes and lack of waste heat. Induction was obviously safer which was nice to have as a worker.

Pro tip: When using gas I would often lift the pan away from the burner a little if needed more immediate control of the heat. This is very common in line cooking because every second counts and you can't waste time fiddling with knobs. I wasn't sure if it would work with induction and most induction stoves turn off if your pan is too far away but there was a little wiggle room there and it was something I could rely on to more directly control how heat was being created from the magnetic field. In the case of induction I wouldn't often fully remove the pan up form the surface but I would more often angle the pan one direction or another so that part of the pan would still be in contact with the range. This is good for things like pancakes that require a little extra control of the heat.

[madcow]

The on-off cycle of induction drives my wife nuts. On the cheap cooktop I bought to experiment with you can see water boil then stop then boil then stop. It seems that more expensive ones have better regulation, so they'll turn on fractional amounts when you hit the right temperature. No one advertises this feature so you just have to get lucky in the reviews hoping someone mentions it.

[QuadraKev]

I own one of the aforementioned crazy-expensive $1500 induction cooktop, and it's an incredible piece of technology. It can sense the pan temperature within 2 degrees, and you can set the temperature accordingly. It also comes with a probe that lets you automatically adjust the temperature based on what you want the pan/pot contents' temperature to be.

[markwazny]

Another thing to be aware of with induction: when seasoning cast iron or carbon steel, it’s basically impossible to get the sides of the pan hot enough. So at least the first time(and any future times after fully stripping the pan), you’ll need to use the oven method, instead.

The bit about warping pans on high heat deserves a re-mention here particularly with seasoning. Medium heat only unless you’re boiling water.

[Glupiacipa]

Helen Rennie mentioned your videos yesterday in her video and now youre mentioning her. Slay

[danieltdp]

Another advantage is cleaning. No creases and small pieces and grills makes cleaning really fast!

[Zappyguy]

I bought an induction cook top 3 years ago to let me make noodles in my small basement room.
Now it sits on top of my ceramic cook top, because it heats up faster, cooks faster and actually sears food I put in it.
If I ever get rich and own a home, I'll definitely be including an induction cook top for my home, and maybe one with an indent for a wok.

[JohnnyTortel]

I bought a used induction range last year and it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. Once you get used to gaging the knobs it's super quick, powerfull, responsive and easy to clean. On max level the water boils so hard it makes waves and splashes out of the pot

[Mike__B]

Pro Tip: Those portable induction cooktops are great replacements for the traditional "hot plate" and very convenient for "mobile cooking" the power output on them tends to be dwarfed by built in cooktops which could easily be twice the power. Basically, don't let a portable stove be what determines if you like induction or not.

[hypercube]

I really enjoy my induction cooktop because I'm disabled, and stoves are *absolutely not* designed for use from a sitting position. The burners are basically at eye level. Apparently they do have side-open ovens, at least (a fact I only learned a couple weeks ago) but they cost 5-10 times as much as the regular kind, and an oven is already a pretty expensive appliance. I can just put an induction cooker on a table I can get my wheelchair under, and now I have a stove I can actually use comfortably.

[redshirt]

Fun that you and Helen Rennie shouted out each other in your latest videos, you both make some of my favorite cooking content on youtube!

[tamkish]

Another thing to consider when getting induction heater is the material of your pan. Not all metals are ferromagnetic

[jaguar]

You missed out on the best part! A built-in induction is more than twice as powerful at 3700W as the plug in countertop model you used. Also the noise depends on the pan, my cast iron griddle makes no noise. Induction coils also don't ahve to be a circle, my cooktop has 4 oval ones in row that you can control individually and works great for weird size or long rectangular griddles. Thermador makes one with lots of little coils over the whole surface that can work with any size pan.

[TheOtherGuy]

"no response from the company" in other words they know their product is shit and they're hoping you just won't bother to return it

[NinjaXryho]

I have a temperature gun that I use all the time in the kitchen and wonder why more people don't have one. It only measures surface temperature, but that's still very useful information for many common cooking tasks.

[TizonaAmanthia]

we switched almost a year ago, in our kitchen. the LED thing is neat. but I've moved around a lot and all different stoves, so learning how hot is what, is more a matter of hovering your hand over the pan to feel the radiant heat off it, or a flick of water, that kind of thing, so I adapted easily. now i have one of those portable ones in my home office for quick nibbles, popcorn, or the like. they're awesome as heck!

[Yuusou.]

I have two portable induction stoves and I love it. First, I bought only one to understand if I can work with it. It took me some time to understand the different options I have on mine and when I should use the power or the temperature option. Once that settled in, I realized that I need to have two of them to properly cook some dishes without switching between pans and pots. My best moment was making several liters of yogurt overnight, as I can maintain a consistently low temperature.

[scoutmaster-s]

I've been cooking with induction for over 20 years and love it. I would never go back! It does take some getting used to -- including issues not addressed in this video. But making the transition has been well worth it for our family. The improved air quality is great. And the fact that it doesn't warm up the kitchen so much in the summer is also a huge benefit.

[carlosjaimesn]

It is interesting to me just how common induction is in Japan. I also love gas in general but induction is just where the future is. Reading about gas pipelines in the US and how much green house gases they leak is eye opening.

[MonicaTheMad]

I have cooked on induction cooktops for about 30 years and love it. It's so very fast. If you use it for a while you get used to the amount of heat produced. I used the little single element cookers when I was between stoves one time and we hung on to it for outdoor use or emergencies. In my experience, those little ones aren't very good and do not reflect induction cooking. Spend the big money and get a good GE one. They are worth it. My burners have never made any noise, so I don't know what people are talking about. I will never leave induction cooking for anything else. Plus my pots and pans stay nice and clean.