Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Induction Cooking Elements

Planning a kitchen remodel means there are plenty of options to choose and decisions to be made regarding the design and function of each aspect of the kitchen. An important decision regarding your cooking appliances and method of heating now has a third option. Induction heating is gaining popularity as costs have gone down and demand has gone up, and a kitchen remodel is the perfect time to look at adding induction heating to your home.

For decades, American kitchens have chosen between electric or gas ranges. Until today, there was never any other option, and so there was little research necessary into the benefits of either. Induction heating is more efficient (and cost effective) than both gas and electric heating because it uses magnetism and electric currents to heat. Gas and electric heating both use transfer heating, which is heating up the whole cooking area, while induction heating actually converts the pot or pan into a cooking device. By changing the current of the magnetic metal in a pot or pan just by being near it, induction heating affects only the object doing the cooking, and hands and other objects that would be burned by a flame are unaffected.