tboyer33's Profile
Fagor Induction Burner
Here's one test:
1800 watt induction burner (110 volt)
stainless teakettle.
16 oz water -- room temperature.
2 minutes, 15 seconds to boil.
That is MUCH faster than a conventional burner but slower than a 220 volt water heating appliance I suspect.
Fagor Induction Burner
I don't know the Fagor, but the entry level plug-in induction burners range from 1200 watts to 1800 watts, which will determine the power at the high end.
We have an 1800 watt Eurodib model that was slightly over $100 from a restaurant supply house, and the power at the high end is very impressive. Boils water as fast as a commercial gas burner -- but the great thing is, you aren't sending 50% of the heat into your kitchen. Induction heats just the steel at the bottom of your pot.
But the coolest thing about induction isn't the power, it's the temperature control. No gas or conventional electric burner I know of is capable of maintaining temperature as precisely as an induction hob.
You can search induction on amazon and read what people have to say about various models.
Induction burner
I've recently become a huge fan of induction cooking. It may be worth investing in good commercial quality induction burners ((I'll explain below) but I would strongly recommend you buy an inexpensive hob ($80-150) to try it out. The entry level induction burners have pretty similar capabilities and all are delightful to use if you've never used an induction surface.
For a cook, the benefit of them is not just the intense heat you can put on the surface. The coolest thing is they can actually monitor the surface temperature quite precisely, so you can hold food at a temperature +- 4-5 degrees.
Cheapest out there is a $79 Tatung hob at Newegg that comes with an induction-friendly stainless skillet. We bought the entry level Eurodib from a restaurant supply house for about $105. There are also Avanti and Max Burton models that seem to get good reviews. I think many of the cheap models share the same components so there isn't a lot of difference, but some will run at 1200 watts and some at 1800 watts so pay attention to that.
I'm not sure I would invest the money in a 220 appliance -- our 1800 watt 110 volt Eurodib gives us the punch of a commercial gas burner at the high end. The only use I could think of for a 220 appliance would be a professional level wok hob -- which gives you as much heat as Hell itself -- but they're VERY expensive, thousands of dollars.
The high end 110 appliances MAY be worth considering -- not because they're more powerful but because they give you more precise control at the low end. The Viking is about $500 with dial temperature setting, but I think a better model is a Vollrath, a commercial brand. The Vollrath Mirage offers really precise temperature control and more flexibility than the Viking for about the same price -- $450 or so.
