My Induction Stove: Pros, Cons and Real Talk
We purchased an induction stove a few months back. I cook on it three meals a day, and then some. This is an ongoing list of all the things I love, loathe, and am surprised by related to induction cooking.
For anyone induction curious, this is a page that talks about my experience using an induction stove. We purchased a Bertazzoni induction range in late 2023, and it seems like a lot of you have questions. I’m happy to relay my first person account as someone who is a serious home cook. I write cookbooks, test recipes professionally, and generally hit any stove (and kitchen!) pretty hard.
An Induction Stove: Why now?
I’ve cooked primarily on Viking ranges for the past fifteen years. Amongst other issues, we’ve always had trouble with the igniters related to the oven. Recently, our Viking gas range racked up more repair bills than it was worth, so we had a recycler come pick it up. We needed a replacement, and I figured it was as good a time as any to see if we liked induction.
As I write this, we're a couple months in, and I suppose the main question is, would we make the same purchase today? The answer is a very strong yes! The Bertazzoni and I have become easy friends. The jury is out on how it will hold up over time, but I am generally thrilled with the induction side of things. There are a few downsides though, so let’s talk though the details.
Induction Cooking: Some of the things I love!
I'll continue to add to this list as my experience cooking with induction develops over time. For now, these are my thoughts after about three months of daily cooking on this range. It has an induction stovetop and electric oven.
- Speed: The induction burners are wildly fast. I think of all the weeks of my life I’ve wasted standing around waiting for water to boil. Friends, I’m here to tell you, this alone is a game changer. So incredibly fast.
- Dreamy cleanup: My days of cleaning crumbs and spills out of the cracks in my stovetop are over. A few gentle swipes with a soft sponge is usually all it takes to get things back to looking new.
- Breathe easier: Induction seems to translate to better air quality in the kitchen when compared to gas. I could see it when running our air filter in the kitchen while cooking with gas. The air filter would signal a drop in air quality. I’m not seeing the same drop with induction. If you search for “induction better air quality in your home” you can read more about this from a number of sources.
- Steady simmer: The induction burners pass the low, low simmer test. I often have something going at a low simmer (for ex: this ragù or soup). One of my pet peeves is gas burners often cut out, or, don’t allow for a true low simmer. The induction here gives real nuanced degrees of control in the low range.
- Good oven modes: Specific to the Bertazzoni, the oven modes on it are great. They include a “bottom bake” and “top bake” mode. So, for example, if a pie you’re baking is getting a little dark on top, you can switch to “bottom bake” mode and that takes some of the intensity off the top of the pie. No official “proof” mode on mine but the oven light works nicely for keeping dough cozy.
- Durable: Also related to the Bertazzoni. We’ll see over time, but short-term indications are strong. While baking sourdough I accidentally bounced the hot cast iron lid of my dutch oven off the oven door glass. Miraculously it didn’t shatter.
Things I Don’t Love about My Induction Stove:
You can see the Bertazzoni being installed up above. I was genuinely nervous about swapping out the gas range. I absolutely count on having reliable cooking appliances in my kitchen, so anytime there's a shake up I cross all my fingers and toes. In this case, we fired it up, and this beauty has been going hard in the months since. That said, here are a few of the things I'm putting in the negative column.
- Focused burner intensity: The heat from each “burner” is intense and very focused, particularly at higher settings. If you remember those old-school cigarette lighters, the ones they used to have in cars, the intensity reminds me of that. Like, if you burned something with one of those lighters it was a perfect circle burn. So, in this case if you walk away with something in a skillet wider than the burner heating element, you run the risk of scorching/burning the ingredients onto the pan exactly where the heating element is. It’s just something I need to be more mindful of.
- 220v: We had to put in 220v power to enable this range. So, an added expense here. To be fair, this isn’t necessarily an issue specific to induction, we’ve had to run 220v to another gas/electric range in the past. It’s just an expense you should be aware of when you’re looking at new stoves.
- Bad popcorn: Related to the above note. I still haven’t cracked the code here. Even at settings 5 or 6 I’m burning part of the popcorn to the bottom of the pan.
- Cooking on glass. I have trouble keeping the pan on the glass. This is taking some getting used to. You need to keep your pans in direct contact with the stovetop or you lose the heat. I was used to being more physical with my pans while cooking, lifting them up, moving them around a lot, but cooking on induction has quieted things down a bit. Learning curve.
- Pots & Pans: I had to evaluate which pans could make the jump to induction, not all will work. I’ll do a separate post at some point related to the ones that have become go-tos. A preview: I haven’t loved using my largest All-Clad skillet on induction, but the All-Clad saucepan I bought is perfect. I’m enjoying the performance of a range of carbon steel pans with induction *and* they’re much less costly. More to come!
