My induction stove sat unused for a few days while I slogged through the owner’s manual. The technobabble and dire warnings convinced me that I’d break it on the first try. It was after a friend literally showed me how to boil water that I felt confident about using it. (To boil water, put a pot of water on the element, turn the element on, wait.) 

Induction wasn’t my first choice. I was moving to a place with a high-end gas stove and down-draft vent system. It turned out that both needed expensive repairs; if I replaced them I’d at least have a warranty.  

I decided to switch to electric but I wanted a stove with solid disk elements. Well, they’re rare in North America. I considered getting coil elements and swapping them out for solid disks, but again, they’re rare.

I’d been planning to buy a portable induction element, so I made the leap to an induction stove. I read reviews and compared prices, and chose the Frigidaire Gallery slide-in induction range with knob controls. Overall, I’m quite pleased with it. 

Induction has the same responsiveness as gas: tweak the power, cooking perks up or slows; turn the power off, cooking stops immediately. Induction is a bit more energy efficient. Pots heat up faster, water comes to a boil faster, the heat is consistent, even at a low simmer.

Cookware has to be magnetic to work on an induction element. Most stainless steel and cast iron cookware will work. Pyrex, aluminum, and copper won’t. My cookware is 20 years old and it works. If a fridge magnet sticks to the bottom of a pot, it will work.

To quote the owner’s manual: “When purchasing pans for use on the induction cooktop, look for cookware specifically identified by the manufacturer as induction ready, induction capable, or a similar statement by the manufacturer that the cookware is specifically designed for induction cooking.” My translation: look for cookware that has a coil induction symbol stamped on the bottom or that is labeled induction-compatible.

Pans must have a flat bottom, but just about all cookware has a flat bottom. If a pan is warped it might not work.

Pans should also have smooth bottoms; it’s nothing to do with magnetic properties. It’s that the ceramic cooktop might get scratched by a manufacturer’s stamp or by “rough or dirty bottoms.” Just so you know, there’s no place for dirty bottoms in my kitchen!

I don’t like how the fans are set up on the stove. Fans run automatically to cool the electronics under the cooktop, similar to a laptop. The fans vent at the front of the stove, so while I’m cooking, cool air constantly blows at my midsection. With a drop-in cooktop, the fans vent into the cabinet below. Next time.

Induction is being called an evolutionary step in cooking technology. It sounds futuristic. But at the end of the day, it’s a stove. You cook on it.