For years now Induction cooking has been popular in both Europe and Asia. It has taken some time to catch on here in the United States, mostly because consumers are unaware of the potential benefits compared to traditional cooking methods. One of the main benefits, and the topic I will discuss, is its energy efficiency compared to gas cooking. Most people would imagine that gas cooking would be more efficient than electric, given the price of gas versus the price of electric here in the US. Gas is generally less expensive and therefore would be perceived to be the most economically efficient. In reality, induction is far more efficient than gas by design.
Induction is unique as it uses electromagnetic energy to directly heat cookware. In comparison, gas cooktops heat indirectly, using a burner to heat cookware from underneath passing radiant energy onto your food. Instead of using burners underneath your cookware, induction uses a series of magnets that excite the atoms of your cookware, generating heat. As you can imagine, it's far more efficient to heat cookware directly than indirectly. By cutting out the middleman, induction ranges can boil two quarts of water in less than 5 minutes or less. A gas stove will take around 8 minutes to do the same. Induction delivers around 80 to 90 percent of its electromagnetic energy to the food in the pan, compared to gas which converts around 38 percent of its energy. This means that induction cooktops not only heat up faster, but their temperature controls are much more precise.
Rarely discussed is the lack of excess heat created by induction cooking. Traditional gas and electric ranges heat up the air around the pan, losing up to half their heat to the surrounding environment. In summer months, this can mean having to crank up the air conditioning when you’re cooking. This isn’t the case with induction, where all the heat is transferred directly to the pot and almost no ambient heat is created.
Knowing and understanding the benefits of induction cooking are very important when deciding on which cooking method is right for you and your family. If you still wonder what it’s like to cook with induction technology, Don’s Appliances has both gas and induction cooktops set up live in our Experience Center in Robinson for you to try out. Feel free to stop in and see for yourself what you might be missing.