The verdict:
Let’s see where we are six months or a year in! I’m optimistic. I thought I’d miss cooking with fire more than I do. Thankfully, we do plenty of outdoor cooking over open flame up on the patio or when we’re camping - so this became a non-issue. Although it was the thing I was most nervous about!
Let me know if you have any specific questions related to induction stoves, cookware or anything I missed here.
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Comments
Loooooove induction! Living in the UK, I have a hob built into the countertop, with the oven being a separate appliance. Clean-up is so easy, I just spray it with vinegar and wipe it down every couple of days. Love that the stove itself doesn’t get hot, just whatever heat it gets from the pan. Love that I can set a timer for each burner and it’ll turn itself off when it’s done. Boiling water takes a minute. I’ve learned to stir rice for the minute it takes its water to boil or the rice can burn — but then just cover and set on 2, and maybe set a timer. Polenta or bechamel takes about 5mins — just mix everything up cold with a whisk, put it on a hot 7/8/9 burner and whisk continuously until it thickens. Melting chocolate is so easy, the 1 setting is perfectly gentle (and I have lower temp “keep warm” options if I need them). Love that my hob has a “pause” button that temporarily suspends cooking, sometimes you just need a little more time to finish chopping the next ingredient. I cook with gas when I visit family, and it is sooo slow, harder to control, and much harder to clean if there’s a spill.
We've heard complaints about the sound of the Bertazzoni oven fan. Do you find it to be loud, and that it continues to run until the oven is cool?
Hi Kam - I'm listening to it right now! It's definitely audible, and it does continue sometimes after you've turned off the oven. But, I don't know, it doesn't bother me. I can see it being an issue for some though.
It appears that I am alone here, but we installed a Jenn-Air induction cooktop in 2020. We previously had gas. Hated it and thankfully was able to exchange it back for gas after several weeks. I really love the tactile feel of cooking with gas. Even though we have All Clad cookware, the low buzzing of the induction drove me crazy and the pets ran from the room. It felt fussy to require cooktop protectors to prevent scratches and keep my pans from moving around. I was really looking forward to the safety features, the low simmer improvements, etc. but I couldn't get over the frustrations.
Hi April! Yeah - the humming takes a minute to get used to. And I totally understand the tactility you refer to related to cooking with gas. Also, there's no way I'm going to fuss around with cooktop protectors - so, that's one of the longterm things I'm curious about. I haven't seen any scratching, but that's a "to be determined" over here.
Your review / thoughts are very helpful. Would you share what model you purchased? I just went to the Bertazonni showroom in NJ. I’m in the throes of deciding what to replace my Viking gas range.
Hi Kate, the one I purchased was the 30-inch PRO304INMXV. Have them give you a full demo if they can. Then you can really see what it's like, and hear what it sounds like, etc.
So I've heard and experienced that a lot of induction stoves cycle on and off at the lowest temps, they can't maintain a low steady heat, and then you have your food bubble like crazy for 5 seconds, then just sit there, kind of like on a 70's coil stove. Is this solved in your higher-end model? Also. My freestanding induction burner, which heats water fast and can be moved outside, also makes a horrible squeal at higher settings. Is this just a cheapskate issue?
Hi Amanda - I haven't noticed either of those issues. I would recommend going into a couple of show rooms and requesting specific demos to address any issues you are concerned about. I found this to be very helpful when I was researching.
I miss having an induction cooktop. For popcorn, I used level 6 and also have a stainless steel Whirly-Pop. Near perfect every time.
I bought a Miele induction cooktop 10 years ago and love it!! I've had electric coil burners, electric smooth top burners, and gas. There is nothing about any of them that would make me want to give up induction. There's a very short learning curve and I found that I liked having heavy copper-core All Clad as my basic cookware. I also love my Le Creuset and carbon steel pans (I used paper towels under the carbon steel pans until the beeswax finally melted off). Really, you just use your pans exactly as you were always supposed to. Induction cooking is so chill. You don't have to act like it's some cooking version of rugby to alter the temperature of your pan--just calmly press the button and no one gets hurt. It's liberating to not have to constantly micromanage your flame and your pans. Maybe that scorched heating element thing is specific to the Bertazzoni--I've never had that happen. Perhaps the tendency to crank up the flame on a gas stove is something to specifically remember to not do with induction. Cleaning is indeed easy. Any spills that don't clean up with a sponge can be soften for a bit with water or cleaner and then carefully scraped off with a clean razor blade. And lastly one of the very best things of all is that your kitchen stays comfortable without all of that heat that thrown off by gas and other electric burners--total game changer for anyone who suffers from heat-related health issues or lives in a warmer climate, or if you just don't want to be sweating while cooking for friends and family.
