The induction cooking is a boon to the modern science offering a range of advantages over the traditional methods. However, you can enjoy these benefits, only with quality induction range products. While you are trying to determine the most suitable induction hot plate to make your final investment in, you need to check out whether your chosen burner offers some essential features. These features will not only help you to perform the cooking task precisely but also provide safety to the cookware, cooktop, and persons, who will stay close to the cooktop. Some most essential factor for considering to buy a top rated induction range cooktop have been stated below:
Dimension:
Size consideration should be given the first priority while purchasing a portable induction cooktop. Induction panels come in different shapes: square, rectangular and hexagonal. The panel-size of an induction cooktop can start from as low as about 30cm x 30cm or more than 100cm of width per unit.
The average size of the cooktop with four cooking zones is about 60cm. During the purchase of a new induction cooker, you need to consider several facts to find the appropriate size for your cooker.
The most important issues are:
Types:
When you decide to buy induction cooktop, at first you need to decide what type of induction cooker you want. You can choose countertops, free-standing range or portable induction cooktop, depending on your need, available space, and budget range.
- If you need to travel outside the home for a long time, for hiking or any other similar purpose, then choose a portable one. A portable induction cooktop is lightweight. Therefore, you can carry a portable induction burner without much effort. Moreover, it can be stored safely in a smaller place.
- If you want to embed the induction range stove in a fixed place in your kitchen or another place in the house, then counter-top induction burner option would be the best for you.
- When you are looking for an induction range for commercial purpose like semi restaurant, then you have to go for a freestanding induction oven. You can also choose this range for heavy residential use, such as feast meal preparation.
Adjustable Settings:
Settings are another major key when looking for the best induction range cooktop budget. Basic ability to increase or decrease temperatures in small increments is only the beginning of what you should consider. Pre-packed pre-settings can be great for inexperienced cooks who have little idea of how long they should boil chicken, for example.
Additionally, if you are an experienced cook, you would love the ability to make your own programmable presets. Once you’ve found just the right temperature for your favorite dish, you can cook with greater flexibility in lesser time!
When making a final decision among some best-pick induction hotplates, be sure to weight the adjustable settings and features against each other.
The number of Cooking Zones:
Induction Ranges offer one to six cooking zones. Portable induction cooktops offer single burner and double burner cookers. The countertops come with one to five cooking zones.
The free-standing ranges offer multiple cooking zones. To buy induction cooktop, you need to select the number of cooking zones depending on your specific need.
Surface Material & Built-up:
The surface area of an induction plate enables it to function in a safe and energy-efficient way. Generally, most of the popular and reliable brands offer glass-surface.
Not all induction cooktop brands offer glass-surfaces built quality materials. If you wanna get an induction burner with an innovative and sophisticated glass surface, then you have to pay more than usual models with plastic-tops. However, you got to avoid models offering cheap glass, as they are simply not durable.
What is more, the lack of crevices provided by a smooth glass top surface helps you cook without worrying about food build up. Another amazing fact of an induction glass-top cooker is that it would make the cleaning process simpler and effortless.
Over-heated Pan Detection Sensor:
It often happens that in a kitchen that the cook becomes busy with some other task and forget about the cooking for a few moments. And then the pot left over the cooking surface gets burned. Sometimes, it may happen that you have set a timer; but the liquid has blown away before your pre-assumed time. In such cases, there is a risk that the pan placed over the cooktop will get burned.
However, before deciding to buy induction cooktop, be sure that your chosen model includes a safety sensor for detecting the over-heated pans. This feature allows the burner to take shut-off automatically before the pan-surface gets burned.
Under this mechanism, an induction cooktop can detect the bottom-temperature of the cookware and stops heating, if the cookware is left empty. This feature can efficiently adjust the cooktop’s power output for avoiding any damage to the induction-cookware due to overheating.
Booster:
This feature serves in a similar way as the previously mentioned auto heat-up setting. It enables the induction stovetop to reach at the highest temperature setting for cooking food or boiling liquid in the least possible time. After that, the temperature plunges automatically to your pre-selected lower heat level.
Protection Against Spilling:
This feature enables the induction cooktop to shut off or sounding like a beep if the cooking items start overflowing or spilling over the cooking surface. This allows the cook to clean the spilled food and then continue the cooking process.
Pan Detection Sensor:
This feature stops the heating process of the induction oven if no pan is left over the cooking surface or heating zone. Generally, a symbol appears when the pan is removed and within few seconds (depending on the special feature of the specific induction range model) the heating stops.
However, the symbol gets off, when an induction-safe cookware is replaced over the induction stovetop. This feature also shows a symbol like a “beep” and switches off automatically, if the cookware is not compatible with induction cooking.
Timer for Auto Heat-up:
This feature allows the cook to program the heat-setting of the induction stove. For instance, at the initial level of cooking, you can set a higher temperature setting for a specific amount of time and after that, you can again set a lower temperature or switch off option.
This feature gives you the opportunity to focus on other cooking tasks during that specified time duration. It is one of the most significant features when you wanna buy induction cooktop.
Lock Feature:
While buying the best-rated induction stove for your family, don’t forget to check whether the stove owns Lock feature for the control panel. It is a very useful feature, especially if your family has little kids with playful little hands.
Though the risk of danger with an induction oven is almost zero in comparison with gas ranges or other traditional cookers, this feature will prevent your little one to play with the oven’s control system.
Auto Shut Down:
Safety shutdown is another necessary feature that you must check while purchasing an induction burner. This feature will shut down the burner automatically if something goes wrong; for instance, the pan may get overheated.
Sometimes, the cook forgets to shut down the induction burner after completion of cooking. This feature, shuts down the burner after a fixed time, like about 30 seconds, if it detects pan/cookware over it’s surface-panel.
Digital Display:
The LED display system helps you to see the reading clearly when you program the heat or temperature or time for cooking. In other words, the digital control readouts feature ensures that you have set the precise temperature for perfect cooking.
Power Showing Heat Light:
The heat light should offer enough brightness to display the heat-output of the induction burner. It would be the best if each cooking zone includes respective heat light option.
Power Management:
This feature can efficiently distribute the power-output through the presence of a pair of induction cooking zones. It facilitates in cooking more amount of food in the lesser amount of time.
Generally, this mechanism allows maximum-level power output for one cooking zone, while decreasing the power-output automatically to a lower temperature for the other burner. However, you can get the maximum-heating level for two pans at a time by placing them in opposite induction cooking zones.
Efficient Design:
Looks may not be the priority to buy induction cooktop, but still, it is significant. The controlling system must be properly designed. The positions of the push-buttons and sliders should be proportioned, coherent and not placed at too close to the burners and other elements.
Mechanism to Keep Food Warm:
You will certainly not use the induction range only for cooking. You may need options for keeping the dish until your family members reach the dining table. This feature offers a simmer type mechanism for keeping the food warm. However, some induction burners are capable of utilizing the residual heat.