Induction Pots and Pans

[couponvan]

For those of you with induction cooktops, what pots and pans do you swear by? Our house is going to have an induction cooktop and our 22 year old Cuisinart cookware will not work on the tops since magnets don't stick to the bottom. I wish they worked because they are still in great shape after all this time!

I purchased All Clad hard anodized on line with a great coupon, but do not like how the handles cut into my palm so they are going back. 

We prefer to buy quality that lasts a long time for the main pots. We have bought cheaper nonstick large (12") chef pan and skillets for our family of 5 that we don't keep as long because chipped nonstick is bad for your health.

We have one cast iron skillet I hardly ever use because it is so heavy.

Here are the pots/pans we regularly use:
8/10/12 nonstick skillets - 8' for omelets and crepes-least used of the 3, but weekly use. Cover for 12" skillet
12" nonstick chef pan - this is the work horse of our kitchen
7 qt pasta pot with cover
1.75 qt sauce pan with cover
3.0 qt sauce pan with steamer insert and cover

less regular use:
square grill pan
square griddle pan
giant stock pots for soup

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I have done online research, but I don't know if I trust them not to be "sponsored" reviews.  I trust the MMM crowd!

[TVRodriguez]

Hi,
We have an induction stovetop and we LOVE IT.  I grew up with a gas stovetop, and I have to say that I now prefer induction over even gas.  Works so quick and well, is safe, easy to use, easy to clean, etc.  I love that when I'm finished with cooking something, I can just slide the pan over to another 'burner' and the stove turns itself off.  I love that it takes about 30 seconds to boil my water for oatmeal.  It boils water faster than the microwave.  I love it so much.

Okay, you're already sold on it, so I will stop.

We use a mix of All-Clad and . . . ooh, I can't remember the other brand we use, but I'll check when I get home.  It is a cheaper brand, either calphalon or cuisinart, but I don't remember...

I don't have a cast iron pan so I'm not sure if that works on it.

One note on the All-Clad--we use the "regular" All-Clad that we got as wedding gifts 15 years ago.  I had one All-Clad saucepan that was the brushed stainless, I think, and it did not work on the induction, so I gave it to a friend.

You can also buy a "converter" type thing (not sure what it's really called), which looks like a flat pan that you can put on the induction range and then put a "regular" pan on top of.  We find it easier to use the pans that work directly on the induction range, so we didn't bother, but that's an option if you want to try that.

[GizmoTX]

We've used induction for the past 12 years & love it!
Stainless steel, cast iron (enameled as well as not), & carbon steel wok pans all work great. Converter plates do not get good reviews.
I also find the All Clad long pan handles uncomfortable, but we do have their soup pot. Our saucepans & saute pan are Henckels clad stainless steel, the same manufacturer as the knives, which I love, but I don't think the pans are available any more.
There is a new company called Made In Cookware that sells quality pans online from Austin, TX; if I need new pans, I will look here: https://madeincookware.com.
We use both Lodge cast iron skillets and enameled Dutch ovens by Le Creuset and Tramontina. You do need to be careful to avoid scratching the cooktop surface with regular cast iron.
We have several Faberware Millennium non-stick stainless skillets (available on Amazon) -- these are inexpensive enough to replace when the non-stick starts degrading.

[APowers]

I love the idea of induction stovetops, but.....literally every single demonstration model I've seen in use emits a (relatively) loud, high pitched noise. Similar in pitch to an old CRT TV or monitor when on but muted, only much louder. This is a serious deal-breaker for me, as it's painfully high-pitched. If you haven't used induction before, definitely verify that your appliance either (a) doesn't make such a noise, or (b) you and other people you want in your kitchen can't hear it.

[TVRodriguez]

Okay, I checked, and we have Farberware Millennium cookware, too. Not the nonstick, though, just the regular stainless steel.

Occasionally there can be a hum from the cooktop, but it has never been an issue. We've had ours since 2010.

[GizmoTX]

Our 2006 induction cooktop made some noise & actually advertised this as being "audible". I found that running the exhaust hood completely masked the sound.

Induction cooktops today tend to be silent. If there is a noise, it tends to be a function of lower quality cookware.

[roomtempmayo]

Thick, disc construction gets the best reviews on induction, especially Fissler, Paderno, and Lacor, in that order.

Everybody hates All Clad's handles.

[couponvan]

Thanks everyone! I knew the MMM group wouldn’t disappoint. I think I will keep the All Clad square griddle/grill since they are only used occasionally and were CHEAP. For the rest I will do a combination of millennium skillets and caphalon induction. I have seen our stovetop in action, and I don’t hear anything, so I assume they fixed that problem or added better noise limiting since the time of noisy cooktops.

Does anyone use paper towels/silicone between their cooktop and pans for easier clean up? We saw them do this at the demo kitchen-that’s what sold me on this version-fast fast cooking and fast fast cleanup.

[GizmoTX]

I don't want anything between the cooktop & the pan. Although induction cooktops can get too hot to touch because of heat transfer from the pan, they are much easier to clean because nothing bakes on like conventional electric or gas.
 

[couponvan]

I don't want anything between the cooktop & the pan. Although induction cooktops can get too hot to touch because of heat transfer from the pan, they are much easier to clean because nothing bakes on like conventional electric or gas.

It's a teeny tiny thin sheet that catches grease splatters and such - do you think it impairs the function that much?  Hmm....that is going to be something I test right away!  I'll do the "official" boiling water test with and without the sheet underneath to see how much longer it takes with a sheet vs without one.  The demo place had these food grade silicone coated parchment sheets that they used.  Apparently they are heat safe to 500 degrees, so no major worry about heat transfer?  I will find out and report back in a month or so after the house closes.

[GizmoTX]

The silicone coated parchment sheets are ok, but not the thick Silpat ones.

I've always amazed people by turning the induction cooktop on full blast while putting my hand on it, telling them I could stand all day like this, THEN putting a (small) pot with water on & seeing it boil within a minute. (Obviously you never want to touch the surface after it has heated a pot -- it won't burn like electric or gas, but it will hurt.)

Still, I'm surprised how many people still don't know about induction. Our house buyers inspector was ready to fail the cooktop because it wasn't producing heat -- fortunately I was there & produced a pot with water for him.

[TVRodriguez]

We don't use a paper towel or silicone sheet between the pan and the stovetop. For me that would be clutter. Cleanup is super easy with a wet microfiber cloth. The heat from the glass cooktop is not enough to burn me while wiping it down if I don't linger on the heat, but it adds to the wet wipe in cleaning (hot water cleans better).