I make tapioca in the crock-pot. Very easy and very little stirring needed.

Ooh, I might actually make some in the crock-pot. I haven't had tapioca pudding in years.

kitchendetective, did you stir it at all? I think that the heat tends to be distrubuted a lot more evenly in the cooking food, so that more heat builds up than appearances indicate.

I love my induction cooktop, but I've only done fairly short simmering custard.

Cast iron pots retain heat, so when you want to lower the temp of a dish, it's more difficult to do so. That was my experience with a beef stew in cast iron using my induction cooktop. That's why I prefer using stainless when cooking low and slow. I do know that many on this forum love their cast iron for long simmers but this is just my experience. I get better control, responsiveness, with stainless, on induction. But I've never even seen a tapioca pearl.

westsider, that makes so much sense. (I was wondering about this.) I've always used stainless for low & slow also, but it was simply personal preference. I love the cast iron skillets on induction.

This makes sense to me. I'm going to try it in a stainless pot. (Not that I need to eat any more tapioca.)

Not all stainless steel work on induction. Most do.

dcarch

I did stir the mixture while the first bubbles were forming, but I did not stir it again after putting on the lid. You know, come to think of it, I do not have an induction compatible stainless pot that is the right size. I use cast iron and copper, except for a couple of stainless pans, but they aren't right for tapioca. May have to borrow one from one of the kids.

BTW the bottom half of that batch of tapioca was wonderful! That was where all the pearls ended up. So, yes, it did need stirring, but the directions I read on a chat said with induction I wouldn't need to stir.

So what the heck is tapioca? Had to go look. I always have some as i use it for my fruit tarts.

"Tapioca is an ancient and versatile starch derived from the root of the cassava or yuca plant. Native to South America and the West Indies. Granulated tapioca makes delicious puddings, and may be used to thicken soups, gravies and pies"

Hm, so i'm not nuts. I must have read some time ago to use for pies so i always have since.

The chocolate pudding recipe on the box sounds good.
3 cups coconut milk
1/4 cup tapioca
salt, tbsp sugar
1/4 cup choc chips
-simmer, stirring often 12-15 min.
-off heat stir in melted chocolate
-top with shredded coconut

And thinking about it a little more,use the staub and try to control the heat by moving the pot off the heat a little. Or shorten the cooking time, as you did.

And thinking about it a little more,use the staub and try to control the heat by moving the pot off the heat a little. Or shorten the cooking time, as you did.

I wonder how a copper pot would work. If I remember right, it distributes the heat very evenly, but doesn't hold the heat like cast iron. You know you need more tapioca! OK, maybe I'm the one who wants some creamy tapioca pudding. :)

Has anyone tried the granulated tapioca for thickening gravy?

The copper is not induction compatible. In the past, I have used conventional, gas flame and a porcelain-lined copper double boiler, stirring all the while. This experiment was supposed to be a test of the "simpler" induction method. I cannot move the Staub pot very much because the compact size of the portable induction hob won't allow for it. That solution might be worth a try on a real induction cook top, though. My induction hob looks like this, but was about one-third the price of the current listing. Sheesh, have they really gotten that much more expensive in the past three years??