Your induction unit is 120V, unlike the cooktops which are 220V. So yes, your hob is underpowered. 1800W isn't high power compared to most induction units. I have timed boiling water (about 3 qts) on a 2.6kW element and it came to a boil in 5 minutes or so. Typically when I'm boiling a big pot of water for pasta, I have to have my sauce ready before I start the water. It's really that fast.

The noises people have reported seem to depend on the cookware, and possibly the cooktop. We have a Thermador induction cooktop and I've used stainless, carbon steel and cast iron on it so far and there are no high-pitched noises. The fan kicks in when power boost is on, and when the cooktop is hot, but it's a low hum and not offensive.

Cheryl

@soibnean: jadeite is correct on all accounts.

To further i was also purchasing the CC rangetop and switched to bosch induction. I tried cooking on both units before i bought and spent hours and nights on here reading as its a fairly expensive experiment if it had failed.

The induction is fantastic! it is way way more precise than gas and heats up quickly and best of all there is little to no heat loss (only from the pan) and cleanups are a breeze.

The standalone hobs i think are good for mobile cooking especially if you are a caterer and have limitations, that is not a good example of an induction cooktop.

Thanks, jmith. I want to try out an induction cooktop but I'm not sure where I could go to try one out. I'm in the Boston area.

jmith - how about Yale Electric? I used to live in the area and found them the most useful appliance distributor.

Cheryl

Correction - I mean my last post to be a response to soibean, not jmith.

Cheryl

soibean - I've read on here that the standalone hobs are particularly noisy. And 1800 is only about half the power of a hob on boost.

My KA induction clicks on low temps and hums a little, but I've gotten used to it. Some brands make no noise at all.

I timed boiling water when I first got mine. 8 qt of water in a 12 qt pot, starting from cold, on boost on 11" hob took about 8-9 minutes. A couple inches of water in a saucepan takes about a minute.

Induction is incredibly responsive and easy to adjust. The biggest benefit I see over gas is the ease of cleaning the cooktop. I can honestly say that if I moved into a house with a gas stove, I would immediately remove it and install induction. I hate cleaning stoves, especially burned-on spills.

Did you see this recent thread? People mention what they like about their various brands.

Here is a link that might be useful: Favourite Induction cooktop

@soibean: I know here in canada we have Miele demos for induction where you can go cook on it and the "chef" there will show you the ins and outs and make you a meal as well.

Otherwise if you know anyone in the restaurant business that may have induction that would be best.

I got a bosch 36" and its fantastic... it does not hum or click at all with my calphalon tri ply ... i have a carbon steele wok it did hum on it a bit. Also when the fan is going (vent fan) you can't hear anything.

@jadeite: heh no probs.

Thanks, jmith. How much precision control can you get with induction? People who love gas (including me) are always talking about what a fine level of control you can have over the flame. Is induction just a 1-10 kind of thing? Do you find it to be adjustable enough to meet your needs? I worry about not being able to see the height of the flame, which is just what I'm used to.

@soibean: I cook in a few commercial kitchens and i have always used gas. For my own home the quality of heat and control was a priority, when i found out about the cleaning and no heat contributed to the kitchen from induction i was very intrigued so i went with it (after tons of research and hands on offcourse).

A lot of commercial kitchens are even switching to induciton i was able to use induction and a gas range side by side at a kitchen to compare.

For me the fine level is almost magical and unbelievable... on a gas if i have been cooking at "high" and then set it to low there is dissipation time, with induction cut that right in half to quarter (depends on the pot -- with gas grates retain a lot of heat also contribute to some hot spots). With my bosch i have setting from 0-9 in 0.5 incriments so i have various heat levels.

With induction you don't need a double boiler nor a rice cooker!

I am still getting used the cooktop but today i made some eggs on a stainless steele pan and i used only 1/4 tsp of butter to my surprise heat was so precise that it did not stick nor burn... On a similar we use about 1/2 tsp or more plus salt on gas to cook egg to acheive same results. I actually found my heat setting to be a bit high so i will try a bit low next time, i like my eggs runny.

