Sho Spaeth

By a strange coincidence, the three types of cooktops on the market today—gas, electric, and induction—happen to correspond to three important types of heat transfer (in the kitchen, yes, but also in the universe): convection, radiation, and conduction.

Gas and Convection: A gas burner heats cooking vessels largely by convection, or the flow of a hot substance. The flame creates an upward flow of super-hot gas, which transmits the heat of the combusting fuel to the metal of the pan.

Electric and Radiation: An electric burner relies on radiative heating. The spiral-shaped coil is made of an alloy, typically nichrome, with high electrical resistance, which means when you run a current through it, it’ll get hot. The hot coil radiates a small amount of visible orange-red light and a large amount of heat in the form of invisible infrared radiation, which in turn heats the cooking vessel. (The reason why many modern electric stoves have glass tops is that the transparent glass allows infrared radiation to pass through and heat the cooking vessel resting on top.) 

Induction and Conduction: Induction cooktops are superficially similar to electric cooktops, as they utilize a spiral coil set under glass to heat the cooking vessel, but the way they heat cooking vessels is very different. An induction burner does not generate heat that then travels to the pan; the “burner” uses magnetism to cause the pan itself to generate heat, which is then conducted directly to the food in the pan through contact.

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Types of Heat

Gas vs. Electric vs. Induction: Cooktops and Heat Transfer

Induction cooktops take advantage of a phenomenon called electromagnetic induction in which an electrical current running through a circuit generates a magnetic field that will induce an electrical current in a circuit placed in close proximity.

The electric coil in an induction cooktop is typically made of a material like multi-stranded copper, whose low resistance prevents it from getting hot. When a current is sent through the coil and made to oscillate about 24,000 times per second, it generates an oscillating magnetic field. Place a pan very near to the coil, and that oscillating magnetic field in turn induces a series of tiny but intense currents—called eddy currents because they resemble the swirling eddies of a liquid—in the metal of the pan. As the electrons that make up these currents swirl back and forth through the metal thousands of times per second, they encounter resistance, producing heat.

How Do Induction Cooktops Work?

It all began in 1831, when the brilliant scientist Michael Faraday discovered a mysterious property of electricity: If you place two electrical circuits next to each other and run a changing electric current through one of them, it creates a magnetic field that generates a current in the other one.

The discovery of electromagnetic induction swiftly led to a number of inventions we take for granted today: the electric motor, the electric generator, the transformer, the wireless phone charger, and the electric guitar pickup. However, electromagnetic induction has a side effect: It converts some electricity into waste heat. And it took about a century before that side effect was harnessed and put to use in induction cooking, which debuted at the 1933 World’s Fair.

A very brief history of induction cooking

The Benefits of Induction Cooktops

Induction burners offer cooks far more control over the intensity of heat, as they’re equipped with built-in temperature sensors that monitor cooking conditions and can maintain your desired temperature setting. Some induction burners, like the Control °Freak and the new Control Freak Home, take this feature to an extreme, with surface temperature sensors taking readings every 20 seconds. The Control °Freak and the Control Freak Home also have a probe thermometer that monitors the temperature of whatever is in a pan (so you don’t have to), giving you even more control over the cooking process. 

While conventional burners have basic, imprecise settings (low, medium, high), an induction burner—like the Control °Freak or the Control Freak Home—allows you to dial in the exact temperature anywhere between [f 77] – [f 482], which means you have the precision of a sous vide immersion circulator, but on your cooktop.

Searing and browning: You’ll achieve perfectly browned <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-chicken-breast">skin-on chicken</a> and the slow-render-that-turns-into-a-sear for duck breasts. Also, you’ll never throw that first <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/light-fluffy-malted-pancakes">pancake</a> away again (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYFefB7X8LE&t=93s">do you hear that, Connor Roy??</a>), because the pan will be at the correct temperature from the first pour of batter. <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-make-the-ultimate-grilled-cheese-sandwich-at-home">Grilled cheese</a>? Ditto. No more sad grilled cheeses—you won’t burn the first side then nail the second side (or vice versa!).

Temperature-sensitive cooking: <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/foolproof-sous-vide-eggs-benedict">Hollandaise</a> is notoriously difficult, and there are all kinds of methods to ensure the temperature of the ingredients are just right to form a strong emulsion. With a Control °Freak or a Control Freak Home, you can set the temperature and let the machine take over. Making <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/precision-scrambled-eggs">custardy scrambled eggs or even an actually fluffy egg white scramble</a>? Same. Making <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/sous-vide-dashi">dashi</a>? We turned to sous vide for the precise temperature control that’s been shown to optimize flavor extraction from kombu and dried fish, but with a Control °Freak or a Control Freak Home, you can get the same results on the hob. 

Deep frying: Use probe control to set your oil temperature, and it’ll get there and stay there. Gone are the days of freaking out when you realize your pot of oil’s gone nuclear while you’re elbows deep in raw chicken, dredging drumsticks for <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/chili-fried-chicken">chili fried chicken</a>. The cooktop will keep the oil at a perfectly hot [f 350], well below its smoke point—fryer oil that’s ready when you are.

