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I spent a good three months burning onions, scorching tomato sauces and under-cooking food in my pressure cookers before I figured out how to pressure cook on induction. Unlike pressure cooking on gas, or an electric coil, where the heat is generated by a flame or element and then transferred onto the base and sides of the cooker and eventually the food inside, induction cooking turns the pressure cooker’s base into the heat source – heating only the base of the cooker to cook the food!
So, is it even a good idea to pressure cook with induction? The answer is a resounding, yes!
The adjustments are small and, besides, induction cooking transfers 90% of it’s energy to the pot (compare that to an electric burner that only transfers 47%), so pairing your pressure cooker with an induction burner will turn your household into an energy-saving super-star!
How to Pressure Cook on Induction
DON’T pre-heat the cooker.
I got into the habit of preheating the base of the pressure cooker on a low flame to give me time to slice onions or peel garlic cloves while the cooker was pre-heating. But, on induction, I kept getting burned olive oil and charred onions. Don’t pre-heat your cooker on induction – the cooking surface is hot and ready to saute in 15 seconds!
DO slice the aromatics first, and then turn on the induction burner just before tossing oil or aromatics to saute’.
DON’T bring the cooker to pressure on high heat.
Following the old standby advice about bringing the cooker to pressure on high heat several obvious things will happen: the cooker reaches pressure at break-neck speed (about 4 minutes), tomato sauces carbonize and bond to the base of the cooker, and the food comes out disappointingly under-done. One more thing that is not obvious will happen, too: the pressure cooker does not have time to expel all of the air and actually cooks the food at a lower temperature (mechanics explained, below).
DO bring the pressure cooker to pressure on medium heat or tack on a few minutes to the cooking time to compensate for the lower pressure cooking temperature and shorter time to pressure.
DON’T walk away from a very full or wide cooker right after you’ve adjusted the heat.
This is where the instant heat of induction does a disservice to pressure cooking. Although the cooker may have reached pressure, the sides are still at a lower temperature than the piping hot aluminum-disk-clad base. Walking away from the cooker once the heat is lowered will cause internal pressure to quickly fall since the heat generated from the base is not enough to both keep the food inside boiling and maintaining pressure and heat up the rest of the cooker or food.
DO hang around to make heat adjustments for the first 5 minutes of pressure for very full or very wide cookers.
DO use the induction burner’s timer feature to set the pressure cooking time so the burner turns itself off automatically when time is up!
How Induction Cooking Works
Induction works with electricity – generating a small magnetic current that causes friction within the pot – and this friction generates heat.
- Electric current runs through a copper coil that is wound underneath the cooking surface.
- The coil generates an electromagnetic field a short distance from the cooking surface – enough to reach the base of the pot.
- The magnetic field induces (or forces) an electric current into the base of the cookware within this field. The metal in the cookware resists the flow of this current (with friction) and heats up.
- The hot metal from the pot heats the food or liquid inside.
Induction is a more efficient way to bring heat to the food because almost all of the energy used is conducted directly to the base of the pot, unlike cooking on a gas or electric coil where much heat escapes around the sides of the pot and in addition to heating up the food it heats up the room and the outside of the cooker.
Mechanics of pressure cookers on induction
Induction cooking has the unique ability to bring the base of a pan, or pressure cooker, to searing heat instantly while the edges and lid are still cool enough to touch. That’s a by-product induction’s efficiency that can work against the pressure cooker, too.
Pressure cookers brought to pressure on induction at its highest setting reach pressure so quickly that they trap more air inside (shorter time to pressure, less venting time) than a cooker being brought to pressure on gas or electric cook tops. In other words, the maximum temperature that can be achieved inside a pressure cooker containing water, steam and air is less than the temperature that can be achieved by a cooker that contains water and steam alone.
As induction becomes more common, pressure cooker manufacturers will be pressed to include instructions on how to operate their cooker on induction in their manuals or design a more sophisticated pressure regulating valve that can ensure the complete removal of air inside the cooker regardless of the time it takes to come to pressure.
Induction Burner Shopping
Buy the highest wattage induction burner you can afford and your kitchen outlets can handle – the low-wattage cheaper induction burners can bring a cup of water to a boil in a couple of minutes, too, but increase that to a 16 cup soup or stock and they begin to struggle and show their “you get what you pay for” cheapness.
I don’t quite understand how air can get trapped inside a PC as long as you raise it above the the venting pressure for a moment. Under that point I suppose it can “seal”, but above it it necessarily vents or else the contraption blows.
