ETA: I guess I should have been more specific, I’m looking for brand recommendations. There are a LOT of choices out there.
So, I’m thinking of buying an induction cook plate, to test out cooking on induction, since there is a learning curve. Planning for the day I have to replace my glass top range.
Anyone have any experience with those portable induction hot plates? Recommendations? I’m hoping to take advantage of anything that might come up on sale during prime days. I’ve read a bunch of online reviews, I’m just looking for anyone who has personal experience here.
I did add a new gadget to my kitchen:
So I have been intrigued by electric composters for the kitchen. I read up on the reviews, went to my go-to electronics review sites to see what they had to say, and decided that I wanted to give one a try. You can read more on it here.
This is what the scraps above look like after 4-ish hours in the composter
Other than induction information, this is an open thread. And as someone who used the word FUCK liberally, I approve Uncle Joe’s choice of it as is invective of choice.
What’s everyone up to this afternoon?
catclub
about half of the population of Western Europe. I.e nobody here.
E.
We had one at the bakery and I loved it. There is no learning curve. I found it a joy to use. I think the one possible drawback here is the noise they emit, not a problem in the bakery but possibly annoying at home. So check that.
West of the Rockies
What do you do with that compost material? Use some in the lawn, sure, but can you put it in your yard waste bin for weekly pickup?
Obvious Russian Troll
Haven’t used one, but we did have a (non-portable) induction cook top in our last place. Which I miss.
I wouldn’t say there’s much of a learning curve for it, though. Not enough to make it worthwhile to buy a portable cooktop (unless it’s something you’d use anyway).
However, you will have to go through your pans and see what will work. My cast iron skillets: yes. My omelette pan: yes. My stainless steel pots: yes. My no-stick pans: no. My big aluminum pot: no (but some apparently have a magnetized base that will).
The rest of the learning curve was figuring out where to set it to get the desired results and how fast it gets up to temperature.
Bill Hicks
Electric composters require electricity which (even with renewables) causes additional production of CO2. This is greenhouse gas production beyond that which would have happened from composting traditionally. Is there an additional benefit of electric composting that would justify the extra CO2?
MomDoc
I have an induction cooktop that we bought earlier this year. It heats up faster, but I haven’t burned anything up yet. I really like using it. My main adjustment was buying and using the correct pots on the stove.
Barbara
@Bill Hicks: I think the likely target market are people living in apartments who don’t really have an outdoor composting alternative. It does make me wonder what they do with the byproducts of the composter.
We are thinking about getting a cone waste digester (or making a homemade alternative). Link for example.
The advantage over composting is being able to dispose of a wider range of biodegradable materials.
AlisonAF
We have that plate and use it to make hotpot, which you need to make at the table. So great!
Martin
So, I’ve not been researching countertop options, but I have been researching full ranges.
The most important thing to understand about induction cooking is that matching cookware to coil size is very important. Putting a big pot on a small coil will result in a very hot spot in the center of the pot – much more so than you get with gas/electric coil stoves. This is the flip side of the efficiency of induction coils – the waste from other heating methods helped with more evenly heating the cookware (as well as your kitchen). Induction heats just the ferrous metal above the coil – very efficiently. It’s up to the cookware to distribute that heat via conduction, or for the thing you are cooking to distribute that heat via mixing – stir that soup.
So, pay close attention to the *coil* in the unit. Not the size of the supporting surface, but the coil. It seems that most coils are 8″ and smaller because of the prevalence of these portable ones, and the number of manufacturers of 10″ and 12″ are pretty small so prices tend to go up a lot. These coils are going to be round so don’t expect good performance with a square griddle. Manufacturers are working on fill-in burners for griddles, and that is usually a big upsell for full ranges.
bookdragon
Haven’t tried an induction hot plate, but we’ve had an induction cooktop for years and it’s great. Easy to use, easy to clean – I would not go back to gas or electric.
TaMara
@West of the Rockies: The point is not to put it in the waste – add it to soil anywhere – it’s still raw, so nothing that is edible. I just add it to my compost pile, but you can just add it to dirt or lawn raw.
attica
The only thing about which you need be concerned, learning curve-wise, is where you plug it in. These pull a lot of power, and if you don’t have a dedicated plug for it, you risk tripping your breakers. Mine is on the same plug as my convection oven (old house, no choice), and I can’t use both at the same time.
Otherwise, it’s a delight. So much faster to boil, so much nimbler in heat adjustment, so much less thrown-off heat in the room.
Reboot
Yes to induction cooktops! We have a Duxtop portable–for us, the only learning curve was figuring out which pots and pans worked with it and which don’t. Apparently, you can test this with a magnet. Cast iron works great. As for cooking, it was much like cooking with electric, but with better heating times. ETA: We’re def considering getting a whole range after using the portable. ETA redux: I’d recommend the Duxtop portable as an introduction, but have no experience with other brands.
Martin
@Bill Hicks: Yeah. If you have solar, and are good at using it only when the solar is producing, then I can see the appeal. Even the manufacturers are saying to really only use it if you can’t compost any other way. We’ve got a proper compost in the yard.
TaMara
@Bill Hicks: Yes. And it uses very little energy. There are links on my blog about the issues with dumping food waste into landfills.
TaMara
@MomDoc:
@E.:
I guess I should have been more specific, I’m looking for brand recommendations. There are a LOT of choices out there.
lowtechcyclist
@West of the Rockies:
I’d think these devices would be something of a niche market: people who’ve got room for a garden but don’t have room or a good place for an outdoor compost bin.
The basic use for compost is to turn it into high-quality soil for the garden. If you don’t have a garden, it’s hard for me to see why you’d compost. I guess you could (as you suggest) sprinkle it on your lawn, but a good rain would wash most of it away before it did much good.
oldster
We used induction units in air bnbs when traveling in Italy two years ago, and loved them. We bought a new oven/range four years ago with gas burners, but if I had known then what I know now, I would have gone with all induction burners. Takes no time to learn how to use, and has all of the advantages of gas and none of the disadvantages of the old electric coils (which I hated). So, count me as a big induction fan.
The composter — I think I share Bill Hicks’ concerns about electricity use. But I am fortunate in that my municipality allows me to drop off all food waste once a week, and collect finished compost from their public works facility. We have a 5-gallon bucket in the garage, and I walk that to the town hall on Sunday afternoon for drop-off. If you don’t have the convenient municipal arrangement, then the composter might be the best choice.
Buckethead
I do! I’ve got OODLES.
The Duxtop unit in your photo is fine, I have one and also an older Max Burton countertop model. The problem is that no countertop model (except maybe the multi-thousand dollar Breville one) will convey the same experience that you get cooking on a real, built-in induction cooktop. That’s mainly for two reasons:
– The countertop models can only consume 1800 watts of power, because they’re limited to a 15-amp circuit. They will therefore never get as hot as a dedicated induction cooktop. A single burner on a decent induction cooktop can put upwards of 4000 watts of power into the pan.
– The countertop models, for whatever reason, don’t have enough power settings in the lower end of the range. In other words, on my induction cooktop on the smallest burner, I can melt chocolate gently without a double boiler and don’t have to worry about burning it. The lowest setting on the Duxtop countertop unit is not low enough to do that. I suspect the reason is that maintaining a lower temperature would require the induction element to power cycle on and off much faster than higher temperatures, and the electronics required to do that are more expensive than people are willing to pay for one of these units. The Breville Control Freak countertop unit can supposedly maintain a low temperature of 77 degrees F, but it costs as much as some full-size cooktops.
So, my advice is the same as Obvious Russian Troll’s: skip the countertop unit. When the time comes to replace your range, just go induction and don’t look back. You won’t regret making the switch.
TaMara
If you guys think I didn’t research the energy usage of the composter, well, I don’t even know where to go with that. I write the damn climate solution blog posts. So maybe instead of speculating – google it. It’s a pretty complex calculation. For me, it was a better alternative to what my other options were…plus I wanted to test it out because…I fucking write climate solution posts. 🤦🏻♀️
No one is fucking tell you to buy one for yourself.
NotMax
Short story waiting to be written about someone who becomes a suspect after reporting a missing spouse and police suspicions are heightened upon discovery of being also the owner of a credit card used for purchase of two dozen electric composters.
TaMara
@Buckethead: That seems like sound advice! I honestly don’t have a lot of extra room for one, but I get a lot of questions about inductions cooking, so I thought, hey, I can try it.
But happy to use your sound advice as an out to buying something else to sit on my counter. :-) Thanks.
ETA: I will still read anyone else’s recommendation, knowledge is power.
Dan B
We have had two Duxtop induction cooktops. I almost never use the new gas range. The coil is narrow so big pans have a hot spot. They heat as fast as gas. I bought a set of Avacraft pots and pans which are awesome and some non-stick pans. They weren’t as pricey as I thought. Induction fans are noisy. I have to turn up the TV to 8 out of 10 to hear anything in our open plan kitchen / living room. They’re easy to clean.
The drawback: they are either on full or off. There is no genuine simmer even though you set the temp to 140 it will be very hot at first. Once it’s up to 140° then it won’t overheat.
catclub
@TaMara:
taken from previous thread: God dammit, how the f**k don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f**king bullsh*t me!” and “Get the f**k out of here!” —
relevant! Consarn it!
DianeB
The NYT Wirecutter does some great reviews, and recommended this Duxtop as their first choice (only two reviewed, both Duxtop). Seems to be on sale at Amazon right now.
Gravenstone
Lots of stainless is non-ferromagnetic (or only poorly so). SS pans that work with induction typically have a regular steel insert added to their base. Always pays to check.
Dan B
@Buckethead: I agree but it was a bargain to get a new gas range – $800 and two induction countertop units – $200, compared to a $4,000 induction stove.
catclub
My composting technique is to run everything, including corn based cat litter, through a (composting use only!) blender with sufficient water added, before going onto the outside compost area. I doubt it is attractive to any varmint larger than earthworms. They like it.
Is that reasonable?
A flow through blender would be nice, basically an insinkerator, but I have not found a free one.
Dan B
Regarding the Avacraft pots: they’re great sizes with silicone rubber covered handles. I never need hot pads. The lids are glass and vented. They have holes in two spots so you can drain the pot without a strainer and also adjust the amount of steam. An Indian American woman engineer designed them because she was unhappy with most American cookware.
scav
Mom’s got one of the Duxtops and — although not usually an extra gadget person — is very fond of it although devoted to her gas oven and copper pots. She uses it primarily as essentially her slow cooker alternative as she can control the temperature, use appropriately sized pots and stick it somewhere out of the way to take care of itself. Also handy as an extra hob on busy occasions or for keeping things warm. It arrived along with her installing solar panels, so like you, she’s exploring future options.
sukabi
Tamara, prior to buying an Induction burner, take a magnet to your pan bottoms to see which ones will work on it… most of mom’s pans work, including her nonstick ultrex pans…most of my stainless steel pans won’t… 🤨
other than that, our induction burner works great…set the temp and go… heats up much quicker than conventional burners, can adjust the temp easily.
moops
we bought a two element induction top to try out in the kitchen and ended up returning it.
