If you have not gone appliance shopping for a while, you are in for a surprise. There have been very many advancements in cooking technology that you may leave you feeling a little overwhelmed. This month we will look at induction cooktops.
Induction is completely different from all other cooking technologies...
it does not involve generating heat which is then transferred to the cooking vessel,
it makes the cooking vessel itself the original generator of the cooking heat.
How it Works-
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The element’s electronics power a coil that produces a high-frequency electonmagnetic field
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The field penetrates the metal of the ferrous (magnetic-material) cooking vessel and sets up a circulating electric current, which generates heat. (But see the note below.)
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The heat generated in the cooking vessel is transferred to the vessel’s contents.
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Nothing outside the vessel is affected by the field. As soon as the vessel is removed from the element, or the element turned off, heat generation stops.
Advantages - It uses energy more efficiently than gas or electric. Cooking times are significantly reduced; a pot of water can boil in as little as 3 minutes.
The cooktop itself stays cool to the touch which means you are less likely to get accidentally burnt by an element and the kitchen stays cooler.
Spills are easy to clean up on the flat surface.
Disadvantages - your old cookware may not be compatible with an induction cooktop. Pots and pans must be made of ferrous metal and be completely flat on the bottom to work.
Prices are higher than electric cooktops but comparable to gas.
Debra Tan is a kitchen designer based in St. Lambert, Quebec
tel. 450-923-9559
Illustration for this article was taken from the website How Induction Cooking Works. Follow link below for more details.
http://theinductionsite.com/how-induction-works.shtml
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