What is this site?
This site aims to be an introduction to induction cooktops. (Being originally English I am more used to saying stoves or hobs. I live in the US now and so will stick with cooktop to describe the induction cooking equipment.) Induction cooking is not a new technology, it has actually been in use a while. However it has been too expensive for widespread use in residential kitchens. As with any innovation, the technology involved in induction cooking equipment will get cheaper and it is reasonable to expect it to show up more and more in residential kitchens.
Why investigate induction cooktops?
Simply put induction cooking is one of the most effecient and safest ways of heating a pan of food on top of the cooktop. If statements elsewhere on the web are to be believed, people who have used it say it is simply the best cooking equipment bar none.
What, you haven't used it?
No, I have never used an induction cooktop. I am putting this site together as I investigate whether to include one in my kitchen. I hope that in doing so this site is useful to you. I hope it helps to answer the same questions I had at the start - gas, conventional electric or induction cooking, which do I choose?
What is my experience? Am I a chef?
No, sorry not a chef so no recipe questions I am afraid. I do enjoy cooking though and have moved house countless times. As a result I have tried a wide variety of cooktops over time. These have varied from the old style electric coils, through a variety of gas ranges to more modern electric cooktops with ceramic glass technology. To date my favorite has been gas because of the instant nature of control and the fine degree of adjustment.
Why am I considering induction if my favorite is gas?
Two reasons - one is that I would have to have the gas supply hooked up - not impossible but a bit of a pain. Secondly, I heard that the cooktop can detect when cookware's contents boil by monitoring the voltage drop caused by resistance to the current. This creates possible additional functions, such as keeping a pot at minimal boil. Fantastic! With so many electric cookers I find that taking a pan of water from 'a roiling boil' down to 'just simmering' really frustrating. It requires too much back and forth on the controls, moving the pan aside while the cooktop cools down, putting it back before it gets too cool, notching the heat up again because I overdid it etc. You get the idea.
Who is Induction-Cooktop hosted with?
I use dreamhost (and if you click the link below you can sign up too).
Why use Dreamhost?
They have been great to me - the cost is reasonable, you get great bandwidth and space for the money, their website is easy to use and the support is fantastic. When you log something (which I have done twice in 6 months, spread between 4 web sites) you choose a priority from 1 (help, nothing works, get back to me NOW!) to 4 (not too urgent). Both times I put it at 3 - faily low priority - but despite this they got back to me really quickly with an answer whoich resolved the problems.
For full information on the two issues I had, read on: One issue was a database server which was getting overloaded and one of my sites was respoding a little slowly - they moved it to a new server seamlessly and without any fuss. The second issue was my fault entirely - during a session cleaning up login names and passwords I got a little too enthusiastic. The Dreamhost support team found and fixed the error I did not even realize I had created.
Why Else?
Simple - they are carbon neutral. Something we should all be considering.
