I'm in the final stages of deciding on a Wolf induction so this is interesting to me. I'll probably being doing the same thing you are in a month. I still haven't seen a demo so I have no idea how fast they boil.

Will be interested in other responses.

I sorry I can't answer your questions, but how long have you had it and how do you like it? I've cooked with gas for 35 years and am just wondering if I should consider switching since I need to get a new range cause of our remodel and want to stay with a 30 inch full range with microwave on top. I really like the responsiveness of gas, but would prefer an easier to clean top.
Thanks, Cindy

I've only had it for a couple of weeks so am still getting used to it. Maybe it's nostalgia but if I had the choice I'd go with gas. I've linked a thread below were I talk about it.

I LOVE the warming drawer that is part of the unit. The oven works just fine. Nothing really fancy, just a good convection oven with some fancy controls I have yet to play with.

There are tons of threads here that talk about gas vs induction and I believe everyone but me has said they'd never go back (of those that have tried it). I do suspect I'm missing something but then again maybe not.

Here is a link that might be useful: my other thread

I have a DIVA - 1 1/3c cold water in a enamel cast iron pot - on max 12, 20 secs to achieve tiny bubbles, 62 secs to achieve a full rolling boil. I love induction but there is a slight learning curve. The response is extremely fast. I love that it heats fast and cools fast, EASY cleanup, and the burner goes off when the pan leaves the surface. Things I don't like, at times the controls don't respond, for example if I have wet hands, at other times if the control is accidentally touched, the burner can go from a simmer to full boil without me realizing. Because of this I think a knob or actual slider would better. I originally chose the touch pad for a cleaner look.I use cast iron, enamel cast iron, and DeMeyere cookware. I have one thin cheaper pan that heats just fine but does create a hum that the other heavier pans do not. Overall, the response time and the quick cleanup have me completely sold and I would not go back to gas.

I have a Diva DPP-5 and while I haven't timed it for boiling, I am confident it is far quicker in boiling then my previous Wolf gas rangetop.

While at times the touch controls can be "touchy", it has never caused me a problem. I do agree that I would prefer dial controls, as found on rangetops. But almost every induction cooktop has these touch controls because they want to keep everything on the cooktop (and because they are undoubtedly cheaper). I would prefer the greater expense of a deeper cooktop with "Wolf-Style" dials on the front. I think most people have a better sense of heat intensity by the dial position, rather then the touchpad linear method. Then again, the couple of manufacturers that put the dials on the top of the unit make cleaning far more troublesome. Dials should be on the front, not the top.

I am more bemused by the occassional light coming on when I am cleaning the cooktop. Of course, they go off when the cooktop "realizes" there aren't any pots or pans on the burners.

I'll say this, when I am too lazy to go outside to grill steaks on my gas grill I get great results on the induction cooktop when I use the Fissler Steelux fry pan with the Fissler splatter guard. The embossed grill marks on the fry pan even give the steak a more professional look. I like the result better than on my previous gas rangetop.

Greg

Get ready to laugh: on my "inferior" electric ceramic cooktop, 1 1/3 cups cold water in an All-Clad skillet, about 10 seconds for tiny bubbles and 42 to full boil. Ok, I admit that I turned the burner on before I pulled out my pan and put the water in it, but seriously this is a bit of an eye-opener for me.

(Cast iron didn't even begin to bubble within a minute; clearly not the cookware of choice on my cooktop if up front speed is the primary goal.)

Ah, the touch controls. That's why I really hope Viking comes out with the 36' induction rangetop that they showed at the 2008 KBIS. Can't find out anymore info on it (i.e. release date). Will try to embed link to the picture.

Here is a link that might be useful:

yeah, seems kinda slow to me
2 cups of water shouldn't take so long to form bubbles and go to full boil. Although I haven't timed it, I know my Miele is much faster

Ya_think, electric cooktops are well known for fast heat-up and faster boiling times than gas, but fast cool-down on electric cooktops is a problem :)

olchik - I know about gas, but I didn't expect it to be faster than induction. I thought that was the rocket of cooking, not the "about the same speed but quicker response" solution.

Well, ya_think, since you turned the burner on before you even got the pan that is not a fair comparison. I did mine cold. Cold pan with fresh water on burner that was turned off. Timing did not start until water was in the pan on the burner.

I am, however, rather distressed to see that my times are *not* equal to the Diva's times. Humpf.

I have had the induction cooktop for 6 months and speed is one aspect of the experience. Yes the controls can be different at times than a dial.

The fact you can heat as fast as anything used before or gas, can control the up/down very accurately and repeatable, can set timers to shutoff(if available).

I know what a 1.5 setting or a 3.5 setting will do and it will do it everytime. I prep first since the heating process is so fast and repeatable. I could also set a heating value and a time and it would shutoff and I would likely be ready if I was racing to get the meal completed in 5 mins vs 7 mins.

Do not forget the value of speed, accuracy and repeatability with a timer all in one package.

What temperature is the water we're starting with for the test?

I used direct from the tap water (Reverse Osmosis/filtered/conditioned). Not sure of the exact temp, though.

pbrisjar - Yes, my comparison wasn't exactly fair because I preheated the burner. But on the flipside you will accept that you generally have to pull out a pan and fill it anyway, it kind of highlights certain amount of ridiculousness.

Canuck - You've got me on the timers. But I know where to set my cooktop for a particular use, and I'm sure so does everyone who regularly uses their gas range. And the gas guys and I won't fret about which pans will work and won't hum.

Clearly this isn't the right thread to debate cooking technologies. And to be sure traditional electric wouldn't be my first choice; not yet sure which would. But I couldn't help but be surprised at the numbers presented above, put my humble cooktop to the test, and for just a few moments gloat about the results. ;)

When I get back home I will do an official test with all the numbers just for the fun. Currently traveling.

It is impossible for a standard electric cooktop to boil the same amount of water in the same magnetic pan faster then a 3,600 watt induction cooktop. It is a simple matter of BTU's and the far larger amount of BTU's in a 3,600 watt induction cooktop overcomes any amount of BTU's in any residential electric or gas cooktop, be they Viking, Wolf, Thermador, etc.

For gas to cook faster then induction one would need a restaurant grade (as in a Chinese restaurant) gas burner. I don't know of any electric cooktop (professional or residential) that comes anywhere near this. The highest I have ever seen is 2,500 watts.

Cooking Type Efficiency
Induction >90%
Electric Coil 65%
Electric(w/ ceramic top) 47%
Gas `
1,000 watts = 3,413 BTU's

electric 2,500 watt = 8,532.5 BTU's - 65% = 5,546 BTU's
gas 15,000 BTU's = 15,000 BTU's - 40% = 6,000 BTU's
gas 18,000 BTU's = 18,000 BTU's - 40% = 7,200 BTU's
induction 3,600 watts = 12,286.8 BTU's - 90% = 11,058 BTU's

Since BTU's and the & of heat transferred are the basic parameters of heating speed, it is obvious which method can boil faster.

As an aside, with Diva releasing a $9,000 induction range with a 4,000 watt center burner you can get almost 12,300 BTU's in actual output. Of course, in these tough economic times I doubt there are a bunch of people willing to fork over that kind of cabbage.

Greg

I have a 30" Kenmore induction cooktop, almost 2 years old. I just did a test:

1 1/3 cups water
58 degrees
3 qt Gourmet Standard brand stainless saucepan

15 seconds to small bubbles
45 seconds from start to full boil

Greg - You can quote any supposed efficiencies, equations, etc., that you wish, but if it takes arguments about the control of the experiment (e.g. is your tap water temp 55 deg or 60, did you use All-Clad or Emerilware, was your pan diameter 10" or 10.5") to discern appreciable differences between cooking technologies, then I submit that from a practical standpoint the "how fast can you boil a pot of water" claims are little more than a useless load of crap. Note that that's coming from the winner in this tiny race.

Talk cleaning, talk quick response, that's an entirely different story.

New test, using 5 1/2 qt enameled cast iron (Le Crueuset), using same amount of water:

water temp: 54 degrees
45 seconds to small bubbles
1:13 to full boil

I used the second largest hob on my cooktop. Clearly the cast iron was less responsive, as I would expect. It also doesn't cool down as fast as the stainless steel cookware.

Does anyone have a GE Monogram induction cooktop, and do you like it? I have recently bought one for a kitchen remodel and I am hoping it will be as quick and powerful as the top "luxury" brands that were more expensive.

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon on my Kenmore 36-inch induction cooktop: sometimes faster results occur using smaller hobs that are rated at lower maximum power.

In my case, the object being heated is a Demeyer tea kettle with 2 to 3 quarts of water. On large hobs where the marked inner ring is at or beyond the diameter of the kettle, heating (on power boost) seems to take longer than using the next to smallest hob where the inner ring underlaps the kettle base. (Although visually significantly wider, the kettle has a 6-inch base diameter, while the hob's inner ring is just under six inches.)

This should be considered only anecdotal, as I haven't performed any decent quantitative measurements. I suspect, however, that the larger hobs are not coupling as well to the kettle. That is, the magnetic fields have longer air paths. If true, this can reduce the fraction of available power coupled to the kettle.

Coupling efficiency may be a factor in the OP's observations and influence the conclusions one might draw from oskiebabu's numbers.

Nonetheless, I love the induction cooktop, even though its capability for heating pans faster than I am used to keeps me on a tether if I don't want a disaster.

kas

I'm not sure that the time it takes to boil water is the real measure of how good induction is. I have a portable cooktek and the thing that it does superior to my 15K btu DCS gas range is heating a pan to searing heat almost instantly. It takes anywhere from 5-7 miuntes on gas to get a cast iron pan smoking hot and it takes less than a minute on my induction cooktop at max (18kW). This is also true for stir frying and sauteing because it gets the pan so hot, so fast and the heat is distributed so evenly.

The 90% efficiency of induction allows for the faster searing and boiling times, particularly on the high-powered burners. In the real world performance, science and physics matter.

While gas is pretty good at changing temperatures, it is not quite as good as induction, due to the fact that gas heats the burner grates far more than induction heats the cooktop.

Greg