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I swear by gas stoves. Wouldn't buy a house that didn't have gas. It was my ONLY show-stopper condition when we were house shopping. I was flexible on everything but that.
I cooked A LOT. The only reason I bought an induction cooktop was because I wore out both sides of the inserts on my [brand name] gas cooktop (they rusted to bits from constant use) and since I wanted time before I decided what my replacement would be, I ordered one of these to tide us over. We had the grill insert, so with one "burner" and a double grill, I'd have time to think.
I was shocked at how great the Duxtop induction cooktop was. I was a tough sell, but they won me over.
Water (for pasta) came to boil faster than my gas stove ever did. Peanut oil, for frying chicken, was also ready faster than anything I'd ever experienced with gas, and it stayed hot (I burned the first batch!). It has also been marvelous for wok cooking, and that's what made me a total convert. I've had to learn how to cook with it, but that hasn't been too difficult, since the results have been worth it.
The heat is so hot that I ruined a wok with a non-stick coating and had to go for the old-fashioned, steel kind instead. I like that! You'd think that would have turned me off of induction cooking, but just the reverse. Stir fry is SUPPOSED to be hot and quick (that's how you get cooked through veggies that maintain their color). I spent $25 on an all steel Wok at the cooking store with the initials W&S, and I've been making the best stir fry to ever come out of my kitchen. If for no other reason, getting one of these cooktops is worth it just for that (just don't use your non-stick coated wok with it--it WILL get too hot). Be sure to buy a wok with a flat bottom, and it has to be steel, of course, or the induction won't recognize it, and it won't turn on.
I was enjoying all of this so much, I ordered a second Duxtop cooktop, exactly like the first one.
The other thing that's been fun is cooking wherever I want in the kitchen (or where there is an outlet). There's a nice spot, right next to the sink, where there's great light in the kitchen. This is where it has been best to stir fry, near the sink (as I don't have a pot filler tap next to my stove), and having water close to a steel wok for quick rinsing between dishes is a good idea. No problem if I spill a bit, and it is close to where I've cut all the veggies. No walking back and forth to the stove. (Made me realize even more how badly laid out my kitchen is--as if my husband needed me to have more of a reminder of that!)
All of this has made me rethink my stove replacement. Maybe I don't need to do anything other than buy a replacement drop-in for the exact same cooktop I already have, and continue using the Duxtop Cooktops, as I'm using them now. Maybe we should all rethink how we cook in our kitchens, eh? Some of us have multiple sinks and dishwashers now. Why not multiple cooktops, in different cooking zones?
And no, I'm not a shill for Duxtop. It just makes sense to think about cooking zones in the same way we're thinking about other zones in our kitchens.
This is not to say I'm a total convert to electric cooking. It still has its downsides, as always. I can't scramble eggs with it without burning them or overcooking (or anything that requires medium or subtle heat, or with copper bottom pans--which is unfortunate), but induction cooking does bring something to the party that ordinary electric cooking never had: Higher, quicker heat. Did I say quick? I mean IMMEDIATE! Electric cooking is always going to have the same problem of hot zones that it always had, and these are not going to solve that problem. With gas heat (especially with copper bottom pans) the heat spread is even, and spreads evenly up the sides of the pan, covering the bottom. With electric, the heat is going to be hotter where there is a coil. Induction improves on that a bit, because there are no coils, but there is still a cooking center. (I found that if I move the pan so that it doesn't have a chance to get too hot in any one place, I burn the food less.) All of this takes practice and experience. I'm sure that people who have more experience with electric cooking burn food on gas stoves, so it is what you are used to--so this isn't a magic bullet, but it is certainly better than the old-fashioned coils. But, as I said, the speed at which you can boil, or bring heat to other dishes is well worth the learning curve, where it wasn't worth it before.
These cooktops have two methods of setting the temp: either a numeric setting of 1 to 10 or a kind of high/medium/low, but in a setting of 1 to 4 (I think, I never use that setting). I prefer the 1 to 10 setting (giving the greatest control). I set to 10 when I want to bring water to boil, but then quickly change the setting to about 3 to keep things boiling, and 2 to maintain a simmer (for things like sauces), or 1 to keep things warm.
It's my belief that every house needs at least one of these. They're handy for parties (when you need an extra burner), for emergengies (if the gas stove breaks), they'll be great for the summer for boiling corn (take it outside and put near the grill), and there is no way to get this kind of high heat for stir fry or quick boiling without upgrading your gas pipe to 3/4".
You don't have to be as crazy as me and buy two, but at these prices, it isn't as crazy as it sounds. Party, table cooking (for shish kabap or steak on "stone") will be great this summer too.
I'd recommend these to anyone... and I'd recommend two. Just avoid buying the interface disks (the products sold so you can use pans other than steel). Those ARE a waste of time. They don't work (they get too hot, causing the cooktops to shut off). Spend your money on a few extra steel pans instead... because you can't have too many pans EVER.
