I've been reading up on these, and think I might like to try one out.
I'm thinking of one of the following, in increasing price (Amazon):

Athena 6000 Max Burton ($83)
Sunpentown 1891b ($179)
CookTek MC1800G ($1,029)

Does anybody have one of these or something like it? Any
recommendations?

Thanks!
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:10:44 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

>CookTek MC1800G ($1,029)

That was a joke about a single burner hotplate for over $1000 bucks???
right?

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:47:27 -0400, Billy <Hereiam@hotmaildotcom>
wrote:

>On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:10:44 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:
>
>>CookTek MC1800G ($1,029)
>
>That was a joke about a single burner hotplate for over $1000 bucks???
>right?

Unfortunately, no. It's a Cook Tek, commercial model. What sets it
apart from the others is, it's supposed to be for heavy-duty use.
Plus, it's 1800 Watts, as opposed to 1600 for the Athena or 1300 for
the Supentown.

I'm obviously leaning toward the cheaper models, and if I really like
them, instead of spending a grand for a single burner, I'd spring for
a 30" induction cooktop for a few hundred more.
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:37:12 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

>Plus, it's 1800 Watts,

Ok...but that model will put off enought smoke and spatter to require
an overhead external exhaust fan!!

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 07:18:20 -0400, Billy <Hereiam@hotmaildotcom>
wrote:

>Ok...but that model will put off enought smoke and spatter to require
>an overhead external exhaust fan!!

Yup, got a brand-new more than adequate range hood, vented right
straight out the wall to the outside. It's got dual fans, and it
really sucks (that's a good thing!).

Anyway, about the induction appliance, after reading reviews for a few
days, I finally decided on this one:

Sunpentown 1891b (on sale for $169.95 at Amazon)

It has 20 power levels, and comes with a 10" non-stick
induction-compatible skillet. I figure it's about ten times cheaper
than the least expensive 30" induction cooktop I've seen, and
completely portable besides. If I like it, I might replace the cooktop
with an induction model. If not, I'm only out less than $200, instead
of $2K.
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:30:29 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

> If not, I'm only out less than $200, instead
>of $2K.

Keep us posted as to your observations!

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008, EZ Larry > wrote:

>Anyway, about the induction appliance, after reading reviews for a few
>days, I finally decided on this one:
>
>Sunpentown 1891b (on sale for $169.95 at Amazon)

Have you read the thread on induction hobs that was posted here about two
weeks ago? You did scan the threads before you posted? Or does your ISP not
save them two weeks back?

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:35:23 -0400, Don Wiss >
wrote:

>Have you read the thread on induction hobs that was posted here about two
>weeks ago? You did scan the threads before you posted? Or does your ISP not
>save them two weeks back?

Thanks for that reply! I hadn't read the thread before you mentioned
it. Funny - I had done a search of Google Groups for induction hot
plates and induction cooking, but this thread didn't show up. Should
have searched for induction hobs as well, and this might have shown
up.

When I saw that a couple folks had bought the Wolfgang Puck from HSN,
I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomache, like, I could
have bought this for about $70 less! But, when I went to look at it on
HSN, I'm happy with the one I ordered. It wil match my all-black
smoothtop better, and besides, the Puck got two good and two bad
reviews on HSN.

We'll see what happens.
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

"EZ Larry" > wrote in message
news
> I've been reading up on these, and think I might like to try one out.
> Does anybody have one of these or something like it? Any
> recommendations?
>
> Thanks!
> --
> EZ Larry from St. Louis

I waited more than a month to put my WP Induction Hob from HSN through its
paces so that I could present some comments. My conclusion is that it is
FANTASTIC.

If you haven't used an induction hob before (or have a full induction stove
top) this is the way to go. I was so impressed that I removed the electric
burner from my GE stove top and placed the induction top in its place.

I have used it for boiling water; preparing soups and stews: steaming
vegetables, crabs, Asian dumplings; poaching fish and eggs; doing sous vide
cooking; grilling, frying, pan baking, wok cooking, on and on. It is
excellent for all.

I love the control of wattage, temperature and time just by quickly pushing
a couple of buttons and the ability to easily adjust all, even while
cooking. The temperature is maintained, and with the timer you can set it
and walk away. The unit is very FAST in heating the pans and pots.

The top wipes clean easily. The cooling fan is quiet and continues running
for a minute after you finish to dissipate the residual heat. The unit
doesn't heat up the kitchen and won't 'heat effect' whatever else is on the
stove.

