Induction cooker?

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Seb

Seb

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Since I can't use gas tanks at home, I was thinking of doing 2.5 gallon batches so I can brew on my stove.

But yesterday, while at my friend's apartment, he used what is called an induction cooker to boil a huge amount of water (some of my friends were eating corn for dinner).

Here's what it is :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooker
Induction_Cooker.jpg


I was wondering if this could be some sort of magical brewing device I could use instead of a stove or a burner to bring a full 5 gallon batch using stainless steel kettles.
 
Seb said:
Since I can't use gas tanks at home, I was thinking of doing 2.5 gallon batches so I can brew on my stove.

But yesterday, while at my friend's apartment, he used what is called an induction cooker to boil a huge amount of water (some of my friends were eating corn for dinner).

Here's what it is :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_cooker
Induction_Cooker.jpg


I was wondering if this could be some sort of magical brewing device I could use instead of a stove or a burner to bring a full 5 gallon batch using stainless steel kettles.
Click to expand...


If you find out, let me know, that would be a PERFECT solution for me and a lot of other people with space issues.
 
That should work for you, I use one at work sometimes. They only work with pots containing iron, so you can't use aluminum pans, but SS works fine.
If it's a 120v plug then it will likely draw 10 amps or less which is really not that much power compared to your kitchen stove. I think they are quite a bit more efficient, but it may take a long time to bring 5gal (or 2.5) to a boil. They are also quite pricy compared to a standard one burner pug in.

They are a cool toy, but I don't know if it would be better than the stove top... there is only one way to find out.
 
Revvy said:
I've heard of them, I think you need special pots. I didn't know you could boil a large volume of water with them. But if you can that's awesome.
Click to expand...

from the wiki... "To be used on an induction cooker, a cooking vessel must be made of a ferromagnetic metal."

i dont know if it could boil a huge pot of water, it says its more efficient then gas flame or other cookers though so maybe it can. Maybe someone with one will chime in.
 
The more I read about it, the more I'm getting excited.

If what I'm reading's true, then :

  • Boil water as fast (or faster) than gas burner
  • Very responsive temperature control
  • Works with stainless steel
  • Uses less energy than a stove

Looks promising

We should find out if we can boil 5 gallon of water with this.
 
well searching google i found this:
"Q. Is induction cooking faster than other types of surface cooking?
A. Yes. GE Profile™ induction cooktops heat faster than gas or radiant cooktops. Compared to a radiant cooktop (12 minutes) or gas cooktop (13 3/4 minutes), induction cooktops offer the fastest time to boil; 1.5 gallons of water will boil in as little as 8 1/2 minutes.** "

the two ** at the end go to this though:
"**3700 watt induction element; 3000 watt radiant element; 17,000 BTU gas burner"

so they are comparing this GE induction cooker to a 17,000 btu gas burner. I dont know squat about gas burners, but that doesnt seem very big, which makes me think that there are limits to how much water these cookers can bring to a boil. Remember they dont heat the water, the make the water vibrate really fast and the friction of the water molecules is what makes heat and makes the water boil.
 
Also it should be noted that putting that much weight on one may be a little hairy, but that all depends on the make and model
 
Seb said:
http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/culinarytools/p/induction.htm
Click to expand...


"Here's a simple test to see if your cookware is induction-compatible: If a magnet sticks to it, it'll work with an induction range."

Well that's not true. 300 series stainless (what a lot of high quality stainless cook ware is made of) is not magnetic and works fine on induction cookers as it does contain iron. I would bet that a more magnetic stainless (or cast iron for that matter) would be better for an induction cooker.

have I mentioned my hatred of about.com. My google searches are full of their articals, and 90% of the time they seem to be written by someone who knows less about the subject than I do. I don't understand why they still exist now that there is wikipida.
 
DrJerryrigger said:
"Here's a simple test to see if your cookware is induction-compatible: If a magnet sticks to it, it'll work with an induction range."

Well that's not true. 300 series stainless (what a lot of high quality stainless cook ware is made of) is not magnetic and works fine on induction cookers as it does contain iron. I would bet that a more magnetic stainless (or cast iron for that matter) would be better for an induction cooker.

have I mentioned my hatred of about.com. My google searches are full of their articals, and 90% of the time they seem to be written by someone who knows less about the subject than I do. I don't understand why they still exist now that there is wikipida.
Click to expand...

Because people keep clicking on their pages. At least it's not ehow.com. Truly worthless.
 
Dillinja666 said:
well searching google i found this:
"Q. Is induction cooking faster than other types of surface cooking?
A. Yes. GE Profile™ induction cooktops heat faster than gas or radiant cooktops. Compared to a radiant cooktop (12 minutes) or gas cooktop (13 3/4 minutes), induction cooktops offer the fastest time to boil; 1.5 gallons of water will boil in as little as 8 1/2 minutes.** "

the two ** at the end go to this though:
"**3700 watt induction element; 3000 watt radiant element; 17,000 BTU gas burner"

so they are comparing this GE induction cooker to a 17,000 btu gas burner. I dont know squat about gas burners, but that doesnt seem very big, which makes me think that there are limits to how much water these cookers can bring to a boil. Remember they dont heat the water, the make the water vibrate really fast and the friction of the water molecules is what makes heat and makes the water boil.
Click to expand...

Well watt for watt that's not much improvement over the radiant element.

Also, they don't effect the water directly. If they did your hand would heat up from the inside as you stirred the pot. That's more the way a microwave oven works. They heat the pan, which heats the water, just like a flame does, but done in a different way (and in doing so makes cool spaceship sounds).

The big advantage the induction cooker has is how controllable they are. I'm an all grain brewer, and need to keep lots of water at specific temps until I'm ready for it.

Another though; if you rapped a large pan in an insulated blanket you could heat it without burning the insulation.
 
I did a little research and I found a couple of important issues. First, using a kettle wider than the cooktop can damage the cooktop. That might be an issue depending on how big of an induction cooker you get. Second, it needs thick steel or iron to conduct heat so if you have the cheaper SS kettles that are thiner metal you might not be able to reach a full boil or it might take a very long time. What I read also leads me to believe it is possible that you could damage the kettle if it is too thin.
 
ReverseApacheMaster said:
I did a little research and I found a couple of important issues. First, using a kettle wider than the cooktop can damage the cooktop. That might be an issue depending on how big of an induction cooker you get. Second, it needs thick steel or iron to conduct heat so if you have the cheaper SS kettles that are thiner metal you might not be able to reach a full boil or it might take a very long time. What I read also leads me to believe it is possible that you could damage the kettle if it is too thin.
Click to expand...

You can always just toss a cast iron frying pan in the bottom of your aluminum turkey frier.
 
ReverseApacheMaster said:
I did a little research and I found a couple of important issues. First, using a kettle wider than the cooktop can damage the cooktop. That might be an issue depending on how big of an induction cooker you get. Second, it needs thick steel or iron to conduct heat so if you have the cheaper SS kettles that are thiner metal you might not be able to reach a full boil or it might take a very long time. What I read also leads me to believe it is possible that you could damage the kettle if it is too thin.
Click to expand...

1) Make sure the kettle fits

2) Buy high quality kettles

No more problems!
 
DrJerryrigger said:
"Here's a simple test to see if your cookware is induction-compatible: If a magnet sticks to it, it'll work with an induction range."

Well that's not true. 300 series stainless (what a lot of high quality stainless cook ware is made of) is not magnetic and works fine on induction cookers as it does contain iron. I would bet that a more magnetic stainless (or cast iron for that matter) would be better for an induction cooker.

have I mentioned my hatred of about.com. My google searches are full of their articals, and 90% of the time they seem to be written by someone who knows less about the subject than I do. I don't understand why they still exist now that there is wikipida.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it is not true, all it says is if a magnet sticks to it, it will work... It never said if a magnet does not stick to it, that it wouldn't work...
 
Fascinating. The guy with the blog got his for 68 bucks and is doing 5 gallons? These things should work like a charm for 2.5 gal boils. Definitely will be on my wishlist. Thanks guys for all the info and research.
 
Who knew eating corn at a friend's place would make such discovery.

I'm definitely going this route. I'll buy one.
 
There's nothing magic about them. It's possible that they are slightly more efficient but the bottom line is they can only convert energy from the wall plug into hot water. And resistance heaters are actually very good at converting electrical energy into heat energy.

