wtf is 'induction' cooking?

Induction cooktops heat your pan directly with an alternating magnetic current. How does that work? Is it better than gas or electric? Let's find out.

***SOURCES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE***

[aragusea]

Q: Do you realize that induction is also really popular in Europe?
A: Yes. I mentioned that it's pretty rare here in the U.S., but popular lots of other places, and mentioned China by name because it's the biggest example.

Q: Do you realize that map of China you showed includes Taiwan?
A: I do now! Didn't before! Whoops! Sorry to those who were offended. And if you were made happy by that, then, great, I guess?

Q: What do you mean induction might not be more efficient than resistance coil?
A: See sources cited in the description. There's research indicating that induction is more efficient with small pans, but less efficient with large pans. But people dispute those findings, for reasons that go over my head. Very technical stuff.

Q: Why do some people hear the whine from induction stoves while some people don't?
A: I imagine it's pretty complicated, but one reason might be that upper-frequency sensitivity varies a lot from person to person. Generally speaking, the older a person is, the less upper-frequency sensitivity they have. I routinely play tones around 16k for my students that make them wince, yet I can't hear them at all. I don't have any particular hearing damage, I'm just 15 years older than them.

Q: Do all induction stoves make that much noise?
A: No, I think you can find ones that are quieter, and it's only a really big issue when you're using high power.

Q: Did you know there are induction stoves made to fit woks?
A: No! Neat!

Q: Is aluminum really cheaper than steel?
A: Not by weight, but weight isn't the relevant metric here. Nobody makes aluminum pans that are just as heavy as their steel counterparts — to do that would require making an absurdly thick aluminum pan. Aluminum pans are lighter, and are generally cheaper than stainless steel, though there are always exceptions.

Q: Why is induction so rare in the U.S. when it's been common in Asia and Europe for years?
A: I tried to find market research on that question and didn't find anything. I have a theory, which I will offer for your consideration. Maybe it's an indication of how the U.S. is (or was) more technologically advanced, not less. In the U.S., resistance coil stoves became popular many decades ago, probably ahead of the rest of the world. In places like India and China, they basically skipped resistance coil — their economies didn't reach levels of development comparable to the U.S. until induction was already on the market, so they basically went straight from gas (or charcoal) to induction. They skipped coil. Thoughts?

[HY-ddsc]

Just so you know, your habit of explaining what people in the UK call american things has made American cooking videos MUCH more informative for me as someone from the UK.

[sixteenfu]

As a Chinese, here’s another reason: hotpot! Portable gas stoves are also on the market, but induction cooktops don’t require fuel refill and we like that part.

[phuturephunk]

The lack of waste heat is a godsend and I can't express that enough. During the summers, since I don't have central air, my induction cooktop sits on top of my gas stove and I use it for every day things and it takes the load off the window units so nicely. I also have restaurateur friends who swear by high power Induction. Makes kitchen work so much more tolerable.

[liamtahaney]

"why I heat my pan not my burner"

[Obyvvatel]

I remember when all tutorials I've watched said you need to turn your shit up to max for searing steak. The thing is they didn't have an induction top, but I did, so the steak smoked the whole house and left nice unwashable imprint on the pan, all in just under 2 minutes.

[leavoda]

I work as a kitchen designer in a big furniture store in Germany. Our clients mostly want to have an induction powered stove, mostly 80 cm wide, many with an intergrated downdraft. All of this good traits you mentioned are a great sellpoint. Allso, sometimes it's not the stovetop that's noisy, but the bottom of the pot. The material in the bottom can have small pockets of air in it, that vibrate and create high pitched sound. Cooking is fast, the temperature is better regulated, the whole thing cools down very quickly and you forgot to mention another safety feature: that the heating up feature shuts off as soon as the pot is moved away and after a few minutes it shuts off completly. There are other great features....

[gfatreak]

Live in Germany and bought a new kitchen with an induction stove top about two years ago. It really didn’t take long to get used to it. What I really love is how fast water for pasta, tea or other meals gets to a boil. It saves lots of time in the long run. My stove even has an extra fast mode for boiling water.

[malohn]

My parents have an induction stove, if you put it on max it literally takes 7 seconds to get it to boiling. It's nuts

[Jadys_]

The noise level also depends on the pan you put on the induction top.
Some pans aren't completely solid inside the base and the vibrations inside the base of the pan itself is what is causing the noise.
I bought a cast iron pan about a year ago and the noise completely disappeared, and when I asked my friend who is a white goods technician about this he explained this to me.

[Passionforfoodrecipes]

I'm glad he's giving us the lowdown on his deduction of this induction!

[isodoubIet]

Whether the pan will heat or not doesn't really depend on whether it's "magnetic", ferrous, or whether a magnet will stick to it. Eddy currents are generated in any conductive material, it's just that copper and aluminum are too good at conducting electricity so they don't dissipate all that much at the frequencies a typical induction top radiates. Iron dissipates more because it conducts electricity more poorly at those frequencies, a fact which is only sort of related to its ferromagnetism. If you go to even higher frequencies, aluminum and copper catch up and pans made of those metals will work too. Those products are called "all-metal" induction tops.

[markabrice]

Important factor to consider before buying an induction stove (or individual burner): burner size. It matters--A LOT. On most lower-end induction stoves the largest burner you'll get is 6". Since induction burners only heat the area of the pan making direct contact with the cooktop surface, 6" burners spell trouble for bigger pans, for example 12" skillets, which typically have a 9" bottom diameter: the central area of the pan will heat nicely, but the periphery will not. If you want to get a stove with 9" burners, count on spending big bucks, like $5, 000 and up. Also, note that you can't judge the actual burner size--the diameter of the magnetic coil beneath the cooktop--just by looking at the cooktop markings; the two don't necessarily line up. Serious research is called for before purchase.

[cdvyjgf]

4:26 having the iPad in the proximity of the heat made me NERVOUS

[playgroundchooser]

Another safety thing: if there's nothing magnetic on the stovetop, you can accidentally turn my induction burners "on, " and they'll just... Do... Nothing. They even turn themselves back off after 30 seconds. 🤙🤙

[ineffable]

Even if I had gas I would strongly suggest looking into induction, it's that good IMO. I was team gas before I tried induction.

[kevinavila]

I've had one for the past 8 years and I love it. Con is that I had to buy new pots and pans that work on it and throw out the old non ferrous ones. Upside is no risk of burning down my tiny tiny apartment as there's no open flame. Here in the Philippines it's popular in tiny studio apartments, but I've never seen one in a full sized home.

[SuperCookieGaming_]

why i season my electricity rather than my steak

[alexandrorocca]

30 years ago during culinary school, we were presented with this new technology. One of the teachers put a 100 francs note between the induction stove and a pot of boiling water to demonstrate that the surface wasn't hot. Then we asked how sturdy it was and the teacher slammed the pot a few times on the stove, and the glass shattered.

[gabejordan]

I’ve had an induction cook top in my house since 2013 and it so amazing. Sometimes when I’m boiling a pot of something, I put a towel between the pot and the stove top Incase the pot boils over. It doesn’t damage the towel at all and it doesn’t interfere with the cooking.