One, the unit had a loud fan. Very loud. So, very annoying to listen to.
Two, It would often reject cookware as being not suitable for induction cooking when I know very well that these materials were perfectly capable of having induced currents and heating up just fine. It had some little magnet sensor in the top that would just reject items that were not strongly ferromagnetic. Ferromagnetic materials are indeed good for induction heating, but so are several other materials with different magnetic properties. Many induction tops reject all cookware that isn’t strongly ferromagnetic, and this is not necessary, but it is standard in the products.
Three, the power level control was surprisingly nonlinear, and it wouldn’t maintain power as the cookware heated up (the induction properties change with temperature I guess, and the controller was not calibrated well).
Four, to drop the item into our existing gas cooktop area would mean altering the granite counter.
Five, the combined power output of the two elements would trip the breaker (we had it in a standard 110 V 20 amp outlet). I think if you want multiple induction elements you need to hardware to 220 and dedicate a circuit.
Six. The induction top surface would get very hot from heat conducting from the cookware. It was deceptive, as you think induction means hot pans but not hot surfaces, and no way to indicate surface is currently very hot. We had friends tell us to put a silicone mat under our cookware, since EM passes right through it. While true, the cookware ended up burning these silicone mats and pads. I think we need some kind of tiny raised parts to create a tiny air gap to insulate the surface from the cookware, but then people want the smooth perfect surface.
The 1, 2 and 6 were deal breakers, but maybe we can eventually find a version we would want to own.
zhena gogolia
My husband’s Lily apron is finally in tatters (mine is still in great condition — guess who does the day-to-day cooking?). I went on Amazon and searched “Joe Biden apron.” There is an infinite variety of “Fuck Joe Biden” aprons for sale. Blech. Found a lovely Fallingwater apron on another site.
Suzanne
We got a 2-burner induction cooktop this year. I like it much better than the gas stove. Mr. Suzanne bought one from Amazon, “anzchef” is the brand, I think?
It is much faster than the gas stove. Like, unbelievably fast. One thing I have noticed is that the unit has, like, a maximum power it can provide, so you can’t have both burners simultaneously on high.
The only thing I haven’t been able to do (that I could before) is take a Pyrex out of the oven and then simmer the juices in the pan. Have to transfer to a metal pan.
JaySinWA
@Buckethead: I had a cheap induction unit from NewEgg a few years back. One thing that I used for a short while before it died was a simmer plate for lower heat cooking. Without it, it was impossible to simmer anything. OTOH the plate gets quite hot so it takes away some of the safety.
As far as I know, none of the table top units can use the temperature settings well. You are probably best using the power settings. But at least the low end models regulate power by varying time on full power with power off, as do microwave ovens. Mine went from boil a few seconds to wait a few seconds.
ETA the simmer plate might actually allow using aluminum nonstick pans.
ETA 2 It looks like a lot of the induction simmer plates (or heat diffusers) have handles. Mine does not, making it hard to handle, so to speak.
Keith P.
I’ve got a GE Profile induction range, and then a DuxTop induction hotplate for when the thing was on the fritz (mostly my fault) and another time when my gas went out and I needed hot water. Both are great – they do heat water superfast and are very responsive to heat changes. If any downside it’s that the DuxTop can flicker the circuit when it comes on. No biggie, though.
MomDoc
@TaMara: Sorry!
We bought a Frigidaire Gallery 36-inch 5-coil cooktop. Found it on Amazon and decided to roll the dice based on the good reviews. Most of the reviewers said to check the coils upon delivery because they might move during shipping. They were all fine.
We haven’t had problems with excess heat, and we get a warning light on the coil that was just used when we turn off the cooktop.
Still surprised that we found it on Amazon…
Chief Oshkosh
Apparently Ergodan agrees to support Sweden’s NATO membership. Dark Brandon strikes again
ETA2: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66160319
ETA: https://www.ft.com/content/cf7f5967-a524-4e0c-ab12-b2bf4ca7047
TaMara
@NotMax: Don’t give me ideas, LOL
zhena gogolia
@Chief Oshkosh: Great!
Alison Rose
@Chief Oshkosh: Gee, how nice of him -_
I mean, it’s good news. But the build-up was silly and unnecessary.
Baud
@Chief Oshkosh:
Biden must have cussed him out. I hear he does that sort of thing.
West of the Rockies
@lowtechcyclist:
Not sure where you live. I’m in CA, and we have a new law about food waste that I think is going unenforced presently and which 95% of the population doesn’t even understand (me included)
I think food waste is supposed to go into yard waste bins under the new law, but I may be wrong.
Alison Rose
@Baud: And clearly it gets results! MORE CURSING!
JaySinWA
@Alison Rose: Dark Brandon uses witchcraft?
Alison Rose
@West of the Rockies: Huh. I live in a large apartment complex, and looking at the requirements, I can tell you they ain’t doing any of that here. Like you said, it doesn’t seem like there’s much in the way of enforcement…
Alison Rose
@JaySinWA: I’m sure some people think so. He’s a demented frail old man who can’t understand anything and at the same time is also a diabolical scheming wizard with unchecked power. Republicans live in a very bizarre world.
geg6
Sorry, I’m worthless to you on these things, TaMara.
We compost the old fashioned way and it works fine for us. Put it in the rotating bin and rotate every now and then.
