Induction Cooktops by Diva de Provence

When Andrew and I took our cruise last October I attended a cooking demonstration where the chef had a portable induction cooktop. We're now remodeling our sadly distressed kitchen and in the process I've discovered more information on induction and the more I know the more excited I get. It is seriously the biggest thing to come into the kitchen since electricity.

Induction cooktops look like regular smooth-top appliances but they have copper coated iron coils that create a circulating electromagnetic force when electricity is sent through them. The current flows through the coils and then flows through any ferrous (iron) metal cookware sitting on the glass surface. Instead of the coils themselves generating heat the way an electric stove might do, the magnetic current of the coils causes the molecules of the pan to rub together and friction heats the pan--only the pan and nothing else.

What does this mean? Wow! It means all sorts of things: First, it's terribly efficient. Induction cooktops take more AMPs to power (anywhere from 35-60 AMPs, depending on the brand and size) but energy isn't lost the way it is in an open flame or a heated metal coil. Instead of heating the air around you, you're only heating the pan. Less energy used, lower air temperatures in the kitchen, less ventilation requirements, lower electric bills, a happier environment for everyone.

Next, it is amazingly fast. Fine Cooking magazine reports induction can boil water nearly twice as fast as electric or gas, which is gonna cut the wait time for my macaroni and cheese in half, and the heat is nearly instantaneous--faster than even gas. As soon as the power is on the pan heats, as soon as the pan is removed from the induction zone (it can't be called a "burner" any more) the heating process stops and the pan instantly starts to cool. Automatic shut off features ensure that even if you remove a pan and forget to turn off the power, after a certain period of time the power will shut off automatically.

Safety? We have an island with a cooktop in the center and the kids will sit at the counter near the burners and watch me cook. With induction there is no danger of them burning themselves as the cooking surface doesn't heat--only the pan heats. You can put a piece of newspaper between the pan and the glass cooktop surface on the highest heat setting and never scorch the paper. If you take the pan away and immediately touch the cooktop surface it wouldn't be hot enough to burn you. Of course the pan may still be hot, so be careful if you feel like touching that.

Plus, induction temperatures only go to about 482 Fahrenheit so you can't burn out an empty pan or get a flash fire from grease. Many models have safety features that sense when a pan is empty and then automatically shut down.

Cleaner? Induction means that if I boil a pot over it won't burn onto my stove, leaving a charred nasty mess. If something splatters I can immediately clean it up. The design itself is sleek--with Diva, the brand I favor, there aren't even dials and knobs to get dirty, the touch controls are incorporated into the flat glass surface.

Our local retailer, Allen and Petersen, carries Viking, Diva de Provence, Thermador and Electrolux brands but as far as I've been able to deduce Diva is by far the best. Diva, in white or black and with four or five burners, ranges from $2700-$3600, depending on the size and color (Viking is quite a bit more). This sounds pricey until you figure that high-end professional cooktops are about the same price but are outperformed in every way by the induction cooktops appliances.

As for cookware, you can't use glass, copper or aluminum on induction cooktops. Cast iron and stainless steel--which usually isn't really pure stainless steel but stainless steel wrapped around another ferrous (iron based) metal--are fine to use. If you want to know if you can use a particular pan, grab a kitchen magnet and see if it sticks to the pan. If it sticks, it's good to use, if not you can't. The stronger the attraction the better the cooking surface will be.

I'm sold. I'm getting a Diva.

If you have any questions (and after my research I'm a bit of an expert on this) leave me a question in the comments and I'll answer it there.

Technorati tags: Diva, Viking, Electrolux, cooking, kitchens, remodeling, induction