Pros And Cons
Pros
1. Super fast response to heat controls.
2. Very fast. It will boil a teakettle full of water in under three minutes.
3. Very even heating, no hot spots. You can see this when a pot of water boils on it, for the action, placement and quantity of the bubbles is very evident.
4. Wide range of temperatures available.
5. Efficient, 70% more than gas, 20% more than a regular electric element.
6. Less heat generated in the kitchen.
7. Easy clean up, just spray and wipe.
8. Safety.
Cons
1. Initial expense. Two to four times the cost of convential cooktops, plus additional wiring will probably be required.
2. Lack of visual heat indicator, such as a flame. You have to learn to trust the controls and find out what settings you need, sometimes by trial and error. I found this out when I decided my first dish would be something simple, sautéing fish sticks. The heat setting I used turned them into fish rocks! Lucky I was using an oil with a high flash point!
3. Expensive to repair.
4. Cooktop seems crowded due to size of large elements.
5. You may have to replace some or all of your cookware with ferromagnetic utensils. We were lucky, most of our cookware was cast iron, enameled cast iron or magnetic stainless. The only things I had to replace was the non-stick pans and teakettle – I got some odd looks from store clerks as I checked out pots and pans with a ‘fridge magnet!
6. Sometimes difficult to see if utensil is correctly placed on element.