I have no plan to ever get an induction appliance, whether the full cooktop or the countertop version. You’ll take my gas stove from my cold, dead hands. I hate cooking with anything other than gas and I love my All-Clad pans and refuse to part with a single one of them.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: Yep, no doubt Biden stormed into the room and screamed “It’s nut cuttin’ time! Who’s first, muthafuckas?!”
And then they had tea and scones and decided the fate of the world.
West of the Rockies
@Alison Rose:
I think I heard that in ’24 they intend to enforce. I DIG protecting our environment, hell, worshipping it, but I hope the law is semi-user friendly.
Chief Oshkosh
@Alison Rose: Agreed that the press was falsely overwrought. Hell, when was the last time 15 or 17 countries’ diplomats sat down together and even agreed on the time of day?
RaflW
OT: Joe Biden kicks ass once again! Dang. Impressive.
@lrozen Biden welcomes Turkiye Pres. Erodgan’s commitment that Turkish assembly will ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO. Looks forward to welcome Sweden as 32nd NATO ally, congratulates NATO SG Stoltenberg.
trollhattan
Ikea sells one for a mere seventy bucks. Seems like a good way to try one out without breaking the bank.
Spouse got one of those electric composters (“a what?!?” said I) and loves tinkering with it. Uses it in the garage and it makes the place, and my car, smell like really odd toast. Maybe Ohio voter-diner toast.
trollhattan
@RaflW: I swore he was going to hold out until every Kurd was dead or in a Turkish prison.
zhena gogolia
@RaflW: I have a feeling that those who were disappointed in something he said about Ukraine are going to have a surprise one of these days. Just a feeling.
Alison Rose
@West of the Rockies: We have a trash pickup service in my building, and they would have to incorporate it into that. I wonder if the trash company is working on it. Probably not.
JaySinWA
As to electric composters, I’d opt for a worm bin first, I think. They make versions that are meant for in house use with little odor and they can compost a wide variety of material including some meat.
https://dengarden.com/gardening/Yes-You-Can-Compost-Meat-in-a-Worm-Bin
Disclosure, I have never done this myself. I know someone who is doing vermiculture at home, but I haven’t talked to them about it in depth.
Roger Moore
@Gravenstone:
Most new stainless pots are induction compatible. Stainless is a bad material for pots by itself, so they are almost always some kind of multi-layer construction with alternating layers of stainless and a better conductor of heat, like aluminum or copper. They can easily be made induction compatible by using different stainless alloys for the inner and outer layers. The inner layer is chosen to be truly stainless and work well for food contact while the outside layer is magnetic and not quite as stain proof. IIRC, that usually means 18/10 or 18/8 steel for the inside and 18/0 for the outside.
Anyway
@lowtechcyclist:
I’ve had a backyard composter for 15+ years – main motivation was to reduce my contribution to the local landfill. I love it – sometimes I don’t get around to using the “soil” but usually add kitchen scraps and leaves a and grass clippings 2-3 times a week.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chief Oshkosh: Like this?
Shana
@Martin: Our cooktop, which we’ve had for about 10 years, has a bridging function between the two medium sized “burners” which allows us to use a long rectangular griddle. It’s a nice feature.
RaflW
OMG how did I not know about electric composters. This is awesome.
Here is why we’re the perfect target market: We diligently community-compost in Minneapolis, where we can drop off our scraps each time we go buy more groceries at our coop. Our banana peels become good dirt for the city parks. Excellent!
But we have a family cabin in SE Wisconsin. No such community resource exists. We tried saving things and brining them back to Mpls, but if we’re here a week, then make the 5 hour drive, if we don’t freeze the scraps first and ziploc them, the trip home literally stinks.
We’ve debated getting a barrel composter, because with cabins on either side of us, and not wanting to attract extra critters (or the off-leash dogs that are part of the community ‘furniture’), my past habit of a rot pile surrounded by pallet castoff boards ain’t gonna fly here. And even with a barrel, we’re away a fair bit so do we ask the other part-timers to come over and give it a spin? Hm.
So. Now I’m gonna look seriously into an electric composter. We have a yard that would definitely benefit from the output!
Thank you TaMara!!
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: I agree, but we may be among a minority here.
Martin
@West of the Rockies: So, enforcement is not what people think it will be.
The law requires that *cities* hit certain targets, not residents. And 2023 is the implementation year, so the state isn’t enforcing anything against cities this year, and what enforcement on residents looks like will vary city by city. In my city we have a single contract for residential trash collection so measurement and enforcement will come through them. My city is trying a carrot approach to this, doing a lot of outreach (Ms Martin went to a residential composting workshop the city held), and has put out via residential feedback activities what they are looking at in terms of sticks but aren’t going to commit to those until they can see how far from the goal we are.
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies: It rolled out statewide last year.
https://calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp/collection/
NeenerNeener
I just checked on the brand of my portable induction hot plate: NuWave. I got it almost free on sale using Kohls Cash about 8 to 10 years ago. I don’t know if that brand is still around or not.
Roger Moore
@Alison Rose:
They’ll believe anything bad about the people they don’t like, and they don’t particularly care if the bad things contradict each other. What they really care about is that there’s something wrong with the person; the rest is irrelevant details.
Roger Moore
@geg6:
You should really try an induction cooktop. They are a massive, massive improvement over old fashioned electric ranges and are better than gas in a lot of ways. They heat faster than gas, don’t dump as much waste heat into your kitchen, have better control, and are easier to clean. The only big advantage gas has is that it works better with some pots. And I don’t know which All Clad pans you have, but I bought my All Clad pans specifically to work with my induction range, so it’s quite possible you won’t have to give them up.