I was able to even pick mine up at HSN with a 20% saving, and added bonus
(my cost was $80), but the regular price is very reasonable when compared
with other available comparable units.

I would purchase this product again. I am completely pleased. I give it 5
stars.

Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland
http://snipurl.com/GarysWebPages

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:39:54 -0400, "zydecogary"
> wrote:

>I waited more than a month to put my WP Induction Hob from HSN through its
>paces so that I could present some comments. My conclusion is that it is
>FANTASTIC.

Many thanks, Gary, for your reply. Now I wish I had ordered mine from
HSN! Oh, well, it's only money. My "Mr. Induction" hob cost $169 and
comes with a 10" non-stick skillet, so I guess it's not totally
unreasonable. I suppose I'll know when I get it.

>I have used it for boiling water; preparing soups and stews: steaming
>vegetables, crabs, Asian dumplings; poaching fish and eggs; doing sous vide
>cooking; grilling, frying, pan baking, wok cooking, on and on. It is
>excellent for all.

Terrific! My main reasons for buying it, other than the curiosity
factor, is
1. to get water up to a boil faster, since many of our meals start
with me putting a Food Saver bag with frozen meat in boiling water to
thaw, and
2. to get the precise control that gas ranges have, without the gas
range, since I have a brand-new ceramic glass cooktop that I bought to
replace my coiltop. I would have liked an induction range, but it
would have cost four times as much as the radiant top, and I would
have had to replace half my cookware, because it wouldn't work.

>I love the control of wattage, temperature and time just by quickly pushing
>a couple of buttons and the ability to easily adjust all, even while
>cooking. The temperature is maintained, and with the timer you can set it
>and walk away. The unit is very FAST in heating the pans and pots.

I'm looking forward to that as well. With 20 wattage settings, I
should be able to fine-tune the heat to whatever I want.

>The top wipes clean easily. The cooling fan is quiet and continues running
>for a minute after you finish to dissipate the residual heat. The unit
>doesn't heat up the kitchen and won't 'heat effect' whatever else is on the
>stove.

I especially hope my fan runs quiet. I hate extra noise in the
kitchen! But, I figure my exhaust fan will drown out anything this
thing will do.

>I was able to even pick mine up at HSN with a 20% saving, and added bonus
>(my cost was $80), but the regular price is very reasonable when compared
>with other available comparable units.

You definitely got me beat there. The only thing I can say about mine
is, it will match my ceramic top a little better than the HSN model.

>I would purchase this product again. I am completely pleased. I give it 5
>stars.

Terrific. I hope I like my Sunpentown unit as well as you like your
Puck.

--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Aug 26, 12:05*pm, EZ Larry > wrote:

>
> I'm looking forward to that as well. With 20 wattage settings, I
> should be able to fine-tune the heat to whatever I want.
> --
> EZ Larry from St. Louis

Mine didn't come with a fry pan and mine doesn't have 20 watt steps. I
have 50 watt steps and 50 degree temperature settings.

With your smaller increments you will have really precise control over
sous vide cooking in your FoodSaver bags. Sous vide cooking is really
great.

I find that I use temperature settings more than I use the wattage
settings.

Good luck with yours.

Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland

On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:45:51 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

>Sunpentown 1891b ($169)

It arrived yesterday, and I've been putting it through its paces ever
since. Water comes to a boil in 2 minutes vs. 10 minutes on the
radiant cooktop. Eggs come out perfectly. The 10" non-stick pan that
comes with the unit appears to be well-made, and the non-stick
material is pretty heavy-duty. Works well.

The 20 power settings are terrific. The trade-off is that there are
only 3 temperature settings, billed as "keep-warm settings," 140, 167
and 194 degrees. Not sure how or why I would use those settings, and
I'm not sure why there are three of them! If anybody knows why I'd
want to use them, I'm all ears.

So, bottom line probably is, if you want to cook by temperature, get
the Wolfgang Puck at HSN which has all the temperature settings, and
if you want to cook by power levels, get the Sunpentown 1891b with its
20 power levels.

BTW, the fan is relatively quiet, and changes speed depending upon the
load on the cooktop.
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:55:46 -0500, EZ Larry >
wrote:

>>Sunpentown 1891b ($169)
>
>The 20 power settings are terrific. The trade-off is that there are
>only 3 temperature settings, billed as "keep-warm settings," 140, 167
>and 194 degrees. Not sure how or why I would use those settings, and
>I'm not sure why there are three of them! If anybody knows why I'd
>want to use them, I'm all ears.

After reading the Amazon ads and the sunpentown site, I wondered of those three
temperature settings were the only ones -- they didn't really make it clear.

