Finally something I can comment on, as I like to cook, and I upgraded to induction about a year ago.

Upside: It's like cooking with gas, without the risk of fire. It looks slick. If you get a good and powerful model, the install footprint is small and cooking on it is very reproducable... (setting 7 on burner 3 with this pan is always the same). You can also get maintain lower temperatures than you can with other stovetops, negating the need in some cases for a double-boiler and making it easy to keep food warm - there are a plethora of other technical coolies too - like how as soon as I lift up the pan to dump the pasta, the power to the element shuts of. It's more efficient. The cat can walk on it and even though he hits the buttons, he can't turn it on - elements are reactive, they won't activate if they don't sense enough ferrous material above them.

Downside: It's ceramic. Don't drop stuff on it. Downside: It's ceramic, if you like to sautee stuff by lifting up the pan and/or sliding the pan around, it will just scratch up your cooktop.

A professional restaurant, for this reason, would probably benefit from both gas and induction at the same time.

Do not confuse "induction cooking" with "cooking by induction." The latter often goes something like, "well, you cooked dinner last night..."

I didn't realise they still make non-induction stoves. I haven't heard that anyone that I know of has bought an old-tech electric cooktop in the past five years. But this is scandinavia, so I guess it's like living in the future.

Here in Belgium & the Netherlands all new kitchens in the medium to upper price class (read: non-rentals) are sold with induction plates, too. I love ours, perfect control over pot/pan temperature, warms up really quick, cools down very fast too, easy to clean.

That was my reaction too, I'm from Scandinavia as well.

Most stovetops I've seen in apartments here in NYC are gas, with the occasional electric heating element.

Most down in North Carolina are all-electric - or were, when I lived down there several years ago.

Between induction stovetops and insanely wide bandwidth pipes there in Scandinavia, it pretty much is the future compared to much of the US :)

It's all fun and games until somebody sticks their hand in the field while wearing a steel watch.

Actually, I have an RFID tag implanted in my hand, and I was rather worried that it would blow up or something when I would put my hand on our stove. Turns out it's no problem at all, I have tried everything possible to get a tag to explode, break, get warm or even just stop working, but I haven't been able to find a way.

Stupid question, why do you have an RFID tag in your hand?

Mostly for the body hack value of it, at this moment I only use it to log on to my computer. There's a book out there ('RFID toys') that describes how it could be used to unlock/start a car or unlock a door. Maybe if I ever have a spare weekend or two (heh) I'll make something like a 'hidden' safe, a seemingly normal wall that springs open when I wave my hand past it. Maybe put a gun safe in there or something. If I ever build another house for myself I will try to put some hidden areas like that in it.

Overall and right now it's of limited practical value. Still makes for a cool story and discussion starter on transhumanism.

Very difficult to do - the induction element won't start until a significant (pan-sized) amount of ferrous material is very close to the cooktop, and shuts off the moment it's lifted away - there isn't enough room to get your wrist in there - and it's doubtful that your watch by itself, even if it was made of iron, would be enough to trigger the sensors on the element and let the element turn on..

Safety features and all that - they thought of that already.

Rings, watches - all safe.

It's just as if you'd have your hand hover over a normal hot plate when messing around at the stove. Things get warmer gradually, you notice it at once, and you pull your hand away.

I'd like to nomminate the article for the "stupid metaphor of the year" award, though. I mean, why would I want to by a stove that only allows me to cook meels tested and approved by as well as procured through the stove manufactuer? Or what is the character sequence "iPad of the kitchen" meant to signify?

Ugh, I hate induction for cooking. We have one at home (UK) and it is a pain - you have to be on the ball all the time when making a meal.

I prefer gas or standard electric hobs personally; more fine grained control and actually a little more predictable in my experience.

Can you explain why you have to be on the ball all the time?

It heats faster for one thing - I used to be able flick on the gas at my Uni flat and dump something into it then get distracted for a few minutes chopping/cutting etc.

That implies either you have it turned up too high for the task at hand (finer control is one benefit of induction - maybe your unit is really cheap?) - and possibly that it's way overpowered for the typical use you use it for.

They aren't really much faster than gas - just a lot more energy efficient... I know mine is faster than previous gas stoves that I purchased, but I also went out of the way to make sure I had high-powered elements because I hate waiting .

If it's so fast - why wouldn't you just turn it on after you chop everything? No need to pre-heat when things heat up so fast....

> why wouldn't you just turn it on after you chop everything? No need to pre-heat when things heat up so fast....

We'll that's an essay in itself - it's quite an inefficient way to cook, I went through a stage a while back where I quite religiously prepped everything before beginning to cook a meal. Not fun.

> They aren't really much faster than gas

Example: I find doing sauces a lot easier on gas (particularly things like white sauce or gravy) because the heating is generally a lot slower and more gradual. It is a pain with induction having to tweak up the heat every few minutes to make sure it doesn't heat too fast.

Control with gas is as granular as induction I would say (we had an electric hob a few years ago that had a dial - but only 4 actual settings...)

I personally find our induction hob heats faster than gas - could just be particular circumstances though.

Can you use cast iron on an induction stovetop?

tl;dr? Yes. The article indicates even enameled cast iron works well.

You can use pretty much any ferromagnetic metal. Iron and iron-based alloys work the best, and enamel, non-stick etc. makes no difference. The thickness of cast iron isn't a problem either; you'd have to use a lot thicker cookware than cast iron goods before the magnetic field of the induction coils would have problems reaching the entire metal body.

Have been using for 1.5 years and never thought about it as some future technology…

Interesting fact: induction heater plates are pretty much standard here today in Sweden when buying a new kitchen - you just won't find any kitchen appliance reseller in the country featuring the normal conductive hot plate stove as the major presence in their full kitchen kits. Conductive hot plate stoves are still the standard presence in normal rental apartments, though.