Sous vide without a circulator: Years ago, we came up with <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/cook-sous-vide-tonight-what-you-ll-need">a series of hacks for cooking sous vide without a circulator</a>. Well, a Control °Freak or the new Control Freak Home does the job, without any MacGyver trickery required. (Not that we’re saying you should ditch your <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/joule">Joule</a>, of course!)

Poaching and confit: Set the temp and walk away, and when you come back: <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/stovetop-poached-chicken-breast">perfectly poached chicken breast</a>. Or if you’re old-school about technique but embrace the power of technology, there’s no better way to poach eggs the hard way (or the easy in-shell <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/perfect-sous-vide-poached-eggs">sous vide way</a>), make confit, or perfectly cook shrimp in court bouillon. Also fantastic for gently cooking delicate gnocchi.

Simmering and reducing: One of the finer features of the Control °Freak and the Control Freak Home is that it gives you the ability to adjust heat intensity, in addition to setting a cook temperature. If you want to reduce a stock fast or slow, you can dial in the heat intensity, so you’ve got a gentle bubble (what some classy chefs call “farts in a bathtub”) or a more rapid simmer and just walk away. 

Confectionery and chocolate work: Pastry chefs dream of this kind of temperature control for all their super-temperature-sensitive <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/classes/chewy-candy">confections</a>. <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pumpkin-spice-latte-macaron">Syrups for meringue</a>, <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tempering-chocolate-how-to-get-smooth-silky-confections-with-sous-vide">tempered chocolate</a> … there’s a reason the best pastry chefs in the world use a Control °Freak: There’s no better tool. With the new Control Freak Home, you can achieve the same results in your home kitchen.

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ChefSteps recipe on how to poach a chicken breast.

Poached Chicken Breast

Precision induction cooking scrambled egg recipes.

Precision Scrambled Eggs

Chili fried chicken recipe (from Pecking House in New York City)

Chili Fried Chicken

Sous Vide Dashi

Eggsamining Custards: A Parametric Analysis

Precise temperature control

Thanks to the energy efficiency of induction, pans heat up much faster on induction cooktops, and with the onboard temperature sensors that tell the cooker when to pump out more energy, they also recover temperature quickly when ingredients are added to them.

Deep frying: Whenever you’re deep-frying, the temperature of the oil drops as soon as you add ingredients to the pot. In a large commercial deep fryer, food is being cooked in such a large volume of oil that the temperature only drops a couple of degrees and then recovers almost instantly. But at home, you’re usually only heating up a few inches of oil in a Dutch oven, so that temperature drop is more pronounced (typically around 25 °F). With a Control °Freak or the new Control Freak Home, you can easily account for that drop and ride that lower temperature, adjusting the probe control to hold the temp to ensure the food cooks evenly while the crust crisps up, like we do with our chili fried chicken. Or for frying jobs that require high heat to drive off moisture as quickly as possible, like our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/rice-puffs">rice puffs</a>, don’t touch that dial, and the cooktop will quickly pump more energy into the pot to recover the original temp, fast. 

Searing: We’ve all been there: You’re searing off batches of <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/crispy-chicken-thighs-made-simple-with-sous-vide">chicken thighs</a> or <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/bomb-sous-vide-braised-short-ribs">short ribs</a> for a braise, and the first round is great, but then the subsequent one is weak, so you jack the heat and … the third one? A little carbonized. Not so with an induction burner. Set the searing temp and ride it until all your searing’s done.

Boiling: Ever wonder if the time pasta spends at sub-boiling temps when you add it to a pot count toward the total cooking time? With an induction burner, the water will be back at a roiling boil before you even think of asking the question.

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Plain rice puffs are simple to make, super crunchy, and rather one-dimensional in flavor—the perfect vehicle for a bright and salty tartare.

Rice Puffs

Rich, smooth on the palate, and utterly extraordinary with a hearty bowl of polenta (or anything, really) to sop up all the juices, these ribs are perfection on a plate.

Bomb Sous Vide Braised Short Ribs

Crispy-outside, tender-inside, homemade chicken wings in two hours. Need we say more?

Chicken Wings

With crispy, golden-brown skin and juicy, flavor-packed meat, these may be the world’s best chicken thighs.

Crispy Sous Vide Chicken Thighs

Quicker temperature “recovery” time

Induction cooktops generate and throw off far less wasted energy around the sides of the cooking vessel than electric or gas burners. This translates into significant energy savings—with induction, 85–90% of the energy consumed by the cooktop is pumped directly into the food, whereas electric burners range in efficiency from 65–85%, and gas burners are 40% energy efficient. It also means the cooktop itself doesn’t get really hot like a gas or electric burner; it never gets hotter than the pan. One of the most popular selling features of induction burners is the fact that you can put a sheet of newsprint between the pan and cooktop, and it won’t catch fire. For some people, that nifty bit of electromagnetic magic is enough reason to switch to induction, but it also means if your pot of rice or pasta bubbles over, the starchy liquid isn’t going to be carbonized into a hard-to-clean crust.

