Learn Me - Induction Stove & Convection Ovens & Cookwares

Tittle should read CONVECTION!

Should be easy cause I know nothing on the subject matter.

Am in the planning stages of a kitchen do-over and noodling on appliance options. The convection technology sounds interesting, but I do know that it requires dedicated pots and pans. How much of a deal breaker is that?  Just more $$$ for pots and pans or hard to source and bad stuff happens if you get it wrong?

For sure I will be doing some Google searches on the topic, but if any of you live with the technology, would you do it again?

Pete

I think you mean induction. Convection is the fan inside the oven.

John Welsh speaks very highly of it, I don't have much experience, but I think the stuff just needs to be magnetic.

Convection is a oven that has a fan too. The blowing of the heat bakes things quicker and bakes things crisper.  I have a convection setting on my wall oven and I like it. 

Induction cook top heats via magnetics and as such, requires a pan that a magnet will stick too.  Therefore, no aluminum. No copper bottom. 

I love my induction cook top and my daily drivers are a large iron skillet and a small iron skillet as well as steel sauce pans and a steel pasta pot. 

Induction does not require 'dedicated' pots and pans. Of the 12 (all over 10 years old) pots and pans we have/had, 4 were aluminum and not compatible. Anything cast iron or plain steel will work fine, as will any stainless that is magnetic...Which many/most used in cookware are. Many aluminum pans these days have even have steel/stainless bottoms, making them induction compatible as well. If buying new pots and pans, the box will generally say what cooking methods it is compatible with.

What does a Convection microwave do ?

I assume you cannot put metal into it , 

does it just have a heated  round bar like a toaster oven and a fan ?

Thinking of getting a new Microwave oven  and wondering if getting one with convection   cooking is worth it , or just one more thing that can break !

thanks for the info

I have a convection microwave. It is just one box that can heat two ways. 

If using the micro function then no metal and things heat fast like any other micro. 

If using the convection function then you can cook metal like a foil wrapped baked potato or pan. It heats from an electric coil in the rear and a fan blows over that coil

My oven/convection oven is wall mounted. And then, also wall mounted above it is my microwave /convection oven. 

This gives me a lot of options including having like a traditional wall mounted double oven. 

Old pictures lifted off Trulia

I switched to induction with our house. I was skeptical since I am used to the speed of gas. There was no worry there; induction is a lot faster than gas, and super even heat. I have seen pan sets on sale for $100, if you are not picky. All in all, I would do it again.

Matthew

You all are correct, it is induction stove that I need education on. Not that convection does not figure into the conversation because that is another term that is meaningless to me in terms of cooking but on the table for appliance selection.

So it seems that any ferrous pan will work.  Can it still be teflon coated?  

Is it worth the expense and whatnot? 

The other option is gas that would require a bit of plumbing but still on the table.  I have always cooked on electric ranges so don't have a lot of experience with this either.

Pete

matthewmcl said:

I switched to induction with our house. I was skeptical since I am used to the speed of gas. There was no worry there; induction is a lot faster than gas, and super even heat. I have seen pan sets on sale for $100, if you are not picky. All in all, I would do it again.

Matthew

Is induction worth it?  

I grew up on gas and liked it.  I hate regular coil electric.  When I bought my house, these high end appliances were already there but now that I have had induction, I will NEVER go back to gas.  

Super fast and then when you turn off (or turn down the heat) that change is immediate.  When the directions say to "remove the pan from the heat" with induction this just means turn it off.  You do not have to physically move the pan.  Fantastic for the hands of young'ns.  Unlike coil, or even the grate of a gas stove, you can touch the induction cooktop immediately and it is not hot.  Might be warm, but not hot.  Grease fires are IMPOSSIBLE.  These are fires where the hot oil splatters onto the heat and flashes off.  There is no hot surface or flame to ignite from.  

