induction burners

jonny.d.hunter

I have used Cooktek for awhile now but I'm wondering if there are other brands that you have used that preform either the same or better.

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susan_fox_33805

I have a very cheap Fagor and it's one of my favorite appliances. Works like a charm.

Chris_Young_80640

So the thing to keep in mind is that if you can plug it into a standard outlet in North America, then you are limited to 1800 watts of power. That's as much as you can pull before the fuse blows, and assumes nothing else is pulling power on the same 15 amp circuit. So basically, I think the portable units are all about the same.

One way to think about how much power this is, is to convert it into BTU/hrs, which is a more common way of expressing the power of a burner. A formula that is often used is

BTU/hr = kW * 7185 (see http://theinductionsite.com/how-induction-works.shtml)

So, your standard portable unit is about the equivalent of

BTU/hr = 1.8 * 7185 = 12,933 BTU/hr, which is about the maximum power output of a prosumer stovetop in my experience. You could quibble about this formula since it makes some assumptions about relative efficiency, but in my experience this seems about right.

But a true professional gas burner tends to be 20,000 to 50,000 BTU/hrs. And sadly, a standard outlet cannot give you enough power. But many domestic induction ranges (we use a standard domestic GE induction stovetop at ChefSteps) can do at least this well.

Our most powerful burner uses 50 amps at 240 volts to deliver almost 12 kW, which is roughly 86,000 BTU/hrs—and yes, it's awesome.

The really good news is that domestic induction cooktops have gotten really cheap. A few years ago they were over $5000, but we paid something like $1200 for our 6 burner unit. Worth considering the next time you upgrade your kitchen.

jonny.d.hunter

@chris is that unit new or used? Brand?

Chris_Young_80640

GE, new. Purchased off Amazon

Johan_Edstrom_5586

You'd suggest induction over upgrading the gas/hood if you renovated a kitchen?

Tim_Sutherland_52834

@Chris, have you tried 240V portable induction burners that get up to 3,500W (25k BTU/hrs)?

What model is 12kW, as the highest I can find are 5kW and they require 3 Phase power? (Planning a home kitchen remodel and I want as much BTUs as I can get for wok cooking.)

Chris_Young_80640

@Tim — Could have been more clear in the post. That it the total power for the entire surface. The central burner maxes out at 3.5kW, so yes, you can get 240V portable units that have that kind of power (although they were pretty pricey the last time I looked). To go beyond this, yes, 3-phase seems to be required. Anyway, the unit we have is this one:

http://amzn.to/1625Sf5

For really high power units, look at Swiss MenuSystems. They make some 7.5kW units I think.

polkachef74

@Chris maybe I'm missing something or missing your point but you shouldn't be limited to a 15 amp breaker. Most homes today carry 200-225 (even up to 250) amps total service. Not that it matters much but you could use a 20 amp breaker and get 2400W (17,244 BTU/hr) assuming nothing else is on the circuit and you're under your total amperage service. Either way, a 20 amp breaker still won't provide 20,000 BTU/hr.

Chris_Young_80640

@Keith -- most outlets are still on 120v 15-amp, although 20 amp is more common for newer construction. But manufactures build portable units for 15 amp circuits, so 1875 watts max. But in practice they all run a bit less.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

I haven't done much cooking this week as I have been dealing with contractors on various issues, but I can now watch three pots of water boil on one burner.

After five hours of working the electricians managed to get the 220v 50 amp service to the new GE 36" induction burner in.

Monday the other contractors will get the telly mounted outside and life will be good for spring.

James_Hoffmann_21713

First thing I did when I moved into my new flat was remove the horrifying electric stove top and put in an induction unit. Took me 40 minutes, and amazon was the cheapest place to buy.

Great to cook on (repeatability vs gas), but my god - so easy to clean...

specialk22tt

@Chris - what is your recommendation on a single induction burner?

