Induction, baby!

[henene4]

The EU had a massive drop in pricing for induction over the past 15 years or so.
You can get a 4 unit cooktop with decent performance as low as 200€ now.
Compared to twice that approximately 8 years or so.

Main reason it took so long for induction to come down in price is semiconductor technology.
The switching power supplies in induction cookers need quite high performance semiconductor technology to be efficient.
That didn't become cheap until semiconductor technology advanced.

Microwaves got cheap because radar technology became cheap in the same time.
Same here.

Now why they don't aim at the low end market I don't know.

On the topic of makeing certain cookware obsolete, I don't know if it is as large of a problem.

My mum had 1 single dish she no longer could use, and that was only used for reheating anyways.

And if there is a dish that you can't use by itself, using an adapter plate basically just turns your induction cooktop into a regular cooktop temporarily.
So not really a downgrade either.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The seventies were a terrible time economically for our country and the world. Yes, microwave cooking made gains, but a lot of businesses did not do well with the inflation and recession "Stagflation" brought on by the oil shock to the economy. Induction was not a needed cooking technology. It did not give us 40 second hot dogs like a microwave cooker. Then we went into the 80s where Yuppies had to have huge commercial gas stoves in their kitchens and a ceiling full of Calphalon so it was hard to find a market for induction.

 

[petek]

1984 sears

1984 Sears Fall Winter Catalog, Page 1025 - Catalogs & Wishbooks

1984 Sears Fall Winter Catalog, Page 1025

christmas.musetechnical.com

 

[joeekaitis]

Love those Sears catalog listings . . .

 

. . . and the tried 'n' true adjectives like revolutionary, outstanding, kitchen-tested, special and unique.

 

 

[joeekaitis]

"Didn't I say we should wait a few years . . .

 

. . . and see if prices come down?  DIDN'T I?!"

1989 Sears Home Annual Catalog, Page 1052 - Catalogs & Wishbooks

1989 Sears Home Annual Catalog, Page 1052

christmas.musetechnical.com

 

[warmsecondrinse]

A friend got offered an induction hotplate and became a convert in that induction's the only electric cooking he'll pay his own money for. I tried it a few times and now think the same. When I design my own kitchen with 36" high counters I'll have 2 gas burners that work during a power failure and two inductions burners.

 

[iej]

@Turbomatic:

Induction technology was possible in the 1970s / 80s and companies like De Dietrich sold induction appliances, but they were E X P E N S I V E and very niche because the technology required to make fast oscillating currents was complex and very pricy.

The same kind of chip-based solid state technologies that provide modern washing machines with infinite variable speed drives (by changing frequency of power) at reasonable price are quite similar to what provide induction cooktops / hobs with the high frequencies they need to produce fields.

The ubiquity of induction in the 2000s is entirely down to that. The technology is practical and much cheaper to produce due to a major break through in solid state, semiconductor technologies.

 

[joeekaitis]

Price update:

 

Thursday 10/21/21:

Still on sale at Lowe's and Best Buy.

 

That is all.

 

KEEP CALM

and

USE POWER BOOST

WHEN NEEDED

 

[joeekaitis]

Price update:

 

Thursday 10/28/21:

 

Seems Lowe's and Home Depot are leveraging their ability to deliver well before Thanksgiving and have raised the price to $1,259.00.  Best Buy is still $999.00 but around here (Riverside/San Bernardino counties), it won't get to the kitchen until the end of November.

 

[this post was last edited: 10/28/2021-08:43]

 

[petek]

THe price for it also went up at Lowes here in Canada.. It used to be about $1400 CDN but on sale for less. Now it's $1695 reg price. THe same stove is sold at IKEA here for $1199. https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/tvaersaeker-range-with-induction-cooktop-stainless-steel-80462172/

https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/tvaersaeker-range-with-induction-cooktop-stainless-steel-80462172/

 

[joeekaitis]

This just in:

 

Lowe's price is "too low to show, add item to cart to see it."

 

$999.00

 

[henene4]

IKEA

If it is the exact same thing, it should be a good deal since it includes a 5 year warranty.

US IKEA has the same offer:

TVÄRSÄKER range with induction cooktop, Stainless steel - IKEA US

TVÄRSÄKER range with induction cooktop, Stainless steel With both induction and fan-forced convection you have an efficient appliance that saves energy and helps you cook to perfection. The cooktop heats quickly and the smooth surface is easy to clean.

www.ikea.com

 

[joeekaitis]

 

IKEA model lacks Air Fry.  Otherwise, identical.

