Induction -v- Pans

Sandtree

I'd always assumed it was fairly binary, pans either worked or didn't work with induction but now wondering if its a bit more of a scale?

Just installed ours (7.5kw) and had 2 pans to test with, a cheap old saucepan where the base is magnetic (confirmed) and a small cast iron skillet. Really not comparable in volume or mass but it seems the cast iron is much faster to heat up (which obviously cast iron isn't normally). So is it possible to get pans that pass the magnet test but are actually poor at responding to an induction hob?

tooldle

The more magnetic a material the better the performance is the science

Sandtree

tooldle said:

The more magnetic a material the better the performance is the science

And in practical terms is there consideration?

Some pans are a solid material, others are layered, I did read online that some cheap pans made of layered material can suffer from poor bonding and so poor heat transference but many of the more expensive pans are in this layered construction. Am I better getting something like solid steel which is therefore higher mass of magnetic material or something like the All Clad D3 which is steel outer with an aluminium core so has magnetic material but has the aluminiums quicker heating properties to disperse the heat quicker?

The cheap pans I have do make a noise on the higher settings which allegedly is a sign of poor bonding

Effician

Can't comment on the physics of individual materials as it's way above my pay grade, however having had induction for 15+ yrs we tend to stick with circulon infinite as they do heat fast but also the bases stay perfectly flat which cannot be said for some of the cheaper brands we've tried.  The 3x morphey richards stainless pressure cookers have also been a good buy with fast heating & stable bases as have a couple of cheap cast iron skillts although the weight is a little disconcerting if they slip whilst placing on the glass hob.

We started off with trial & error , stopping when we found what worked for us , no doubt there are plenty of good pans etc out there that would suit us but we have had some bad uns so not tempted to move from our prefered known good pans.

Sandtree

Thanks for the suggestion Effician... I had assumed it was a little more binary in terms of working or not working but seems its more of a sliding scale

CCW007

We had a set of circulon pans which work really well on induction - they have very thick bases. 

Bought a set of Scoville pans which seem to have a thin disc on the base of the pan.  They seemed really slow in comparison so I did a side by side comparison and the circulon pans are much faster to come to the boil. 

The Scoville ones are fine for heating soup etc but not so good for cooking pasta or vegetables   

tooldle

Sandtree said:

tooldle said:

The more magnetic a material the better the performance is the science

And in practical terms is there consideration?

Some pans are a solid material, others are layered, I did read online that some cheap pans made of layered material can suffer from poor bonding and so poor heat transference but many of the more expensive pans are in this layered construction. Am I better getting something like solid steel which is therefore higher mass of magnetic material or something like the All Clad D3 which is steel outer with an aluminium core so has magnetic material but has the aluminiums quicker heating properties to disperse the heat quicker?

The cheap pans I have do make a noise on the higher settings which allegedly is a sign of poor bonding

It would be a case of test it and see. Steel is the necessity as an electromagnetic material. The heat comes from electrical resistivity. By adding in other materials you trade resistive material for material that is a better thermal conductor. Do check for the logo on the bottom of the pan as not all steel is the same. Alloying elements will affect the suitability of a steel for use on an induction hob. We use IKEA 365 pans on our hob and these respond quickly. 

Sandtree

tooldle said:

Sandtree said:

tooldle said:

The more magnetic a material the better the performance is the science

And in practical terms is there consideration?

Some pans are a solid material, others are layered, I did read online that some cheap pans made of layered material can suffer from poor bonding and so poor heat transference but many of the more expensive pans are in this layered construction. Am I better getting something like solid steel which is therefore higher mass of magnetic material or something like the All Clad D3 which is steel outer with an aluminium core so has magnetic material but has the aluminiums quicker heating properties to disperse the heat quicker?

The cheap pans I have do make a noise on the higher settings which allegedly is a sign of poor bonding

It would be a case of test it and see. Steel is the necessity as an electromagnetic material. The heat comes from electrical resistivity. 

I somewhat understand the principles, though would have thought it broader than just steel given cast iron works crazy well (just too heavy for day to day), but not too many options to try before you buy and dont want to spend a fair chunk of change to get home and find they are worse than the cheapo pans as removing stickers etc to test boiling a pan of water probably falls under excessive handling

tooldle

Both Steel and Cast Iron are alloys of Iron. Iron and a low-ish carbon content being Steel and Iron with a higher carbon content being Cast Iron. These are catch all terms that cover a wide range of compositions and additional alloying elements. The difficulty in answering your questions being the relative proportions of resistive and thermal conducting material, the exact alloys used and how the materials are utilised in the construction of the pan are unknown to us the consumer. 
The decision to me would seem simpler. You are impressed with the speed of heating from the cast iron pan. If you can cope with the weight of cast iron pans plus contents then, why not continue to use it. If you want or need something lighter with better impact and corrosion resistance, opt for 'steel'.