I've been a fan of induction burners since I purchased a Max Burton 6200 Deluxe 1800-Watt Induction Cooktop several years ago—at much greater cost than it's listed for now! Nothing beats the precise temperature control, the safety, and the efficiency of an induction burner. They are far safer and more sophisticated than hotplate-type burners for college dorms or residences for the elderly or disabled. They are also wonderful for an office kitchen or to use outdoors or on a table for Japanese hot pot cooking or fondue. Induction cooks by transferring heat to the pot itself, which then cooks your food; induction-ready cookware must be used, but you probably already have something suitable (see below).Let me get the one thing I like better about my Max Burton out of the way first: it has a timer for auto-shutoff, which is a great boon when doing pressure canning using my Fagor Duo 10-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner. When the canner comes up to pressure, I can set the timer for how long to keep it at pressure and then walk off and leave it, knowing that the burner will shut off and the temperature instantly be reduced to zero after that precise amount of time. With pressure canning, especially, timing is everything. So is auto-shutoff if you're easily distracted (like me) by other things. The Nesco does not automatically shut off unless it overheats, in which case it will shut off as a safety feature.
That said, I like the Nesco induction burner much better for everyday cooking and will probably keep my Max put away until I'm canning. The design of the Nesco is sleeker and easier to clean, and it's MUCH easier to use. The Max has three different functional levels (wattage, temperature, cooking time) and up to ten different levels of settings within those functions; it's hard to see precisely which function you are changing settings for, and once it shuts off, you have to go through the whole rigamarole again if you want to keep cooking at the same level. (Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep! Beep!) The Max Burton is 1800 watts as opposed to the Nesco's 1500 watts. That sounds good until you trip the circuit breaker every time you use it with something else plugged in if you don't take pains to lower the wattage to a non-default setting.
The Nesco, on the other hand, is simplicity itself. For many purposes, all that needs to be done is just press the On/Off button, then the Cooking Mode button, which autosets at the center/default Boil (C3) setting. The five cooking mode settings, printed on the front panel and shown in large red digital letters when in use, are self-explanatory and controlled by two buttons (Up and Down): Melt/Warm (C1), Simmer (C2), Boil (C3), Fry (C4), and Sear (C5). The Up and Down arrow buttons do just what you'd think: Up cycles up from Boil to Fry to Sear; Down cycles down from Boil to Simmer to Melt/Warm. The temperature adjusts instantly, so you get practically instantaneous feedback on your cooking level just by looking at what the contents of your pot are doing.
If you push the wrong button and "go the wrong way," you can just push the opposite button and take it back to "where you meant to go," which will never be more than four button presses in one direction if you're going from the very lowest (C1) to the very highest (C5) or vice versa.
Finding induction-ready cookware is as easy as taking a magnet with you to the thrift store or into your cupboards; Nesco thoughtfully provides a weak magnetic strip that you can tuck into a pocket for that purpose. (Be sure to stick it to the bottom of the pan, not the sides, because the bottom that comes in contact with the burner is what counts.) Cast iron definitely works, but (as with ceramic cooktops) you have to be careful not to scratch the cooktop with it. The bottom diameter of your pot or pan must be between 3.15" and 10" in order to work; larger skillets can cause overheating. All of the pieces of my Rachael Ray Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set, Orange work with this burner.
I love it.
So to test this Nesco (1500 watts), we took it out on the deck to make pancakes. We use a Lodge cast iron pancake skillet/griddle. This skillet is 10.5 inches outside measurement/10 inches inside cooking measurement so should be a good test. To test the evenness in cooking, we poured pancake batter to near the edge of the pan, leaving a little space for turning. This Nesco did a terrible job at cooking evenly. Even though the circle (cooking zone) is 10 inches, the pan did not get hot enough to the edge so we had a gummy/white pancake & a very overdone center where the element is under the pan. We tried again, fiddling with the temperature level & making a small pancake in the center. That was better but this would be annoying to make 1 small pancake at a time & it needed constant watching/adjusting of the temperature.