 

[petek]

I air-fry in my GE just using the convection setting and a 9x13 ish wire basket to lay the food one. Frozen fries in 17 minutes with no preheating.. What exactly does the Frigidaire air fryer actually do that the IKEA might not?

Actually hubby wanted one of those new air fryers because he was visiting his friend last month in Nova Scotia who had one.. So we have one of them now and I've been using it for fries and things. It takes about the same amount of time. I'll continue using it over the oven because it's probaby less expensive to operate and it may help in saving my stove not wearing out or going wonky .

 

[joeekaitis]

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.

 

Mocked up a white one.  Stylistically, it works.  Emailed the suggestion to Frigidaire.  Now let's see if they use THEIR Frigidaire.


 

 

[joeekaitis]

Quick price update:

 

Under a thousand dollars at both Home Depot and Lowe's with delivery in time to make Thanksgiving dinner.

 

[fisherpaykel]

Air Fry. versus Convection on Frigidaire induction stove

Hi Joe would you please do a test listen to find out if Air fry has a higher fan speed than convection bake. My 10 year old this month Electrolux slide in induction stove , purchased at Sears outlet as customer used return for 1/3 reg price, has a higher fan speed for convection roast and convection broil. They didn’t use the AirFry term back then. As an alternative to cooking on a paper towel you could cut from a cheap solid colour silicone baking sheet three small circles or other shapes to arrange as a tripod over perimeter of each burner to avoid pot movement and scratches on the ceramic glass top, I learned this from poster “Kaseki “ on ths.gardenweb/ now Houzz, works great and one sheet gives lifetime replacement supply as they eventually darken and scorch, they also keep the glass top cooler from the hot pot. Are you finding the cooktop performance totally to your liking? I agree that Frigidaire should be thanked and supported for bringing induction stoves to lower price point. I wouldn’t have bought except for finding almost new at bargain price.

 

[sarahperdue]

And the truth comes out

Fascinating thread. I have to confess, that even with the options for mixing technology, I'm going to be sticking with the 30" 5 burner Thermador that John refurbished for me.

I had an induction hot plate for a while and wasn't completely wowed by it. That was around 2007.

However, I am open to new information. How do they compare efficiency wise? I suppose I could look that up myself.

Sarah

 

[tomturbomatic]

Hello Sarah!

I use two induction units, (3000 and 3500 watts) beside regular electric ranges for the reason of super efficient starts for cooking operations. I have never experienced difficulty controlling electric surface units, but forcing heat from a surface unit outside the pan is not as efficient as creating heat inside the pan itself, to say nothing of the speed of using a 3000 watt source of energy to create that heat inside of the pan or pot instead of a typical 1250 to 1600 watt 6 inch resistance heating element or up to a 3000 watt resistance unit for a larger pan. While the efficiency of an electric element is higher than a gas burner where the heat is rising up the sides of the pan, it is still less efficient to force heat into the bottom of a pan from a surface unit operating at full output than to create heat in the pan with an even more efficient energy source. This way, once a pan of frozen vegetables is boiling after just 2 to 4 minutes on the induction unit, it can be transferred to a classic Radiantube, Corox or Calrod set to low or simmer which also reduces stress on the older range parts. Most of the time, frying operations are just done on the resistance units. Because I use angel hair pasta, once the water is boiling on the induction unit, I add the pasta and turn down the heat because the pasta cooks in about 3 minutes. The pressure cookers come up to full pressure amazingly fast on induction, too. So there can be a role for for both methods. [this post was last edited: 11/6/2021-21:58]

 

[joeekaitis]

"Air Fry. versus Convection on Frigidaire induction"

 

In Air-Fry the fan runs at full speed from preheat to finish.  When finished, the instructions recommend turning off the oven and standing to one side when opening the oven door.  Ditto for cracking the oven to check doneness.  In any mode, the oven light door switch pauses the fan.  In convection baking, the fan runs slower and cycles off and on from time to time.

 

Boiling water on a napkin was just the mandatory parlor trick.  I baby my appliances.  Oh, and EuroKera's website says to use a metal scraper to remove that first layer of burned on stuff from radiant cooktops.