Induction cooktops - advice

I'm really trying to improve my cooking, but I feel limited by the ghetto stove in my apartment. It's an old coil stove with almost no temperature control. There's 9 settings on the dial, but a pot of water will still boil on medium low (3.5-4). In practice, it feels like it only has two settings -- scorching hot and off.

I'm a fairly novice cook, so I'm a bit hesitant to blame the equipment for poor results. I've also never used anything other than a old coil stove, so I really don't know what's on the other side of the fence, so to speak.

Does it make sense to buy a portable induction cooktop? Would that help me learn proper temperature control, or is it just a matter of gaining more experience in the kitchen?

I don't know anything about induction cooktops, but I do have compatible cookware. If you recommend I look into this, what are some of the better brands/models, and what features or drawbacks should I look out for?

Sorry for the long question, and TIA for any and all advice!

Is it not an option to get rid of the ghetto stove and replace it with gas?

DamageInc said:

Is it not an option to get rid of the ghetto stove and replace it with gas?

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OP's renting, so that option doesn't make sense.

DamageInc said:

Is it not an option to get rid of the ghetto stove and replace it with gas?

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Nope, I only rent the place. I don't even have A/C :thumbsup:

New induction cooktops are excellent - but to really get the most out of them they need to be commercial units. Commercial inductions units have much better sensitivity and all around utility, but are also super expensive - and you need to ensure that you have a circuit in your house that can deliver the amps you need. Something from cooktek or dipo could be great. I have lived for a while with a makeshift kitchen with two commercial induction stovetops and I don't miss a gas cooker at all.

We made do with a single non commercial portable induction cooktop for a few years before renovating the kitchen and finally got rid of the coil cooktop. The one we used was less than $50 and lasted for a few years of everyday use before finally giving out. The coil cooktop is just painfully slow to respond and I would have to wait forever to boil water for pasta. That alone makes having an induction worth it even if you have to replace it every few years.

Induction is great, but it's not going to teach you how to cook on a coil top. The knowledge of how to use an induction cooker is not directly applicable to coil tops. So, it's a good alternative or supplement to a crappy coil top, but they're so different it's not a good learning tool for anything but another induction cooker.

I have no experience with coil tops, but I do have some experience with electric stoves which seems quite similar from what I read here. I absolutely hated the fact that the stove stays hot after I turned it off. From what I read this is also the case for coil cooktops. As a result, I have moved from an electric stove to gas (and I hope I'm never going back). I would definitely buy a quality induction cooktop (if you have room to spare) and use that for tasks requiring more control (poaching etc). Not sure how expensive a decent induction cooktop is though.

Consider the el-cheapo ones as on-off devices. The thermostat settings are meaningless, and the power levels work by such a slow type of PWM that it can literally give you boil-simmer-boil-simmer-boil-simmer cycling in a pot of soup. You will need to do just the kind of temperature control that is best advised with your old stove too: remove the pot or pan if you want it colder, put it on the burner if you want it hotter BTW, cast-iron-hob electric stoves are even worse when it comes to staying hot, but they have two interesting advantages: The huge thermal mass of the hobs allows you to use very thin bottomed cooking vessels and very QUICKLY change temperature via above method. And unused, cold plates can be used as convenient heatsinks if you need the temperature lowered even quicker.

There are some cheapie domestic version of a portable induction cooktop. They would work ok to a degree, but not quite comparable to built-in version.

There are some 1.8kW and 2.5kw table top commeracial units that can be plugged into domestic circuit depending on what voltage you have at home. Have a look at Cooktek units for example:
http://www.cooktek.com/product/cooking-front-house/cooktops/heritage-single-counter-top-cooktop
http://www.cooktek.com/product/cooking-front-house/cooktops/apogee™-single-counter-top-cooktop

For super precision, there is "The control freak" a product from, polysciense:
https://polyscienceculinary.com/products/the-control-freak

This is an uber cool unit, expensive, but will give very precise temperature control.

Let's wait one or two years for an off brand copy to appear

So is there a common (commercial or domestic) model around that has real power control (not slow PWM), a persistent override switch for the overtemperature and no-pot detectors (and an induction "engine" that is electrically sturdy enough to deal with it), and maybe all-metal technology?

Before looking into an induction cook top, have you considered getting a hand held IR thermometer to better understand the thermal profile of your coil stove and how it affects your cookware? An IR thermometer has really improved the results of my cooking even on the coil stove I have to live with.

Any induction hob is going to be better in every regard than your coil top. Is anyone questioning that? Plus, you can get a decent 1800W model for $60. Here's my advise, get the cheap model (as I have) and use it. Then think about buying a permanent drop in.

Secura 8100MC 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner, Gold https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045QEPYM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks for the responses.

To clarify, I was looking at induction cooktops to augment the coil stove. That is, use induction for things that require more precise temperature control, and the stove otherwise. I just can't seem to keep a consistent temperature on that stove for more than 5-10 minutes; it gets way too hot.

I'm starting a culinary course at the end of the month, so I've decided to wait and see if they have any portable induction cooktops that I can play around with. I'm looking forward to finally using a gas stove though -- I'm curious to know how great the difference is when it comes to temperature control. I'm hoping that experience will help me understand what role my equipment is really playing in all of this.

Anyhow, thanks again for the helpful information!

double post. sorry!

@Mucho Bocho you haven't handled some of the low end induction cookers if you think they are better than a coil top - multi-second pwm and faulty overtemp detection circuits that need resetting at random and and and...

jferreir said:

I'm looking forward to finally using a gas stove though -- I'm curious to know how great the difference is when it comes to temperature control. I'm hoping that experience will help me understand what role my equipment is really playing in all of this.

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A portable butane stove would give you a very good idea of what gas is all about. They're small, light, inexpensive and reliable. I use one for table-top shabu-shabu/sukiyaki. Nice for camping and power outages too.

Iwatani ZA-3HP 12,000BTU Burner