Rick_C_4825

Initially tried several counter top single induction burners but I found that while they were OK for many applications, there were times when I could not hit the right temperature, particularly to keep something at a simmer once it reach temperature. The problem was that typically these units had about 10 temperature / power settings and while that seemed sufficient I found that too often I would go to one setting and get a rapid boil but when I dropped down to the next lower setting the temperature dropped below a simmer. This became a constant battle adjusting the temperature. Unfortunately I went into my initial buying with virtually no knowledge of induction burners - it turned out to be a rather expensive learning process.

I then decided to explore more professional models and wound up buying a Vollrath Mirage. Though more expensive than your typical unit had I just gone this route first I would not have wasted money on less that satisfactory unite. This unit has virtually unlimited settings so you can dial i exactly the temperature you want. FYI - found best brice for this unit online at KaTom Restaurant Supply.

specialk22tt

@Rick - thank you for the great info. What was the first unit you bought? Have you had much experience with the Mr. Induction units too? I've heard they're decent. I'll look into the Vollrath.

Rick_C_4825

@Kevin - The first burner I bought was the Max Burton 6500 ProChef 1800-Watt Commercial Induction Cooktop which I thought was a pretty good choice as it had a decent power rating and I wanted one that wasn't all plastic. I then decided that I wanted a more compact lighter burner when I didn't need the heft of the Max Burton so I bought the Eurodib Single Induction Cooker (both in late 2010). Both of these burners had the ten or so settings and while they worked fine for most things when you needed the ability to fine tune the temperature, they both fell short. I think that for about $100 more than what I paid for these two burners (you can find some pretty decent discounts off the $800+ list price) I could have gotten the Vollrath (which I eventually purchased). Unfortunately, I didn't come across some of the design details when I was doing my research online before I bought the first one plus I was only finding really expensive commercial burners or really cheap plastic ones with low power ratings. Had I better understood how I might use an induction burner I would have been better able to make a better decision as to value versus features. But we have to learn somehow.

Also, since you had raised the question I went back and researched where I hade purchased each appliance. The first two came from Amazon and as a correction to my previous post, I purchased the Vollrath from WEBstaurantStore.com not KaTom. Hope this helped.

specialk22tt

@Rick - It did. Thank you again. I'll be sure to not skimp out on a quality unit.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Yep, very informative.

specialk22tt

@Chris @jimseven @Rick @Tim - Okay, now that I've realized you can purchase a whole cooktop for a little more than double of what you'd get for a single burner, shall we do a review of the induction cooktops?

Chris_Young_80640

I like this site, and pay attention to the cost per kW:

http://theinductionsite.com/

We have GE at ChefSteps:

http://theinductionsite.com/induction-makers/ge-induction-hobs.shtml

specialk22tt

@Chris - Much appreciated.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

A recent post on GardenWeb.com a person asked how long it takes to boil water on a GE Induction cooktop. On their Wolf Smoothtop electric cooktop it took 14:12 mins for 6 cups of water in a 2 qt pot, with a lid, on a 6.5" hob to boil. Having a GE induction cooktop with a 6.5" hob and a 2 qt pot with a lid I decided to time how long water takes to boil.

I

put 1,500g (6 cups) of water in a 6.5" diameter pot (Farberware

2QT/1.9L) stainless steel pot with a glass lid on. The pot was placed

on the 6.5" hob (top right) and set to H. I observed the following:

Start temp 23.8C
40C at 1.25 min
50C at 2:07 min
60C at 2:48 min
70C at 3:34 min
80C at 4:11 min
90C at 4:58 min
100C at 5:45 min, and the watched pot boiled over.

I missed the 30C time as it was so quick.

allan.balliett

In my kitchen I have a residential Jenn-Air cook top. I don't know the BTUs. I had a fellow here from Indian the other day and he wante to cook some breads on a flat traditional 'fry pan' He said that the bread wasn't working out because the burner wasn't hot enough. First time I knowingly ran across this.

Now, today, Dave Arnold gave advice on deep frying at home: use an induction burner b ecause a residential stove burner is probably not hot enough, but he gave no heat requirements.

So, my question is: will one of the standar 1800 residential portable induction burners be hot enough to operate a deep frying pot on (and, hopefully, hot enough for the fry bread?)?

Thanks