Posted: Nov 02, 2016 4:52 pm
Alan B wrote:Yeah. They never caught on with me. I've always been a 'dual-fuel' person - gas hob, electric oven.
Most Americans to whom I speak about gas like the very low thermal intertia most. Big fire = hot, little fire = not as hot, off = off right now. Induction hobs have that same trait. But, with some significant advantages over gas:
Control is everything when cooking. The power output of an induction hob is very precisely controller. In comparison, a gas hob is pretty good at that, also. Maybe not quite as accurate, but probably pretty precise. Meaning that once set, the flame output is unlikely to change much. That would be a function of the main gas pressure regulator for the house, though.
An induction hob has the same low thermal inertia as a gas hob. There's no need to remove a pan from the "burner" as you would with any other form of electric hob to recover from a boilover situation. As with gas, off - off right now. Additionally, there's no overshoot, as you'd experience with a resistive type of electric hob, which you set on high to get a boil, then better be there when it starts to boil or it will overshoot and boil over or burn.
The real advantage with induction is in its efficiency. A gas hob is about 45% efficient, give or take. All other forms of electric hobs except induction are about the same. Most of the heat of combustion of gas is wasted as the hot gases simply flow up and around the sides of the pan. There's no leaving a cooking utensil in a pan if you're using gas, unless you want to burn the shit out of the handle of it. Also, this is one of the reasons that handles on pans get so goddmamned hot when using a gas hob. In the summer time, not dumping all that heat into the kitchen instead of into the pan really makes a difference on how hot the kitchen gets, too.
As for the poor efficiency of either contact or radiant electric hobs, I'm not sure what is the cause. With the hotplate type of electric hob (a standard resistive heating element), the physical contact between the pan and the element is what will limit its efficiency. I would think a similar effect is what is limiting the glass-top radiant type electric hobs, but I haven't looked into it much.
Induction hobs are around 95% efficient. They achieve this by concentrating their energy within the pan itself. It's actually the pan that heats up, and quickly. Heat is produced when there is resistance to the flow of electric current in a conductor. The induction hob works by inducing a rotating current in the pan bottom. If the metal of the pan has resistance to the flow of electrical current, it heats up. This is one of the reasons that non-magnetic pans won't work on an induction hob. They are made of metal that has very low resistance to the flow of electrical current. That, and non-magnetic pans won't concentrate the magnetic lines of flux into their structures as will magnetic pans.
Most stainless steel pans will also work just fine on an induction hob. Cast iron works great, too. I had to dispose of a complete set of goddamned nice Calphalon anodized aluminum pans when I bought my first induction hob in Belgium. I bought All-Clad stainless stuff. I don't recommend that, actually. They aren't any better than other quality stainless steel pans, and cost twice as much. The Carrefour branded pans we could have got locally were just as good, for example.
With the precise temperature control available
It's a dilemma, though. Our gas hob/electric oven is perfectly serviceable, and would probably last for the rest of my life. And, gas is goddamned cheap here in Wyoming. But, I'll probably spring for a new induction range anyway, because I really enjoy the advantages of induction.
That, and my wife, who does most of the cooking for our family likes it. Let the wookie win.