Induction Ranges - Problems Over Time?

[turtile]

I'm looking to switch my gas range to induction because the house has no venting (long story but it's nearly impossible to move a vent to the outside). Sadly, the current gas range is a letdown for me because it doesn't come close to matching commercial gas burners!

My biggest concern is the frequency of major repairs. Is it possible to fix many of the problems without a company-certified repairman? Do the modern induction tops allow for precise temperature changes? I've only used commercial for induction - I hope home induction isn't as bad as home gas!

Thank you for any help!

 

[Greenman]

Any commercial appliance is going to be far superior to a residential unit.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I have had induction cooktops in two different houses. I would not know about repairs because they never broke. Granted I only used them for 3 years each. Moved from the house with the first one and installed the second one 3 years ago.

The first one had controls that would give a half step. Meaning you could put the heat at 1 and then 1.5 then 2 and then 2. 5........ The one we have now only has controls 1 through 10. I will admit that is not ideal so look for a unit that has the half steps like the first one.

 

[skyking]

Why did you skip over a regular resistance range to induction? My theory is KISS, if it is not broke don't fix it.

 

[mindless1]

I'm looking to switch my gas range to induction because the house has no venting (long story but it's nearly impossible to move a vent to the outside).

This is highly likely to be untrue. If you have walls, you have space to run a duct.

Sadly, the current gas range is a letdown for me because it doesn't come close to matching commercial gas burners!

Can you elaborate what makes you a princess that can't cook on a normal stove that millions of people use? It seems a bit like you are trying to be a snob yet displaying the opposite by not being able to use well, what a significant % of ordinary people do.

My biggest concern is the frequency of major repairs. Is it possible to fix many of the problems without a company-certified repairman?

I have no idea what you're talking about. When they fail, which isn't a daily thing, you just swap a new one in. If you buy a major brand, they will have support for a few years at least and have a replacement available. It has nothing at all to do with a company certified repairman. Where did you even come up with this concept? Do research the brand you seek to buy and whether the repair parts are available.

Do the modern induction tops allow for precise temperature changes? I've only used commercial for induction - I hope home induction isn't as bad as home gas!

Thank you for any help!

Since when did anyone need "precise" temperature changes? You seem to be imagining that you are a good cook but this comes off as mostly OCD by someone who can't cook.

Commercial hardly ever uses induction so I don't know what bubble you live in. Are you just a troll or really this dense?

Induction and gas, there's no "as bad as" type of comparison. Induction just needs vessels with iron in them. You simply suck at cooking, lol.

You should focus on how much you are deficient at that, and stop trying to overthink the rest. A different heat source does not fix bad skills.

 

[mindless1]

Any commercial appliance is going to be far superior to a residential unit.

Only in longevity if talking about cooking for a family instead of a crowd, all day, every day. Most residential gas stoves made back in the day (before ftard economics ruined everything, lol) last over 30 years.

 

[gorobei]

Commercial hardly ever uses induction so I don't know what bubble you live in. Are you just a troll or really this dense?
[.quote]

that's slowly changing. there have been a few tv news pieces on induction in high end restaurants in my area. as well as some very useful videos and articles.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/02/08/chefs-induction-stoves/

(first link for me on a search 'restaurant chefs using induction' in case it is paywalled for direct links.)

the article covers the big ones: equal level of fine control, reduced burn injuries due to not heating area around range top or pot handles, reduced ventilation and hvac cooling costs, less risk of heat postration/dehydration, more efficient in general: 20% for gas, 80% for induction. gas may be cheap but you have to use/waste a lot of it, so the total operational cost evens out and favors induction. the big hurdle is conversion costs. obviously doesnt work for woks but you cant have everything.

one video i saw showed how the heat of the gas going up the sides of a pot made the steam vapor coming off the sauce not visible because the water vapor doesnt hit cooler air directly above the pot. on electric resistance and induction the vapor condenses immediately, they had induction and gas side by side and when the simmering/steaming pot moved over the gas the white vapor disappeared. that sort of thing is a nice visual indicator if you need to keep temp below the rolling boil.

