I bought an inexpensive induction burner. I love it!!! Easy to clean. Fast adjustable....That said I do not have a proper kitchen so it added a lot to my ability to cook.

I use whatever pans work on it - a mish mash of cast iron, LC and stainless. Even a LC dutch oven with an odd rim around the base works. The only issue I have is my big stock pot is too large and sometimes I get an error. For that reason I haven't attempted my huge yardsale CI dutch oven.

I have an induction cooktop. Induction needs the magnetic field to work properly. I had to get rid of all my cookware, except for my cast iron because none of it would hold a magnet.

I got a new set on Overstock. It's beautiful and cooks wonderfully! I use my cast iron as much as my new set. I had to buy a new tea kettle, too.

I gifted all my old stuff to my daughter in law and granddaughters. They cook with gas. We can't do that living up on this hill. There is no gas line, and it's against code to cook with propane inside. Bad fumes.

Get a small magnet and make sure any pan you buy will hold that magnet.

Keep the induction, you'll love it. It only works on pots that are magnetizable...most likely your stainless steel won't work. Instead, get a magnet...maybe a refrigerator magnet and see if it sticks to the bottom of your pot...if it does, it will work. If not, it won't. Cast iron works really well, but so do other pots and pans that are designed to be induction usable.

I think you'll find you love the instant control, the ability to hold a temp the quick boil and the low holding temps.

Hmmmm.....maybe this week I'll take my trusty magnet to the thrift stores and see what I can find. (We have a "thrift store mall" in our town -- about 5 thrift stores in the same shopping center along with 3 or 4 consignment and upscale used stores. It's a great place if you're trying to find something that isn't expensive.)

Donna

You'll find that there is a lot of reasonably priced induction capable stuff out there. We got my MIL an 18 piece set of Wolfgang Puck stainless, induction ready, for $99 at Sam's.

Most Tramontina stainless (available at Walmart) is induction ready, as are Fagor and Kuhn Rikon pressure cookers.

I have used the Fagor PC set at the link on an induction burner, and it works great; with that setup you could cook all sorts of stuff. The pans work fine as regular pans; you don't HAVE to use them as pressure cookers.

Here is a link that might be useful: fagor PC set

I have the Fagor PC set in the link with two pans, two lids, and a steamer basket. It is the only pan I use on the induction burner, although I assume my cast iron pans would work also - I just prefer to use them with gas.

I doubt you will find a decent PC at a thrift store, but you can always try. Fagor sells replacement gaskets, and so if you find one of those, it will be easy to get replacement parts. I got a replacement handle after my lid fell from the high rack where I had it stored. I don't store it there any more. As it turned out, I didn't need the replacement handle - I just needed to remove and reinstall the old handle.

Lars

"-----maybe this week I'll take my trusty magnet to the thrift stores and see what I can find. ---"

Be very careful! Do not have your magnet to be anywhere near your credit cards or other ID security cards or prepaid train/bus cards.

You know what can happen.

dcarch

Thanks for the reminder about the magnet and credit cards, dcarch. I kept it separate!

I was at Wal-Mart on Thursday. I had to use one of their magnetic clips, only to find that NOTHING they sold had a magnetic bottom. Our Wal-Mart is being upgraded to a Super Wal-Mart (we must have had one of the few Wal-Marts in the US without a big grocery dept), so we are missing a lot of things. The choice in the pots and pans dept was slim-to-even-slimmer.

Checked out the thrift stores today.....nada. There may have been one or two likely's, but they weren't in very nice condition so even if they'd been induction ready, I'd have passed.

Off we went to Tar-jay. PAY DIRT! They had THREE fry pans and THREE saucepans that would serve the bill. I can't remember two of the brands, except that one had a name that began with a G. The third was T-Fal, and the wrapper specifically said INDUCTION SAFE. The other two had magnetic bottoms, but nothing was said on the packaging about Induction. We bought the T-Fal. Since I am familiar with T-Fal, I was comfortable with it.

T-Fal had replied and said that the Ingenio (that I have for our former RV) is not induction safe or ready. They said that some of their cookware is induction ready, but not all of it is. Another good reason to buy their cookware: they were kind enough to respond to my query by email. That's good customer service!

Now to learn to cook with it before we leave on any summer trip. I look for the induction burner, fry pan and saucepan to replace the electric fry pan we carried on our 2012 summer trip. I'm thinking that cleaning the fry pan or sauce pan in a motel room will be a whole lot easier than cleaning a non-immersable electric fry pan!

Donna