Replacing ceramic hob for induction - basic questions

[rupertcacatua]

Have you actually used yet an IH? They are a MArmite appliance if you get my comparison.

Have not tried it and I'm on the fence about it v gas. Watched lots of vids, articles, I'm aware of the benefits, etc, still, to me going for it v gas will be mainly a matter of managing the risk of gas being banned in future (as they say they might due to climate control), not a matter of preference over the gas cooking experience...

 

[Midwest]

I’ve moved to a property, that’s all electric cooking. We have a ceramic hob, whereas we use to have gas hob. Electric bill has gone up several fold. I read that induction hobs are 50% more efficient, and recent developments make them more user friendly.

 

[marconi]

I am an avid Speccie reader. In the Feb 19 edition was this interesting article. I am not sending you it to put you off buying an IH, after all they do not all function and perform in the same way and like most good technology over time is perfected. I expect the IH will be 'gas-like' anyway once you are used to it. I have only used the IH a couple of times on cookery courses and was not familiar with the technology and way it heated and so struggled with it. By nature I like simple, tried and tested technology which has been perfected so I tend to be a late-adopter to new stuff such as IHs.

Gas vs inductions hobs: is there any competition? | The Spectator - https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/02/gas-vs-inductions-hobs-is-there-any-competition/

 

[Zerax]

I've used all types of hob over the years... without a doubt gas is easier, cheaper, more controllable, more versatile and better in most ways. However if you don't have gas... then Induction is the closest... But if I had gas where I live right now.... I'd put a gas hob in within a week ! The only thing I'd miss I think... is the easy wipe clean surface !

 

[rupertcacatua]

Does the entire pan need to be ferromagnetic or just its base? Is it better if the entire pan is ferromagnetic or will it not matter because the sides will never be heated directly by the hob anyway (only the base will)?

 

[Midwest]

Does the entire pan need to be ferromagnetic or just its base? Is it better if the entire pan is ferromagnetic or will it not matter because the sides will never be heated directly by the hob anyway (only the base will)?

Dunno, but I would guess yes, just the base, whatever ferromagnetic is.

 

[Dan]

I think my old pans (don't have one of those hobs anymore they did my head in!) only had the weird base, not the whole pan was detected. Because if I didn't have the pan just right, it'd pretend to boil my spuds and make me think my tea was nearly ready, but in fact the little blighters were stone cold and rock hard.

So I'm thinking just the pan, or at least on mine. I bet somebody has made better ones now. But it's put me off for life.

Can't beat fire when it comes to man-cooking eh?!

 

[Zerax]

Does the entire pan need to be ferromagnetic or just its base? Is it better if the entire pan is ferromagnetic or will it not matter because the sides will never be heated directly by the hob anyway (only the base will)?

Just the base needs to be... but the best pans to used are cast iron ones... they work really well ! I have a few aluminium pans that have had like a ferro-magnetic matrix inserted into the base... they work well too...

 

[marconi]

Look for this marking:

You can test the base of a pan with a magnet to see if it is ferromagnetic. Do not use pure copper, aluminium or tin pans. Using the wrong pan may damage the hob position.

There is actually quite a lot of interesting physics to 'optimise' for a pan to be good for an IH hob; frequency, skin depth, size, base thickness, permeability, hysteresis, eddy currents and their flux patterns, Joule heating, skin resistance........

If you are interested read this link or if busy just the 'cookware' section:
Induction cooking - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooking

 

[rupertcacatua]

Look for this marking: View attachment 52925

You can test the base of a pan with a magnet to see if it is ferromagnetic. Do not use pure copper, aluminium or tin pans. Using the wrong pan may damage the hob position.

There is actually quite a lot of interesting physics to 'optimise' for a pan to be good for an IH hob; frequency, skin depth, size, base thickness, permeability, hysteresis, eddy currents and their flux patterns, Joule heating, skin resistance........

If you are interested read this link or if busy just the 'cookware' section:
Induction cooking - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooking

Super interesting. Basically paramagnetic metals (Al, Cu) offer less resistance to the induced current thus producing no/less heat whereas Fe based ferromagnetic materials are not great conductors and thus, offer great resistance, thereby heating up! Still, my question was specific about whether a fully magnetic vessel will heat up better than a base-only magnetic vessel. Can't find an answer to that...I guess fully magnetic will be better but not sure the IH plate "cares" about more than the base of the vessel...