I guess we missed the pictures of that Miele hob?
Ducking and running!
Ducking and running!
Loving my new GE Café
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toploader55
Well-known member
Ah Hem .......
earthling177
Well-known member
Tom:
Thanks for that power table, now I understand a bit better what they were trying to do with the Electrolux free-standing range that I got.
It goes from Lo to 3 in 0.2 increments, 3-7 in 0.5 increments, 7, 8, 9, Hi and Power Boost (23 levels). It seemed weird to me, because in the tech specs they claim Lo is 3%, 3 is 10%, 5 is 21%, 6 is 38%, 7 is 45%, 8 is 54%, 9 is 64%, Hi is 100% and Power Boost is 123-133% depending on the burner.
It seems to me that they figured out most people will try to follow recipes and when the recipe says "medium" or "medium-high" people will want more or less the same heat output most ranges will provide, and whoever actually wants 2,000-3400W will simply choose Hi or PowerBoost and be done with it.
Initially I was also questioning the large increments once you pass 7 and the tiny increments under 3, but after 3 years or so with this range it seems to me that it has worked better than my friends' stovetops that have a more linear power distribution.
Hugs,
-- Paulo.
Thanks for that power table, now I understand a bit better what they were trying to do with the Electrolux free-standing range that I got.
It goes from Lo to 3 in 0.2 increments, 3-7 in 0.5 increments, 7, 8, 9, Hi and Power Boost (23 levels). It seemed weird to me, because in the tech specs they claim Lo is 3%, 3 is 10%, 5 is 21%, 6 is 38%, 7 is 45%, 8 is 54%, 9 is 64%, Hi is 100% and Power Boost is 123-133% depending on the burner.
It seems to me that they figured out most people will try to follow recipes and when the recipe says "medium" or "medium-high" people will want more or less the same heat output most ranges will provide, and whoever actually wants 2,000-3400W will simply choose Hi or PowerBoost and be done with it.
Initially I was also questioning the large increments once you pass 7 and the tiny increments under 3, but after 3 years or so with this range it seems to me that it has worked better than my friends' stovetops that have a more linear power distribution.
Hugs,
-- Paulo.
kb0nes
Well-known member
The silly thing is that the power control is all done in the digital world. The programmers could easily skew the software a bit to allow the user interface to represent the power levels in a more expected fashion. The way you describe this non-linear relationship would be poor affordance of design in my mind.
I used induction in Germany
My last years there and loved it. Had a little hob to run the one or two pots which didn't work with induction. The best part of induction is that it takes you back to the days of cooking with gas. Instant high heat. There when you need it and gone just as quickly when you don't.
Induction cooktops are also the only ones I've ever used with sensors that actually work well in the low (milk sauces) range. Congratulations!
My last years there and loved it. Had a little hob to run the one or two pots which didn't work with induction. The best part of induction is that it takes you back to the days of cooking with gas. Instant high heat. There when you need it and gone just as quickly when you don't.
Induction cooktops are also the only ones I've ever used with sensors that actually work well in the low (milk sauces) range. Congratulations!
earthling177
Well-known member
Phil:
Maybe I did not express myself properly. I'll try again.
From the user's perspective, there's a pad (On/Off) to flip the power to the burner, then a LED with two characters, and three pads: Hi/+, Med, Lo/-. You turn on the burner, and press either of the 3 pads and you are taken straight to PowerBoost (Pb), Med (5) or Lo. After that first press, Med continues to take you to 5 at all times, but the other two pads become + or - to raise or lower the power.
If you cycle thru the power, what you see is Lo, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6... until your reach 3.0, then 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 etc until you reach 7, then if you press + you see 8, 9 or Hi.
It's more or less like a rotary knob on a standard electric burner, except that you use +/- to go up and down and you see the numbers on the display.
Behind the scenes, it does what you suggested, which is, the controller offers more gradations on the lower power range than on the top. It seems to work relatively well, I rarely miss an intermediate step between 7 and Hi, and I always find a convenient setting to keep food just at the melting point of butter or chocolate, for example, without burning. It's easy to bring a pressure cooker to operating pressure/temp and then find a setting that keeps it there without cycling up/down.
What I did not know is why they did not make the power linear with the numbers instead of the strange curve they picked. If they are trying to behave more or less like the old 5 step burners for people following recipes, it kinda makes some sense. Also, I had no idea the power curve is what it is until I looked at the tech sheets.
For what's worth, I never actually measured the power in a burner with infinite heat knob. For all I know, they cycle linearly (7 is 70% of the time on) but the effective power might be 50% like Tom says Med-Hi should be, I dunno?
In any case, yes, I agree with you the affordances are suboptimal, a knob or a control more like what Jon showed here from the Café is better.
Maybe I did not express myself properly. I'll try again.
From the user's perspective, there's a pad (On/Off) to flip the power to the burner, then a LED with two characters, and three pads: Hi/+, Med, Lo/-. You turn on the burner, and press either of the 3 pads and you are taken straight to PowerBoost (Pb), Med (5) or Lo. After that first press, Med continues to take you to 5 at all times, but the other two pads become + or - to raise or lower the power.
If you cycle thru the power, what you see is Lo, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6... until your reach 3.0, then 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 etc until you reach 7, then if you press + you see 8, 9 or Hi.
It's more or less like a rotary knob on a standard electric burner, except that you use +/- to go up and down and you see the numbers on the display.
Behind the scenes, it does what you suggested, which is, the controller offers more gradations on the lower power range than on the top. It seems to work relatively well, I rarely miss an intermediate step between 7 and Hi, and I always find a convenient setting to keep food just at the melting point of butter or chocolate, for example, without burning. It's easy to bring a pressure cooker to operating pressure/temp and then find a setting that keeps it there without cycling up/down.
What I did not know is why they did not make the power linear with the numbers instead of the strange curve they picked. If they are trying to behave more or less like the old 5 step burners for people following recipes, it kinda makes some sense. Also, I had no idea the power curve is what it is until I looked at the tech sheets.
For what's worth, I never actually measured the power in a burner with infinite heat knob. For all I know, they cycle linearly (7 is 70% of the time on) but the effective power might be 50% like Tom says Med-Hi should be, I dunno?
In any case, yes, I agree with you the affordances are suboptimal, a knob or a control more like what Jon showed here from the Café is better.
toploader55
Well-known member
Immer Besser.
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