Induction Burners

Yes, this is an incredible burner, but it's also costly—which, to be honest, was our only real complaint about it. Its front knob allowed us to dial the burner to the exact temperature we wanted (the front screen also displays the corresponding power mode, such as "medium-low," to avoid any confusion). And the machine comes with a temperature probe that allows you to monitor and set the temperature of the contents of the pots, which made deep frying effortless and even allowed us to use it for sous vide cooking. Its precision ensured that caramel was silky-smooth, fried zucchini sticks were golden all over, and 4 quarts of water boiled in 20 minutes, making it the only induction burner to boil water faster than the stovetop. While the cost of this induction burner means it's not for everyone, it is an exceptional piece of equipment, especially for experienced cooks who really want the benefits of precision cooking.

This model features an intuitive and responsive control panel that makes it easy to adjust the time and temperature for various cooking tasks. It brought water to a boil in 24 minutes and kept cheese fondue at a constant temperature (140 degrees Fahrenheit) for more than 4 hours without scorching. However, this burner has some limitations. Its 6-inch heating coil means that it works best with smaller cookware—when we seared burgers in a 12-inch skillet, they browned unevenly. It also struggled in the deep-frying test, taking 20 minutes for the temperature to come back up between batches of zucchini fries, slowing our progress. 

We were initially impressed with this model, as it successfully brought water to a boil in 23 minutes, made golden and crispy zucchini fries, and cooked food in a speedy manner. But its 5.5-inch heating coil was too small to give the burgers an even sear, so we recommend using it with smaller cookware for the best results. We also noted that the burner failed to maintain low temperatures. It struggled to reduce the heat under a pot of water from boiling to simmering. And over the 4 hours of holding fondue at the machine’s lowest temperature setting, the cheese scorched severely, and fat started to separate at the 1-hour mark. We also had trouble using its heat controls: a touchscreen bar with 10 light-up dots. This design made it difficult to precisely and conveniently set the temperature at our desired level. Additionally, we noticed that the slippery surface made pots and pans slide—a potential safety concern.

With a large, easy-to-read interface and a “boil” button that automatically sets the machine at its highest power setting, we thought this was the most user-friendly of the induction burners we tested. We effortlessly seared burgers, cooked caramel sauce, deep-fried zucchini sticks, and held fondue at a constant temperature for 4 hours. We thought its performance was, for the most part, on par with the $1,600 model we tested, and it’s 17 times cheaper. It also had a lock screen function, which could prevent the heat from being accidentally turned up or down. The two caveats? It took the longest to boil water (about 35 minutes) and was the loudest. However, we felt these were fairly minor issues when compared to the machine’s overall intuitiveness and accuracy.

Thanks to its 9-inch heating coil, this powerful induction burner was able to bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in about 19 minutes, the fastest of all the models we tested. It toasted flour and seared burgers evenly and made silky-smooth caramel sauce and golden-brown zucchini sticks. However, it was too powerful, and even on the lowest power setting fondue scorched. We liked the convenient “simmer” and “boil” buttons that automatically adjusted temperatures, but its power button was difficult to press, and the control knob and temperature probe were tricky to operate. This induction burner was also a bit loud; however, it was easy to clean and had great extra features such as a screen lock and incompatible cookware detection.