To give you an idea about heat control i set the heat to mid/high and put some butter in a pan just as it was about to brown i turned it down to mid/low and the butter did not continue to brown it remained same as parts of butter were brown and others were fine.

On gas this is a bit tricky to do, this has little to no use but is a good example of how precise the heat control is.

For my needs the only thing i sacrificed was open flame/grill which is right outside the kitchen (i invested in a top end weber (middle of line bbq?)).

The cooktop has controls right on the top so you can see your heat level. It is not difficult or annoying i mean i am going back n forth from gas ranges to my induction and i have no issues or problems... i actually secretly wish all restaurants would be induction then the kitchens wouldn't be so damn hot.

I was very against induction because i did not believe any of the magical stories, i had ordered the CC rangetop and then I saw induction in action and i was amazed and within the week i cancelled my cc order and switched to induction.

I have used the miele and bosch induction cooktops only and they are both good i like the bosch because i got a price break on it plus it has a shutoff timer!!

I realize I sound like a broken record, but if you are looking at induction and have 36", look into the zoneless AEG available in Canada. It can be shipped to the US. I lusted for this thing, but I only have room for 30".

@jmith, that is very reassuring!

@Ginny20, it looks to me like the 36" zoneless AEG can only accommodate 3 pots at once. That's not much for a 36" cooktop.

OK, the OP mentioned that his/her concern with a CC was make-up air requirements. Since when is MUA a function of heat source? MUA is related the capacity of your ventilation system, which is determined by how/what you cook, and the output of your range. If the induction cooktop you choose is as powerful as a CC, you will need the same type of ventilation, and accompanying MUA.

The one thing induction does not have is the combustion byproducts that would need to be exhausted. Hence their ventilation requirements are somewhat less.

Induction does not produce the vast amounts of residual heat that high-power gas does. About 60% of the heat energy released in gas combustion goes into heat loss. You need to vent that if you don't want your kitchen to turn into a blast furnace.

Rough estimate for required ventilation for Bluestar rangetop we were considering was 1200 cfm at a minimum. Venting required for the induction cooktop we got instead is about 400 cfm.

Cheryl

soibean: In the Boston area you can try out a Miele at the showroom in Wellesley. The page I've linked to lists the dates when they offer "Master Chef" classes specifically so that people can try them out.

We were able to try a Wolfe at Jarvis appliances, also in Wellesley.
Someone has already suggested Yale Appliance.

Here in RI, Wickford appliances has a couple of induction cooktops hooked up that you can use.

Having said all this, we could never find a Bosch to try. But
1. we had been pleased with previous Bosch items,
2. other than Wolfe, most induction cooktops use a similar approach to supplying power to a hob/burner,
3. induction is a proven technology; it's just new over here.
So, we ordered the Bosch 800 and have been very pleased. But I'm sure we'd have been happy with many of the brands. The Bosch just has hob/burner placements that suited us best + individual timers + direct selection of power. It's just what worked for us.

I would emphasize the venting for induction is still a requirement. I wouldn't go as far as a 400cfm for induction cooktop that had 5 hobs.

I was doing a stirfry and it does create a lot of smoke... i have a 42" and 27" deep ventahood and i am very glad i went with this over my 36" cooktop. If i had a standard 24" i can see a lot of smoke would have escaped, same with a 36" vent.

I used my middle hob for stir fry and the smoke created and evacuated was a phenomenal experience if not as good but better than the commercial units.

jmith - the estimate is from theinductionsite.com They say you need 100cfm per linear foot. Our cooktop is 36", so 400cfm should work if their estimate is valid.

We put in 720cfm Kobe and it seems to be fine. We are restricted by the cabinets over and around the cooktop, so it had to be 36" across. Not sure how deep, but enough that I hit my head regularly so I wouldn't want it any deeper. It's right at 27" over the cooktop, the minimum allowed in the specs. I stir fry a lot and we don't have any buildup of smoke or food smells.

The venting requirements for gas drove us to induction, but all round I'm very happy with the results. The power and speed are amazing.