UPDATE 2/2012: I've had these a year now. I continue to use them, meaning they haven't ended up in the dead/bored appliance part of the pantry. Most of the time I keep one by the stove (that I still haven't fixed) and one by the sink. I'll move them around, as needed. I'm still not a very good electric-stove chef, but they continue to work, as advertised. If the food doesn't turn out properly, the fault is definitely with me. They were a saving grace during the Holidays: 3 burners were enough to get us through Thanksgiving and Christmas. The advice above, to allow the pan to warm up a bit (to setting 5) before blasting it (at setting 10) has prevented other non-stick pans from losing their non-stick coating, and having it flake off on the food. Not a good thing at all.
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This Duxtop is my 2nd induction cooktop. The 1st one is working fine, but has only 1300W. I did enjoy the no flame heating of induction cooking, but the other big advantage of induction cooking device is the fast heating, which is missing with my 1300W cooktop. Now I have this more powerful duxtop cooker, I can tell you the cooking speed is really amazing. How fast is it? I did a test heating up the same amount of water using 1300w induction cooktop and my 1800w duxtop. It took the 1300w 6mins to boil the water, but it took duxtop only 2mins and 40secs to boil the same amount of water. That is over 100% percent saving of your precious time. If you are looking for a powerful and reliable induction cooktop or just want to see if induction cooking technology is something you may interested in, I will recommend this duxtop.
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We bought this to see how we would like Induction cooking since we will be replacing our stove soon. I had read about induction on some other web pages and thought this would be a good way to try it out.
So it's been a month and let me put it this way this is our "go to" burner when we need to cook something on the stove. We set it up on our countertop (old laminate not granite) next to our also old cooktop. All we can say is WOW!! It is fast and leaves no heat in the kitchen like our old electric burner. (Important when you live in the South and it's in the 90's everyday.) There doesn't seem to be much or any heat coming off the bottom our countertop is still cool when we're done using the Duxtop.
There is a fan that turns on when you start it. That is to keep the magnets cool and when you turn the burner off, the fan runs for a short time just a few min afterward and then shuts off. My husband couldn't believe how fast it boiled water and cooked some of his favorite items. Suffice it to say, we're sold and yes, we're keeping this baby. Next purchase will be a set of induction-ready cookware. Like some others have done, it would be a snap to put it outside to boil corn in the summer when you don't want all that steamy heat in the kitchen.
This is easy to use. Take a magnet with you when you are shopping for pots/pans. If a magnet will stick to the bottom, you can use it on the induction hob. And also check the pans for a flat bottom. Some pans are slightly rounded on the bottom and I don't think they would work as well on the induction cooktop.
Enjoy! Bon Appetit!
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The upper 6 cooking power levels are advertised as 1200W, 1300W, 1400W, 1500W, 1600W and 1800W. Using a kill-a-watt, these all measure correctly. However, levels 3 and 4 are supposed to be 800W and 1000W, but draw 1000W and 1100W respectively. I've tried various steel and iron vessels of various sizes and have gotten similar readings. It makes it hard to fry things like eggs without burning them. Levels 1 and 2 are advertised as 200W and 500W--they achieve the lower levels by cycling the power to the coil on and off at 1000W, which makes it impossible to maintain a slow boil/simmer when cooking things like rice and pasta.
I contacted Secura and asked if this was "normal", and they responded with an indirect answer about grid voltages being different that could cause power variations of +/-5%. They didn't address whether cycling power on the lowest 2 settings was normal, so I assume it is. I emailed them back pointing out that the upper 6 levels were all within 1% tolerance, but the lower 4 were high by well over 5% and they never responded.
To amazon's credit, they offered to allow me to return it on their dime. But since all I do with it is boil water, stir fry, and cook eggs for breakfast, I'll just learn to like my eggs scrambled. However, if you really need the finer power control, I would recommend against buying this item.
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I have enjoyed the Duxtop Induction Cooktop. It has taken some getting used to, as I have been cooking on gas for quite a few years. I am amazed how fast it heats. It works great for boiling water and eggs, making hot tea, etc. It is easy to burn some foods until you know how fast it does heat. The issues I have with it can mostly be addressed with repeated use of it and gaining more experience. I can cook most anything that I cook with gas if I cut it down to a low setting but then I haven't gained the benefit of its fast cooking time. It tends to have about an eight inch area in the very center of the cooktop that is where the induction concentrates its energy. I quite often cook with a ten inch cast iron fry pan and the two inch area nearest the side of the pan does not heat up like the center does. I bought this to see if I would consider someday replacing my gas range with an induction cooktop. I probably would not because I live in a remote area and quite often loose power in the winter. I can cook with gas without having electric power but I will keep the portable cooktop. It complements the gas range well for certain tasks but does not replace it. I've noticed that it operates on the same principle as the microwave oven. It cycles between full power and off for all cooking temperatures. When you select a low temperature, the heating cycle is real short followed by a long off cycle. This is evident when you are boiling water on power setting two or three. The water boils during the heating cycle and then immediately stops until the next heating cycle. Possibly the full size induction ranges have better control over the cooking temperature. If that is the case, maybe I need to talk to someone who has one as I may not be giving a fair appraisal to induction cooking based on the portable cooktop.
