FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Help: looking for a good Portable Electric burner

Randall Nortman

On 2007-12-14, > wrote:
> 2000CLK > wrote:
>> I will look into these as well...I wonder how large are these things.
>
>> I'm hoping it's still portable. I was wondering the same thing...that
>> current burners are limited by standard voltage.
>
> I have heard that induction "burners" are very efficient and heat
> the pot up very fast, but have no personal experience.
[...]

I do, as of a couple of weeks ago. I got a Sunpentown SR-1891B
portable induction cooktop. This runs on standard 120V power and is
rated at only 1300W, but boy can it bring water to a boil in a hurry.
Unlike an electric coil, you don't have to wait for the coil itself to
heat up -- the cookware starts heating as soon as you press the
button. It's also extremely responsive -- when you turn the power
down, a boil turns into a simmer in a few seconds.

One word of warning -- check out the dimensions before you buy,
because these things are bigger than they look when you're checking
them out online. The actual cooking surface (a ceramic glass) is
about 12" square, then there's some plastic around that. And therein
lies a design flaw on this model -- if your cookware is bigger than
12", or you slide it around so that hot metal touches the plastic, the
plastic will melt a little. Sunpentown makes a more expensive model
with a stainless steel frame that wouldn't have this problem. Still,
the melted plastic is just an aesthetic issue -- the thing still works
just fine. I didn't even smell any noxious fumes when it happened to
me.

Of course, you might have to buy new cookware to use with induction.
Check with a magnet -- if a normal magnet sticks to the bottom of the
cookware, it will work. Cast iron and carbon steel (enameled or
otherwise) always work. Some stainless steel works and some doesn't,
depending on the formulation of the alloy. Copper and aluminum don't,
unless covered in the kind of stainless steel that does.

--
Randall