Hobs: ceramic vs induction cooktops, practical considerations and experience (plus which stove mode/brand)

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Hobs: ceramic vs induction cooktops, practical considerations and experience (plus which stove mode/brand)

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#1185961 30-Nov-2014 21:44

larknz: Just remember that your stainless steel, aluminium and copper based pots wont work on an induction cook top. They all need to be steel.

Well, they just need to have an element of iron in them, lots of pots are those types but have a piece of iron in the base in a layer which is lucky enough.

But yea if you have in your kitchen lots of cheapo thin bottom pans, you're likely going to have to upgrade (but it will be worth it anyway as they will be much nicer to cook with)

kiwigander

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#1185965 30-Nov-2014 21:56

The OP has probably had his fill of people recommending going with a gas hob and an LPG bottle but I must confess I'm in that camp. We've not had mains gas supply for >15 years, but neither SWMBO nor I would voluntarily go back to an electric cooktop.

Having had to deal with what is provided in a lot of temporary accommodation, though, and having had experience with electric cooktops in the past, I reckon that old fashioned coil burners are far superior to ceramic tops for cooking. The slow heating and slower cooling of the ceramic top are just infuriating, and despite several months working with one (F&P, in an apartment we occupy half-time) we simply cannot master it.

Cleaning will, I concede, be easier on a ceramic cooktop than with coil burners.

You have stated that your cookware is all induction-compatible. What about your electrical supply? You will likely need a dedicated high-amperage circuit for an induction hob. Add the cost of the sparkie to your calculations.

Has anyone surveyed the longevity of induction hobs? (I must chuckle at one of the earlier commenters' complaint along the lines of "they don't make them like they used to". The shortest lived kitchen range I've ever encountered was my parents' original range - installed in their new house in 1952 and went up in flames due to an internal electrical fault in 1961.)

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#1185997 1-Dec-2014 00:03

timmmay: Seems like everyone has a different opinion, and no two people's opinion match up. People coming from gas aren't helpful as everyone knows gas is the most responsive - people who went to ceramic from very old style rings would be good to hear from.

joker97: Induction. More control. Ceramic takes an age to heat and once you turn it off it burns Your Pan for another half an hour. Hopeless.

Yes I know induction is better, but is it twice the price better when you're trying to save money? Originally I was going to get a $1000 stove. What you've described sounds much like my current stove, you get used to it.

Dingbatt: We went from a ceramic topped range to a induction hob when we renovated or kitchen this year.
The ease of cleaning is identical between the two with the exception of cleaning up boil over. Because the induction hob's glass is only heated by conduction from the pot it doesn't get as hot as the ceramic for the same cooking temperature. There is also much less lag in initial heat up and in changes in temperature with the induction.
The induction hob we got was a modest Samsung unit. It has power boost options to provide more inductive current to individual elements by robbing power from the neighbouring element. It also has 'boil dry' and 'no pot' sensing. In both cases it will turn the element off. So I consider it to be safer than ceramic for the absent minded cook.
I would be interested to see what the range you are looking at requires for a power supply, because our hob alone required a 30 amp supply. Then the oven a 15 amp one on top of that.
I can't really comment on brands because we haven't got a free standing range but I can recommend induction over ceramic if you can afford it. While you are at it, check out ovens with a pyrolitic cleaning function. As the one who generally cleans the oven in our house, I can definitely recommend it.

Really useful, thanks :) Power supply will be fine. Change in temperature is no problem, we're used to a 20 year old model and anything modern should be better.

The model we're looking at is self cleaning but not sure it's pyrolitic. That comes with the induction model in this brand. I'd like the Bosch induction with the pyro, but it's 2.5X more expensive than the Beko which looks fine.

i have had all of them.

gas > induction > old style rings >>>>>>> ceramic

but i like cooking. my fav shows include masterchef. (umm and ice road truckers)

maybe ask someone else

timmmay

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#1186011 1-Dec-2014 06:20

joker97: i have had all of them.

gas > induction > old style rings >>>>>>> ceramic

but i like cooking. my fav shows include masterchef. (umm and ice road truckers)

maybe ask someone else

Why that rating? What's so bad about it?

andrewNZ

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#1186014 1-Dec-2014 06:47

I'm no fan of ceramic either. I'd happily go back to electric rings today.

Ceramic hobs have safety thermostats in them to prevent then overheating. What this means in reality is its hard to maintain a very high heat because the element keeps turning off.

It makes cooking things like steak harder.

timmmay

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#1186015 1-Dec-2014 07:26

Thanks Andrew.

I'd like to reframe this discussion slightly. I don't care about gas, and I only care about induction if ceramic won't get the job done because we don't really want to buy a $3000 stove for a house we may not be in for very long. I'm really interested in practical experience.

My only question now is given we're happy enough with our very old coil style elements, and given we cook things hot and quickly, will we likely be happy with a ceramic stove top? My wife has used them and likes them fine (she's not a chef), my father in law who owned and ran a kitchen business for 20 years and likes to cook has one and likes it, I just haven't used one personally in years and have never owned one.

Beko has a $900 stove that has solid rings that would do the job, this one. It's pretty cheap and ugly looking, but if it's the best tool for the job we'd be ok with going with that one.

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#1186016 1-Dec-2014 07:30

We used Gas for along time, just on a year ago we replaced our cooker with a freestanding electric with induction hob. Will never go back to gas. Induction cooking is fantastic.

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timmmay

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#1186024 1-Dec-2014 07:47

Thanks Kiwi. I know induction is great, I'd really like to find out of ceramic is "good enough".

edge

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#1186085 1-Dec-2014 09:09

Simply put, I would say that ceramic is indeed "good enough" by the sound of your situation!! Put one in 15 years ago with kitchen upgrade and have no complaints. I have no problem cooking steak on high heat (and we do cook a lot of meat, still getting our own cattle killed for the freezer!). I think you said that all your pans are compatible, but that is an issue for us - have lots of high quality copper bottom pans (not cheapies!) and, more importantly, our fantastic Scanpan Classic and Professional range frypans are not compatible with induction hobs (and I would be very loathe to get rid of them we love them to bits). Disclaimer - have seen induction hobs in action at friends' place but have not used them. Just my two cents worth in response to your direct question.

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itxtme

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#1186092 1-Dec-2014 09:17

Hi Timmmay,

Just a warning on the cheaper models of freerange ovens. We bought a stainless steel Baumatic very similar to the one you are looking at with solid plate rings. It works fine, oven is great but the time to heat up on the coils is crazy. You would be talking over 5 minutes for the coil to get to its hottest temperature, and then it keeps the heat for a good 15-20mins. I am now used to the slowness, however next time I buy an oven I will be asking about heat up times etc.

timmmay

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#1186099 1-Dec-2014 09:26

edge: Simply put, I would say that ceramic is indeed "good enough" by the sound of your situation!! Put one in 15 years ago with kitchen upgrade and have no complaints. I have no problem cooking steak on high heat (and we do cook a lot of meat, still getting our own cattle killed for the freezer!). I think you said that all your pans are compatible, but that is an issue for us - have lots of high quality copper bottom pans (not cheapies!) and, more importantly, our fantastic Scanpan Classic and Professional range frypans are not compatible with induction hobs (and I would be very loathe to get rid of them we love them to bits). Disclaimer - have seen induction hobs in action at friends' place but have not used them. Just my two cents worth in response to your direct question.

Thanks, "good enough" is exactly what I want to know. I do cook a fair bit, but I'm not a chef or particularly fussy. I just want a hot pan! A friend says her ceramic hob doesn't get hot enough to sear meat properly.

itxtme: Just a warning on the cheaper models of freerange ovens. We bought a stainless steel Baumatic very similar to the one you are looking at with solid plate rings. It works fine, oven is great but the time to heat up on the coils is crazy. You would be talking over 5 minutes for the coil to get to its hottest temperature, and then it keeps the heat for a good 15-20mins. I am now used to the slowness, however next time I buy an oven I will be asking about heat up times etc.

Good to know, thanks. 5 minutes sounds fine as a heat up time to me, my current hob is probably slower than that.

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#1186105 1-Dec-2014 09:35

ceramic is good enough for your purposes.

it takes longer to heat up that coil. it is not as hot as coil. it's MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to clean than coil.

so for your purposes go ceramic it is fine and it looks good for when you sell it.

apologies for not reading the entire context.

why i rate what i rated? heat control that's all. you can tell i'm a control freak :D

edge

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#1186106 1-Dec-2014 09:35

timmmay:

Thanks, "good enough" is exactly what I want to know. I do cook a fair bit, but I'm not a chef or particularly fussy. I just want a hot pan! A friend says her ceramic hob doesn't get hot enough to sear meat properly.

It may well be that different tops perform differently. Ours is a Fisher and Paykel from 1999. I put the frypan on the "double" ring element and crank it onto high for at least a couple of minutes (do a sizzle test with a little bit of fat!), then sprinkle the salt in and chuck the steak on. If others' experiences are different, then I guess it means that there is indeed variability between makes/models - doesn't make your job any easier!! Best of luck

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."
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dolsen

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#1186121 1-Dec-2014 09:48

timmmay: Thanks Andrew.

My only question now is given we're happy enough with our very old coil style elements, and given we cook things hot and quickly, will we likely be happy with a ceramic stove top? My wife has used them and likes them fine (she's not a chef), my father in law who owned and ran a kitchen business for 20 years and likes to cook has one and likes it, I just haven't used one personally in years and have never owned one.

I can't talk for you however, for me, probably not.
I've had ceramic / coil rings and gas. Gas is obviously the winner (including lpg bottles to get around the line charges) but you're not interested in that. Ceramic I've found that if your pots aren't perfectly flat you don't get good transfer of heat to the food and it takes ages to cook with. Easier to keep clean, however, they have always ended up looking a bit rubbish after a while.
From what I've seen at my sisters, Induction beats gas. Given that you are unwilling to go for gas, I would recommend that you go for induction if you value your cooking experience.

As has been raised earlier, you may need to upgrade your power supply for Induction to work correctly which may increase the cost out of budget. For instance, the CI905DTB2 from Fisher and Paykel asks for 43A and requires a 3 phase connection! That's probably way above what you are looking at but what I'm saying is just the cost of the hobs is not the full cost, make sure you include the requirements for installation in your costings.

6FIEND

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#1186190 1-Dec-2014 10:23

I'm also looking at induction cooktops...

I realise that this may not be directly helpful to the OP, but I am surprised by the stated $1600 price differential. I was looking at a Bosch induction hob at Kitchen Things that was $1699 total! (admittedly, that was on sale - and not a stand alone oven...)

Nevertheless, I would consider that to be reason enough to reconsider the "deals" that you're looking at! The difference in cost between the two types shouldn't be anywhere near that great...

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