Ever since reading @RockyMtnInst’s (my employer) report on gas stoves & indoor air pollution, I’ve been concerned about my 10-year old. But as a renter, I didn’t feel like I could do much about it.

Enter @ikea & the $50 induction cooktop./1(thread)

So I bought one today to take home and try out. Started with something easy: leftover mujadara. Had it on “warm” and had to turn it down. Like my electric kettle, this thing heats up quickly. /2

And no, not all my cookware works. I have two steel saucepans that look nearly identical. One works on the cooktop, the other is rejected with an error message.

Test #2: canned soup. Again, heats up faster than on my gas stove. Bonus: no NOx or extra PM2.5!

/3

Tonight I’ll be trying something more challenging, using cast iron. Stay tuned!

/4

OK, in the interim I’m making chicken stock (yes I am an imperfect being and eat meat). Amazing how quickly the water heats up on the 1000 watt (default) setting. /5

Currently making stock with the same amount of electricity as an old-school, incandescent bulb.

Dramatic efficiency gains are, indeed, a thing. /6

OK, 60w was not enough to keep it boiling, had to bring it up to 400w to get a boil again, then dropped it to 200w to maintain the boil. Question for @IKEAUSA: will future versions of Tillreda (my stove) have settings between 60w and 200w? Would be useful. /7

Now the real question... can it sautee? /8

Biggest problem so far is that I’m not used to the use of exact temperature; years with a gas stove and I just go by flame level and knobs. 320F is really hot for a skillet; safflower oil will smoke. And it gets hotter than that! /9

Also I’m used to lifting the skillet off the stove when it gets too hot. My induction stove objects strongly when I do that & threatens to quit. /10