In other words, it seems the modern cookers have a range where they are sealed as controlled by two regulators (one that seals once up to certain lower pressure, another that opens ostensibly at 15psi). So as long as you let it vent for a bit before lowering back into the range, it seems like that would solve this problem.
The issue, as explained above, is that even though the contents of the cooker are boiling the rest of the cooker is still “cold” so the minute you turn down the heat there is a quick drop in temperature and pressure as the steam tries to no only maintain pressure but heat the rest of the metal of the pressure cooker.
Ciao,
L
So it’s not due to air in the cooker? Or does air somehow get sucked back in?
If the uneven heating theory is correct, the immediate implication is that low temp is caused by turning down the heat too low. If the heat is instead turned to the “right” setting for maintaining 120degC, the cooker will eventually reach that equilibrium in time.
Read the second and third don’ts, above. They will answer you questions.
Ciao,
L
I’ve read them previously and they don’t fully answer the physics at play. For example, not enough time to expel all the air makes sense when the cooker first seals, but once the cooker vents again at 15psi (and all cookers must do so for safety), it seems any air left would be pushed out again.
So it looks like the advice is for a certain process where the cooker isn’t allowed to vent again, perhaps by reading a visual indicator to turn it down before it has a chance to do so. The third “don’t” address perhaps the tendency to turn it down too low.
In that case, shouldn’t an alternative solution be to let it vent for a bit at 15psi, and don’t turn it down too low?
Newer induction tops can target a temp using a sensor just under the surface, and it seems by setting the right temp the problem would solve itself. That is, because air in the cooker would build to higher psi, the system would vent until no air is left (and the same temp would result in proper psi for the cooker).
I’ve had my induction for nearly a year. I have definitely noticed a difference when I followed the advice in this page and used a lower heat to reach pressure. Everything cooks and tastes better compared to bringing to pressure too quickly.
Try the advice and bring the cooker to pressure on slightly less than maximum heat on induction; also, start with cold or room-temperature ingredients (unless the recipe says to use boiling water at the start). The pressure cooker will take at least 6 minutes to reach pressure or maybe longer e.g. 10 – 15 minutes or more. In doing so, all oxygen will be vented out before pressure builds.
Thanks, I’ll try using the temp target mode on the induction. It seems to reach that temp slower (like for boiling water) than using full power, likely because it stops when the bottom of the pot reaches the target and intermittently turns on/off as the heat there distributes upward.
I believe that’s how electric pressure cookers work anyway, except they control the temp to lower than 120c/15psi.
This article has helped me, but I just learning to use my pressure cooker on the induction burner. I bought an 8 quart and it has a new gasket, but it leaks at high pressure. I have a glass shot glass on the burner to catch the condensation. Should it be leaking water with a new gasket. Help?
Linda Haffey
Welcome Linda, does it leak liquid, or steam? Are you turning down the heat even more once the cooker has reached pressure?
Ciao,
L
Liquid about an inch. Thanks for your quick reply. Linda
Linda, to add to Laura’s comments…are you sure you have the new gasket installed correctly in the pressure cooker lid? Sometimes if even a small part of the gasket isn’t seated properly the lid won’t seal perfectly. Also could there be a tiny piece of food stuck between the gasket and the lid which would prevent the lid from sealing properly?
Yes, I think the gasket was in ok, and it was really clean so I think that was ok. I had two cups of black beans in it with four inches of water over the beans. It took a lot longer than I thought to cook, but I’m not used to the induction burner with the pressure cooker yet. It only had about an inch of water in the shot glass after all was through.
Thanks for your quick reply. Linda
You really shouldn’t be losing ANY water this way.
Check the metal where the gasket touches too. The gasket itself may be ok but if there is a blemish on the metal in this critical area you may still get a leak.
Also, how is the gasket itself. Just because you bought it new doesn’t mean it was new in the shop. Think food past its use by date. It should be quite flexible and a little springy to touch.
Laura, could it be simply that the metal is still cold so there is a gap even if the water is boiling?
May be turn the stove down a little more while coming to pressure may fix the issue.
No, that’s A LOT of water more than condensation. Linda, you didn’t answer my last question. Did you turn the heat down further, after the cooker reached pressure? Also, what brand pressure cooker is this?
Thanks,
L
Yes, I did turn down and it is a Fagor. Thanks.