There are millions of videos out there about induction.  Even if you just watch one of these infomercials selling the small units.  I've used these similar countertop units and they are great too, but...  The max a 110v plugged unti can give is 1800w.  That is about equal to the smallest burner on my cooktop.  My 220v cooktop's biggest burner is 3500w and a bigger heat surface.  

Expensive:

I replaced the cooktop that came with my house (it was from 1994 or 24 yrs old at the time) with this exact unit via AJ Madison and some black friday sale and it was just $550.  About the price of a mid-grade, normal electric unit.  Sure, you can spend $3k...but you dont have to.  

I think induction is a fantastic way to go IF you don't mind making sure all of your pans are steel/iron.  I personally am one step more chef-like and I can't really live without some of my aluminum pans.  I have some All-clad cookware that is just the loveliest stuff I can imagine cooking with and it won't work on an induction top.

Teflon is fine.  The way it works is that it generates a magnetic field that "excites" the ferrous metal in the pan.  Cooktop stays cool, but the pan gets hot.

Right now I have a glass top electric and I want to take it outside, smash the top with a sledge hammer, and stuff the oven full of napalm and light the fuse.  I detest it with such a passion it can be measured in jiggawatts.

I'm a die-hard gas range guy.  As soon as I figure out if my gas line will support the flow for an upgrade to a gas range AND have enough for an on-demand gas water heater, I may move forward with the sledge hammer/napalm plan and install a gas range.  With gas, you turn the flame on and it's on.  You turn it up, it's hotter instantly.  You turn it off, it's not making heat.  Instant control of the heat.

A couple years ago we switched from gas to induction. We love the speed and precise control. I'm not so happy with the embedded touch controls as they can be a bit finicky and can stop working altogether when something is spilled over them. They are super easy to clean, though. 
 

The pan thing wasn't a big deal, though I have to admit to being a total amateur in the kitchen. To me, the precise and immediate heat control seems to offset some of what high end pans bring to the party.  I would just start with a frying pan, sauce pan, and pasta pot, and fill in from there. We got a cuisenart set from Costco which has been fine. 

These things purport to transfer heat on an induction element so you can use any pot  https://www.amazon.ca/CUGHD-Stainless-Cookware-Induction-Converter/dp/B07W6SVBPX/ref=asc_df_B07W6SVBPX/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=335179642771&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5166202328501439883&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001577&hvtargid=pla-844110410345&psc=1

The truth is I was chasing internet rabbits and this was down one of the holes.

Induction hobs are frikkin awesome. 

I don't get people hesitating on induction hobs due to their old pots and pans! If you invest in a new stove, are you really going to hesitate on getting some new pots and pans?? If your pots and pans are so old that they don't work with induction, it's about time anyway. Modern pans from IKEA, for example, are waaayy better than the old crap from the 90s and cheap enough to barely be a post on the budget if you are buying a new stove. 

NOHOME said:

Tittle should read CONVECTION!

Pete

So, I went and changed it... then I read a couple posts... and changed it again.  Hopefully you can catch more replies this way?  If you don't like it, drop me a PM and I'll edit the title to your choosing.

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

If you're keeping track it should say Induction too, not inudction.  

I think one of the real cool things about Induction Cooktops is they can be placed nearly anywhere. 

So if you're like us and you rarely use your oven, that can be stuck someplace less convenient, and storage can be added under your cooktop. 

We got a new Samsung induction (slide-in) range with convection and air fryer this week. Had to run a new 50amp 240v circuit but the panel was in the basement room directly below the kitchen so that was pretty simple. The old gas line stub was also in the way so the project had some hurdles - but got that line capped and out of the way on Thursday evening.

The new small cooktop "burner" heats water for tea literally in half the time of our old gas stove. I'm blown away. 

One other thing that (I think) has not been mentioned is the top can get scratched but you can get silicone/fiberglass "mats" to place under your pans and pots. The induction works THROUGH the mat, they protect the top and catch minor spills.

Wish we had done it a long time ago. 

As for mats, fun party tricks...

Someone else's video, ice cubes, paper towel and boiling water: