The is the kitchen stove with induction "burners" that I'm focused on right now. It's an Electrolux model. I first starting looking for a Bosch stove, but as far as I can tell Bosch doesn't sell cuinisières à induction. Our dishwasher, which sits right next to the stove, is a Bosch.
The Electrolux stove has a three-burner cooktop and an electric self-cleaning convection oven. I just looked for it on the Electrolux UK site and didn't find it. You can see it on the Darty-France site here.
The stove we've been using for the last 7 years has four gas burners and an electric oven. It's been a good stove, but I'm ready to move to induction. To find out how induction worked, a couple of years ago I bought an induction "hot plate" to use for a while. I cook on it on a regular basis, especially when I want to prepare a slow-cooked plat mijoté, and I like it. Induction burners give you the kind of control over the heat that you get with gas. When you turn them on, they get hot really fast, and when you turn them down or off they go cool really fast.
It's true that only certain pots and pans can be used on induction burners. They have to be made of iron or steel, I think. Aluminum won't work. Most of our pots and pans are induction-compatible, and we've been gradually buying new ones in anticipation of changing over from gas to induction. The gas stove has one big advantage actually. When there's a power failure, you can still cook. But we don't have piped-in gas, so we have to buy gas bottles fairly frequently, and we always keep a full one as a spare in case the gas runs out unexpectedly.
I think I might buy a gas hot plate when the get the new stove so that we can use it when the power goes out. (Actually, there's a gas burner on the barbecue grill.)As you can see in the these pictures, you can buy an adapter that will allow you to use pots and pans that are not otherwise compatible with induction. It serves as a kind of second bottom for the incompatible pot or pan. Our old wok is incompatible, but the new one works fine on the induction hot plate.
How is induction different from a glasstop stove, electric? I have one of those and hate it. If anything boils over, it bakes on and can't be gotten off, and I am a messy cooker of rice. Plus, I'd hate to have to give up my pair of nice copper pots.
ReplyDeleteStill, induction seems to be the hot (oh dear, sorry about that) new thing, so there must be lots of advantages.
The first stove we bought when we came to Saint-Aignan all those years ago has what they called a vitro-céramique cooktop. I hated it. The burners didn't get hot enough fast enough, and if I need to boil a big pot of water or soup, it took forever. I haven't had the baked-on spills with my portable induction cooker.
DeleteHere is what I posted yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIf I understood correctly, it seems there are metal adapters that let you use any kind of pan so you don't have to throw away your batterie de cuisine. Again if I understood clearly, if you use adapters your induction is like an electric stove, the adapters serving as heating elements. I might be completely wrong, though!
Maybe Ken can buy such an adapter and see how it works on his portable induction device with aluminum pots?
With all induction, what do you do with a prolonged power failure?
DeleteOn my gas range, I use a square copper adapter to have a more evenly diffused heat.
DeleteSince the electric lines from the main road up to our hamlet were undergrounded in 2010, we have had very few if any prolonged power failures. And as I said, I will order a gas-fueled hot plate if I feel the need. We already have one on the barbecue grill on the front deck.
DeleteIt just ocurred to me that in your new induction range you'll be able to use that set of inox platters I gave you a few years ago, especially the round ones.
ReplyDeleteGood thought. We can also use them on gas burners.
DeleteThis is really helpful. IKEA is selling a two burner induction "hotplate" I may try one to see if it works. I have a portable single burner gas ring, that I have used a few times when the power was out. It uses small like 1 kilo gas bottles (caterers use a lot these on location, or on buffets.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. Off to look at Ikea. That may be the way to tiptoe into the world of induction.
DeleteThat’s funny because we have induction and dream of having gas.
ReplyDeleteGas is good unless you have to buy by the bottle and worry about it running out when you least expect it. Also, gas cooktops are not easy to keep clean. And the bottle takes up a lot of space in the kitchen. Hope you guys are doing well.
DeleteWow, that's exciting news! It's great that you have tried out the concept of induction, already, so you know that you like it, and smart to get a portable gas burner for emergencies. Fun!
ReplyDelete