The only possibilities I can think of are for either crude sous vide cooking, or
for braising.

Thanks for the report. Induction cooktops, at least at the low end, seem to be
hard to shop for since no one gives you full specs, and the manuals don't seem
to be available online.

-- Larry

On Aug 30, 2:55*pm, EZ Larry > wrote:
> On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:45:51 -0500, EZ Larry
>

>
> The 20 power settings are terrific. The trade-off is that there are
> only 3 temperature settings, billed as "keep-warm settings," 140, 167
> and 194 degrees. Not sure how or why I would use those settings, and
> I'm not sure why there are three of them! If anybody knows why I'd
> want to use them, I'm all ears.
> --
> EZ Larry from St. Louis

I think you are going to be surprised at how often you will use the
lower settings. I, and the other Larry mentioned sous vide cooking.
There is also, keeping things warm, reducing temperature when you are
forced to leave the kitchen temporarily, heating liquids without
boiling (Ex for tea for coffee), poaching fish, poaching eggs, heating
milk for later yogurt or kefir production, sauce making, melting
certain ingredients, defrosting, etc.

I would only wish that there were MORE low setting that you could even
fine tune.

Good Luck

Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland
http://snipurl.com/GarysWebPages

EZ Larry > wrote:

> The 20 power settings are terrific. The trade-off is that there are
> only 3 temperature settings, billed as "keep-warm settings," 140, 167
> and 194 degrees. Not sure how or why I would use those settings, and
> I'm not sure why there are three of them! If anybody knows why I'd

I guessing, but Health Department rules say hot food should be kept at 140F
or above, and reheating food should reach above 160F before being
held at/above 140. So, this may be holdover set points from commercial
kitchen users.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.

On Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:55:46 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

>On Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:45:51 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:
>
>>Sunpentown 1891b ($169)
>
>It arrived yesterday, and I've been putting it through its paces ever
>since.

Until it died right when I was preparing the big meal for all our
guests for Labor Day yesterday. It just plain wouldn't turn on. Now,
granted, I had let a little bit of pasta water boil over on it while I
was doing something else, but I cleaned it up right away.

So, I've called Ace Photo Digital, which is where Amazon has these
things shipped from, and they said it was drop shipped directly from
Sunpentown, and they're not open yet. By this afternoon, I should have
an idea as to what it will take to return it. At this point, I'm
thinking that if this unit is so fragile that it can't take a few
drops of water spill, I am going to try the Wolfgang Puck. The Puck is
more powerful and about half the money, if you get an online coupon.

--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

Called Ace Photo Digital, the outfit who sells it for Amazon, and I
got a call from another person at Sunpentown. They're going to send me
another unit right away, and when I get it, I send the defective one
back.

I really like how it cooks, so, since it won't cost me anything, not
even shipping, I'm going to give this second unit a try. If that one
bites the dust, I'll argue with Sunpentown to get my money back. Fool
me once, etc....
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:56:31 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

>>>Sunpentown 1891b ($169)

The first unit lasted 3 days, then just plain quit. The replacement
unit arrived a week after I reported the problem with the first one.
When I plugged that one in, there was a bright flash, a loud pop, a
puff of smoke, and the smell of electrical burn. I immediately
unplugged it, boxed it up, called and returned it. Both units are in
transit back to Sunpentown as I write this, and I have ordered the
Wolfgang Puck from HSN. With the coupon I got off the web, the total
price including shipping is about half what the Sunpentown was.

To their credit, both Ace Photo Digital and Sunpentown were very
cordial, and have promised me a full refund. I just don't have
confidence in their quality control.

I'll let you know if I find anything outstandingly positive or
negative about the Puck, but based upon what others have written here,
I'm betting it'll be a solid performer.

--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

On Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:53:44 -0500, EZ Larry
> wrote:

> I have ordered the
>Wolfgang Puck from HSN. With the coupon I got off the web, the total
>price including shipping is about half what the Sunpentown was.

I couldn't decide between it and the more powerful, and less
expensive, Max Burton Athena 6000. My wife often orders two or three
different kinds of the same thing, and returns the ones she doesn't
want, so I figured what the heck, I'll order them both and send back
the one I like the less.

I'll let you know what I find.
--
EZ Larry from St. Louis

Folks,

I am new to this BB so I am not yet completely familiar with all the ins & outs.

FYI, I had posted the following message on another thread. Then, I found this thread. So, here it is, as a repeat:



Larry seems to think he has all the answers but I beg to differ.

