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Well, on that subject, the one of "They knew it was hot but they did not know how hot it was!", do we trust what the powers that be say about the new cooking method, of magnetic fields, being of no harm to us?
In terms of use for cooking, it's been around for a while. It just hasn't been very popular in the US though it's been fairly popular in parts of East Asia for several decades now and parts of Europe for about a decade or two. My parents are from Taiwan and they've been using induction for a long time and when I visit family it's pretty often the case that they have induction cookers. It's really nuts because you see people put things like thin silicone mats and newspapers between the cookware and the cooktop as it's even easier to clean that way than the already easy wiping. Taiwan and Japan both have longer average lifespans than the US, and while I'm not going to attribute that to induction cooktops, I'd say that that's pretty good evidence of at the very least of it not doing any particular notable harm. The other thing to realize is that there's a lot of induction going on every day that's not from induction cooktops. You got electricity, wiring, transformers, etc. in or around your home, business, vehicle, and the like? You've got magnetic fields. The earth even has a pretty significant magnetic field which probably plays a large part in why life has flourished here.
Anyhow, faster and more efficient than gas, heats up what you're cooking quickly without heating up the kitchen instead, easy to use parts of it as counter space for your mise-en-place where you're not cooking given that it's nice and flat, and extremely easy and quick to clean are the reasons to get one. It's been great and I was pretty annoyed when I first moved to NYC and living in rentals that they were one gas range after another and hope we never have to go back to such. In those times, we even got and still have a portable induction cooker which has also been fantastic for hot pots and nabe and other tableside cooking stuff.
Apparently induction cooking was introduced in 1933. I imagine that if there were any negative effects, we would know about it. I think cruise ships have been using induction for a while, as they are unable to cook anything with an open flame for safety reasons.
Okay, that's a good point......now let's consider another point.
How much do you trust the American consumer industry not to take an unsafe short cut and not tell us about it?
I’m quite happy and will stick with my gas stove.
Same here. There's still the fact that if/when the electricity goes out, there's no induction cooking, no matter how great it is. Meanwhile, my 1953 gas stove keeps plugging right along.
The portable induction hob I ordered to test while considering the options for replacing my current stove arrived a few days ago, and I've been cooking on it exclusively since then. Here are my observations:
* The responsiveness is amazing! Boiling enough water to fill my teapot takes maybe 90 seconds.
* It's super easy to clean. No burned on messes.
* I love being able to maintain an exact temperature in my pan. I've always overcooked omelets, but no more.
* Works with all of my cookware.
* The noise from the fan is the same as that in my range hood, and I don't find it bothersome.
* The kitchen stays cool no matter what I'm cooking.
* I no longer have to worry about someone leaving the hob on because it turns off automatically after a minute once the cookware is removed.
* I can lift the pan off the hob without it turning off immediately, which was apparently a problem with older induction units, so no worries about using a chef flip.
* There was an occasional high-pitched whine when I used my All-Clad skillet, but it stopped when I adjusted the skillet's placement on the hob. The issue was limited to the skillet and did not occur with any of my other cookware.
I've decided to go ahead with an induction/convection range and am excited to finally be rid of my troublesome, old, radiant stovetop. My one frustration is that induction ranges seem only to come in stainless steel, which I don't like, but I'll live with it because induction cooking is awesome.
Edit: I'm not particularly worried about the safety of induction, although I would consult my doctor if I had an implanted medical device that might be affected. Fortunately, I don't, so full steam ahead!
As for the power outage issue, I'm not able to cook in my kitchen now when the power goes out because my current range is electric, and my solar array is grid-connected.
Okay, that's a good point......now let's consider another point.
How much do you trust the American consumer industry not to take an unsafe short cut and not tell us about it?
I'd be more worried about the American consumer industry making an unsafe short cut with natural gas appliances as natural gas and the pipeline the equipment would supposedly be connected to has a lot more potential for a lot more damage as relative to that, an induction cooktop with a coil producing an oscillating magnetic field simply can't emit that much energy that quickly.
