Sunday, November 30, 2014

Three Great Benefits of Induction Cooking That You Need to Know

The Case for Induction Cooking - American Home Induction Stove


A couple of months ago, I used to cook my meals using a gas stove just like everyone else. There's something about cooking with fire that made you feel like a real chef. This summer, however, I had to move to a new (and empty) condominium unit. I was faced with the dilemma - what new toys should I get for my new kitchen? The first thing I need is a stove, but should I stick with the familiar gas stove or should I foray into the unknown with an Induction Stove


I have heard about induction cooking before but I didn't really give it a lot of thought. To put it simply, cooking with induction is really just cooking with magnets - using magnetic fields rather than open flames to create heat. 

Induction cooking presents quite a number of benefits over the traditional gas stove, and that's the main reason why I bought one for my new kitchen. I have been using it for half a year now, and I love it! 

Here's are the three reasons why you might want to make the switch as well:


1. Safety
The main reason why you should consider getting an induction stove is that it's a lot safer than a traditional gas stove, because it cooks using magnetic fields rather than open flame. You can't really burn anything with magnetic fields with normal use. 

I live in a condominium unit with a lot of other tenants, and it's important to think about the safety of everyone in the building. Using a traditional gas stove can be dangerous if the gas is accidentally left on - it's a disaster waiting to blow up. 

It's also great that it doesn't emit much smoke. Certainly a plus!

2. Precision
Another reason why professional chefs love using induction technology to cook food is that the induction technology gives you the option to set the temperature you'd want to cook in. This level of precision is amazing. When you choose to set the stove to 200°C, it really cooks the food at 200°C. This is important for chefs so that they can perfectly cook and replicate their signature dishes quite easily. 

Oh, and if you do decide to get an induction stove here's a great chart on the perfect temperatures to cook with from healthcraft.com


3. Energy Efficiency, Speed, and Cost Savings
Not to be a science nerd, but on of the great things about using an induction stove is that your pots and pans heat up really quick, so energy isn't wasted by releasing heat into the air. This means that you're going to be more comfortable cooking food at home, since your kitchen doesn't turn into a sauna every time you try to fry an egg. Of course, one amazing benefit is that induction cooking also shortens cooking time and thus you get to save money in the long-run. Yes, it can save you money!

Now, you might be concerned with the amount of electricity it might consume. Looking over my past electricity bills, my monthly electricity consumption did not spike unusually when I started cooking with induction on a regular basis. I wasn't able to compare how much it costs with actual gas, but since it boils water at a rate that's 50% faster, then I'm estimating that the savings is probably in the 10-20%. That also depends on how your expensive your electricity bills are. 

Switching to induction cooking might be more expensive initially (more on that later), but in the long-run it certainly can save you a lot of time and money.

You can purchase an induction stove from Lazada. I recommend the American Home Induction Stove

Some of the Bad Stuff
I'm not saying Induction cooking is the all-perfect kitchen solution. There are certainly some bad things as well. An important point that I would like to make is that when using induction, you obviously won't be able to cook when you don't have any electricity, so that instantly puts us in a disadvantage whenever a typhoon comes in and disrupts the supply of electricity coming from Meralco. 

Another concern that you need to consider is that induction compatible cookware typically cost way more than regular pots and pans. If you already have a collection of cookware in your kitchen over the years, then it might not be smart to get an induction stove because you would need to buy new, expensive cookware. A very easy test to check if your pots and pans are compatible would be to try and stick a magnet at the bottom, and if the magnet doesn't stick then you need to buy new ones.

My experience with induction has been very pleasant so far, and I would recommend that you switch from traditional gas cooking to induction cooking if you're starting to build your own kitchen. Otherwise, stick to what you have because it might take years before you recover from your investment if you think it'll save you money.
Let me know your good and bad experiences with induction cooking. Don't forget to share these benefits with friends who are starting to build their kitchen.

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Cheers,
Chef Jay

6 comments:

  1. We used to have here a little selection of cracked-pot postings, with our explanatory comments appended, but there's really little point to it now.Induction Blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Mike! Wow, the induction blog covers the topic more in-depth! I'll include a link up in the article later. It's going to be pretty useful to my readers.

      Thank you for dropping by!

      Cheers,
      Jay

      Delete
  2. I'm so happy with your blog site, it contains all the matter with regards to
    best induction cookware Good luck to you and your well performed job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for giving us the great benefits about cooking in induction stove.
    This stove is really good.if we have electricity we can cook our food anywhere in this world.by using induction stove we can be 100% sure about the safety. In gas stove we can not be 100% sure that this will be safer.another big benefit is we can change the temperature to any level so our foods will be perfect.thats why professionals loves to use induction stove.it also use less power.so I think it is very beneficial for us to cook our food anywhere without any trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The great things about using an induction stove is that your pots and pans heat up really quick, so energy isn't wasted by releasing heat into the air. Thank for this information!

    ReplyDelete