Question : when I place a pot of water on my Induction cooker top and switch it ON, I check with tester and body of pot shows presence of current. Why ? Wiring new, plug and switch new, my I.C is type 2 – does not require earthing, no cracks on top glass, it is working fine, pots and pans are heating up properly. It is best brand as available in my country and am using it for 2 years now. When I switch off I.C, pot no longer shows presence of current on pot body. No presence of current in I.c body when ON. Only in pots and pans placed on top. Is this normal ? Is it safe to use ? Please help.
What are you using to measure the current? And where on the pot are you measuring? Do you only notice this with only a specific type of pan?
According to my husband, a microelectronics engineer, it is possible that very low amounts of current could be transmitted to the sides of the pot nearest the burner. The Electric Magnetic Field (EMF) that is powering the induction cooking is powered by a coil that has the current running through it, this is induced by the EMF to generate heat.
You might feel voltage from the body of the pot if the burner is not grounded (earthing?) and is made out of conductive materials such as metal or conductive ceramic. Glass is not conductive. My stand-alone burner is made of all plastic and acrylic and is not grounded and although I feel a slight vibration on the sides of the pot when cooking it is not electrically charged.
The only other thing I can think of is the material of the pan you are using is ferrous, beyond the base, which would react with the EMF from the induction burner within the magnetic field created by the burner on the base (about an inch above the base).
Ciao,
L
what is the minimum recommended weight of utensil ( with food materials ) that can be placed on induction stove
It depends on the stove/burner manufacturer and materials. I am not able to answer that question.
Ciao,
L
It is quite possible that what you are detecting is normal. The way induction stoves work, they WILL generate a current in the base of the pan. However, that current should be at safe levels.
It may be that your detector is just very sensitive. Is the detector just a pass – fail type? my multimeter has one of these, and it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I only use it to detect whether an electric circuit I am using has been switched off. I still brush the wires together anyway as a final check.
As a side note, my brother’s Induction cooktop came with a warning not to let anyone with a Pacemaker installed near the stove.
My sister has a nuwave PIC and we know you’re not supposed to put it on metal. But what about using it on like a 3/4″ piece of wood on top of the metal? She has a double wide oven and there’s just a wide open space along one side that is really wasted space. It would be a perfect spot for the nuwave and we’d use it more often. Thanks in advance!
i statement that air needs to be expelled from the pressure cooker to cook faster does not seem to correspond to any known physical principles
in a pressure cooker food is usually being cooked by boiling water, not by steam or hot air
let’s address the usual case, and not the unusual one where food is held above the water and cooked by steam
water boils at a higher temperature when it is under higher pressure. so the faster speed of a pressure cooker results from boiling food at a higher temperature
unless the pressure and thus the boiling point of water is affected by what kind of gas is above the boiling liquid, whether argon, nitrogen, oxygen or water vapor, then it would not matter whether air is expelled
the author claimed to explain the “mechanics” but merely stated that the presence of air slows the cooking without citing any known physical principle to account for this claim
if you know of any generally accepted physical principle that would cause air in the pressure cooker to slow the cooking of food that is boiling in water, please reply
1. In my case I almost always steam my food i the pressure cooker. So your claim that this is the “unusual case” is just plain wrong.
2. May I suggest you look into the “accepted physical principal” of Partial Pressures. Almost any first year university physics textbook will give you information on it. But basically, the figures relating boiling point to pressure given in most texts assume that the gas above the water is 100% steam. If it is any other gas (or a mixture of steam and other gases (i.e. air)), then the figure will be different.
Sorry, but the temperature of the boiling water inside the cooker is entirely controlled by the total pressure inside the pot, not the “partial pressure” of the water vapor.
If excess air is trapped inside the pot for a while, that may limit the rate of heat transfer to other objects inside the pot (like canning jars, for example), but it does not affect the actual temperature inside that pot.
