The difference of induction cooking:
In induction cooking, it is the pot that heats up and not the cook top itself. This ensures that the time taken to heat the pot’s contents is reduced considerably. On the contrary, in a traditional gas burner, energy is spent on conversion to heat and then heat is conducted to the pot. If there is no pot on the induction stove, the cook top will be cool to touch.
Special utensil requirements of induction cooking:
Pots used with such stoves need to be ferromagnetic coated. Cookware that is made of glass, aluminum, and stainless steel are not suitable for these stoves. This is because these materials are electrical insulators and no current can flow through these pots; hence, no heat can be generated.
The benefit of induction cooking:
The benefit of using an induction stove is that there is no radiant heat generated in the process, making cooking a more pleasurable experience and therefore reduces the cost of cooling the kitchen. The fact that there is no open flame also reduces the chances of accidents. Also, food that accidentally spills onto the cook top will not burn and hence, it is very easy to clean this stove. The ceramic glass tops used on induction stoves can often resist high temperatures up to 537 °C. The cooking surface is a good thermal insulator and reduces the loss of energy that might occur when the pot transfers heat to the cooking surface.
Energy efficiency in induction stoves:
Induction stoves are extremely energy efficient as the entire energy is transferred to the pot and nothing is lost to the surroundings. Another energy saving feature of such stoves is that some models can automatically turn off when the pot is removed from the stove. This is because the heat is generated from an electric current induced from a coil and the range can detect a voltage drop, which is caused by the drop in resistance to the current caused when the contact of the pot is broken when lifted off the stove.