I'm not worried about either enough to not have a cooktop in my home. Of the two though, induction has some really notable advantages and I vastly prefer it. I think the worst is actually electric coil resistance burners which I've seen in the past which are these exposed coils that just get really hot. Those are by far the worst of all the cooktops I've worked with and I'd take gas over that as those are slow to heat, extremely slow to cool once you turn them off, and are also a mess to clean. Induction is world's better than those and gas. I'm pretty surprised about how little people know about them, because they are so clearly better.
Much of our electricity is created using fossil fuels anyway so something being electrical doesn't impress me as being more green.
I have gas heat, a gas stove, a gas fire place and a gas fire pit and I love all of them.
No need to replace any of it. When I do replace something, I'll look closely at all my options.
When I was in grade school (1957ish) our teacher brought a small 'solar engine' to class. It was about the size of a snow globe and would whirl like crazy when set in direct sunlight. She said "by the time you are adults solar powered generators will provide your electricity. Yeah, right.
About the same time we took a class trip to hydroelectric generating plant at the dam on Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma and the tour guide said "hydroelectric plants will generate enough electricity for the needs of Oklahoma. Yeah, right.
I will believe it when I see it regarding wind power, solar power, ocean current power or any other 'green' source of electricity providing a majority of our electricity.
When I was in grade school (1957ish) our teacher brought a small 'solar engine' to class. It was about the size of a snow globe and would whirl like crazy when set in direct sunlight. She said "by the time you are adults solar powered generators will provide your electricity. Yeah, right.
About the same time we took a class trip to hydroelectric generating plant at the dam on Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma and the tour guide said "hydroelectric plants will generate enough electricity for the needs of Oklahoma. Yeah, right.
I will believe it when I see it regarding wind power, solar power, ocean current power or any other 'green' source of electricity providing a majority of our electricity.
Nothing will ever be able to provide enough electricity to free us from reliance on fossil fuels except nuclear fusion. And so far, we haven't been able to figure that one out.
I'd be more worried about the American consumer industry making an unsafe short cut with natural gas appliances as natural gas and the pipeline the equipment would supposedly be connected to has a lot more potential for a lot more damage as relative to that, an induction cooktop with a coil producing an oscillating magnetic field simply can't emit that much energy that quickly.
I'm not worried about either enough to not have a cooktop in my home. Of the two though, induction has some really notable advantages and I vastly prefer it. I think the worst is actually electric coil resistance burners which I've seen in the past which are these exposed coils that just get really hot. Those are by far the worst of all the cooktops I've worked with and I'd take gas over that as those are slow to heat, extremely slow to cool once you turn them off, and are also a mess to clean. Induction is world's better than those and gas. I'm pretty surprised about how little people know about them, because they are so clearly better.
Well, look at it this way, at least with gas, the damage is likely to be known a lot sooner. With induction, say, it may be years before it becomes apparent and by then, the culprits are nowhere to be found.
Anyhow, as said by others, it's great as long as you have electric power. When you don't, we-ll..........
And for those who say, "Well, power rarely goes out around here and when it does, it is not off for long.". Rather reminds me of the Soviet wife and mother telling her mother about no need to store food. "Mom, the Soviet economy has been steady for decades." ...........
Nothing will ever be able to provide enough electricity to free us from reliance on fossil fuels except nuclear fusion. And so far, we haven't been able to figure that one out.
More birth control would work as well. Fewer people, less demand.
More birth control would work as well. Fewer people, less demand.
We already have less demand for some types of power as many modern appliances are far more efficient than their older counterparts. The last place I lived had one of the main coal plants shut down because there was no longer a demand for it. I think that is primarily because people were given incentives to upgrade their AC units to more efficient types. In an area where everyone uses AC 9-10 months of the year, a higher SEER rating can make a huge difference.
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