By your theory, the boiling point of water in an open pot would be quite substantially below 212F.
ok, your experience using the pressure cooker to steam rather than boil food explains your error
dalton’s law of partial pressures says that the total pressure is equal to the sum of partial pressures
it doesn’t account for anything you’re talking about, because boiling point is not affected by partial pressure or water vapor or any other gas. it is a function of the TOTAL pressure of the gases above the liquid
the principle governing your observation is HEAT CAPACITY
if you ‘steam’ food in the pressure cooker, meaning it cooks while not touching the boiling water, it will cook slower if air is present. that is because water vapor has a higher heat capacity than air. therefore heat will transfer from the hot water vapor to the food more quickly than from a gas of the same temperature with a lower heat capacity because the water vapor contains more heat energy. it’s not because of a ‘principle’ of partial pressures
your comments about the effect of the composition of gases above the water affecting its boiling point appear to be pure imagination
you said: ‘figures relating boiling point to pressure given in most texts assume that the gas above the water is 100% steam’
why do you believe that? do the texts say it’s an assumption? or is it because you believe that a ‘principle of partial pressures’ would make water boil at a lower temperature if there’s air in it? is that why you assume the texts are assuming the gas above the water is ‘steam,’ as you call it? (despite a lot of loose talk about the gaseous state of water, steam is not a gas. it is condensed water vapor suspended in air, which is why it is visible. water in its (always invisible) gaseous state is properly called water vapor).
is there some other reason you believe all these basic physics texts are making an unstated assumption?
it seems your observation that food takes longer to ‘steam’ when air is not expelled from the pressure cooker has led to the unwarranted conclusion that it’s because the water is boiling at a lower temperature, apparently because you’re not aware of the principle of heat capacity
but you kinda already knew you had it wrong, didn’t you? that’s why you didn’t discuss the physical principle and how it applies, you just tried to announce it, implying the answer is in textbooks if one would only bother to look for it. and then you warn that if someone does consult a physics text, they’ll likely see no support for what you’re saying, because the texts are all making an assumption and they won’t discuss the assumption
no, the composition of gases above a liquid don’t affect the boiling point of a liquid, and giving a pressure cooker time to expel air doesn’t affect the boiling point of the water it contains. the only variables are the composition of the liquid and the TOTAL pressure of gases above it. if you cook in a gas (like water vapor, as you say you often do, or air, as one does in an oven, the composition of gases could affect cooking time because some gases have a higher heat capacity than others, which means they have more heat energy than other gases at the same temperature
there is another principle here, a metaphysical principle, which is the principle of reality. reality exists, is stable, and is what it is rather than what you imagine or want it to be
would you agree with that principle? or would you say that reality depends on, say, how you feel, or what you want it to be, that it’s all subjective and could be different for everyone?
Bu, please take some time to read the discussions in the forums and articles that have been written specifically to this issue on this website. Then, before posting again, come back here to re-read what you wrote above.
You’re welcome to come here and share facts and have a civil discussion about them. You are not welcome to come here to sling mud at the walls and pick a fight.
Ciao,
L
Don’t worry Laura,
Bu is clearly someone who is incapable of reading accurately.
For example he states
“it seems your observation that food takes longer to ‘steam’ when air is not expelled”
where the “you” clearly refers to me. I have never made such a statement. Though it has been made by others.
I tend to ignore people who cannot read properly. Especially those who, as you say, are trying to pick a fight.
But actually, he shouldn’t come back here, but instead continue on the thread on this topic on the forums. It is way off topic here.
It’s clearly stated in the article and from basic physics in general that the cookers don’t quite come up to pressure with too much air trapped inside instead of steam. Less pressure implies lower boiling point. Also btw, steam is by definition synonymous with water vapor: “steam: the vapor into which water is changed when heated to the boiling point”
Must be quite embarrassing to be so egotistically righteous yet trivially wrong.
Actually he is right on this point. They DO come up to pressure. They must. All pressure cookers have some sort of pressure sensing device. Whether it is a weight, spring or transducer is irrelevant.
Once they come to pressure the heat is turned down to maintain that pressure. Again whether it is via operator intervention or automagically via electronics is again irrelevant.
However this is not the place to have this discussion. Move over to the forum (Kitchen Chit Chat) if you want to continue. Though being the time of year it is it will be a few days before I can join in.
Please be aware an induction cook top is only as efficient as the metals used in the pan placed on top of it. A lot of people are seeing different results with induction cooking, however these differentiations are a result of the type of cookware used. Choice is an Australian consumer advocacy group who test many consumer items, they recently tested induction cookware for their efficiency and the results are as diverse as cookware prices.
If possible do some research on induction cookware or speak to induction manufacturers to find out issues people have had with induction cooking. Most people speak to the manufacturers about poor induction performance and the service technicians will usually test the induction cooktop with cookware they bring along on a service call.
I would imagine the manufacturers have a recommendation to particular cookware brands based on their experience with customers and also testing conducted.
