Induction hot plate

[oddduck]

i was at the thrift this week and came across an induction hot plate for $6. Now i have been hearing all kinds of cool stuff about induction especially being able to control the heat better than your traditional stove top burner and for $6 how could you go wrong. I plugged it in before leaving the store and used a pot that was on the shelf as a tester and it worked. Now most of my pots are stainless and with reading it says it all depends with what kind of stainless if the burner will work of not with the pot, i read if a magnet sticks then the pot will work. Is this true? Any exception?

Now why i find this induction control thing so fabulous is that i melt wax in a double boiler and it would be fabulous to make sure the wax does not get too hot with the temp control. The problem is that most of my double boilers are glass...aka VisionWare and clear Pyrex. I was reading there is some kind of metal plate you can buy to make the induction burner work if your pot is not induction friendly. Has anyone ever used one of these metal plates and does it interferes with the burner operation?

And lastly can you use induction with a round bottom wok with a stand? The wok i use is stainless with a copper bottom and a metal stand that i have i have no idea what the metal is. Yes i am lazy and have not pulled the wok out and actually tried it(i am still trying to get the sticky price tag from the thrift off the burner). If it does not work, will it work with this metal plate that i mentioned in the previous paragraph?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[epicuric]

I believe the part about the magnet is true. A friend recently moved into a house with a built in induction hob, and found than none of her saucepans would work. We lent her some cast iron pans to tide her over whilst she went round the shops with a magnet trying to find permanent replacements. Apparently certain grades of stainless steel will work, others not. Cast iron is fine. Can't help with your other questions though, but I'm sure someone who can we be along soon!

 

[medtran49]

We have 2 and love them. So far, every pot that a magnet will stick to works. If the magnet doesn't stick, they won't. Only the part of the pan that is in contact with the induction burner will heat so I don't think a round bottom wok will work real well, besides the danger of it tipping over and spilling hot oil, etc., all over the place since you aren't using the ring to stabilize. We bought a carbon steel flat-bottom wok to use. Our induction burners allow 5 degree increment temperature changes, and also have 5 pre-sets of low, med low, etc. They also have an extra-high "gear" for boiling water quickly or searing meats. You can also change wattage on them to save power if you are cooking something low and slow. Because of the way they function, there isn't as much heat output as with your regular stovetop. The induction burner stops producing any heat immediately when turned off or heat is lowered, just like gas. There's no cooling down period like there is with an electric burner. In fact, I just told Craig we needed to start using them again as much as possible since it's getting so hot here.

We haven't used the metal plates, mainly because we have enough cookware that works so we don't have to, and also because using the metal plate basically turns it into a regular burner with the heat output. The induction burner heats the plate, which in turn heats the pot so any energy/heat saving is lost due to that.