Hi Heidi, thanks for this post! We are planning a kitchen renovation and are going to switch to induction. I recently chatted with an appliance repair person who told me that some models of induction stoves (KitchenAid, GE, etc) have a lot of circuit board failures, and he makes several visits a year to customers with those stoves to fix them. He recommended a Wolf or Viking induction range. I'm curious what kind of research you did leading up to purchasing the Bertazzoni, and if you've had to call an appliance repair person yet. Maintenance/repair is one of my concerns.
Hi Rachel - it's definitely a concern of mine as well. I talked to numerous people at different appliance places before purchasing. You might be able to ask how many units they've sold (of any brand you're considering), and ask about any maintenance issues related to those brands (how many problems exactly) before you buy. My advice is to talk to as many people as possible and cross your fingers.
All of my cook pans are Le Creuset enameled cast iron. Has anyone had experience using primarily this type & liked it?
Yep - I use a lot of enameled cast iron!
I enjoyed your review of induction. I got a GE induction cooktop about a year ago and I love it. Everything you say is true! I particularly like the fast water boil and low, low simmer. I only had to get rid of a couple of pans, and I'm thankful my ample cast-iron enamel cookware will work!
100% Vicki!
Safety feature if you forget to shut a burner off it does it very quickly. You have something go onto the stove it will not cook onto the top you can lift up the pan wipe the stove and carry on. Food will not burn in a pan if left as the stove senses it the pan is to hot and shuts the stove off l as a senior went with safety features and have had my induction stove since March 2021
Great post! I have a Thermidor induction cooktop and love it. We started off on the Ikea single induction hob (now $60) for a year which is a great way to test the waters for anyone curious. I wanted to pass along a tip in case anyone hasn't heard - I put a single layer of paper towels on top of the glass, the pans just sit on top of them. The paper won't burn since the majority of the heat is going into the pan & contents, the paper will only feel the heat of the outside of the pan on top. It makes for easy cleanup when frying or cooking something that splatters and makes moving pans around quieter. My stainless pans don't leave any marks but my cast iron gets the paper to be a little dry and toasted so I change it out every 2 weeks. Happy cooking!
Thanks for writing this up, Heidi! I’m in NYC where it’s still all gas in most pre-wars but I’ve been wanting to get a plug-in induction burner so I can get the hang of it and ultimately make the switch.
Deb! That's a great plan. We had a single burner floating around for a while, but for some reason it took going into a few different showrooms, and having them give me demos to get me excited about making the switch. That, and the air quality studies - yikes.Hit me up if you have any questions. xx!
Have had our induction stove for over 5 years, absolutely love it. One of the things you could try, is getting silicone covers for your burners. So your pants aren't scratching the top. We love to use cast iron. Kinda scary on glass. But the covers help.
Do you own bake your bread in the oven...will it hold steam?
hi India - I primarily bake my bread in dutch ovens, haven't tested steam outside of that, but intend to w/ some open bakes at some point!
I've had a Samsung induction stove for about 5 years, and I love it. I always hated cooking on electric, and this is more like cooking on gas. When you turn a burner off, it's off, unlike electric, which takes a while to cool down. If your pan is larger than the burner, yes, it will only heat where the burner is, the same as electric. I don't see a difference. It's safer, because when you take the pot off the burner element, the glass top is not flaming red hot like on an electric. The glass top is hot, but only from reflected heat from your pan. If you want to move your pan around, put a piece of paper towel or thin dish towel between your pan and the burner element to protect the glass. It won't block the magnetism. I do this sometimes if I'm cooking something messy; saves on cleanup. My stove does hum at the higher settings, but it's not very loud and isn't disruptive. If I can help it, I'll never cook on standard electric or gas again.
I'm way ahead of you, sister! I've had my Electrolux induction range-convection oven+ smaller lower oven since 2013. I started collecting the cookware prior to purchasing my range.Priorto getting it, I had a standalone 5th eye that was induction & loved it so much that I knew that would be the one for me. Mine has the proofing mode, but I do like the oven light method, also. My fav feature (after the blazing fast cooktop is the ballbearing roll-out oven rack, so much so that I even ordered an extra one; next is the lock-out feature that keeps all others (the Hubs & grandkids) from using it (& messing it up!). My range is going on 11 years now & no issues at all with it. You'll grow to love induction cooking.
You can buy induction protectors. Don't buy a sheet protector because you won't know where to put the pots in the induction circle. Buy the induction protection circles. I purchased a tabletop induction last may and I love it.