Cheryl

jmith: "With induction you don't need a double boiler nor a rice cooker!"

well ...

We have been cooking with an induction cooktop for a dozen years, and we pretty much agree that you can dispense with your bain marie (double boiler) if you are cooking on induction.

However, if you take the quality of your cooked rice seriously, then you seriously need a fuzzy logic rice cooker. Mere humans cannot make the subtle adjustments in the raising and lowering of heat during the course of the cooking cycle that a fuzzy logic rice cooker can make and does make (on the basis of data from sensors inside the cooking vessel); and if they could, they still would have better ways to spend their time in the kitchen than making micro-adjustments to the heat delivered to the rice as it is cooking.

Precision and control?

I boiled pasta tonite and when I thought it might boil over, sooner rather than later, I tapped a different power level, maybe 5 or 4, and it immediately stopped and a calm water appeared. (If I was a fussier cook, I would have sought a little boil, but I didn't care.) That's responsive.

Really, only 3 pots on the AEG? That surprises me, and you're right, that isn't much for 36". On a regular 36", I'd expect to be able to use all 5 defined hobs at once, although not all at full power. I never got into looking at the specs for the AEG since it was too big anyway, but Morgne loved hers. I wonder if that expensive new zoneless Thermador can handle more pots.

The Thermador Freedom can handle a maximum of 4 pots. One of these can be big - I believe up to 13" x 21".

Cheryl

@jadeite: I am glad you have a 720cfm if you had gone with a 400cfm i suspect you could have lingering smells/oils in your kitchen.

When i was stir frying on boost, you could barely smell the food in the kitchen.

@westsider40: nods i still cannot get over the response.

@herring_maven: I have a cheap 10 dollar rice cooker nothing too fancy, i like to have my thai jasmine rice cooked "dry" and that's about it. I havn't ventured into other rice cookers... but point taken re: fussy rice cooks/eaters may not toss out their expensive rice cookers in favour of induction.

I purchased an electrolux induction range. Electrolux said I did not need venting. So, I did not install a hood because the range is in a peninsula under a very high cathedral ceiling and the hood would look very out of place and would be extremely difficult to install.(The previous range in that spot was a downdraft.). I figured that if I truly need a hood, I would install one at a later date. I cook on this range daily and so far have not had an issue with needing a hood.

@avidchef: so whatever you cook its smell stays in the kitchen/house? stir fry? fish? or other smelly foods? curries?

jsmith -- I would venture a guess that the majority of households either don't have a hood or don't run it if they have it.

Most people dont' find the smell of their own cooking that offensive.

stir_fryi - I don't know who "most people" are. Personally, food smells lingering for hours would bother me a great deal. I use the hood every time I cook.

Cheryl

I have a very strong sense of smell. My kitchen is quite large with high cathedral ceilings. I have a triple window and french doors which can be opened, but I seldom need to. Odors just disappear quick rapidly. The electrolux vents in front - I am not sure if that assists in the odors disappearing. Previously I had a dacor with a grill and down draft system and never had any issues with that range either and the downdraft system was poor.

I used to stuff my vent with plastic bags because it leaked cold air and we never turned the vent on. I do not fry and broiled meat in the wall oven broilers. After 34 years in this house, there never was a time where I needed a vent.

I do use the vent now, on occasion. I only cook fish outside on the weber grill on my back porch, and that's infrequently. Dh has an extremely limited eating repertoire (it would turn you away from any kind of adventurous cooking)-anything other than lots of salt is exotic.

I run the hood when I boil water, otherwise I get condensation on the surrounding surfaces. If your cooktop were on a peninsula, this wouldn't happen, of course, the humidity would just go into the air, a good thing in the winter.

Follow up question, this one related to pan size. I was looking through the Miele manual to get a sense of how the cooktops work, and for each hob, they specify a minimum and maximum pan size. I'm not much worried about the minimum, but I am concerned that the maximum pan size would limit my ability to shuffle pots around on the cooktop while I'm working.