Interesting, Alan. Do you have a URL for the Choice website where they tested cookware for efficiency? I’d like to read what they wrote though since it’s in Australia some of the products tested are probably not available in the US. Thanks.
https://www.choice.com.au/
Be aware that we use 240V 50Hz, while the US uses 110V 60Hz so there will be NO correspondence between any electrical appliances. Except for things like computers that have a universal supply. We also use metric for all measurements, so be prepared to do some conversions.
There will be direct comparisons ion cookware. But brand names may be different. And be aware that the same brand name may be a different product.
I see. Thanks for the clarification, Greg.
A P.S to my last note. So far I’ve not had any difficulty with the pots and pans I’ve use on my Nuwave Portable Induction Cooker. I use a variety, some were expensive, some not. These are some of the brands I have.
All-Clad d5
All-Clad Copper Core
T-fal Nonstick
Simply Ming Technolon Plus
Cast Iron Grill
Stovetop pressure cookers by B/R/K, Kuhn Rikon and Fissler
Hi, i faced a problem while cooking. When i was boiling chicpeas as it takes a lot of time, i saw black layer coming out of my cooker, from inner surface and it got mixed with boiled chickpeas. What should i do?
Neha, if your cooker was aluminum and you also used tomatoes or some other acidic ingredient it’s natural for the metal to turn dark and oxidize. You’ll also notice that the chickpeas taste extra-tart. There is no way to change the color of the metal back to what it was, but next time cook the chickpeas by themselves and simmer them in tomato sauce using a stainless steel pan.
Ciao,
L
Laura, I also have a Fagor pressure cooker as well as the Fagor tabletop induction cooker. I bought both new and from the get go have had the same problem as Linda above in that I lose a LOT of water coming out of the top while getting up to temperature. I thought it was just the way it should be but reading your tips on pressure cooking with induction has me wondering. I actually came to the site to find out if taking 20 or more minutes to come up to pressure on my induction cooker on high heat was normal but obviously it is not. Everything was shipped to me brand new. I now have a new gasket and will try that (all the gaskets I have been using are silicone) but am wondering if it is a quirk of my Fagors as Linda had the same problem? I would really appreciate some advice with this issue as the more I see on your site and read in your book has me thinking that what I was accepting as normal is not. thanks
ellpee, which model Fagor do you have? I’ve found the DUO to be particularly problematic in locking closed. You have to latch it manually and sometimes it doesn’t really go all the way – it has to go a little more to actually close. The Splendid, too. All the Fagor stovetop models with a self-locking lid don’t have this issue as they click everything in the right place automatically when you close the lid.
Ciao,
L
P.S. It can take 20 minutes for a stovetop to reach pressure if it is very full, the ingredients/liquid are very cold, or you are using some crazy recipe that directs you to thicken first (or tells you use products that already thickened – such as “cream of xyz” soup).
Laura thanks so much for your quick reply. I believe my Fagor is this one (Fagor 918012991 Future IN 4 and 6 liters stainless steel Induction pressure cooker (3in1 sieve insert for steam cooking, as a drainer and a multi-grater, inductive, 22cm) silver)
It closes manually with an audible click so I have always assumed it shuts properly. I have actually had it for 8 years or so but use it intermittently because of the issues I referred to. I live mainly off the grid so I would really like to be able to do most of my cooking with it. It’s why I bought it in the first place, along with the table top induction cooker. I have recently revisted trying to do all my cooking with the pressure cooker and am getting frustrated with these issues.
I did find by trial and error in the early days that initially I was putting too much liquid in but even now seem to be struggling with it. The last use I put 2 cups of liquid into the larger pot (6 L) and with my cooker on high – 10 – it took over 20 minutes to reach pressure and also had the attendant water loss from the locking handle area. It was not a creamy sauce.
Your tips are very helpful and I will try a new gasket and perhaps also check the locking handle and see if I can tighten it at all. Just writing to you has helped me consider some of these possible solutions :-)
You mention you live mainly off the grid. Do you know the voltage that is supplied to the outlet you use for the induction plate? If it is not within the rated range for the appliance, you may simply have insufficient electrical energy to properly heat the pot.