Jacel
@zhena gogolia: Are there applique sets that can adapt a MAGA-market apron’s message to read instead: “FUCK”, SAYS JOE BIDEN
Matt
@Martin: isn’t it true that the better models have two concentric sets of coils, partly fixing the unevenness problem?
BTW, for years we have had two countertop induction ranges, and they are often in use for cooking rice, boiling pasta or running the pressure cooker. They run for hours outside when canning.
JaySinWA
@JaySinWA: Reading reviews of the cheap NewEgg Rosewill induction burner, it appears new models have solved the issues of temperature control and boil/off lack of simmer problems I had.
https://www.newegg.com/black-rosewill-rhdi-21002-dual-induction-cooker/p/N82E16896268176
This isn’t a product endorsement. I’ve used a couple of Rosewill products and they were okay, but not necessarily durable. I think our induction countertop lasted 4 years or so.
zhena gogolia
@Jacel: great!
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: I know.
eclare
@geg6:
Same here, I love my gas stove! If I had children, maybe I would think twice, but I don’t need to.
Plus my house has really old wiring, like knob and tube old. Not sure how that would cope with such a draw.
Dan B
@West of the Rockies: Seattle has food waste and clean green combined. They compost it all on big piles that are constantly monitored for temperature to make sure it’s hot enough to kill pathogens.
moops
@West of the Rockies:
We are in Solana county and have been cited for letting food waste go into trash bin. It goes in green bin.
Our other two warnings were mistakes by the garbage guy. We had gathered up rubber mulch from the previous owner and put in trash, but the guy thought it was organic yard waste. There was also some confusion about what the county told us we could recycle and what the trash collection team thought was legal.
lowtechcyclist
@West of the Rockies:
I’m in Maryland, and we don’t have any laws about that AFIACT. We do have a compost bin in an out-of-the-way corner of the back yard where we dispose of our vegetable waste. It produces more good topsoil than we can use, but still, it’s better than sending it to the landfill.
Jackie
Has anyone mentioned that Turkey has agreed to Sweden’s accession to NATO? Another 👍🏻 for Biden?
eclare
@Jackie:
Woo-hoo!
Anyway
@Chief Oshkosh:
Yay
ETA: Sweden and Finland in NATO – who woulda thunk?
Crusty Dem
We got the cheaper model of Duxtop (~$59) from Amazon than the one you have pictured in the post for a remodel and to prepare for a new induction cooktop. It’s amazing! Gets hot very fast, control is outstanding! We still use ours outdoors for pan frying since it doesn’t require much cleanup. I can’t recommend it enough!!
Princess Leia
@West of the Rockies:
  We got switched late last year to the new requirements of the CA law. It was pretty easy, though there are not enough details being shared from the waste companies about exactly what goes where. So there was a learning curve, though it didn’t seem like they were gung ho on serious enforcement. At least twice the company dumped our recycling into the trash truck and were pretty nonchalant when we called to report it!
schrodingers_cat
OT: What is happening to Chris Murphy, he is slowly turning into the David Brooks of the Senate.
narya
I used an induction cooktop for two longish stints: for six months while in pastry school in 2005 (it was school equipment), and then for 3-4 months when I was renovating my kitchen in 2020. I purchased a standalone unit in 2020 for that (Duxtop 9600LS was the model). All of my pans are All-Clad or cast iron, so I didn’t have any issues (though I never tried my wok, it’s stainless so should work). I do like it–throws off less heat, higher-quality ones allow a lot of precision with the heat–but with caveats. (1) It IS a bit noisy. (2) If you are doing anything that requires tilting the pan–e.g., sometimes when I’m deglazing–you are SOL, as it has to be in contact with the burner. (3) If you are doing anything where you’re sort of scraping the pan back and forth . . . don’t; it’s a glass cooktop and will scratch. (Jostling what’s in the pan? Don’t know what else to call it.)
One issue for me, even now, is that, if I wanted a whole-ass stove, it likely would require me to rewire the kitchen. Again. Which would cost me. Second, my condo association HOA pays for the gas my current stove uses, but I pay for electric–that is, my electric bill would likely increase as well, though I couldn’t tell you how much. (I cook a lot, so this could be non-trivial.)
Honestly, it’s been sitting in my closet for three years. I keep thinking I should pull it out for summertime cooking, especially when I need to make a pot of beans or something, but I don’t have a good countertop space for it, so it stays in the closet. Unless you want it?
oldster
@TaMara:
I apologize for causing offense. I expressed my concerns about energy usage in part to prompt a discussion of it — I’d love to hear more of your thoughts.
I saw that the Lomi claims to use about 1kwh over the course of 16-20 hours in order to cook one bin-full. So, like running a 60-watt bulb for 16 hours. Not terrible in the scheme of things.
Most dishwashers use between 1kwh and 2kwh to run a load, so you might think of the composter-load as using roughly as much electricity as a dishwasher load, depending on the particular models of each.
Again, I am lucky to have municipal service, but I can see why for many people this is a reasonable option.
Redshift
@lowtechcyclist: We’ve had a composter for years. We’re not much for gardening, but there are only two of us, so we just keep dumping vegetable waste and such into it, and it never fills up, it just keeps cooking down, I guess. So even though we’re lazy, it’s still less going into the landfill.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I haven’t seen him speak in years, but I used to like him. What did he do?
Roger Moore
@eclare:
It depends on your service. If you want an actual induction range rather than just a stand-alone burner, you’ll need new wiring between the service and the outlet anyway. As long as the service can supply the load, you should be good.