**See photo of pancake above.
There is very little fine tuning in the temperature selection. You choose between 5 "Cooking Modes"; Melt/Warm, Simmer, Boil, Fry & Sear. My Max Burton has 10 cooking levels which I discovered is important if you're doing anything other than boiling water. On level 2 (Simmer) it is too cool and on level 3 (Boil) it is too hot; the food burns. Having only 5 cooking levels is not enough for items that need specific heat control. Even though the circle (cooking zone) is 10 inches, the pan did not get hot enough to the edge to cook evenly. With a strong backlight, I could see and measure the induction element; it is approximately 7 inches in diameter.
When no pan is present, it beeps at you, a helpful feature. However, after initially beeping quickly at me, it behaved oddly and after I held a pan away from it for 30 seconds it never beeped. Either it wasn't actively heating (on level 2) or it decided not to beep. I started to question the beeping accuracy /effectiveness.
I also tested it boiling water & in that it does a very good/fast job. So if you're just using this to warm liquids such as water, soup, oil for deep frying; it will probably suffice. If you want to cook something evenly, look elsewhere.
Induction cooking requires a magnetic pan. To test your pans, put a magnet on the bottom. If the magnet sticks, your pan will work on induction. If it doesn't stick, it won't get hot & you need to choose another pan. A cheap refrigerator magnet is included with this cooktop. Handy if you're going shopping for new pans but most people probably already own a magnet or two so not really a selling point.
Max Burton 6000 1800-Watt Portable Induction Cooktop, Black A much better choice.
Lodge Logic L9OG3 Pre-Seasoned 10-1/2-Inch Round Griddle My cast iron pancake griddle; works great on other cooktops.
Buy Nesco PIC-14 Portable Induction Cooktop, 1500-Watt Now
I love the Nesco induction cooktop! It's compact and lightweight, so it is easy to store when not in use. When it is in use, it's a dream! It heats quickly, much quicker than I expected. A small fan runs while it's on, and it barely makes any noise. The five settings are easy to select, allowing heat variations from simmer to sear. The buttons are easy to push, but are not touch sensitive. This is important since you wouldn't want to accidentally change the settings. The appearance is sleek, and it's easy to clean.I've missed using my cast iron skillet since I bought my glass top stove, which can be easily damaged by cast iron cookware and is not recommended. I can use the cast iron skillet on the Nesco without any problems. I suspect the surface of the Nesco will suffer a little from cast iron if I'm not careful, but it shouldn't damage it the same way as a glass top stove.
It also uses much less energy than a regular stove, so it's cheaper to use in the long run. It won't replace my regular stovetop, but I do plan to use this regularly.
Read Best Reviews of Nesco PIC-14 Portable Induction Cooktop, 1500-Watt Here
I have this DUXTOP 1800-Watt Portable Sensor Touch Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner 8300ST which is an utter piece of junk. And this Fissler CookStar Induction Pro Portable Cooktop which is really really nice (and really expensive).So I did not expect this one to be good.
Amazingly, it is quieter that most induction cookers and it works really well. You have to be aware that with cheaper induction cooker the heating area will be smaller. So that was expected.
The one problem I have is that I can't find a setting for my pressure cooker.
C2 was too week and C3 was too strong.
It only has 5 levels. It works well if you happen to need exactly as much power as the 5 settings allow. But it will get frustrating when you need to be between 2 levels.
Most other induction cookers offer more levels for this reason.
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I love this cooktop!We BBQ at least three or four times a week and usually had to go indoors and use the stove for side dishes. We set up the induction cooktop right next to the BBQ and have used it two times so far with outstanding results.
We use a heavy iron skillet which heats up amazingly fast and the heat stays consistent. Its light which makes it easy to bring outside whenever we need it. This is my first time using an induction cooktop and I am so pleased that we were offered this product to review. It is so much easier to keep the kitchen cool in the summer with out the stove and oven on.
Highly recommended for outdoor use, excellent for camping and a boat or RV.
For those who have never used induction before (like me) you must use a metal pan such as cast iron, magnetic stainless steel or carbon steel. You can not use copper aluminum or glass.
Stats:
1500 watts
5 heating control settings
Glass top
Made in China
Save 35% Off
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