Glad you like my PC Cozy™ :-)
I have a Fagor 10 L Duo, and have also found (but on only a few occasions) that the pressure indicator fails to rise even though the pot and contents are fully hot — to the point of scorching the contents. (Diva induction cooktop, settings from 1-12. For a “high” setting, I use 9 or 10 for mostly liquid contents, 7 or 8 for thicker contents like risotto. I also use Brad’s method of leaving the lid off until I see the contents at a near boil.) The pressure indicator is also the air-venting mechanism, so I do get a fair amount of condensation dripping from it until it closes. I’ve learned to monitor the cooker closely until I see normal steam release/venting and a risen indicator. If I sense it’s taking longer than normal, I get busy jiggling the lid lock or wiggling the indicator :-) With thicker contents, I also reduce the heat a bit when the indicator rises, to prevent scorching. (My cooker is seldom even half full; we bought the large size so we could do pressure canning, but day-to-day cooking is just for two people.)
I’ve also increased the efficiency of the whole affair by stitching some quilted fabric into a jacket for the pot and a covering pad for the lid. (Fire hazard — NOT FOR USE on anything other than induction!!) I’m able to lower the heat setting to 3 when cooking at pressure, vs. 5 without the insulating jacket.
To get a good seal with the silicone gasket, it’s important to follow Fagor’s instruction to apply a little cooking oil to it before seating it in the lid. (I just put a drop or two in the lid rim, then seat the gasket and rotate it a couple of full turns to distribute the oil.)
some great suggestions Stuart. I have just installed a new gasket and would have forgotten about the oil if you had not mentioned it. I like your quilted fabric suggestion.
Between everyone’s help I am feeling re-enthused :-) .
Thanks everyone :-)
I use the Fagor on my induction cooktop and what works for me is this: My induction stovetop has settings from 1 to 12. I put the open pot (usually at max fill) on 12 and bring the pot to a very low boil. I then turn the heat to the 9 setting and close the lid. Once the pressure is at the required level for the recipe, I turn the setting to 5 and set the timer. For recipes that cook for a long while (like chicken stock, which I cook for 60 minutes), I often have to further adjust the setting down to 4 or 3 as the process continues. The only time this approach is a problem is if the starting point is with a thick tomato sauce, because that heat level will scorch it. I use a much lower setting (7) to bring the sauce to a low boil (simmer) before covering it. I leave it on 7 to come up to pressure. This latter approach for the thick tomato-based liquids admittedly takes a much longer time to come to pressure, but no-scorch is better than fast, in this case.
thanks for the added input Brad. could I ask how long it would take your Fagor to get to pressure with, for example, the aforementioned chicken stock? (my induction cooktop only has setting to #10)
ellpee: HMmm… Not sure. I am usually puttering around doing other stuff while the pot does it’s thing. Maybe 10 minutes or so. It doesn’t seem overly long, though.
I wonder what kind of pressure cooker you used? The All-American pressure canner is cast aluminum which I do not believe will work with an induction burner.
Would you trust pressure canning on a induction burner?
Hi Morgan,
Not sure who you were replying to, but if to me, then yes I absolutely trust pressure canning on *my* induction cooktop. (And no, aluminum will not work on induction, at all. Cookware must have a significant ferrous (iron) content before an induction element will even sense its presence and energize. If a magnet won’t stick to the pot, it won’t work. The weaker the magnetic hold, the poorer the pot’s performance.) My Fagor Duo is marked “suitable for induction” and it works very well. Also, my cooktop is a 4-element Diva (no longer in production) and the elements can put out 3600 watts at full power. That’s about three times the power of the average electric kettle, and may be significantly more than stand-alone single-element units.
Following guidelines is critical for safety, so I ensure that the cooker steams freely through the vent for the full recommended 10 minutes before closing it and bringing contents to pressure.
Can’t believe all this information and no real straight answer to cooking with a pressure cooker on an induction hob – no way as easy as using a ceramic hob, but I am now stuck with a brand new AEG induction hob because my husband thinks we must have the latest!! Why didn’t I get more information before I bought – perhaps a few lesson would help, but must get my piece of gammon cooked before next weekend – so easy earlier, now just a load of negatives and no real positives! Help!
Pam, I don’t know how to help you. My recommendation is to only read the DO’s and not take the DON’Ts personally. ; )
If you can give me more details about the problems you’re experiencing and the type of cooker you are using I might be able to personalize this advice in the article.