Induction and gas, there's no "as bad as" type of comparison.

residential gas units from the 70's and 80's can be pretty weak depending on area. i remember going to college and having to use a gas range. most rental unit burners haven't been cleaned out for soot buildup for years. if you want to try wok cooking it is nearly impossible unless you buy and install a higher rated burner.

mind you residential induction ranges are usually a small 8" elements, which rarely covers the entire bottom of some skillet/pans so uneven heat transfer occurs. the larger diameter coil elements cost way more.

 

[Greenman]

Only in longevity if talking about cooking for a family instead of a crowd, all day, every day. Most residential gas stoves made back in the day (before ftard economics ruined everything, lol) last over 30 years.

The old gas ranges lasted pretty much forever because they had no electronics and the only moving parts are the valves. I had two clients who installed ranges from the 50's.
All new consumer appliances have a very finite life cycle unless you go to the ultra high end models.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Why did you skip over a regular resistance range to induction? My theory is KISS, if it is not broke don't fix it.

First of all let's make sure we are talking the same thing. I am talking about the cooktop, where you put pots and pans. Our oven is separate from our cooktop, where a range has both built in.

This is my personal opinion and I don't mean to upset anyone, but I have always hated the coil-electric heating elements on a cooktop. It is an inefficient heating way, ugly (IMO) and difficult to clean. I could go on more, but you get the idea.

Edit to answer your question in a more positive light than my previous answer.
I prefer Induction because it is so much easier to clean up. It literally is a black piece of glass that can be cleaned with paper towels and Windex.

The surface of the glass does not get hot. Yes there is some heat from the pan, but it is no where near as hot as an electric cooktop.

The heating is much faster with Induction and the control is finer.

 

[turtile]

I have had induction cooktops in two different houses. I would not know about repairs because they never broke. Granted I only used them for 3 years each. Moved from the house with the first one and installed the second one 3 years ago.

The first one had controls that would give a half step. Meaning you could put the heat at 1 and then 1.5 then 2 and then 2. 5........ The one we have now only has controls 1 through 10. I will admit that is not ideal so look for a unit that has the half steps like the first one.

That sounds good! I've used only a few commercial units with warm and four different temperature settings.

Why did you skip over a regular resistance range to induction? My theory is KISS, if it is not broke don't fix it.

I don't like the way they work. The heat constantly turns on and off, the surface stays hot so the pan has to be physically moved if you don't want it to heat continually, and it's a pain to clean.

residential gas units from the 70's and 80's can be pretty weak depending on area. i remember going to college and having to use a gas range. most rental unit burners haven't been cleaned out for soot buildup for years. if you want to try wok cooking it is nearly impossible unless you buy and install a higher rated burner.

My unit is brand new - and pretty expensive (it came with the house). But because of the design, the same BTU-rated burners take twice as long to boil water than my Iwatani gas portable. I also can't cook anything in a two-serving wok because it instantly loses the heat when I throw anything in it. The Iwatani works fine with the same wok.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The resistive ones are probably the less likely to fail, and if they do, it should be something simple. If induction fails you would want to have general knowledge of power electronics in order to fix it. "just swapping it out" is not exactly a fun thing to do with a major appliance, nor cheap. That said they are still decently simple as far as electronics go, you're basically sending a high frequency high current signal into a coil. The high frequency resonates with metal (the pan) which is what generates heat. So in the case of a failure my guess would be the first thing to go is the mosfets in the H bridge driver. Can probably swap just the mosfets and be up and running again.

I don't imagine these things fail all that often though, major appliances are a huge pita financially and physically to deal with failures so if it was common this is something you'd hear a lot about. Kind of like when a specific model car has a major issue you hear about it on the news.

 

[skyking]

We have a glass top regular double oven range. It does not seem that bad to keep clean and we can use anything we want on it. How does that cast iron lodge pan work on induction?

 

[mindless1]

mind you residential induction ranges are usually a small 8" elements, which rarely covers the entire bottom of some skillet/pans so uneven heat transfer occurs. the larger diameter coil elements cost way more.

This only matters if you are using crappy cookware that doesn't have a heat spreader disc in the bottom, or if you are not used to cooking and think that the highest burner setting is what should be used any time other than getting the cookware up to temperature, then turned down and the resultant heat transfer is acceptable.

 

[mindless1]

residential gas units from the 70's and 80's can be pretty weak depending on area. i remember going to college and having to use a gas range. most rental unit burners haven't been cleaned out for soot buildup for years. if you want to try wok cooking it is nearly impossible unless you buy and install a higher rated burner.

?? So you have a 50 year old burner and can't be bothered to clean it for half a century?

This is not an equipment problem. It's also not a problem for wok cooking because the one virtue of gas is that with a larger vessel, the flame/heat spreads out more around it.

I don't know what you were doing wrong, or possibly it was just a badly clogged burner, but I've never had this kind of problem at all, at worst, a low effectiveness burner, just caused it to take longer to cook the food. At the same time if it's a giant wok with a lot of food, then of course it won't get up to temp to cook well unless there's a cover over it to trap the steam.

On that note, unless you're really into the fried, crispy texture, a cover to trap steam is a far better option and cooking at that lower temperature, produces less carcinogens. It does take a bit longer but I find there are few things that take more than about 10 minutes with ample steam. I mean things usually cooked in a wok, not a thick piece of meat or whatever.

Start the cook with the ingredients that benefit from carmelization from the heat and oil, then once they are carmelized, things that don't benefit (because low sugar in them) can steam with a cover on. Added benefit, less humidity added to the kitchen without having to hear a range hood sucking that away.

 

[gorobei]

This only matters if you are using crappy cookware that doesn't have a heat spreader disc in the bottom, or if you are not used to cooking and think that the highest burner setting is what should be used any time other than getting the cookware up to temperature, then turned down and the resultant heat transfer is acceptable.

there was video showing a large piece of meat being seared. the small induction coil didnt heat the edges of the pan as hot the large coil, and the meat cross section showed it. for a flat steak where you are only flipping once or twice that isnt as big a deal, but a long tenderloin where you are rolling it to get all 4 sides seared means you potentially have the tips not getting an equal amount of heat transfer.

there are differences in heat spreader layers. the stainles steel/aluminum/stainless steel, the ss/alu/copper/alu/ss, the ss/alu/steel/alu/ss types have different characteristics. the alu and steel cores are there to delay and even out heat changes to avoid hot spots. the copper stuff is for people who want to manage the heat themselves and want immediate transfer. someone may want the immediate transfer for a sear, and they wont get an even distribution on a large pan with the small coils. if you are that much of a foodie you are probably going for the large coil and the copper layer, but the amateur considering their first induction range isnt going to dig that far down the rabbit hole.

 

[evident]

there was video showing a large piece of meat being seared. the small induction coil didnt heat the edges of the pan as hot the large coil, and the meat cross section showed it. for a flat steak where you are only flipping once or twice that isnt as big a deal, but a long tenderloin where you are rolling it to get all 4 sides seared means you potentially have the tips not getting an equal amount of heat transfer.

there are differences in heat spreader layers. the stainles steel/aluminum/stainless steel, the ss/alu/copper/alu/ss, the ss/alu/steel/alu/ss types have different characteristics. the alu and steel cores are there to delay and even out heat changes to avoid hot spots. the copper stuff is for people who want to manage the heat themselves and want immediate transfer. someone may want the immediate transfer for a sear, and they wont get an even distribution on a large pan with the small coils. if you are that much of a foodie you are probably going for the large coil and the copper layer, but the amateur considering their first induction range isnt going to dig that far down the rabbit hole.

I'm currently shopping for a 36 induction cooktop, no rush, just sick of cleaning my gas cooktop. One of my main criteria is a a large circumference for each burner. from what i noticed, some manufacturers are better than others with regard to indicating how big the actual burners are.