Costco has a small number of commercial stores aimed at supplying convenience stores, delis and restaurants. The kitchen equipment section is like a toy store. One of them is near our condo. They always have one or two commercial grade induction burners in stock. With Costco's guarantee policy, the brand does not matter as much. I intend to buy one their soon.
Joel, you did not upset me. In fact, I appreciate you explaining the need for a 10% setting.
In case anyone reading this thread is interested in induction burners, I spent some time this morning (it's raining here) looking at the huge proliferation of devices on the market in the ~2 yrs since we bought ours. Since the price range is ~$60-500 on Amazon I was curious as to what you get for more $$.
Since most induction burners can operate in either a power control or a temperature control mode, there are two different design approaches that can be used.
It appears that the least expensive design approach is to have the power control cover a range like 40-100% of maximum; if slower cooking is desired then the burner is used in a temperature control mode. Like many microwave ovens, lower temperatures are then achieved by repeatedly turning the power on and off. There's nothing wrong with this, but it does subject the food being cooked to hotter than desired temperatures in order to create an average.
The alternative design approach is to make the power control be capable of reducing power to the ~10% level while also still providing a temperature control mode. That way food can be simmered with a continuous application of low power so the cooking temperature stays virtually constant rather than cycling.
The remainder of the price range variance appears be the result of things like packaging differences with so-called professional models mostly having metal and ceramic vs plastic enclosures. Interestingly enough, additional features like timers are inconsistent throughout the price range. Our $200 Circulon has a 9 hour timer which is great for slow cooking; but some "professional" models at twice the price don't appear to have any timers at all (probably not needed for professional use).
This is probably more information that most of you ever wanted to know, but I am enough of a technology geek to have found the exercise fun. What I thought was very interesting is that one of the most widely sold brands, Max Burton, uses as design which doesn't reduce power below 500W even in its ~$200 pro models. So unless you read the specs carefully more $$ doesn't always mean a better unit.
Joel
