5 Points You Should Understand about a Commercial Induction Cooker
People in food businesses are always on the lookout for cooking appliances that can make tasty foods economically. Induction cooktops are highly promising cooking equipment that serves both the purposes of taste and economy, and therefore have grabbed professional chefs’ attention. However, still there is much confusion about this appliance. Let’s remove all the confusions and get a clear idea of what a commercial induction cooktop is.
1. What is a Commercial Induction Cooker?
Simply put, a commercial induction cooker is a cooking surface that gets heated by currents produced by an electromagnetic field which is placed just below the surface. The difference between traditional thermal conduction and induction is that induction heats the cookware without needing a burner or flame.
2. Principle behind Induction Cooking
Gas and electric stoves work by first heating a burner, coil or creating a flame. Induction cooking on the other hand transfers heat directly to the cookware which in turn passes the heat to the food. Thus, induction cooking skips the use of a heating element and makes use of magnets to stimulate the atoms in your pot or pan, and heat the cookware.
Since the heat is directly transferred to the cookware and food, food gets cooked more quickly than that with traditional cooking.
Also, since the heat is sourced directly, temperature tends to remain much more stable, and the chef gets more control over the cooking than with gas or electric ranges.
3. Types of Cookware that can be Used
Cookware with a magnetic base can be used on a commercial induction cooker. Other induction-friendly cookware includes cast iron and some types of stainless steel. Keep in mind that stainless steel cookware that has been added nickel are non-magnetic, and therefore cannot be used with an induction cooktop.
Magnetic stainless steel has 430 stainless steel and 18/0 grade.
A simple test to check whether your cookware is magnetic or not is that you can hold a magnet near its bottom. If it firmly sticks to the bottom, it means that your cookware will work with the commercial induction cooker. While buying new pots and pans, look for an “induction compatible” labeling.
Pots and pans made from non-magnetic materials like aluminium or copper won’t work with an induction cooktop.
4. Safety of Induction Cooktop
Induction cooking is extremely safe because the glass surface of the cooker doesn’t become hot, unlike that of a traditional gas or electric range.
Some induction cooktops come even with an automatic shutoff feature once you remove the cookware from the surface.
5. Top Tips for Using an Induction Cooker
Many chefs may feel daunted with the thought of using a commercial induction cooker as it involves something that cannot be easily imagined i.e. cooking without a flame. However, using this appliance is not at all difficult. Here are a few tips.
Keep all your ingredients ready before you begin cooking. This is because the cookware on an induction cooktop gets heated much quicker than you might have been accustomed to. This means no downtime.
The induction cooker has a wide range of heat adjustments and you have a great control over temperature so that you can achieve just the heat you want. This allows you to make high-quality sauces and confections more professionally. You can achieve consistent simmering and make quick changes in heat with a great ease.
Because of the cooking zones on an induction cooktop, you can evenly heat even oversized cookware. Thus you can double or triple a dish with no need of making the dish on 2-3 separate burners.
You need to keep upgrading your business and a commercial induction cooker can be a good start for that. All the best!