How To Use An Induction Hob? How To Turn It On And Cook On It? What Cleaning Agent Should I Use To Clean It?

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 05:33

In absolutely every kitchen there is a stove, gas, electric or induction. It is an indispensable element of kitchen equipment on which we prepare food. Today we will tell you about induction cookers - how to use them, what features of cooking with it, what products are most suitable for caring for it.

Device and principle of operation

Induction hobs are the latest in the development of kitchen technology, associated with the trend of saving natural resources and increasing the usable space in the kitchen. Induction panels work due to the force of eddy induction currents, which are generated under the influence of high-frequency magnetic fields with frequencies from 20 to 100 kHz.

Using an induction cooker is even easier than using a gas cooker, you just need to turn the power knob and the panel starts working.

You regulate the heating power using a toggle switch or a touch panel, depending on your model. Induction hobs are often equipped with a control panel with a large number of pre-built programs, making it as easy to use as possible. Of the features of the use of induction cookers, one can single out the need to select suitable cookware for cooking - the material from which it is made, the size of the cookware, ease of care for the surface of the cooker and a very important function of blocking from children.

How to turn it on and off?

To start using the panel, you need to activate it as follows:

• you need to hold the "Power on" button for several seconds;
• when the panel turns on, it will emit a characteristic sound signal and a menu will appear on the control panel;
• for further use, you select a hotplate, set the required heating power or select a suitable program;
• the panel is ready for cooking.

For the subsequent shutdown after cooking, you must either select the shutdown item on the touch control panel or, if this is not provided, press the “Power on” button again for a few seconds until the touch panel is turned off - as the main visible indicator of the equipment turned on.

Some models have a touch panel lock function. After cooking, you just need to activate the panel lock and the stove cannot be accidentally started until you unlock it through the control panel, which will protect yourself, children who are so much interested in everything unknown to them, and pets, because they sometimes like to relax on horizontal surfaces (many beloved cats).

Well, in addition to this, after activating the lock, there is no need to turn off the stove if you are at home

How to cook on it?

For induction cookers, special dishes with a thick bottom made of ferromagnetic materials are used. These requirements are due to the physical principles by which the product works. Eddy currents, which create a thermal effect on the surface of cookware, most noticeably have their effect on products made of ferromagnetic alloys. In simple terms, this can be described so that induction-type cookers or hobs are most effective at heating cookware made of cast iron, stainless steel or another type of steel used in the food industry.

If you want to use your usual dishes and not buy specialized utensils, a device created to deceive the induction heating system - a special disk - will come to your aid. It is made of the same ferromagnetic material that you put on the induction hob, and on top of it you put any utensils (glass, aluminum, etc.). Turns out that When heated, the disc transfers heat energy to the surface of the dishes, heats it up in the same way and maintains the required temperature for cooking.

There is a small "life hack" how to check if your cookware is suitable for use with an induction hob - take a regular magnet and bring it to the surface of the cookware, if there is a magnetic attraction force - your cookware fits.

In principle, it is much easier to cook your favorite dish on an induction cooker - cook soups, stew vegetables, fry pancakes or pancakes, you can make coffee or make pilaf in your favorite Turk. All this will be easier, since the induction cooker, with the help of power adjustment, works strictly according to the selected mode or program laid there or selected by you . Errors not in modes do not exceed 1 ° C. The stoves have a very convenient keeping warm function. It allows you to keep the prepared food warm for a long time.

This option is very useful when preparing several dishes in turn and has received a lot of feedback from users.

Care rules

A significant advantage of induction cookers is the ease of maintenance, but despite this simplicity, not only the visual state of the cooker depends on its care, but also the operation of your induction cooker directly depends on the care of its work surface. The absence or improper care of the working surface of the stove very often causes equipment breakdowns. The operating rules clearly state the basic rules for caring for an induction hob and its surface.

When buying, you should not only read the instructions, but also carefully follow what is written in it, if, of course, you want your stove to please you with its work for a long time.

In fact, it is extremely easy to care for an induction hob; there are basic conditions for caring for them, such as:

• use cookware made of recommended ferromagnetic materials, try not to use cookware of poor quality, which can scratch the surface; if you use dishes made of materials that are not suitable for use, use the special adapter described above;
• try to avoid scratches on the working surface as much as possible, they not only spoil the aesthetic appearance of the surface, but also threaten to disrupt the operation of the stove, it is almost impossible to remove scratches from glass-ceramic surfaces;
• you can clean the surface of the induction cooker only when it is completely cooled down, otherwise you can get cracks on the glass-ceramic surface or chips;
• any kind of contamination must be removed as quickly as possible with special care, the operation of the equipment directly depends on this;
• in order to clean the surfaces of such plates, it is necessary to use only liquid products, which are completely free of hard abrasive particles; cleaning should be carried out only with a soft cloth; it may seem to you that it will not work to clean carbon deposits or other household contaminants using household liquid detergents, do not worry - it is very easy to wash foreign materials from glass ceramics;
• when using an induction hob at home, remember that when cleaning the surface, in no case should you use brushes, scrapers, sponges made of hard material, which can leave small scratches or chips on the surface;
• after cleaning the stove, it must be wiped with a dry soft cloth or sponge to remove any damp residues and stains, this will not only give a chic perfect shine to the work surface, but also remove possible residues of detergent from the surface, which is unknown how it might react when heated.

Important! You can buy a special liquid cleaner for the glass-ceramic surfaces of induction cookers.

When applied, it not only removes dirt, but also creates a thin and transparent protective layer on the surface of the board.

Safety engineering

There are many rules for the safe operation of induction cookers, among which it is worth noting the following:

• the connection of the equipment must be carried out by a person with special knowledge, who will correctly connect the stove;
• the ventilation holes of the stove, through which ventilation of the inner space of the stove is carried out, must not be closed to ensure the normal operation of the equipment;
• do not allow moisture to enter the working space of the plate;
• it is necessary to clean and maintain the induction cooker only after it is completely disconnected from the electrical network.

The induction hob can be installed above the oven. Electromagnetic waves emitted by the stove propagate no more than 3 cm from the source. If during installation the distance between the installed oven and the stove is more than this, you have nothing to fear.

For additional protection, some manufacturers install a special heat sink that isolates heat transfer to objects below the induction panel, allowing safe operation.

As with any other type of stove, you need to install an extractor hood in your kitchen. It will remove excess odors from the cooking process. Many are really interested in this question. But everywhere you will find the same answer - there are no special exhaust systems for induction cookers. And also they do not interact with each other in any way, you will launch each of them separately.

Possible operational problems

If there are any malfunctions in the operation of the induction cooker, you must turn it off and seek help from specialists who will help solve your problem, because an induction cooker is a complex electrical equipment. As one of the most frequent problems during operation, one can single out the knocking out of the power supply circuit breakers. This problem occurs in the following cases:

• when there is a breakdown in the induction panel, due to which there are sharp changes in the operation of the induction system of the stove, because of them the protection is triggered - knocks out the circuit breakers, thereby de-energizing the room;
• the induction cooker works intermittently - this may be due to improper operation of the equipment, violation of the algorithms for the operation of the panel software, but it must be borne in mind that some models work in such an intermittent mode - in this case, everything is fine with it.

See the video below for tips on how best to clean your induction hob.