Has anyone encountered a problem like this? If you put a large pot on a small-ish hob, does performance drop off?

What do mean by "performance?"

I ask because there are a lot of different things the constitute performance.

In one sense, you might say that it is obvious performance would drop off just like it would on every other kind of stove where you move a large pan onto a small burner. Say, you get your 12-inch saute pan super hot on a 23,000 btu/hr gas burner or a 3.5KwH induction burner and then move it onto a 6000 btu/hr gas burner or an 1.8KwH induction burner (or a 1.5 KwH coil burner). The performance is going to fall off in the sense that the small burner cannot maintain the same level of heat in the large pan as the larger burner could. That will happen with every kind of stove.

Perhaps you might be are asking about a small burner's ability to maintain heat in a large pan and are concerned about evenness of heating. For that, the answer will be "it depends." It depends on how well your big pan retains heat, how well it's base distributes heat, and on whether evenness really matters. If you are simmering a large pot of stock, it does not require a completely evenly heated bottom where other coooking might need that evenness. Again, however, this will be true for all kinds of stoves.

Or, possibly, you are thinking about the problem with canning kettles on radiant stoves and want to know if induction suffers the same problem. The problem with large canning kettles on radiant stoves is that they reflect heat out beyond the burner ring which confuses the sensors that regulate heat with the result that the burner never gets hot enough to boil water or takes an v4errryyyyyyyy long time to come to a boil. Induction does not use the same kind of cycling and sensors, so performance with an oversize pan will not fall off in the same way.

This is a short way with a complicated subject that has been discussed in several other threads. The one I've linked to below should get you more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on using two 11-inch pans on induction

Thanks, JW. I had seen that post before but forgot - all this research has my head spinning. It was very helpful to read again.

My concern is about the ability to use different size pots effectively on the different hobs. Before induction, I was planning on the CC 36" rangetop, which would allow me to move any pot anywhere because it has 6 equally powered burners. That gives you a lot of flexibility. Induction seems more like gas cooktops with different sized burners for different functions (like the default BlueStar configuration). Most people don't seem to be bothered by it, so maybe I'm worrying about a non-issue. Maybe I would just get used to matching the hob to the pan. So confused!

Most induction cooktops and stove tops are indeed designed like most other home stoves and cooktops, with burners of varying sizes and powers. Matching pan to hob is thought to be the most efficient way to use these burners, but it is not as though you cannot use smaller or larger pans on the burners.

And, do not discount your personal perferences. If you really like having the ability to put large pans anywhere on the stove and get full heat over the burner, that is a factor that will favor gas over induction for you. Just bear in mind that it is only one factor. Any choosing of a stove almost always winds up being a choice among personal preferences about a mix of trade-offs and compromises. Some people do not care and just pick something. Some people get to their choice quickly. Others have to mull over their choices and sort out their preferences, which may change as you go through the process. Do what works for you.

Again, check out that thread on 11-inch skillets and see if that discussion does not help unconfuse you about some of your induction questions..

Has anyone seen or heard about the Gaggenau full-surface induction cooktop? It looks amazing. Like the Thermador, it can handle only four pots at once. Still, it recognizes and adjusts to the size of your pots. I'm afraid to find out how much it costs because I'm already coveting it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaggenau CX 491

A few months ago it was listed as selling for $11k Australian. Don't know about US availability or pricing. There was a brief thread about this cooktop (I think in the fall); I'll see if I can find it and post back.

For the record, JWVideo, for me there are NO tradeoffs or compromises with induction. None at all.

I have a gas range in my summer cottage.

If I had to for space reasons, I would absolutely put a big pan on a small hob and vice versa. I am sure it would work just fine on my induction.

Fori, a longtime forums member, had induction for several years. IIRC, she would put whatever pot she needed on whatever hob was clean and unoccupied.

soibean: "Has anyone seen or heard about the Gaggenau full-surface induction cooktop? It looks amazing. Like the Thermador, it can handle only four pots at once."

My personal opinion on full-surface induction cooktops is that they are a gimmick, and, once the novelty wears off, they will disappear like kitchen trash compactors, amphibious car-boats, and cars with four-wheel steering.