Allow me to digress. #1. I am 2nd generation Chinese American and my mother was an excellent cook from the Canton region. She was so good, friends and family wanted her to open a restaurant but she never did that. I learned to cook from her, though. So, I believe I know something about "high-heat toss-fry" aka 'stir fry.' Why do I make the distinction? Because good wok cooking requires a very high heat output. "Stir fry" sounds way too tepid or tame.

I have been on a quest for a better way to do this at home using non-commercial equipment. We used conventional electric coil burners for a long time with a flat bottomed wok for best heat concentration/focus. We remodeled about 4 years ago and opted for a top of the line, dual-fuel gas cooktop w/electric convection oven. The high-power burners (2) are rated at 14,400 btu output. We were very disappointed since we expected higher heat and results. Wrong! It was worse. Why? Because the flame licks up the sides and much of the heat is lost up into the powerful fan hood needed to take care of the misting, vaporized oil when doing HHTF. (BTW, that's what you smell when you drive up to a typical Chinese restaurant running a bank of woks at the same time and being exhausted by the commercial blower/filters).

I found an 1800 watt Magnaflux Portable Induction Boilerplate at Tuesday Morning, a national chain of closeouts and surplus merchandise. They, often, have really good kitchen buys. They have a full guarantee of everything they sell with complete return rights. So, I was not worried about trying it out. Here's the web page on it: INDUCTION TECHNOLOGY

I can tell you, unequivocally, it works great. It requires steel or a steel alloy that is magnetic, of course. My best temperature attained on our gas burner using our heavy cast iron wok is 381 deg. F (used an indirect IR thermometer) and that was having to preheat for 14 minutes with it empty. On the induction unit, it reached 486 deg. in just 4 minutes!

In actual use, it has performed better than any other home heat source. I, no longer, am restricted to doing small loads at a time. I can come close to the real way it should be done.

BTW, the Cantonese term for HHTF wok cooking is "Chow," a verb. It is the sound that the food ingredients should make when adding to a hot wok!

Heat control is fantastic! It heats so very fast - so fast that you should never leave it unattended. From a cold start, eggs begin to sizzle in just 20 seconds! It boils water faster than an electric hot pot, tea kettle on gas burner or in a microwave. This beats them all!

So, don't tell me that 1800 watts is anemic, Larry!

BTW, I worked in 3 different Chinese restaurants while working my way through adolescence and through college back in the 60's and I did everything except head chef or manage the places!

Jim

On Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:28:48 +0100, Super Q >
wrote:

>Larry seems to think he has all the answers but I beg to differ....
>....
>So, don't tell me that 1800 watts is anemic, Larry!

It would be nice if you were more careful with your attributions -- there are
multiple Larrys around here.

-- Larry

OOPS, SORRY I GOOFED!

I MEANT THE ONE THAT POSTED SOUNDING LIKE AN ENGINEER OR SOME OTHER EXPERT ON ELECTRICAL ENERGY.

THAT WOULD BE EZ LARRY.

Jim

In article >,
Super Q > wrote:
[brevity snips]
> ..... good wok cooking requires a very high heat output.
> "Stir fry" sounds way too tepid or tame.
>
> I have been on a quest for a better way to do this at home using
> non-commercial equipment. We used conventional electric coil burners
> for a long time with a flat bottomed wok for best heat
> concentration/focus. We remodeled about 4 years ago and opted for a top
> of the line, dual-fuel gas cooktop w/electric convection oven. The
> high-power burners (2) are rated at 14,400 btu output. We were very
> disappointed since we expected higher heat and results. Wrong! It was
> worse. Why? Because the flame licks up the sides and much of the heat
> is lost up into the powerful fan hood needed to take care of the
> misting, vaporized oil when doing HHTF. (BTW, that's what you smell
> when you drive up to a typical Chinese restaurant running a bank of
> woks at the same time and being exhausted by the commercial
> blower/filters).
>
> I found an 1800 watt Magnaflux Portable Induction Boilerplate at
> Tuesday Morning, a national chain of closeouts and surplus merchandise.
> They, often, have really good kitchen buys. They have a full guarantee
> of everything they sell with complete return rights. So, I was not
> worried about trying it out. Here's the web page on it: 'INDUCTION
> TECHNOLOGY' (http://magneflux.com/index-1.html)
>
> I can tell you, unequivocally, it works great. It requires steel or a
> steel alloy that is magnetic, of course. My best temperature attained
> on our gas burner using our heavy cast iron wok is 381 deg. F (used an
> indirect IR thermometer) and that was having to preheat for 14 minutes
> with it empty. On the induction unit, it reached 486 deg. in just 4
> minutes!
>
> In actual use, it has performed better than any other home heat source.
> I, no longer, am restricted to doing small loads at a time. I can come
> close to the real way it should be done.
[...]
> Heat control is fantastic! It heats so very fast - so fast that you
> should never leave it unattended. From a cold start, eggs begin to
> sizzle in just 20 seconds! It boils water faster than an electric hot
> pot, tea kettle on gas burner or in a microwave. This beats them all!

I'm so glad you posted because I've been looking for an induction hob
for the same reason. I'm not Chinese but I previously used a wok
frequently until we moved into our current home which is all-electric
(gas is unavailable here). I have a glass-cooktop stove that does not
work well for either stir-frying or pressure-canning. I do both but
it's a huge pain. It lacks the quick responsiveness of gas or
induction, since the elements take so darn long to cool down.

All my cookware is induction ready but I don't want to replace the stove
yet because I am waiting for the zone-free induction cooktops to be
improved. So I thought it would be good to supplement with a hob for
awhile. That way, I could use a flat-bottomed wok on it. Given your
experience, the Magneflux looks like a distinct possibility except for
one thing. It appears to have only a 90 day warranty. It's more
expensive than many other hobs so that really worries me if true. Is
that correct?

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

Isabella,

On almost all electronic or electrical items I purchase, I don't worry about the warranty period for a couple of reasons. Usually, if they work for the first 30 days they will work for years to come unless abused. And for this reason, we never buy the extended warranties and prefer, instead, to be "self-insured" and we have saved many thousands of dollars over the years and have had very few failures.

Also, there are no moving parts in this unit - 100% electronic and there is not a lot of heat involved so thermal shock and baking of the internal components is not likely to be an issue.

And, $150 for this item is not all that bad. For instance, the Viking unit is $500! We also saw some other induction units at East Bay Restaurant Supply for about $225 and they were only 1300 watts, so I jumped at this one at the $150 price and higher wattage without a thought at all about the warranty period.

Also, when buying from Tuesday Morning, I have never had any problems in returning newly purchased items from them.

Jim

In article >,
Super Q > wrote:
[i]
> Isabella Woodhouse;1207128 Wrote:
> > In article ,
> > Super Q wrote:
> > [brevity snips]
> > ..... good wok cooking requires a very high heat output.
> > "Stir fry" sounds way too tepid or tame.
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm so glad you posted because I've been looking for an induction hob
> > for the same reason. I'm not Chinese but I previously used a wok
> > frequently until we moved into our current home which is all-electric
> > (gas is unavailable here). I have a glass-cooktop stove that does not
> >
> > work well for either stir-frying or pressure-canning. I do both but
> > it's a huge pain. It lacks the quick responsiveness of gas or
> > induction, since the elements take so darn long to cool down.
> >
> > All my cookware is induction ready but I don't want to replace the
> > stove
> > yet because I am waiting for the zone-free induction cooktops to be
> > improved. So I thought it would be good to supplement with a hob for
> > awhile. That way, I could use a flat-bottomed wok on it. Given your
> > experience, the Magneflux looks like a distinct possibility except for
> >
> > one thing. It appears to have only a 90 day warranty. It's more
> > expensive than many other hobs so that really worries me if true. Is
> > that correct?
> >
> > Isabella
> > --
> > "I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
> > -T.S. Eliot
>
> Isabella,
>
> On almost all electronic or electrical items I purchase, I don't worry
> about the warranty period for a couple of reasons. Usually, if they
> work for the first 30 days they will work for years to come unless
> abused. And for this reason, we never buy the extended warranties and
> prefer, instead, to be "self-insured" and we have saved many thousands
> of dollars over the years and have had very few failures.
>
> Also, there are no moving parts in this unit - 100% electronic and
> there is not a lot of heat involved so thermal shock and baking of the
> internal components is not likely to be an issue.
>
> And, $150 for this item is not all that bad. For instance, the Viking
> unit is $500! We also saw some other induction units at East Bay
> Restaurant Supply for about $225 and they were only 1300 watts, so I
> jumped at this one at the $150 price and higher wattage without a
> thought at all about the warranty period.
>
> Also, when buying from Tuesday Morning, I have never had any problems
> in returning newly purchased items from them.

Thanks for responding. I'm glad you got it for that price but it
normally costs at least $100 more than that. Hence my concern over the
warranty. And btw, my experience with warranties is considerably
different than yours.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot