Induction Cooking

​This was the first major electrification step we took (remember our gas leak?), and I'm extremely happy with this option for our cooking! There are several reasons we switched off gas on our range, and the first really is safety.  With dogs, cats, and kids, it was never out of the realm of possibility that gas would be accidentally activated.  At one point, I came home to a house flooded with gas and had to air it out in the middle of a Minnesota winter.  We had accidental ignition of cardboard, a major gas leak on its line, and a house explosion in our neighborhood.  That was enough for us to make the call earlier than we had originally planned.  

After living with both gas and radiant (standard) electric cooktops, I knew radiant was the inferior choice and didn't even eliminate all the safety concerns we had with gas: have you ever seen burn rings on a cutting board? So, we were committed to something different and switched over to induction.

I personally have had fantastic experiences with GE Appliances. I know my appliance repair center can get parts to their systems, and I have seen their ranges last 30+ years.  Their online system will also let you order most parts yourself!  I wasn't super thrilled on the "smart appliance" features (does your range really need WiFi?), so I don't have that feature activated.  I do also miss the physical knobs.  It looks like the newer models have gone away from the touch-interface controls for burners, so if I ever get a wild idea to upgrade, I know that's an option. 

​How Does It Work?

​Radiant electric cooking works by pushing energy through a coil, similar to an incandescent light bulb.  Induction works by passing current through an electromagnetic field.  The pot or pan are needed to complete the field and create heat.  It's similar to wireless charging, except instead of charging a battery, the field is made to produce heat. What that means is the pan or pot become the burner.  So there is little to no heat loss around the pot, and cooking is efficient and precise.  Since the glass top is a poor transmitter of heat, the top cools quickly and the area around the pot stays cool.

The induction cooktop is wonderful!  With the right cookware, it's quicker and more precise cooking than gas or radiant.  There is a bit of a learning curve: things get hotter faster, so look out for boiling over and start on a cooler temperature than with gas or radiant.  The precision cannot be beat though: I can melt chocolate without a double boiler and maintain the temperature indefinitely.  There is no need to adjust temperatures as the volumes change.  

Maintenance is simple.  The glass top is easy to clean, and unless cookware is the right size and on the right burner, the burner won't activate.  This makes it really easy to keep safe! (Though on the GE, there is a radiant-electric warming zone on the back middle).  Cookware for an induction range has to be magnetic.  Most new cookware is labelled if it will work on induction, but a magnet check is all you really need.  I mostly stick to stainless steel and a little cast iron, and my fancy Le Creuset dutch oven works too.

​Downsides

The biggest downside is making sure cookware is induction-compatible.  So, copper pots need a steel bottom.  There are devices called Induction Interface Disks that can act like the burner-top and sit between a non-magnetic pan and the surface to complete the magnetic field required.  

Induction is not recommended for use by people with emf-programmable or -charged medical devices.  So, check with your surgeon for information specific to your medical device.  Though there is no evidence that the EMF from induction stoves poses any health risk to those without medical devices. Approach anyone trying to sell you an "EMF shield" with skepticism: if this were an issue, there would be evidence from someone not trying to sell you something (like the professionals who work with medical devices!).

Overall, even though we did have to upgrade our cookware, and the cost of entry into an induction cooktop is high, it's been incredibly worth it for our family.  After working with all three options from radiant electric, to gas, to induction, this has definitely become my preference.  There is no gas to risk leaks or methane emissions, lower risk of burns or fires, and incredibly even cooking.  It's an incredible technology that I am excited to use at home.