Induction cooking uses the transfer of magnetic energy, unlike the traditional cooking elements that we are got used to, so it doesn’t work on a flame or electric elements and instead of that it creates a quick, efficient way of cooking. Water boils much more quickly, the temperature is controlled easily, and pots stay mostly cool while cooking.
All these induction cooktops and induction cookware are getting more and more widespread around the world thanks to its revolutionary way of work. Induction cooking is also profitable in terms of power consumption: it uses 90% of the energy produced compared to only 55% for a gas burner and 65% for traditional electric ranges.
It can be claimed that your regular cookware (if these are the items of high quality) can be also suitable for the induction cooktop. Just check they would be made of cast iron. Such materials as aluminum, all-copper, or glass cookware will not be compatible.
Well, you can actually make them compatible by adding a magnetic layer to the bottom of these pans, but older, non-magnetic pans simply will not work. Aluminum and copper require much higher frequencies to generate the heat needed to cook food.
A proper piece of magnetic cookware has to complete the electromagnet’s circuit in order for heating to occur. When the circuit is completed, the cooking vessel becomes hot and you’re able to get cooking.
Boiling is extremely fast with that cookware, it takes just half of the time compared to gas or electric type. And the most prominent feature of it is probably that the surface of it stays cool all the cooking time. It means that induction cooking is fully safe, unlike the fire or electricity.
Moreover, since the surface of this cooktops doesn’t get heated, the spills don’t stick to it. Use a splatter guard to prevent your kitchen from oil drops. Remember that not all the pieces of cookware can be used on induction cooktops and ranges. Since induction technology uses the power of magnetism, the cookware piece itself must be magnetic and have a flat bottom.
There are some brands such as All-Clad, Cristel, Demeyere, which are fully clad. Buying them you can be 100 percent sure that these are going to be with your induction cooktop.
While a lot of newer induction cookware features a coiled symbol to show it will work on an induction cooktop, there is a simple way you can test to see if any vessel, marked or not, is induction compatible. All you need to do is to take a small magnet to a cooking vessel and if it sticks, the pot or a pan is compatible with the cooktop.
In case the magnet doesn’t stick, the vessel won’t work by itself to complete the electromagnetic circuit or cook your food. And if you are planning to acquire inductional cookware in the future here are some prominent sets: Cuisinart MCP-12N Multiclad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece cookware set, Tramontina 12-Piece Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Clad cookware set, and Circulon Symmetry Black 10-Piece cookware set.
So how to use this innovative induction cookware? Apart from using the right vessels, you need to know how to cook with it. Here it is important to mention that numerous ways of preparing the food that we are got used to with our gas and electric cooktops are becoming unnecessary with the induction cooking.
The thing is, that is the case with the first two types you have always to adjust your pot of frying pen in order to keep the food from over frying/overboiling, then the induction cooktop always has the perfect temperature, making the cooking much easier.
It might take time to get used to how the induction cooktop actually works because it heats up unusually fast. Be careful, because this way you may burn the dish you’re cooking because you are used the cooktop to heat up longer. In most cases, you can turn the cooktop on using the sensor buttons. Yes, this kind of a cooktops doesn’t have leverages, it has buttons.
Then place your pot on the cooktop. It will sense the iron content in the pot and start to heat it up immediately. By the way, in many induction cooktops, you can choose the intensity of heating. There are usually 10 or 12 levels and they are presented as sensor buttons.
When the dish is ready simply turn off the cooktop. You can leave the dish on its place without fearing it will burn. And once again, in terms of safety, the induction cooking is the best one – even if it happens that you forgot to turn the heat off in time, the surface of the cooktop cannot be somehow influenced by liquids, as it is the case with gas and electric ones.