A bonus? The area around the burner stays relatively cool—cool enough that you could prep a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/parametric-pie-dough">buttery pie dough</a> right next to some searing chicken breasts and not have to worry about the dough, or the pastry chef, turning into a weepy, greasy mess.

Energy efficient

Even the most diehard gas partisans may have had their faith shaken by growing concerns about the noxious fumes emitted by gas stoves and cooktops in recent years. The only fumes induction burners produce are the ones emitted from whatever’s in the pan. Instead of turning on the exhaust every time you cook, you can save it for when you’re getting a wicked sear on steaks.

No fumes

Not compatible with all cookware: The biggest drawback of induction cooktops is they only work with cookware made from certain materials, specifically pots and pans with ferromagnetic content, made from or clad with iron or steel. Stainless steel, carbon steel, cast iron, and enameled cast iron all work with induction cooktops. Aluminum and copper cookware don’t.

Since induction works through contact, vessels need to be flat-bottomed. Round-bottom woks can’t be used on an induction cooktop. (That is, unless it’s specifically designed to heat a concave vessel; induction cooktops for woks exist but aren’t the most practical for home use.) If you have a fine collection of copper pots or an army of aluminum pans, you won’t be able to use them on an induction burner.

Constant contact required: Likewise, cooking on induction burners means you need to keep the pans on the cooktop pretty much all the time. As soon as you lift the pan away from the burner, the heat will drop precipitously, and you’ll be cooking only with the stored heat in the pan.

No flame-kissed, smoky food: You can’t grill <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/tsukune">tsukune</a> on an induction burner, of course, and you won’t be able to char peppers over an open flame (but you can use the tatemar technique to char them in a dry skillet like we do in our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/roasted-strawberry-aguachile-with-tuna">roasted strawberry aguachile</a>). That also means something like <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-chow-fun-gon-chow-ngau-ho">wok hei</a>, where aerosolized oil is ignited by an open flame, imparting a smoky charred flavor and aroma to food cooked in a wok, is impossible (but as we show you in our chow fun recipe, you can hack wok hei with a blowtorch). 

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Restaurant-style beef chow fun recipe (gon chow ngau ho).

Beef Chow Fun

Aguachile with tuna and roasted strawberries

Roasted Strawberry Aguachile With Tuna

Tsukune recipe (chicken meatball yakitori)

Tsukune (Yakitori-Style Chicken Meatballs)

The Drawbacks of Induction Cooktops

While you can’t use aluminum and copper pans on an induction burner, there is a way to get around this limitation. There are <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gourmia-GHP9530-Induction-Cooker-Diffuser/dp/B077BPJ2JW/?tag=chefsteps02-20">induction “diffuser plates”</a> (essentially stainless steel disks) that can be placed on the cooktop and heated up. Place your non-induction cookware on top of the plate and get cooking.

Some of the benefits of using induction are obviated by this hack—you lose out on precision temperature control, for one, and, in this case, the cooktop you’ve created is going to get ripping hot. But you can cook!

How to cook with non-induction cookware on an induction burner

What kind of pans work on induction cooktops?

The material of the pan has to be ferromagnetic. Stainless steel, cast iron (and enameled cast iron, like a Le Creuset Dutch oven), and carbon steel work. Aluminum and copper pans, and clay pots won’t work. 

Do induction cooktops get hot? Can I touch it right after cooking on it?

They heat up a bit, but they don’t get hot hot. You won’t want to touch the cooktop if you’ve had a pot of hot oil sitting on it for a while unless you’ve got asbestos hands, but it will be far, far cooler than any other kind of cooktop.

Sometimes my induction cooktop makes a weird buzzing noise when I’m cooking. What’s that about?

When an induction cooktop buzzes, the sound can be caused by a couple of things: the humming of electronic components inside the machine and the magic of magnetism! The magnetic field generated by induction cooktops makes your cookware vibrate. If a pan’s made out of layers of different materials, like steel-clad aluminum, or you have two pieces of cookware touching one another, like a lid on a pot, the vibration can generate a buzzing sound.

How do you clean an induction cooktop?

Just give it a wipe with a damp cloth. Induction cooktops are way easier to clean since they don’t get too hot. Spills won’t carbonize and form a crust on the cooktop; just wipe them away (promptly).

Frequently Asked Questions

For a long time, you only had two options for cooktops: gas or electric. You probably have your preference, and you’ve probably engaged in endless debates with the partisans of the other side. “Gas is more powerful!” “Electric is more reliable!” “Nobody says, ‘We’re cooking with electric, now, baby!’” Etcetera, etcetera—you know the drill.However, there’s a third option: induction. As appliance manufacturers have embraced this technology, home cooks and professional chefs can now choose from a range of induction cooktops. But how is using an induction burner different from using a gas one? How is an induction cooktop, which uses electricity, any different from the electric burners we see in Airbnb cabins and college dormitories? What does “induction” mean, anyway?

How Induction Cooktops Work