Induction, baby!

[joeekaitis]

 

I had to.  They're on sale at Home Depot, Lowe's and Best Buy as of this post.  HD's the cheapest.  Possibly bowing to pressure from the boutique brands, you have to search Home Depot with the phrase "frigidaire induction range".  "Induction range" shows only the thousand-bucks-and-up models.

 

Oh, and the No-Boil Baked Southwestern Whole Wheat Spaghetti Bolognese came out perfect.

Frigidaire 30 in. 4 Element Freestanding Induction Range in Stainless Steel with True Convection and Air Fry GCRI3058AF - The Home Depot

Maximize kitchen functionality with the Frigidaire Gallery 30 in. Freestanding Range. The Auto Sizing pan detection feature provides the right amount of heat for the size of your pan, and the True Temperature

www.homedepot.com

 

[appnut]

Congratulations Joe. Induction is the way to go for electric cooktop cooking.

 

[petek]

You'll love it. I'd never willingly go back to a regular electric stove and gas was never even in the equation. It's somewhat puzzling that the mfrs and retailers in N.America still haven't stepped up their game. They need to offer more models in the lower price bracket like that or my GE.. because other than those two, the prices skyrocket to near double and more solely because they have front controls/slide in where they're matching mid to high end gas stoves.

 

[joeekaitis]

From Day One I always wondered who would bring Induction to The People. Turns out it’s Electrolux via Frigidaire.

 

[iheartmaytag]

When I bought my range

It was now seven years ago. I wanted an Induction range at the time, but my checkbook said no. They wanted almost $3k for some of them on the floor. That and at the time I didn't have induction ready cookware.

I now have Calphalon Induction cookware, and no induction range, but I did get an induction hot plate that I love.

This shows that they are evolving to be more middle income accessible. Maybe my next purchase, if I live that long. . .

Oh-and, nice looking range btw. Does it have convection in the oven?

 

[gansky1]

Very nice - looks like a nice range.  There is a slide-in model, NIB on FB Marketplace locally - $400 less than even the Home Depot sale price.  

 

And now this... Temptation! 

 

Enjoy the new range and keep us posted on how you like it.

 

 

 

[joeekaitis]

"Does it have convection in the oven?"

 

Convection and Air-Fry.  And, yes, I did it.  Doesn't everyone?  Isn't it some sort of initiation rite?

 

[combo52]

Nice Range

This range is also sold by Ikea usually for around  $1,200 including a 5 year P&L warranty.

 

Indeed the main reason induction has not caught on in the US is manufactures usually only have one model available and you can't get a white or all black model.

 

John L.

 

[sarahperdue]

3 + 1

I'll be waiting for induction manufacturers to take a cue from Corning cooktops and make a 3 induction + 1 conventional burner so I can use my Corning Cookmates.

 

[petek]

Sarah.. Actually Samsung did have just that, a 3+1 a few years ago but I think it was discontinued.. It's what I would really have liked as well for the same reasons. My GE has a 5th but small warming burner that is not induction but that's all it's really good for,keeping a pot warm.

 

[combo52]

Several companies have built Induction Cook-Tops with 2+2 two induction two radiant like Jenn-Air.

 

And you can always add a two element radiant CT near you induction range so older cookware can be used sort like I did when we did our kitchen 33 years ago and as much as I love induction for its fast control and easy clean-up I still do at least 1/4 of our cooking on the regular Hi-Output 2700 and 1500 watt coils.

 

John L.

 

[joeekaitis]

Frigidaire's One-Two Punch

 

In their "That's Using Your Frigidaire" ad campaign, Frigidaire is spotlighting induction and Air-Fry.  All of their induction stoves include Air-Fry and convection ovens.  If it succeeds well enough for them to go from niche marketer to at least the Top Five, it could spur the rest to crank out induction stoves priced for the masses.

 

Never a dull moment in the appliance biz.

 

[foraloysius]

There are modular systems here that give you the option to combine the different heat options. Ceramic, gas and induction are available and sometimes a wok burner in gas. They aren't very popular I believe, but great for versatility. Ikea used to have them in their cooktop line, but the ceramic one has disappeared. I guess that one wasn't too popular. The European Ikea appliances are mostly Electrolux products.

I noticed those modular systems are rare in the US. Perhaps a marketing mistake?

 

[iej]

Once you go induction, you’ll never go back!

 

[sudsmaster]

The big problem with induction is that it obsoletes cookware that doesn't have a ferrous composition: glass, aluminum, probably copper too. True, you can use a steel plate under the non-ferrous cookthing, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose, IMHO.

Me? I prefer gas for cooking.

Maybe I'm just stubborn.

 

[circlew]

Certainly nothing new. My mom's friend Faye got a Westinghouse induction cooktop sometime in the early 70's; I have no idea if she still has it, or not. Will ask the next time I see her.

 

I read that the technology was being promoted as early as the 1933 Chicago World's Fair by Frigidaire, and that they had done demonstrations of it in the 50's.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Westinghouse showed a two unit induction cooktop at the 1971 Atlanta Home show. I don't know if I have any literature for it.

 

[joeekaitis]

''Westinghouse showed a two unit induction cooktop .

 

. . . at the 1971 Atlanta Home show."
 
And therein lies the mystery of the slow uptake.  Microwave ovens started off as pricey gadgets and the prices soon dropped like a stone.  You can buy a 1,000-watt+ microwave oven for less than the price of a countertop convection oven.  Maybe even two.  How long did it take for prices to drop so much?  Twenty or so years?  About the time it took for TV to become commonplace?
 
Like an induction stove, microwave ovens are limited to only certain cookware and bakeware materials, so that becomes a moot point.
 
Forty years into The Induction Era, and Frigidaire is the only brand with an MSRP of less than two or three grand.  With some states considering bans on gas appliances in new homes, now's the time for the rest of the biz to jump on board.

[this post was last edited: 10/17/2021-09:47]

 

[combo52]

Microwave ovens came out in 1955

And because they were only built-in and used 240 volts and cost $1,500 they never sold well till counter-top models started to appear in the later 60s that did not need to be built-in and operated on 120 volts and cost around $500.

 

Induction never sold well because the appliance manufactures really only sold BI CTs that needed 240 volts, consumers were not that interested in investing in something that expensive that had to be built in.

 

Only Roper in the late 70s sold a 30" free standing induction range and Sears also sold one briefly around 1986-7, both of these sold for around $1000 at the time.

 

I blame appliance manufactures for the slow roll out of induction cooking in this country, I do however feel that it will eventually be the best selling type of range in this country in about 10-20 years, Electric ranges already out sell gas ranges 3 to 1 in the US so the change to induction is easy for most homes.

 

There is no reason an induction range needs to cost more than about $200 more that a standard smooth-top range.

 

Reliability of induction is still unknown, my Sanyo built 1987 KM induction has never missed a beat so it probably did better than even a standard electric CT considering how much it has been used.

 

We have seen some big repair costs on a hand full of newer induction CTs and ranges, I had one customer on Capital Hill last year whose 4 YO Frigidaire induction range blew a main board and the repair cost was going to be around $700 so he just bought another FD induction because He absolutely loved it and would never go back to gas he said.

 

John L.