Most of the time when we are cooking -- there are exceptions -- we have only two or one pots or pans going at a time, and we never wonder or guess where they should be placed. When we have four pots on at once, the simple geometry of placing them so that they do not bump into each other dictates that they be placed pretty much where the fixed burner rings of our cooktop are located. And what happens to the pot that you are allowing to cool on the cooktop-used-as-counter-space while you are simultaneously cooking in another pot?

The idea of a full-surface induction cooktop that senses the placement and size of every pot placed on it is seriously Buck Rogers cool, but it is a coolness for which I, for one, would be very unlikely to pay a premium price.

herring_maven, I had the same reaction to the full-surface cooktops at first. But now I'm thinking it would be great to be able to move my pots around while I'm working without regard to exact placement and size. I often work with at least two 11"-12" pans going at once (bottom measurement). I get things started in the front, then move them to a continue on back burner and start working on something else. On the other hand, I rarely need high heat on more than one pan at a time, so if big pots are ok on small hobs, it might not be an issue so long as the heating is even.

I'm not usually the type of person to second guess myself, but I've been researching the range-rangetop-cooktop selection for so long that my head is starting to spin.

OT, I have to ask, are you from Brooklyn? You're user name is evoking my childhood.

soibean: "... are you from Brooklyn? You're user name is evoking my childhood."

You must have spent your childhood listening to the Vita Herring advertisements starring The Beloved Herring Maven (voiced by Allan Swift) on William B. Williams' Make Believe Ballroom on WNEW in the mid-1960s. Those ads were the audio version of Leo Rosten's Joys of Yiddish. No, I am not from Brooklyn, but my parents moved to Manhattan when I was in college, and I heard WNEW when I came home during breaks.

Soibean said: "so if big pots are ok on small hobs, it might not be an issue so long as the heating is even."

Are you feeling that maybe you are starting to overthink this? The evenness of heat will be almost entirely a functon of the construction and design of the pan. It may bear saying that putting a big pan over a small induction burner is no different than putting that big pan over a samll gas or electric simmer burner. If it heats evenly on one, it will heat evenly on the other.

Induction gives you faster response and fine control over heat, and sometimes more heat than you might be getting from your previous cooktop, but it does not change the pans.

Ao, as westsider says, you need not hestitate to put a large pan on a small induction hob unless it is a pan you would hestiate to put over a small burner on other stoves, was well.

Zoneless is not a fad, but an added convenience and a step forward in the development of residential induction cooktops. Electrolux produces ALL their commercial induction units as zoneless. Unfortunately they list for $20k. Cooktek(US) lists for $11k. Electrolux produces AEG residential units in zoned and zoneless with a wide product range available in Europe,etc- not yet here in the US. De Dietrich produces zoneless units for Gagg and Thermador as well as under their name in Europe. Whirlpool does not produce commercial cooking products and they lag far behind in induction developmnet.

The AEG units available in the UK weigh 30lbs and could come back as your extra bag allowance if you're at the Olympics. CE approval includes US 220v/60hz.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cooktek(US) commercial 4 burner range

I agree with SOIBEAN I am constantly moving pots and pans because the burners will only accommodate a certain size and two large pans won't sit side by side or in front or back of each other. I have investigated the Gagg and Thermador anywhere induction cook tops. The rough quote I received in the Seattle area was $5,059 for Therm full surface and $5,499 for the Gagg. I liked the Gagg for the simple fact that it could be flush mounted vs the Therm which stuck up a good 1/8 inch ( rough guestimate) That being said I have since discovered that AEG makes a 30" (I think) that I am trying to get more info on. I like the idea of a 30" over a 36" but the anywhere thing is really drawing me in. If anyone out there knows of an AEG dealer in the US I would love to hear about it.

WhiskyWoman, look for the recent thread about the Thermador Freedom zoneless induction cooktop for detailed "hands-on" information.

