So, what is the big deal about induction cooking? What exactly do you get from induction cooking that you get from traditional cooking involving an electrical disc that is heated at a high temperature or an open flame? Well, it turns out that induction cooking actually solves a lot of the historical problems of flame-based or electric-based cooking.
Here are just some of the benefits. This is, by no means, a comprehensive list. This is not an exhaustive list. There are many other benefits that come to mind, but these are the most reported benefits of induction cooking. These are the benefits most people notice when comparing this type of heat source or heat-generating cooking technology compared with traditional methods.
Efficient Heat Focus
Did you know that the typical electric burner as well as gas range wastes half of the energy they produce? Seriously. Half the heat produced by those ranges is wasted in the surrounding areas, or they do not go to where they need to go.
Make no mistake about it, induction cooking is extremely efficient as far as heat is concerned because all heat is generated in the pan itself. That is right. The pan containing the food that you are trying to cook is heated up, not the surface beneath it. There is no heat overflow; there is no ambient heat. All the heat is highly targeted and spread out within the bottom and sides of the pan.
Efficient Energy
Since all the heat of induction cooking is focused, there is no wasted energy. It does not take more electrical energy to heat up. It just creates a magnetic field and stops the moment you take the metal cookware off the conduction range top.
Faster Heating
Due to the concentrated focus of the magnetic energy created and the heat-causing resistance of the metal cookware, you are guaranteed faster heat times. You do not have to wait around for your food to heat up. Additionally, you can boil water at a much faster rate than traditional ranges. This is all due to the magnetic technology involved that produces the heat, and it also derives from the concentrated focus of that heat.
Faster Turnover
If you are in a restaurant, and you have a lot of dishes that you have to go through; induction cooking is the way to go. You only need to invest on an induction cooktop that supports several pots and pans at once, and you can quickly rotate the different cookware for maximum turnover. This is great for cooking multiple dishes for home. It is also a must for certain types of restaurants. You save a lot of energy, and you generate a tremendous amount of heat in no time at all.
Faster turnover is very important to certain types of cooking methods. For example, stir frying can benefit tremendously from the fast turnover made possible by induction heating’s high temperature levels. This is crucial if you’re cooking fried rice, for example, at a high volume restaurant. Using a non-stick surface induction wok-style pan, you can cook a huge amount of fried rice and go from batch to batch without skipping a beat. The best part to all this is you don’t have to worry about wasting energy. Compared to induction cooking a huge chunk (up to 50%!) of traditional cooking technologies like gas-based flames’ energy is simply wasted. It doesn’t heat the right area. It has spill over heat. Not surprisingly, you would need to keep the flame burning for a longer time just to compensate for all the heat energy lost by this highly inefficient method. Of course, you have to pay for the extra energy wasted.
Safety
Since there is no open flame involved, induction cooking does not expose you to threats to your safety like an open fire or an exposed heated coil. There are also no gas fumes to worry about. You do not have to worry about a leak in your LPG tank or gas line that can accumulate in an enclosed space. You probably already know all sorts of horror stories that involved somebody lighting a flame in an area where explosive gases coming from range tops have accumulated. There is no need to worry about that situation here because there is no gas involved. No materials actually can catch fire with induction cooking.
Easier to Clean
This is my favorite feature to induction cooktops. You only need a wet rag dipped in some soap, and you only need to make sure that the cooktop surface is completely cold. You just wipe away. You swipe left to right, and you wipe down, dip the rag into some water, squeeze it, and then wipe down again, and you are done. You can clean up in no time flat. Furthermore, there are all sorts of solvents that you can use so if there is anything that gets stuck on the surface. Due to the flat surface, everything is easy to get to and you can quickly wipe down whatever spills have dried up.
Cheaper Overall
While we are not necessarily talking about a cheap tabletop or a cheap cooktop, induction cooking ranges are more economical throughout the life of the appliance. Since they require less energy due to their higher and more intense heat focus, you burn up less electricity, and this can have a tremendously positive impact on your monthly electric bills. In addition, there is a standby mode for most models. This means that there is no wasted energy once the pot or pan is taken off the range top.
Compare this with the typical gas range. The gas still produces a flame even if though you have taken the pot or pan off the range top. It does not even compare.
So, do yourself a big favor and take a long hard look at induction cooking and induction cookware. You would be surprised as to how much money, time, effort and clean-up labor you save. Would you not be better off spending all that time you save doing other things?