Does the Bertazzoni make a high-pitched noise when cooking? My cats and dog leave the room when I use a single-burner induction stove I bought originally for camping. The sound has a certain nails-on-chalkboard quality so I can’t blame them. As an aside, getting an induction single-burner is a good way to try out the experience without having to go all-in.
Hi Amy - no. There is some occasional humming, but nothing high-pitched. I was a bit nervous about sound though. A few of the reviews mentioned it being very loud, but that hasn't been my experience. Maybe it's something theyve sorted out.
We live in Scotland and have a 6 burner induction fitted stovetop. Having always cooked with gas, and hating electric stovetops in the past, I wouldn't go back now. Cleanup in so easy now. And i dont both with the expensive induction cleaners! I agree with you how fiddly the viking range was to clean. I love how quickly imy siemens gets hot and also cools down. Have you thought of a quooker as a tap? It eliminates the need for a kettle and produces boiling water instanaeously.
For popcorn on my induction cooktop, I generally use my carbon steel wok on 5 and shake it the entire time. Just make sure there's nothing to scratch the glass in between.
Thank you for this assessment! FYI there is a company in Berkeley CA working on a 120v-compatible induction stove: https://www.channingcopper.com/. Expensive, but still cheaper for my household than upgrading the electrical + buying an induction stove. Unfortunately they’re not yet commercially available. Also promising: the NYC Housing Authority (which manages 70,000-ish housing units, mostly older ones) announced a competition last summer to encourage the development of 120v-compatible induction stoves. Once that’s solved, my biggest concern will be how to use my wok!
Thanks for the info Kristina. My favorite wok has a rounded bottom, so it won't work on my induction. Thankfully I have a burner for it outside. I'm on the look out for the widest base carbon steel wok to use on the induction. I have a few bookmarked, I just haven't placed the order quite yet.
We switched to induction also late last year and love it! As for popcorn…look at the induction version of the “Whirley pop” corn popper. Game changer.
I make popcorn at least once a week. I switched to a whirly pop and have never looked back (aluminum on a gas range). I’m now putting an induction burner in my campervan and got a stainless/induction compatible whirly pop for the van. I should try it out on my portable induction sometime while I’m waiting on the van to be done. Highly recommend the whirly pop though - makes the best popcorn ever.
Thanks for the detailed post! We purchased an Aranet air quality monitor a few months ago, and, since then, we've been absolutely appalled by the air quality in our kitchen every time we use the burners on our beloved gas stove. As a stopgap, we purchased a single induction unit from Costco. It's been "okay" but it cannot do a slow simmer, even with a diffuser. Sigh. I'm therefore thrilled to hear that your new stove can do a slow simmer. Definitely keep us posted, especially as to durability, scratch-ability, etc.
Hi Corrie - yeah, watching the air quality go to orange on our air filter was an eye opener.
I've had mine for about 2 years. My biggest peeve is that I can't seem to use smaller pans. Have you noticed that problem?
Hi Nikki - I haven't had this problem, but yes I think you're right. The pan needs to span the heating element & if it's too small it won't work.
I made the switch to an induction cooktop range a year and a half ago and just love it. I am curious about induction cooking through countertops (ex. Ceramic, granite etc). Looks beautiful, just wonder if it would work as well as my current induction range (kitchen aide)
Longtime reader, first time commenter. I cooked with gas until we left NYC in 2012. We have a Fisher and Paykel 36” induction range now (yes, I know, but it was a floor model). I previously had two GE induction cooktops and an earlier Frigidaire induction range which replaced a faulty GE range. We considered the Bertazzoni but then this F&P floor model came along, and … The thing I found about all my All-Clad pans was that I *actually had to follow the All-Clad instructions* with the F&P. Not so much with the US cooktops/ranges, but that thing about preheating for five minutes? It has been an absolute game changer with this range. I preheat every All Clad pan for 5 minutes on the middle setting (for me, 5) now and honestly, zero sticking even if I’m doing a fast, hot sauté. I do that with my Staub dutch oven too … same result. So interested to hear about the Bertazzoni and so glad you like it! If this F&P starts to live up to its mixed reputation, I guess we’ll go to the Bertazzoni … I do have to say we’re two years in now, and I am as in love with the F&P as I was on day one. And yes, wow, the heating element speed ... and the clean air. Once you go induction, you never go back. Cheers, Heidi!
Oh! Thanks for this tip Judi. I will 100% give it a go with the All-Clad. Really helpful!
I look forward to reading your thoughts on cookware - selling cookware is my job and I often have customers seeking new pans etc because they have a new induction range so any information I can share with them is helpful. I have a Viking stove myself (27 years still going strong) and induction would be where I would be headed when that gives up.
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