Talk to me about induction ranges, esp noise issues

I’m going to be the Kitchen Troll here for a while, so please indulge me a bit

Range needs to be replaced, was going to stick with coil until I read about heat/temp control issues with new-ish “sensi temp” coils (required to prevent fires)

No gas here, don’t want to deal with propane conversion

I thought induction was my fallback, but reading reviews and watching YT about low/moderate/annoying levels of noise from the burners is worrisome (plus, I have tinnitus). Most of my cookware is new (Allclad HA and Calphalon and pass the magnet test)

Help? Is the noise level that bad?

If the stove top and cooking vessel are clean there isn’t any hum. If it gets dirty it will sing. We just moved and the last place had induction and we liked it. If you can’t have gas or don’t want it, from my experience, induction is the way to go. They heat up very quickly. I am not exactly a clean cook (though not a slob, either) and we didn’t really have much of a problem with the noise.

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Can you get a good sear on a wagyu on an induction cooktop? I want to switch over from gas (we have zero ventilation and can’t add anything) but wasn’t sure if i’d be sad.

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Our house is thousands of dollars away from a gas line. I so wanted a gas stovetop. Ceramic electric tops suck, but induction is awesome. Instant on, instant off. May actually like better. If you watch Masterclass Massimo Botturo, he uses a very upscale induction burner. Many high end restaurants use induction. May need to change pots and pans, but if you don’t make the dish you want—it’s your fault, not the stove top.

Love our induction. As said earlier, dirty can lead to a buzz. More common is a slight imperfection in the flatness of the pan of which dirt can be a cause or it can have warped over time or just be made poorly. Expensive isn’t always precise. It doesn’t take much. I have one where the entire surface is active though it can only do 4 total pots. It beautiful and functional.

Yes, sear is easy. Holding a teppanyaki steel at searing temperature for several hours might cause failure on the system which won’t reset for quite a while.

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Induction I’ve found to be great for searing. It gets to temp really fast and I’ve found the heating to be more even (as measured by my IR thermometer)

But everywhere we’ve lived we’ve gone with (or switched to) gas because my spouse finds it easier to keep clean

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I have owned induction ranges for over 10 yrs. Recently, a fallen tree shorted the control panel and i had to find a replacement in the midst of a supply chain challenged year. I initially ordered an LG for around $3500. It was horribly made and the oven racks could not even hold a pizza steel, let alone a Dutch oven.

Luckily, the retailer, Yale appliance took it back and i bought a new brand to me, BEKO. I have only 1 complaint - it is slow to heat the oven but the cook top is amazing. Boils a large pot of water in minutes. I cook a lot using a wok. Once i reflattened the bottom of the wok, it works amazingly well. The broiler also works seamlessly and the large fan for convection is a plus once it heats up.

We put a Wolf induction cooktop in when we built about 10 years ago. Had lots of recommendations from chefs I spoke with and we love it. Easy to clean, amazingly quick to bring to temperature, and no more needs for a double boiler as you can melt directly on top. No complaints and would definitely put one in the next residence. Haven’t noticed a lot of noise but there can be a clicking on certain pans. I mainly use All-Clad and Le Creuset.

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After having a gas cooktop my whole life, I moved to an area that does not have natural gas so I got induction. I love it. Have never had any noise issues, and I get a great sear on cast iron.

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Ribeyes seared in ScanPan CS+ on Cheapo Frigidaire induction, flip every 90 seconds or so.

“Nice meat!” [stirthepothal.gif]
IMG_0060.jpg

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Very happy with my Siemens induction hub. Not sure whether they are available over there, but look for any of BSH brands (Gaggenau, Bosch, Siemens, Neff), they should do well. Not a fan of Bosch’s controls, but the inside of it should be similar to the other brands.

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I have a Bosch induction range and it works great. I agree that the controls are annoying, but I’ve gotten used to them.

We had an induction range at previous house for ca. 2 yrs and now cooktop at new house for 3. Both Bosch. The noise from the induction unit is quite minimal unless you are using the speed boost. Even then the primary noise is from the food being heated / cooked and not the induction unit. Water in a kettle being heated to boil is noisy.

The temp control is superb, as good as gas. We went from gas to induction.

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Curious about what’s annoying with the controls. I’m looking at cooktops and Bosch is being considered so thought I’d ask.

Kevin, in our range, the controls are built into the glass cooktop. If the control area gets wet, the range gets very angry (starts beeping), and if you don’t remove the water quickly, the range will turn itself off. It can be restarted once the water is removed. So, if something is simmering on the stove, you need to make sure and lift the lid off to the side rather than toward to front. Now that we’re used to the way it works, it’s no biggie, but when a guest is using the stove, it can get amusing/stressful.

Thanks for the info Rick. Just about every one under consideration has those type of controls. Sounds like something we’ll probably have to get used to as well.

Any update from anyone happily using induction? I am doing a kitchen reno in the Berkshires (propane, no natural gas) and was going to put in a Wolf gas cooktop. But fossil fuels and health concerns have made me start to consider induction. I have always had a gas cooktop, and love it for the reasons people love gas. But if the newer induction stoves, heat up quickly, sear well, and are responsive to increase/decrease needs, I will seriously consider going with that. Thanks.

I ended up going with a GE profile induction cooktop because it had bridge burners and I was giving up a propane range with a center griddle, so the bridge burners looked like they could fill that gap with a rectangular stovetop griddle. Truth be told , I haven’t bought a griddle yet and my life is still tolerable. I haven’t had any noise issues and I very much like how responsive induction is. It heats quickly but also cools almost as quick. You still gave to lift up a pan or pot that gets away from you when you’re multitasking, but when on top of things, it quickly lowers when you dial it back. Can’t comment on high heat searing because my recent renovation included a fancy marble backsplash and I can’t bring myself to subjecting it to nuclear grease splatter so I’ve been doing that type of cooking outside.

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We are looking at maybe getting our first induction range and I have a question for those in the know. I’m wondering what kind of problems there might be when a pan is significantly wider than the burner diameter. Specifically, can you use a 13-in or 14-in diameter cast iron pan on burner that’s 11-in in diameter? With a gas top obviously you have to wait longer for the pan to approach even heating but am wondering how that works with induction. Thanks.