Chief Oshkosh
@Omnes Omnibus: Quite so! Quite so!
chrisanthemama
@Bill Hicks: I didn’t know that electric composters were a thing. We have a covered bucket in the kitchen that we empty out into the covered compost bin (aka The Worm Ranch) at the back fence and give the whole mess a toss with a pitchfork occasionally.
narya
There’s a local service (more than one, actually) that will pick up your compostable material for a fee; I pay for a bucket every other week, and my downstairs neighbor puts her stuff in it, too. Because we also have recycling in this building, my actual trash is pretty much limited to wrappers and stuff like that. The compost can include paper (towels, tissues) and animal stuff (bones, skin, etc.), and I really appreciate being able to reduce my footprint. I also get a bucket of composted dirt a couple of times a year.
Redshift
@Jackie:
Absolutely! Yay! And 👎 for Putin, double yay!
Another Scott
Like any good political organization would, …
I get e-mail:
Cheers,
Scott.
chrisanthemama
@zhena gogolia: oh man I just googled “Joe Biden apron”, and dozens of them came up. A few were for Biden-haters, but most were not. I like the aviator-shades versions.
Redshift
@Another Scott: I can’t believe the Dark Brandon shirts are only in white. If they came in black I would have bought one immediately.
ETA: Now I got the email. Navy blue will do nicely!
skerry
@TaMara: I have a single Duxtop cooktop. I got it about a year ago from Amazon. I like it and am planning to covert my gas cooktop to induction when it dies.
Geminid
And from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg:
Baud
@Another Scott:
Looking forward to Fuck You Friday.
eclare
@Baud:
Hahaha…
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: His Twitter feed is morphing into something David Brooks and would write.
Epidemic of loneliness, why men need help, Why sending cluster bombs to Ukraine is wrong and so on, and lastly what Ds need to do to attract WWC men.
He has even quote tweeted Bobo appreciatively at times.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Hmm. The first and third things are red flags, but as long as he’s not selling out anyone or suggesting “both sides” are to blame or putting all his eggs in that basket, I don’t mind him making the effort to try to win back some of those voters.
The cluster bomb thing is somewhat controversial. If he’s not undermining Ukraine, I can tolerate the difference of opinion.
YMMV.
ETA: Treating Bobo with respect is inexcusable.
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: It seems everybody wants to be a political pundit these days. But Senator Murphy has a day job he should concentrate on.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: He is beginning into morph into a Tim Ryan. I don’t want to give up on him but his tweets are making my brows furrow.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
It is odd. I always thought he was pretty solid. But I haven’t seen his tweets for myself.
schrodingers_cat
Would there be an interest for a blog post about how to start coloring for self care and discovering your inner artist.
VA in SC
Another advantage to induction,it’s cooler,temperature wise in the kitchen. Here in the south,keeping the kitchen cool while preparing supper is a big plus!
JaneE
I have no experience with the portable units but have had induction cooktops for a decade now. Most of the new cookware manufacturers make their pans induction capable.
There was a small learning curve for me – Induction heats quicker than anything. I need to have everything ready before I start heating the pan. If you already do your prep first, no change except faster heating. If you are used to gas cooking, it is almost identical. Heat levels drop immediately when you make a change. If you are used to regular electric, you can mimic cool down time by lowering the heat levels one by one until you get used to induction. It is a lot easier to just get used to instant heat changes.
I find my old cast iron heats faster than anything, but enameled cast iron and induction ready (stainless steel plate welded to the bottom of the pan) heat just a tiny bit slower. I have never used just stainless steel, but it should work. Aluminum, anodized or not, will not work.
If you do need to replace your cookware, just consider it a part of the cost of replacing your range. Induction ready will will work on gas or radiant.
I would never voluntarily go back to gas or regular electric. Had to pull a wire to the kitchen for the 240 outlet, but it was worth it to me.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: This is a recent development.
Ukraine thread
Attracting social conservatives with economic goodies
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have that view. I would tend to defer to Biden and Ukraine as to what they need, but I can’t deny cluster bombs are a nasty piece of weaponry.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I agree. Its just that it is in a series of posts where he is now sounding like the left end of the horseshoe.
geg6
@Roger Moore:
You may be right, but I truly am not interested in induction. I like my gas cooktop. A lot. And I have the entire collection of All Clad—about 60-80 pans of various types. I’m not buying any more pans ever (this collection is several thousand $$ worth). If I can’t use even one, the stove is useless as far as I’m concerned. I’m glad you like yours, but I feel the same about induction cooktops as I do about things like air fryers and instant pots. Not for me. I have two air fryers sitting in boxes that people bought for me as gifts (even though I told them I didn’t want one). Never been used and never will be. And no one I know wants them, so I can’t even give them away. Wasted money.
trollhattan
@eclare: You’d require 240V dedicated wiring to go with any electric range changeover from gas, and if the home is old that can trigger upgrading the main panel, which takes a straightforward wiring job into Large Project category.
Ask me how I know!
On the good side, upgrading to 200 amp service ended our long string of random failures of electrical stuff, so eventually paid for itself.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Do you think that there are no issues with cluster munitions? In my view, you can be a supporter of Ukraine while still being uncomfortable with this decision by Biden.*
* People may commence with the brickbats as they wish.
trollhattan
I have not patented this “idea” so appliance makers, feel free: to snare us into planet induction you need to accommodate our copper stuff et al and so, make a hybrid induction-infrared cooktop–two of each would work.
