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Currently shopping for an induction range


popmom
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I'm seriously considering the Frigidaire Gallery slide in induction range because it is by far the most reasonably priced. (and bonus--a lot of stores have it in stock)

I've read tons of reviews--all the pros and cons, and my only concern is the size of the burners. The largest burner is 8.3 inches. I do use an 11 inch All-Clad skillet and pot pretty frequently--both of which fit perfectly on my largest burner on my old GE radiant.

Thoughts? I could be persuaded to spend more, but I do not care for more bells and whistles. It's just more stuff to go wrong. 

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I LOVE all things induction.  Best cooking method by far in my opinion.  I do use pots larger than the burner size and I've never had a problem.  The biggest thing I see on my unit is that of course the smaller burners are less powerful and therefore take a bit longer to come to a boil.  But I went and looked at the one you mentioned and the largest burner is 3600 watts compared to my 3700 (on my 11"burner) so even though it's quite a bit smaller in size it's pretty close on the power so I wouldn't be as worried.  I think if you are trying to fry things, stuff on the edges might not brown as quickly since the heat has to radiate out a bit more but if you are cooking more things that are liquid you will notice it less because the heat dispersal is better.  

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You should measure the actual bottom surface of your All-Clad skillet. I can almost guarantee that the bottom isn't 11" since the pans are measured across the top, and they all have some amount of flare. I wouldn't worry too much about a larger pot, because cooler edges wouldn't matter so much for most of those tasks.

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43 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I LOVE all things induction.  Best cooking method by far in my opinion.  I do use pots larger than the burner size and I've never had a problem.  The biggest thing I see on my unit is that of course the smaller burners are less powerful and therefore take a bit longer to come to a boil.  But I went and looked at the one you mentioned and the largest burner is 3600 watts compared to my 3700 (on my 11"burner) so even though it's quite a bit smaller in size it's pretty close on the power so I wouldn't be as worried.  I think if you are trying to fry things, stuff on the edges might not brown as quickly since the heat has to radiate out a bit more but if you are cooking more things that are liquid you will notice it less because the heat dispersal is better.  

Thank you! This is what I was hoping for. For frying...Do you think cast iron would perform better or worse than stainless? I mean as far as browning at the edges of the pan.

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45 minutes ago, Elona said:

You should measure the actual bottom surface of your All-Clad skillet. I can almost guarantee that the bottom isn't 11" since the pans are measured across the top, and they all have some amount of flare. I wouldn't worry too much about a larger pot, because cooler edges wouldn't matter so much for most of those tasks.

I don't know how I missed this before! 

I just measured the All-Clad on the bottom. One is an eight quart stock pot, and one is a 3 quart skillet. If I account for the curved edge, they are 10 and a quarter inches across the bottom. They have straight sides unlike my smaller All-Clad saute pan/skillet--which is flared. That one is only 7.5 inches across the bottom and flares out to 10.5 inches at the top. 

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26 minutes ago, popmom said:

Thank you! This is what I was hoping for. For frying...Do you think cast iron would perform better or worse than stainless? I mean as far as browning at the edges of the pan.

I would guess cast iron would be better but I can't say for certain since I don't use stainless steel for frying.

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12 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I would guess cast iron would be better but I can't say for certain since I don't use stainless steel for frying.

That would be my guess, too. I much prefer frying in my cast iron anyway. I just don't have a large cast iron skillet--yet. 😉 I have 2 small ones for cornbread, and a dutch oven that's probably around 8 inches at the base.

I have a large non stick skillet, but it isn't compatible with induction.

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1 minute ago, popmom said:

That would be my guess, too. I much prefer frying in my cast iron anyway. I just don't have a large cast iron skillet--yet. 😉 I have 2 small ones for cornbread, and a dutch oven that's probably around 8 inches at the base. 

I'll share one trick I learned years ago when using cast iron on induction, you can put the pan on top of a silicon pad and just cook on top of it.  The magnetic waves have no trouble passing through the silicon and it helps saves your stovetop from scratches if the cast iron isn't completely smooth.

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