General Boards > Redecorating and Updating your Motorhome
New Induction Cooktops
Joel Weiss:
--- Quote from: Joel Ashley on July 31, 2015, 01:32:19 AM ---
Given it sounds like the one I linked does relatively well, and is apparently much faster than what we're used to with electric coil or gas generally, it would come down to whether I thought the extra 200 watts was really worth whatever cost it meant - if it meant a couple minutes saved getting to a boiling point, how do I judge that in dollars.
--- End quote ---
It's actually a total myth that these burners are "fantastically fast" when it comes to basic tasks like boiling water. Boiling water takes energy, in fact it takes 1 calorie to raise one gram of water 1 degree C, plus to get it to change from water at 100C to water vapor at 100C one also has to add the heat of vaporization.
Rather than go through all the math, suffice it to say that my 1500W induction burner is slightly slower than the 9,000 BTU/hr burner on my propane cooktop if one takes into account the amount of heat delivered and the fact that a gas flame is only 60-70% efficient in coupling its energy to a pot.
I did the full calculations once in response to a post on another forum where someone was complaining how long it took to boil water with his new induction burner. From reading posts on RV forums he had gotten the impression that it can boil a few quarts of water in a matter of a minute or two--it can't. That's why I say that, for us, the most important thing an induction burner can do is simmer or even slow cook, if it is well designed and can do those functions properly.
I hadn't realized that some burners can't simmer well until we were parked next to a couple who had the True Induction two-burner unit in their new Tiffin MH. They swore that it was useless for simmering because it would scorch the food no matter how low they set it. The reason for this is that most burners pulse the unit 100% on for a brief interval in order to simulate reduced power. If the amount of "on time" is too long the heat won't be able to absorb fast enough and the bottom of the pot will heat enough to burn what you are cooking. This same issue can be found in less expensive microwave ovens when they operate at reduced power.
Joel Ashley:
Thanks for the info. I'll have to review the one I was considering to get an idea of its simmering abilities, although I thought that was a parameter I covered at the time.
Joel A.
Robert Wagner:
Ok just went to Amazon and looked at that one. It looks like it's flat and not portable.
Also how noisey are they? Hearing aides are very sensitive to background noise.
Joel Ashley:
If you want an idea of what NOT to buy, check some owner reviews of the Nuwave that's pushed in infomercials.
Joel Weiss:
--- Quote from: Robert Wagner on August 10, 2015, 04:26:49 PM ---Ok just went to Amazon and looked at that one. It looks like it's flat and not portable.
Also how noisey are they? Hearing aides are very sensitive to background noise.
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If the one you are looking at is "flat and not portable" then presumably you are looking at one intended for mounting in a hole in the counter. Even though all of them are pretty quiet (the only thing you should hear is the cooling fan), having it hanging beneath the counter should further muffle the noise.
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