I have been living with an induction range for 6 months now, and I want you to know what my experience has been, living with an induction range. I cook quite a bit, in fact daily, so I think my experience would indicative of your experience. I bought this range in a package from Kitchenaid including an over the range low profile microwave, a french door refrigerator and dishwasher.
What I appreciate about Induction Cooking
I have come to appreciate induction cooking. While I still think a gas stove is the best way for a talented cook to make food, induction cooking is a close second. Water boils so fast that I don’t even use a kettle when I am making french press coffee. Even my wife likes it when she wants to make hot coco.
Induction Cooking Takes getting used to
I will be honest, you have to change how you cook with induction. Because you always need contact with the range top, the traditional way of flipping food by lifting, tipping and flipping, works in theory. But if you have the pan off the cook top for too long the range starts squawking at you with beeps. I believe if you have it off for more then 30 seconds, it shuts down but even after 5 seconds, it beeps at you. But for boiling water, eggs, oatmeal and soup it has been a dream to work with. Clean up is easy and cooking is fast.
Unexpected Pluses of an Induction Range
The unexpected benefit of an expensive range is the oven. The oven is something I have appreciated. I use the broiler quite a bit to grill shrimp and the heat is consistent. The bottom oven is great for keeping sweet potato warm and even cooking without having to heat up the entire oven. And the main oven is large enough to fit a full sized oven and the heating is consistent. In addition to being large, the racks are on ball bearings so can slide out quite easy. And the bottom heating element is not exposed so its easy to clean.
What I Don’t Like About my Induction Range
As good as the oven is, there are a few things that are annoying. The bottom oven can fit a few potatoes to cook but I have to line the bottom with tin foil because its not big enough to handle an even small pan in the bottom.
The cook top can be a bit annoying as well. The stove top controls are… on the stove top which is fine until some water boils over and you are pushing buttons in hot water. And to add insult to industry, if you get any water, or food, or anything over those controls, the oven starts beeping and squawking at you to get the water off. Because everything is touch control, the touch control is not super sophisticated so takes a little getting used to the pressure to use and to dial in the degree on the cook top.
Finally, this has only happened a couple times, but the timing was horrible. At Thanksgiving, while cooking potatoes, sweet potatoes and other things, the cook top decided to just shut off. For some reason the cook top decides it needs to reboot and for a few minutes, your food stops cooking until you can restart the system again. Because it was so new, I was freaked out the oven had just plane stopped. This only happens when you are using a lot of the burners and running at full sack but still, at this price point, it shouldn’t happen.
What I Haven’t Used Yet on my Induction Range
There are a few things I have not used but will. I have not used the induction functionality yet. I don’t bake breads or pastries but I am curious to see if I can use it to cook the japanese style sweet potatoes. I have also not used the proofing function you can use for bread.
What I would like to see improved?
There is one thing missing my portable induction range has which is a specific temperature for the cook top. I can set my induction range to 350 degrees farenheight and it will keep a pot of boiling water at that specific temperature. That is not available on the kitchen aid. I would also like better controls on the timer. You can only set the timer in whole minute increments. So If I need something for 5 1/2 minutes, I have to use the timer on the microwave or on my phone.
Over all Impression of my Induction Range
The best question to ask is, would I buy this range again. The simple answer is yes I would. At least at this point. I still think that if you can go for a gas range it is the superior cooking surface but if you have to go electric, then go for an induction range in my opinion. If you can get used to the adjustments, it really is a joy to cook with.
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