Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Darcie,

I've been thinking about getting a portable induction burner. (They've gotten so cheap.) What brand did you have? I'll make sure I avoid it.

Amy

One warning about [some] portable burners: They have very limited "real" power levels. So, while my burner (no longer available) says it has 10 total levels, it actually only has 3. When you try to go very low, it pulses the lowest level on and off; with some water in a pan, you can actually observe the bubbles coming and going. As a result, you cannot make very delicate things on mine; the on-pulse, even at the lowest setting, is too strong/long. The average pan temperature is fine, but the peak is too high. Of course, I could use a much less responsive pan, and that would help by muting the peak. Additionally, mine -- possibly particularly with some materials -- is pretty bad for hotspots. There is a series of spots in a circle that are serious hotspots. This is especially evident with cast iron; you basically can't sear with cast iron on mine as the pattern is very very strong at these points, and bad burning will result. This might be specific with cast iron; i've not run with plain steel or magnetic SS at high enough temps to check those.

So read the reviews carefully ...

The brand I had is discontinued, so you don't have to worry about it. It was one of the first on the market - when it died it was probably over 20 years old.