Anything that plugs into a 120V 15A circuit is going to be limited to 1800W or it will trip the breaker.

1800 watts means 1800 Joules per second. The heat capacity of water is 4.18 Joules per gram per Kelvin. To take water from room temperature to boiling is about 75 Kelvin of temperature change. 5 gallons of water is about 19000g.

4.18*19000*75/1800 = 3309 seconds or 55 minutes. So even if the device converted every bit of electrical energy perfectly into heat energy (and resistance heaters are pretty close to perfect actually) then it will take 55 minutes to boil 5 gallons of water on a 120V plug. There's no way to do it faster, induction burner or no.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BetterSense said:
There's nothing magic about them. It's possible that they are slightly more efficient but the bottom line is they can only convert energy from the wall plug into hot water. And resistance heaters are actually very good at converting electrical energy into heat energy.

Anything that plugs into a 120V 15A circuit is going to be limited to 1800W or it will trip the breaker.

1800 watts means 1800 Joules per second. The heat capacity of water is 4.18 Joules per gram per Kelvin. To take water from room temperature to boiling is about 75 Kelvin of temperature change. 5 gallons of water is about 19000g.

4.18*19000*75/1800 = 3309 seconds or 55 minutes. So even if the device converted every bit of electrical energy perfectly into heat energy (and resistance heaters are pretty close to perfect actually) then it will take 55 minutes to boil 5 gallons of water on a 120V plug. There's no way to do it faster, induction burner or no.
Click to expand...

well put. The efficiency difference is minimal. The main difference is from loss to the room. With the resistance coil (standard burner) the burner gets hot which heats the pan. The burner it's self looses some heat to the air. The induction cooker does not have this loss, though it has other losses due to the electronics inside of it.
The major loss is from the pot it's self radiating heat into the room, a problem for both.
 
But it can control the heat temperature a lot more than a stove, requiring less energy and minimal heat loss.

Maybe I'll still stick to 2.5 gallon batches but it will be much more convenient than the stove.
 
Seb said:
But it can control the heat temperature a lot more than a stove, requiring less energy and minimal heat loss.

Maybe I'll still stick to 2.5 gallon batches but it will be much more convenient than the stove.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, perpetually if your an all grainer who needs mash water and sparg water sitting there ready for you. I want one for these reasons.
 
I use two of these in my brewery, one to direct fire my mash tun and the other for the HLT. Mine WILL NOT do a full 6.5 gal boil, they can only get that volume to a simmer. 2.5 gal will be no problem. I've made 3+ gallon batches of tomato sauce with mine and it boiled that just fine. I do my boil outside with a propane burner.

The pots MUST be magnetic, or be sitting on something magnetic. I have plenty of SS pots that do NOT work on my units. If I try one of these pots, the unit will turn on, but fairly shortly it will turn itself off.
 
Might work, but I bet you'd have to plug the heat stick into a different circuit. I have to use two separate circuits or I'll trip the breaker. Same for a single cooker and the microwave or air condictioner.
 
pjj2ba said:
Might work, but I bet you'd have to plug the heat stick into a different circuit. I have to use two separate circuits or I'll trip the breaker. Same for a single cooker and the microwave or air condictioner.
Click to expand...

That what I thought too. Also would the pot heating up cause any issues...or since it is a device made to creat heat it shouldn't be affected...?
 
Sort of off topic question but I didn't want to start a new topic to ask it:

I've noticed a lot of people using propane burners instead of their stoves is there a reason for this? I've been using my stove...
 
Stove takes way too long. I don't like waiting an hour for my water just to start boiling.

Also, brewing outdoors has better WAF.
 
Don't have many problems with my gas stove heating the water quickly, my girlfriend does not cook so the kitchen belongs to me as the only person who cooks...
 
Do you do full boils? If I am brewing extract with top up water I use the stove, but I know my stoves can't take the weight of 7 gallons of wort in a pot...much less heat it quickly
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm finding this quite interesting. I was very much considering an induction cooker at some point. Mostly for safety reasons as apparantly the ring doesn't ever get hot, apart from heat transfered from the pan.

I've seen a 2000 watt hob on amazon for cheap. Are there any definite answers regarding what wattage will heat 5-6.5 gallons of water to boil, and how long it takes?
 

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