And there ya go.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
@catclub: That sounds like a lot of work. We don’t compost cat litter (we use compost on food crops), but we just put food scraps in an ice bucket-size can on the counter next to the sink. It gets full every day or two, depending on how much we’re cooking, and then it goes out to the big pile out back. You can sort of scrape a little hole in the pile of weeds, leaves, or grass clippings that are usually piled on top from earlier in the day or week to cover the scraps.
We have 2 piles. At the end of the summer we switch piles, adding scraps to the new pile is but keep the summer pile turned nd working all winter. By Spring it’s nice compost.
Dan B
@Omnes Omnibus: I thought that the main use for cluster bombs was to clear minefields but also saw something about clearing trenches which would be horrible.
trollhattan
@geg6: 60 to 80 pans? How many acres is your kitchen?
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Why, what did he do?
ETA: He always likes to seem bipartisan, if that’s what you’re referring to.
ETA: I now see you’ve already answered my question. He’s running for reelection, if that’s of any help in understanding.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: I have no opinion about cluster bombs, its his recent evolution as a Boboesque Tim Ryan that is a bit worrying. YMMV.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: That’s weird, he’s been steadfastly for Ukraine.
trollhattan
@Dan B: IIUC that’s the main task, that and routing retreating armor and personnel. Thing is, both armies currently have mine-clearing weapons that basically fling and then once stretched, detonate a giant exploding rope and those are already used on trenches and are easily as horrifying as a scattering of bomblets.
There are videos.
schrodingers_cat
@trollhattan: That’s a lot of pans!
zhena gogolia
@chrisanthemama: If you don’t go through Amazon, the results are less alarming.
mrmoshpotato
It is a hot sack of bones in Chicago! I wish I had enough veggies to make a pasta salad, but I really don’t want to go sweat myself over to the store.
eclare
@trollhattan:
Yep, I live in a house of cards, electricity wise. And I have no desire to upgrade the whole panel, so I’ll stick with what I have and make do.
geg6
@trollhattan:
I have a whole row of cabinets (uppers and lowers) that are nothing but pans, plus larger ones for soups and canning that we keep in a closet in the basement. There is a big All Clad factory sale at the Washington County Fairgrounds nearby every year and we used to go and get the pans at steep discounts. Haven’t gone in years. Obviously, my collection is complete.
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
Neither of Sen. Murphy’s statements seem like they’re beyond the pale- these are things people can have reasonable disagreements about- but they do seem like a possible warning sign. I guess the big question is if this kind of thinking starts affecting how he votes.
zhena gogolia
@Roger Moore: I think he’s just trying to be all things to all people as he runs for reelection. I’m not worried about him at all. (But then, I’m not on twitter!)
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: He wants to invite social conservatives into the Democratic party over a common economic agenda. I have heard that before.
I am wondering which “interest” group is willing to throw to those wolves to gain their support.
Whole thread here
I like Sen. Murphy and I hope his flirtation with Boboeque ideas is short-lived
Lulymay
@West of the Rockies: I live in British Columbia (Canada) and we put food waste into the same curb side container as yard waste – which is primarily lawn cuttings where we live and leaves in the fall.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: I’m not on twitter, so I can only see one tweet. It does look as if he’s smoking something really good, but I think it’s harmless.
StringOnAStick
We have a yard waste service that takes branches up to 2″ in diameter, food scraps, including bones, and the endless rain of Ponderosa needles and cones. I’d like to do a compost bin but hubby thinks it will draw vermin. I love the yard waste service, otherwise I’d need a pickup for at least 10 trips a year just for needles and cones.
trollhattan
Senator Tatertown proves again that football misses him very much.
Sasha
I’ve been using portable induction cooktops almost exclusively for years now. Been a minute since I last used my electric stovetop.
I have and recommend NuWave. They’re inexpensive, reliable, and have a very wide temperature range. (The one I have can go from 100⁰ to 570⁰ in 10⁰ increments.)
Cast iron works okay, but the hotspot phenomenon is a deal. Multi-ply pans work best since the aluminum will conduct and spread the heat more evenly. A flat bottom carbon steel wok works amazingly well since you want that small area of intense heat.
Get as high a wattage as possible (1800w, or one that has multiple wattage settings). You’ll probably only be able to use that outlet for the unit when it’s going though.
If you don’t want to give up using nonconductive cookware, they do sell induction discs that heat up like a hot plate.
satby
@geg6: Donate them to a domestic abuse shelter or a charity resale shop. Both places would be thrilled to get them to use or raise funds with.
CaseyL
@trollhattan: That’s what happens when you elect someone who is both vile and less intelligent than a tree stump, and subscribes to whatever will get his equally vile and unintelligent voters excited.
satby
@trollhattan: The retired military service members need to get out there and talk incessantly about how Tuberville is threatening national security by affecting military readiness. Active duty members might run afoul of military code, as I understand it; but I think high ranking retired members have more leeway to comment and will be seen as trustworthy (non-political) sources.
JPL
@trollhattan:“Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) lengthy blockade of senior military promotions is becoming a major national story as the Marine Corps is now without a Senate-confirmed commandant for the first time in a century,” Punchbowl News reports.
Really on what news channel? He’s playing a dangerous game and in the olden days, it would lead the news.
Peter
You may find this helpful, since you’re looking for brand/model recommendations. The pros swear by the Breville Control Freak, but those are around $1500.
I especially like mine for tabletop hotpot/shabu-shabu applications, but be advised that the fans are a bit loud.
Jackie
@JPL: Nicolle Wallace MSNBC covered this pretty extensively today.
Jay
@Dan B:
there are a large variety of cluster munitions, with many uses.
They can be rocket delivered, tube fired or air dropped.
Specialized cluster munitions are often tailor made for the military task. They can be used to crater runways, scatter anti tank and anti personnel mines in front of or behind and attacking force, tear up convoys. There are even “smart” mines which find and target metal vehicles only.
Some cluster munitions have a time delay, (runway cratering ones), so that the crews who rush out to repair the tarmac, are either blown up, or, the runway just keeps getting more and more holes it it as time goes on.
The failure rate varies greatly, which is why most of the most modern models have a self destruct feature set by a timer, so even if they don’t blow up on contact, they self destruct after a set period of time.
All of them are area weapons, designed to create many small explosions in a large area, either in a circular pattern, or a linear pattern.
In Kerson, there is a massive pile of empty Orc cluster munition canisters, several thousand, that the Orcs have fired at the city. Being Orcs, most were aimed at public places like markets, plazas, schools, hospitals, road intersections, public parks and playgrounds.
Mist of them contained PM1 mines. The PM1 is a “butterfly”, bomblet, made out of soft plastic in bright colours. It has a massive failure rate, has binary liquid explosive it, looks like a kids toy, and once deployed, and failed, the slightest pressure on the plastic, will cause it to explode. It is designed to maim, not kill. The PM1 has killed hundreds of thousands of children through it’s use.
If Ukraine want’s to use US Cluster munitions, canistered, or stripped out and dropped one by one by drone of Orc trenches, fine by me. The US failure rate for the ones being proposed to be sent have the same failure rate as most NATO bombs and shells, and a massively lower rate of failure than the Orc’s ones.
Steeplejack
@Jackie:
As have Jason Johnson on The Beat and Joy Reid (both on MSNBC).
Steeplejack
Redacted.
MomSense
My son has an induction burner. He said he will send me the brand tomorrow. He likes it for most things because it’s so fast, but he did say he has had trouble a few times bringing large quantities of water to a hard boil.
Sasha
So, yeah. NuWave, for the reasons I mentioned.
Uncle Jeffy
@Anyway: Betting Putin didn’t think…..
Ohio Mom
@geg6: I am sure there is some charity in your area — for example, one that helps abused women set up their own households — that wants those air fryers. If you have a Habitat for Humanity Restore, they will also take them off your hands.
This is why I don’t generally believe in self-supporting adults giving each other presents. All too often you have to act thankful and then find a good way of disposing the gift.
ETA: I see satby got here first. Great minds…
Gvg
@Bill Hicks: I presume no sneaky maggots or ants?
Also I have not found single person outdoor composting to be effective even though I garden extensively because I don’t produce enough waste to cook the compost and breakdown the waste or cook the weed seeds except after years of sitting.
I had never heard of electric composting before and am interested.
Miss Bee
@TaMara: I have the dux top and I think the instructions could be better written but it works just fine and I appreciate it on hot days since it doesn’t heat up the kitchen as much as stove top cooking would. For that matter, it handles a cast iron lidded casserole well and keeps the oven from heating up the whole house on a hot day.
Ken_L
I use portable induction tops for everything that doesn’t require an oven. They are even faster than gas and give brilliant temperature control – and they’re cheap. I like my IKEA best, because the lowest temperature setting provides a genuine simmer.
RobertS
@trollhattan: I got an Ikea unit to play with while they re-did my kitchen. Its simple and works well. I think I’m gonna hang on to it now that I have a proper cooktop. It might be handy for car-camping.
bkw
I use a Duxtop 9100 at work to warm liquid spice mixtures for baking. Works great for tangzhong as well, so I’m guessing a roux and anything that follows would do well. You can adjust the heat by index, 1-10, or by temperature in 20 F increments. It’s really easy to maintain a heat level, like a low simmer, and it heats the pan quickly. I also use a Duxtop E200A (more stylish) at home, for similar projects. It’s great for boiling water, fast as our electric kettle – which is pretty fast. Pasta doesn’t take much time. Flat and thin, so you could store it on its side if you wanted, but it looks good on the counter or table. Either way, it doesn’t take up much space. I haven’t fried anything with either, but the E200A did fine with a grilled cheese in cast iron. Mostly even heat distribution. You probably don’t want to move the pan around too much, as there’s not a lot of extra surface. I like both of these and would recommend either. I have no experience with other brands, so I can’t make an actual comparison to other portables. My only issue with these is that after using them,I now want a full size induction cooktop, and that’s not happening for a while. I’ve always liked the responsiveness of gas, but induction is like magic.
The Golux
If we ever buy a stove again, it will be induction. We have a couple of standalone burners that were very useful when our kitchen was being remodeled. I use it now when we have burgers or steak au poivre (which has to be pan-fried, not grilled, so you can make the sauce), because I can take the unit outside and not fill the kitchen with fumes. I do this even in winter.
Plus it’s quick.
nickdag
Does anyone read comments after a few days?
Anyhow, this post reminded me of this great podcast episode by David Roberts. There are a couple of startups offering induction stoves with batteries. This is *very* cool for at least 2 reasons. First, the battery makes it such that you don’t need a 220v outlet. You can use a normal 110v outlet, which is great if that’s what you’ve already got installed.
Secondly, while the battery is used to compensate for the lack of 220v, it can also be used to maintain your stove during a power outage. Furthermore, you could even plug in other appliances, such as your fridge (!), for ~3 days to run off that battery. Super cool!
Mary C
Thanks so much for this helpful detail! Does a full induction cook top make as much noise as a portable induction burner? I’m really interested in replacing my aging glass top with induction but the Duxtop portable burner I bought to try out induction cooking is just ridiculously loud and I can’t imagine several burners going at the same time!