WhiskyWoman: In 2011, I looked into the AEG 36" zoneless. Morgne, who I never see here anymore, had two of them. You can get them sent here from Canada if you don't live close enough to go there yourself. Since the electrical systems in Canada are the same as below the border, it's no problem to install them down here. In the end, I didn't have room for 36", only 30", so I couldn't have one. Wish I did!

I just read the manual for the 36" AEG HK953400FB.

The AEG has three separate zones side by side; you can place a single pan anywhere within each of those zones, or span two zones with a single pan. In other words, the AEG can only handle three pans at a time, which I think few people would find adequate (no wonder Morgne needed two of them).

You do not have complete freedom of pan placement with the AEG - each pan must cover the central cross in a zone.

Two of the AEG's zones are paired, which further limits what you can do with it. The maximum power in each zone is 2.3kW, with a short-term boost to 3.2kW; that is rather low.

When I started to look for induction - I looked at the salesman and said - why not have the whole surface induction and place the pans anywhere. He said - never.
I bought my appliances at another location (not because of his comment) and just about the time I ordered my Wolf - Gag was talking about coming out with the zoneless in Europe - as noted - for a pretty penny.
Of course - if I had come out with the idea..... maybe I could get at least some royalties on the idea - LOL

I cooked a couple weeks ago on a friend's high end gas (it was propane) and forgot about the heat around the edges of the pan and how long it took to boil water compared to my induction.

Since this thread got revived, thought I'd mention that I got a 36" Thermador induction cooktop (not the zoneless one). I've been using it for a few weeks and so far, I love it. Boiling is super fast and the clean-up is a breeze. I love the timer feature, too. Still getting used to the heat adjustments without the visual cue I'm used to with gas and also adjusting to choosing hobs by size rather than location. Overall, though, I'm really glad I chose induction.

My existing Monogram downdraft installed in my kitchen island many years ago has been underwhelming since day one. My biggest problem was the need to use only three of the five burners on my gas cook top which were located closest to the downdraft if I had any hope of venting the smoke and cooking fumes. That basically meant the two largest burners on my Monogram cook top were under utilized because they were located too far from the downdraft to have any real effects on venting issues. I have long sought a practical solution to substantially upgrade the performance of my cook top and downdraft without having to replace the granite counter tops or the island. The zoneless induction cook top in theory appeared to offer exactly what I wanted, but I was absolutely determined to take a first hand test drive before making the kind of commitment required to retro fit my kitchen island with a zoneless induction cook top and a superior performing downdraft.

Last week Purcell Murray who is the master distributor in California for both Thermador and Gaggenau allowed my wife and I to actually use two of their zoneless induction cook tops. I actually had to literally drag my wife to this test drive because she had always been among the strongest advocates of cooking with gas as they come. The two products we specifically tested were the Thermador Freedom induction cook top model CIT36XKB working in conjunction with Thermador's UCVM36FS 36 inch downdraft and the Gaggenau CX491-610 at Purcell Murray’s northern California showroom located in Brisbane. The technological advancements in these two zoneless induction cook tops compared to gas cooking were eye opening and both the Thermador and Gaggenau cook tops performed as advertised. I also saw the advancements in Thermador’s current downdraft along with their various blower and duct size options to understand why it would perform substantially better than my current Monogram downdraft. Not paying enough attention to the details regarding venting options can severely undermine the value of your investment.

The biggest difference maker for me was the Thermador Freedom induction cook top’s stainless steel frame was about an inch wider than the Gaggenau CX491-610’s stainless steel border. That minor design difference especially in the front to back measurement meant I could not physically fit both the Thermador CIT36XKB and their 36 inch UCVM36FS downdraft inside the existing interior space of my island but the Gaggenau CX491-610 and Thermador downdraft could. Fortunately after spending time using both cook tops, my wife had fallen in love with the Gaggenau induction cook top. For someone who was literally dragged into testing these induction cook tops, my wife could not resist the numerous advantages over cooking with gas the Gaggenau CX491-610 could provide her. The only question my wife asks now is when will her new Gaggenau induction cook top actually be installed.

This post was edited by larry17 on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 1:51