With the development of technology, the mode of cooking has improved. Earlier people used to use wood and fire, then came the stove, after that came the great invention of gas stoves and finally inductions. The usage of induction has increased worldwide as it is a convenient mode of cooking. Induction heats the cooking utensil with the help of electrical induction. They do not use electrical heating components or thermal conduction. A special type of cooking utensil has to be used when you do the cooking on an induction cooktop. It should be made up of ferromagnetic metal like stainless steel or cast iron. This makes the heat come from within the cooking vessel, which makes the cooking more efficient.

It is always required to ensure that you use a cooking utensil that is appropriate for the induction. Aluminum or copper utensils generally do not work if they do not have additional layers of magnetic components attached to the bottom. You can check the viability of your utensil by checking whether a magnet sticks to the bottom of it.

What is the mechanism used in an induction cooktop?

The induction cooktop has a copper wire coiled under the ceramic plate. When the cooking utensil is placed over the top, electricity is passed through it. The oscillation of the magnetic field persuades a magnetic flux. This produces eddy current in the utensil, which acted like a transformer. The vessel gets heated up by the current that flows through it. The induction is considered as a safe mode of cooking, as there are no naked flames of fire.

The induction can boil a pan of water in almost half the time that it would require when done on the usual gas stove. When you cook on an induction cooktop, the longevity of the cooking utensils increases. The cooking space of the induction is made up of heat-resistant ceramic glass and they are quite tough. The heat from the utensil flows by conduction into the food or water that is been cooked.

Why is induction cooktop is considered better than electric or gas?

The electric and gas cooktops have been ruling the kitchen for a very long time. Both of them are good in their ways. The gas cooktop assures equal heat across the cookware and electric ones are easy to clean. Induction cooktops are a combination of both. You can clean them easily and they also provide heat consistently. There are many other unique benefits of an induction cooktop that are not available in any other mode of cooking.

Benefits of induction cooktops

We have mentioned some of the benefits of induction cooktops below:

• Fast and easy meal preparation– When you are using the induction cooktop, heat gets transferred to the cookware directly instead of the surface of the cooktop. This allows the food to heat up 50% faster than the other cooktops. Whenever there is a time crunch, you would be easily able to make your meal in no time.
• Consistent in performance– The induction cooktops allow you to control the temperature more prominently than electric or gas. When you can control the temperature perfectly, you can deliver consistent results. It reduces the risk of undercooking and overcooking. The constant flow of equal heat makes the food tasty.

• Easy to clean– Induction cooktops are equipped with a smooth surface made up of glass. As the induction burners do not heat the surface of the cooktop, it gets easier to clean after cooking. There are hardly any spillovers and splatters when food is cooked on the induction cooktop, hence it won’t burn the surface.

• It makes for the right fit– Most of the good quality induction cooktop uses auto-sizing pan detection so that the heat is placed rightly wherever it’s mostly required. When the cooktop conveniently adjusts to the size of the cookware, it allows the food to be cooked nicely and equally from all sides. In the whole process, no energy gets wasted.

• Eco-friendly– The electromagnetic cycle of the induction cooktop emits a rapid response once it is switched on. Due to this, the food is cooked even faster than you can imagine. When you can cook quickly with less heat, it uses up less energy and hence lowers the electricity bill.

• It is safe– When you have pets and kids around your kitchen, it is always safe to use the induction cooktop. The induction makes use of the electromagnetic reactions to heat the cookware. Therefore, the burner stays less hot than the other regular burners. When you switch off the induction, both the utensil and the burner cools down rapidly and become safe for kids and pets.

• Less in pollution– Open fire and another combustion cooking type creates much of air pollution inside your home. Gas stoves emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides that are not good for your health. Electric cooking modes also allow some harmful particulates for your home. Induction cooktops are harmless, as they do not give off any kind of pollution.

• Attractive looks– When you have a beautiful kitchen with all the wooden furniture, you would also want to keep such appliances that are stylish and fascinating. The inductions are a flat glass-based object that is capable of making your kitchen modern and attractive. They would surely make up for an awesome conversation starter.

Disadvantages of an Induction cooktop

When you are planning to switch your cooking mode to induction, you should think twice as there are few disadvantages as well.

• It is expensive– Buying an induction cooktop requires a good amount of investment. As induction is the newest and updated technology, you have to spend a hefty amount to buy an induction cooktop. It is much more expensive than the traditional cooktops available.
• Require a special type of cookware– Unlike the traditional cooktops, you cannot cook your food on induction using the normal cooking utensils. It is mandatory to use magnetic cookware or else the induction process wouldn’t work efficiently and your food would remain uncooked. There along with the induction cooktop, you also have to invest in cookware.
• Noise pollution– The gas and electric cooktop do not emit any sound while cooking your food. However, the induction cooktop makes a buzzing sound and the sound gets intense depending on the fan speed. This also happens because of the cookware used to prepare food. Heavy pans made of cast iron tend to produce less noise than the lightweight stainless steel pans
• Pre-cooking work has to be done early– Many of the times, we tend to cut vegetables after we have started cooking something. This happens with the regular cooktops. Induction cooktops are faster in performance, hence wouldn’t give you the extra time to cut your vegetables. This has to be done much before you start to cook
• Dependent on electricity– When you are cooking with gas cooktops, you do not have to depend on the availability of electricity. However, when you use an induction cooktop, it is essential to have a power supply at your place. Gas stoves allow you to work even at the time of power outage, however, induction stove wouldn’t give you the leverage.

Does the Induction cooktop utilize more electricity?

Induction cooktops are more energy-efficient in comparison to the other traditional cooktops. They use the mechanism of electromagnetic induction to generate heat to the cookware and is considered much cheaper than the other cooking methods. With the growing competition, the makers of the induction cooktop are trying to pace up with the demands and trends of the market. That is why most of the induction cooktops are compatible with the standard supply of voltage. You can control the temperature of the induction cooktop and therefore they have been able to reach the highest efficiency in cooking.

An induction cooktop can perform with a moderate amount of electricity and does not consume much of the energy. If you make a calculation, you will get to know how the induction saves much on your annual energy bill. An electricity usage monitor to help you to understand how much electricity is consumed by the induction cooktop. When the food is cooked faster, automatically, less electricity is used. Inductions are power-sensitive, therefore, they cook down as soon as they are switched off. This way they save up on your energy.

The induction cooktops are gaining popularity in the market because it can distribute the heat evenly, speed up the cooking process, and energy-efficient. It comes with good temperature and power control that does not allow the heat to get wasted, instead calls for delicious home-cooked food. You can rest assured about the electric consumption and most of the inductions are available with stickers that inform you about the amount of kWh consumption that will occur at the maximum usage. By now, you must have got several reasons of why you should own an induction cooktop for your kitchen.