The key difference between electric and induction cooktop is that electric cooktop uses a heat source for cooking, whereas induction cooktop uses electromagnets for cooking.
Electric cooktops use electricity to create heat energy. There are both advantages and disadvantages to using these cooking methods. Despite the disadvantages, these cooktops are very popular these days than gas cookers. Although both these cookware types are useful, it is important to understand the differences between them to choose the best cookware.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Electric Cooktop
3. What is an Induction Cooktop
4. Electric vs Induction Cooktop in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Electric vs Induction Cooktop
What is an Electric Cooktop?
An electric cooktop is a type of kitchenware that uses a central heat source to cook food. Typically, the surface of the cooktop is made from ceramic or glass. The central heat source is a collection of metal coils that heat when an electrical current is provided. When the metal coil heats, it starts to glow, and heat is transferred to the surface.
This energy then heats up the full surface of the burner, providing even heat while cooking. Once we place a pot that we use to cook, the pot gets heated because the heat transfers from the cooktop to the cooking pot. Then this heat is transferred to the food inside the cooking pot via the thermal conduction process.
There are various benefits of using electric cooktops: they are simple and reliable among other cooktop types, their installation is easy and straightforward, and they are able to make use of residual heat. A major disadvantage of using the electric cooktop is that the cooktop surface gets heated up. Therefore, it can burn your hand if you touch this surface. It also takes a long time to heat the food inside the pot because the heat energy loss is high in this cooktop. Moreover, the coils sometimes create uneven heat, which can affect the cooking.
What is an Induction Cooktop?
An induction cooktop is a type of kitchenware that uses electromagnets for cooking. They are also electric, but the heating process is different from that of the electric cooktops. Typically, the induction cooktop uses copper coils. These coils can produce a magnetic current with the pot or pan on the top of the surface.
Unlike in a general electric cooktop, in the induction cooktop, the heat passes directly to the cooking pot rather than heating up the surface of the cooktop. This results in an evenly heating up of the pot or pan. This also causes less heat energy loss during the cooking process.
There are many benefits of using an induction cooktop. It requires comparatively a small amount of energy to heat because the heat transfer method is efficient. According to some estimates, about 90% of the electromagnetic energy generated in this cooktop is delivered to the food. This is comparable with the small amount of energy generated in the gas cooker. Furthermore, induction cooktops have a speedy cooking time. For example, it takes about half of the time taken by the gas cooker to boil water. Another important benefit is that the surface of the cooktop does not get heated up.
However, there are some disadvantages as well. Even a small cooktop is very expensive. Moreover, these cooktops can only be used with cookware made from ferromagnetic material. E.g. stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel, etc.
What is the Difference Between Electric and Induction Cooktop?
Although most people in the world use gas cookers for cooking, electric cooktops have become popular cookers at present. An induction cooktop is also a type of electric cooktop. The key difference between electric and induction cooktop is that electric cooktop uses a heat source for cooking, whereas induction cooktop uses electromagnets for cooking. Moreover, electric cooktops can be used with any type of cookware, while induction cooktops can only be used with cookware made from ferromagnetic materials.
Summary – Electric vs Induction Cooktop
Electric cooktops use electricity to create heat energy. An induction cooktop is a type of electric cooktop. The key difference between electric and induction cooktop is that electric cooktop uses a heat source for cooking, whereas induction cooktop uses electromagnets for cooking.
Reference:
1. “Induction Cooktop.” Frigidaire.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Electric stove” By Kristofer2 – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “LeCreuset on the Induction Cooker” By melystu (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr