Professional chefs and home cooks Love Induction Cooking and You Should Too.

Several of the top chefs around the globe are induction cooking fanatics. Amazed? Traditional cooks from the past decade are now switching to glass-ceramic induction cooktops, because of various reasons.

• They are considered the ecological and economical alternative to electric or gas stoves, as they are energy efficient when compared to both electric and gas stoves, and minimal energy is been wasted while cooking.

• Induction offers powerful, precise, immediate, repetitive, and effective. This is also said by award winning chef/ author Thierry Molinengo of the Cristal Room Baccarat restaurant in Paris.

• It is very easy to clean a induction stove top after cooking as it is just a flat glass surface, compare it to a gas/ electric stove which has regular accumulation of food junk under it, which is pretty nasty, unhealthy, and inconvenient to clean.

• Induction cooking technology only warms the base pan area (This makes it more effective and precise) and not the surface or nearby areas, so very diminutive heat radiates into the room. This keeps the kitchen and surrounding area to maintain room temperature. This is a huge benefit for the comfort of the cooking personal, as no one likes to cook in a hot box.

• Cooking on an induction stove is quick as you can raise or drop the temperature in a fraction of seconds, which is an added energy saving benefit. In a commercial kitchen, cutting energy use, when you do not need it, brings down the energy bills by a significant level when compared to electrical and gas stoves.

• Eliminate the damages causes by gas leaks, unattended stoves: unintentionally leaving the stove on or involuntarily turning it on etc. leading to dangerous explosions. According to National Fire Protection Association, in U.S. alone there is an estimated average of 173,200 Home-Cooking-Fires, leading to over 50,000 deaths. The estimated average of home cooking fires would have reduced by over 60% if induction cooking was the primary mode of cooking because it offers easy cleaning, foreign object detection, auto shut off features in case of fire, mitigate equipment unattended issues and prevents unintentional turn on and not turn off.

• Cooking zones on an induction cooktop can be combined to consistently heat large sized cookware, meaning one can double or triple a recipe without making the same dish on two separate stoves. Moreover heat on a cookware is distributed evenly on a induction cookware, compare this to an electric or gas stove, the area of the cookware in direct connect with the gas is hotter than the rest, leading to uneven cooking.

Below are some feedbacks received from chefs around the world on induction cooking:

“Powerful, instant, precise, operative, hands-on – here in a few words are the abilities of induction,” says Author/Chef Thierry Molinengo of the Cristal Room Baccarat restaurant in Paris.

“I love our large induction range I would never go back to gas stove cooking,” states James Ramsden, food writer and co-owner of the Michelin-starred East London restaurant Pidgin. Ramsden says sloppy cooks can create culinary wonders even on a smaller induction stove.

“Once you get used to them, they’re far more easy, convenient, and safer than cooking on gas or electric.” Well-known Australian Chef Neil Perry was one of the first to espouse induction hobs in his restaurants’ kitchens, Rockpool Bar & Grill, Spice Temple and Rosetta. He talks about induction cooking in a GoodFood article.

“Induction ranges are very easy to clean, which is one of the main reasons we chose it over gas. It’s faster to cook with induction: you can raise or drop the temperature far more rapidly, which is an efficient use of energy. In commercial kitchens, cutting energy costs makes a significant difference!” says Neil Perry.

Alexandre Couillon is proprietor and Chef of Michelin-starred La Marine, a restaurant on Noirmoutier, an island off the west coastline of France. He considers that the suppleness of cooking with induction “consents us to expand our creativity…Induction makes the superiority of the products sublime.”

Induction cooktop is far easier and simple to use than an electric or gas cooktop, once you’re acquainted with the controls and cooking times, conferring to Cassidy Olsen in a piece for Reviewed. And you don’t need to alter it as much as you may think.

• Prep all the ingredients. Cookware heats much faster on an induction cooktop than traditional gas stoves, which means no down time (Chefs call it mise en place, a French term for the routine of making certain everything is in place and ready before you start cooking).

• The varied heat range and accurate temperatures on induction cooktop allow you to make sauces and fancy confectionaries that you may have thought were kept for specialized kitchens. Consistent simmering and making rapid changes in heat are no more a problem.

Five Chefs who say “Yes” to induction cooking:

“I love, love, love the induction technology,” says Rick Bayless, winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, star of the Public Television show Mexico-One Plate at a Time, cookbook author and award-winning restaurant proprietor. He performs in a short video, Professional Chefs Love Cooking with Induction with famous chefs/restaurateurs Ming Tsai and Fabio Viviani.

“It’s so much safer. I have kids, right, and you can literally touch everything around it [the cooking area on the cooktop], and an Induction cooktop gives me a piece of mind as the cooking area is not hot at all.” says Chef Ming of induction cooking. “And, you don’t have to worry about the flame if you want to make stock overnight. It’s safe,” speaks Vancouver restaurant proprietor Angus An in Why Induction is the Hottest Trend to Hit Restaurant Kitchens. Restaurant amenity and service drastically advances when cooking is more well-organized, efficient and fast.

Chefs can focus on swiftness of service and keep stocks and sauces at a particular required temperature using a induction cooktop.

Water can be simmered in half the time.

Italian-born Chef Viviani, says, “When technology can aid you accomplish the same result – the same, old-fashioned school stuff – in a diminutive time, that’s appreciated.” Viviani still prefers “live fire,” but uses induction-compatible cookware so he can alternate between both cooking methods when he wants to speed things up.

Eric Ripert, well-known master chef at Le Bernadin in New York and a TV personality, mentions the ultra-modern design and functionality of glass-ceramic induction cooktops on The Ultimate Chef’s Kitchen, “It permits you to have a very flat area. Between the countertop and the induction top, it is exactly on the same level/ height. So, it’s safe, aesthetically it’s nice, and it’s also extremely practical because you can move your pans on the side and put them back on the heat very rapidly, so I really like this functionality. And it looks very spotless, hygienic and contemporary.”

Chef Tim Spedding of much-admired London restaurant and wine shop P Franco, switched to induction stoves and he says, “Induction ranges provide a clean, well-organized and multipurpose heat source with very low investment.” “For the home cook they’re great [induction cooktops] because they are a fast and efficient heat source.” – Tim Spedding

In the past 3-5 years, induction cooktop technology has hopped forward while prices have dropped, tempting more home cooks, chefs and restaurant owners to make the switch. You can find more reasonably priced units now than in the past, making induction ranges and cooktops to similarly priced gas/ electric stoves.

Induction cooktops for both home and commercial kitchens pass quality performance and safety tests that meet and exceed global standards. Renowned French Chef William Boquelet, one of the first users of induction technology says, “a return to another mode of cooking is not possible.”

So, what’s stopping you to make the switch today?