Ciao,
L
Pam, an induction cooktop is similar to a gas or ceramic (i.e., halogen or other heat-source) cooktop, but much faster and more responsive to the controls. The only real difference is that your cookware must have magnetic properties (aluminum will *not* work; cast iron, or any cookware marked “for induction” with the little looped-wire symbol, will work brilliantly). Just follow Laura’s guidelines (especially the advice not to use full power — it’s just *too* quick to vent the air and replace it with steam before the valve closes). I’ve used induction for 12 years now, and will never go back to other systems. The efficiency and degree of control are unparalleled. You will come to love your induction system!
Pam, I think StuartR is right. When you get comfortable with your induction cooktop I think you will love it. I don’t even have a fancy cooktop but only a Nuwave Portable Induction Cooktop and I LOVE it. Where I live now (in a retirement community) I don’t even have a stove – only my Nuwave PIC. Before moving here I had an electric stove that for two years I only used to cook pasta and that was only because my pasta pot was not induction-ready. I love that I can control the temperature in 5 degree increments.
You might contact customer service for the company that made your induction cooktop. While we don’t know exactly what problems you’re having, it’s conceivable that the cooktop is malfunctioning.
Induction cookers are just the same as gas in as much as they are controllable , however where the induction cooker differs from any other cooker is the way it heats up your food.
For a simple analogy, think of a microwave, it cooks your food by exciting the molecules of the food by microwave energy. The induction hob does pretty much the same thing but at a lower frequency (Radio Frequency waves). With microwave you will note some cookware heats up, whereas cookware designed for the microwave tends not to.
I tend to use cookware that is appropriate for my needs and that includes microwave cooking. Some dishes you require the cookware to heat up in the microwave, so that you can cook on a lower power for longer. Similarly cookware on an induction hob should be chosen for the type of cooking you are doing.
With a pressure cooker the range of cookware is pretty limited as to what it is made from. The induction hob control is the other key element here. It must be able to have smaller increments through its range, which sadly some do not.
I saw above that pre-heating of the cooker was not needed given the induction hob cooked food immediately, but this will not stop burning unless you have the control.
The problem is of course the pan being used, in this case the pressure cooker really needs to be preheated before cooking commences and the only way to do that is to use water to pre-heat the pan prior to cooking. A small amount of boiling water that will heat the pan up can be emptied out as soon as your ready to cook. This avoids burnt oil and caramalised onions.
I am writing this from a thermodynamics point of view (it was my profession), an experienced (manual) pressure cooker user and a food lover. Two things.
Firstly on the subject of leaking through the gasket. I have found whether the gasket is new or not, it tends to leak if the pressure cooker is sealed before the lid comes to a similar temperature to the rest of the pan. This problem is exacerbated on induction, which only heats the base directly. Therefore it is important to let the water boil for a bit with the lid loosely on so that the steam can heat the lid before attempting to get a seal and come up to pressure. This also helps to expel the air.
Secondly, referring back to an old thread, it is important to note that the temperature of the water and steam will not be its final 120 C (or so) until all the air has been expelled. This is because the pressure cooker controls the total pressure, which is initially made up of air and steam. For example if the total pressure was 14 psig and there was still say 2 psig of air in there, the steam partial pressure would be 12 psig, which corresponds to a water and steam temperature of 117.6 C, rather than 120 C. As more air gets expelled, the temperature gradually rises to 120 C assuming the total pressure is controlled to 14 psig.
Hope this helps, happy cooking.
Thanks Lee, I would like to add that once the valve is closed and the cooker “thinks” that there is 14psi in there the valve will no longer open and release the rest of the air. The pressure signal gives a “false positive” of sorts when in actuality the temperature inside is much lower because the trapped air has an insulating effect.
Ciao,
L
Can someone recommend a good tabletop induction hob for a pressure cooker? I live in the UK and have a 7 L Kuhn Rikon Duromatic.
I was thinking about getting the Tefal everyday as it is the right size and price but it does not have a simmering function or low temperature settings so that I am not sure it will work at maintaining a low pressure. Other options are the portable models by vonshelf, electriQ, swan but also the ikea and Aldi portable induction hobs or anything else in that price range that is small in size and energy efficient.
Good Morning Pressure Cooker aficionados,
I am a newbie to pressure cookers.
Wow, this site is amazing!
I was going to purchase the Presto stove top 4-qt stainless steel the size, price point and warranty met all my parameters.
I was ready to click and buy and a my inner voice said, “Call Presto customer service and see if their pressure cookers are induction rated”.
The Presto customer service rep stated “not at this time”, bummer!
So back in search mode again for a induction rated stovetop pressure cooker.
Newbie in south Florida,
Bess