| Nesco PIC-14 Portable Induction Cooktop, 1500-Watt Nov 20th 2013, 18:41 Nesco PIC-14 Portable Induction Cooktop, 1500-Watt CUSTOMER REVIEW  Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program (What's this?) I've been a fan of induction burners since I purchased a Max Burton 6200 Deluxe 1800-Watt Induction Cooktop several years ago—at much greater cost than it's listed for now! Nothing beats the precise temperature control, the safety, and the efficiency of an induction burner. They are far safer and more sophisticated than hotplate-type burners for college dorms or residences for the elderly or disabled. They are also wonderful for an office kitchen or to use outdoors or on a table for Japanese hot pot cooking or fondue. Induction cooks by transferring heat to the pot itself, which then cooks your food; induction-ready cookware must be used, but you probably already have something suitable (see below).
Let me get the one thing I like better about my Max Burton out of the way first: it has a timer for auto-shutoff, which is a great boon when doing pressure canning using my Fagor Duo 10-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner. When the canner comes up to pressure, I can set the timer for how long to keep it at pressure and then walk off and leave it, knowing that the burner will shut off and the temperature instantly be reduced to zero after that precise amount of time. With pressure canning, especially, timing is everything. So is auto-shutoff if you're easily distracted (like me) by other things. The Nesco does not automatically shut off unless it overheats, in which case it will shut off as a safety feature.
That said, I like the Nesco induction burner much better for everyday cooking and will probably keep my Max put away until I'm canning. The design of the Nesco is sleeker and easier to clean, and it's MUCH easier to use. The Max has three different functional levels (wattage, temperature, cooking time) and up to ten different levels of settings within those functions; it's hard to see precisely which function you are changing settings for, and once it shuts off, you have to go through the whole rigamarole again if you want to keep cooking at the same level. (Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep! Beep!) The Max Burton is 1800 watts as opposed to the Nesco's 1500 watts. That sounds good until you trip the circuit breaker every time you use it with something else plugged in if you don't take pains to lower the wattage to a non-default setting.
The Nesco, on the other hand, is simplicity itself. For many purposes, all that needs to be done is just press the On/Off button, then the Cooking Mode button, which autosets at the center/default Boil (C3) setting. The five cooking mode settings, printed on the front panel and shown in large red digital letters when in use, are self-explanatory and controlled by two buttons (Up and Down): Melt/Warm (C1), Simmer (C2), Boil (C3), Fry (C4), and Sear (C5). The Up and Down arrow buttons do just what you'd think: Up cycles up from Boil to Fry to Sear; Down cycles down from Boil to Simmer to Melt/Warm. The temperature adjusts instantly, so you get practically instantaneous feedback on your cooking level just by looking at what the contents of your pot are doing.
If you push the wrong button and "go the wrong way," you can just push the opposite button and take it back to "where you meant to go," which will never be more than four button presses in one direction if you're going from the very lowest (C1) to the very highest (C5) or vice versa.
Finding induction-ready cookware is as easy as taking a magnet with you to the thrift store or into your cupboards; Nesco thoughtfully provides a weak magnetic strip that you can tuck into a pocket for that purpose. (Be sure to stick it to the bottom of the pan, not the sides, because the bottom that comes in contact with the burner is what counts.) Cast iron definitely works, but (as with ceramic cooktops) you have to be careful not to scratch the cooktop with it. The bottom diameter of your pot or pan must be between 3.15" and 10" in order to work; larger skillets can cause overheating. All of the pieces of my Rachael Ray Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set, Orange work with this burner.
I love it. |  | Fagor Portable Induction Cooktop Nov 20th 2013, 18:41 Fagor Portable Induction Cooktop CUSTOMER REVIEW Wow! I just cooked up some chicken the way I've dreamed of making it: small bite size pieces fried/steamed/ and crustied in a mix of oils: I used coconut, sesame and olive; and then a little bit of honey; and the juice of one lime.... This mixture never would fly in my electric fry pan - because of the many different heat levels I use. I put the chicken in the oils and cook until it turns white and I put the lid on the pan so it steams through. Then I add the honey and lime and throw in the lime skins for extra flavor, but then I turn up the heat really high to brown it; and then, here's the trick: I turn the heat off so it doesn't burn. With the way induction heating goes, its really instant. Press the button and the heat goes up and down that quickly and it doesn't stay on the burner, just in the pan the food its being cooked in. No more chopping and preparing while the meal is cooking--this is a quick way of cooking and everything needs to be ready to go, go, go! I thought the cooktop would be intimidating. But I just turn it on, go to power and click the plus and minus thing. I haven't had a need to use the timer yet. I noticed when I click -- actually its just a very light touch -- like on a smart phone -- I noticed the temperature scrolled through the various settings from warm to stir fry. It cooks quick or slow, depending on what number you put it on. This morning I fried eggs. I like the centers firm and no wiggly white stuff. I put them on a high heat to get them going, and a lower heat to cook it the way I like... and they were perfect. This is the best cooking investment I have made. I'm going to get a ''magnetic'' saucepan and possibly retired the microwave, if I find a sauce pan with a pour spout. With all the fuss going on today about microwave food, I think its about time. | |
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