Induction Cooking -- Tips?

[Lepke]

When it's too hot to use the diesel stove, I have 2 Nuwave induction burners that I've used for about 5 years. Mine only show temp, not watts. Using a hand held heat gun, the pan temps, using cast iron, are usually within 5°F. Stainless within about 10°. You can buy a ss disk that goes between the pan and burner that allows the use of non-induction pans. But the temp is usually cooler than the setting. I use the heat gun whenever I'm using a new pan. It's best to buy a set of induction cookware.

The induction made me a better cook once I got used to the temp settings. It's better than the electric stove that came with the boat. More like cooking with gas. Better because of the exact temp control.

[Alita49DS]

I am a little bemused when you, Dockhead, write "Induction cooking is so efficient, that my batteries hardly notice it, when I run the cooker off the inverter."

I bought this last autumn for the boat, currently in Genoa:

Aicok Piastra a Induzione, Fornello ad Induzione a 2000W con Display Digitale, Temperatura e Impostazione del Timer, Controlli Touch, Design Elegante, Nero
Condizione: Nuovo
Venduto da Nikoo-eu
Gestito da Logistica di Amazon

EUR 51,99


Price great. Works great and is really thin. When not in use fits on top of the gas cooker and under the pull over worktop cover so completely invisible and out of the way.

However, if one runs it and tries to boil the electric kettle at the same time the 240v circuit breaker for the mains supply on that side of the boat gets tripped.

That indicates to me that, as the induction specification cites, there is one hell of a draw. I would not like to subject my batteries to that through an invertor.

Seems to me that, whilst induction might be great on mains power, it is far too early in the tech cycle to even think about dispensing with gas for use at sea.

[Kenomac]

We've never used gas aboard the 53 we purchased 7 years ago, we immediately went with the NuWave cooktops at the time and I began a CF thread on the subject to share our experience. We also use two induction cooktops purchased at Walmart for $80 each on the 62 in addition to gas and microwave.

It seems funny to me to see people just becoming introduced to such a good idea so many years later, but I guess you have to get started sometime. We also needed to rewire the galley into individual circuits because of electric cooking, making each individual socket independent, and we usually need to run the generator instead of going through the inverter when using multiple cooking devices, like when we operate the microwave and two induction units at the same time. Using only one appliance at a time can be done via the 2500W inverter.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Alita49DS

I am a little bemused when you, Dockhead, write "Induction cooking is so efficient, that my batteries hardly notice it, when I run the cooker off the inverter."

I bought this last autumn for the boat, currently in Genoa:

Aicok Piastra a Induzione, Fornello ad Induzione a 2000W con Display Digitale, Temperatura e Impostazione del Timer, Controlli Touch, Design Elegante, Nero
Condizione: Nuovo
Venduto da Nikoo-eu
Gestito da Logistica di Amazon

EUR 51,99


Price great. Works great and is really thin. When not in use fits on top of the gas cooker and under the pull over worktop cover so completely invisible and out of the way.

However, if one runs it and tries to boil the electric kettle at the same time the 240v circuit breaker for the mains supply on that side of the boat gets tripped.

That indicates to me that, as the induction specification cites, there is one hell of a draw. I would not like to subject my batteries to that through an invertor.

Seems to me that, whilst induction might be great on mains power, it is far too early in the tech cycle to even think about dispensing with gas for use at sea.

Depends on the boat.


With a 3000 watt inverter and 450a/h of batts, I don't have any problem using induction (and the built-in microwave which the boat was built with) at sea. Only issue is keeping pans from sliding off in a seaway, but the silicone mat helps with that.


Don't confuse maximum draw with average power consumed -- these are different things. My NuWave uses 2000 watts on max power, but there's this thing called the DUTY CYCLE! Even on 2000 watts, the hob is not drawing that much for long. Average cooking on the lower power settings is probably drawing not more than 500 or 600 watts, which over a half hour or so is not a big deal. Even less when just simmering something.



Unlike Kenomac, I didn't have to do any rewiring -- my microwave is built in, and my sockets (on a UK type ring main) deal with up to 13 amps @ 230v so plenty for my two induction hobs. Of course if I want to use all three devices at once, I do start the generator.


The next thing I want is a combination microwave and convection oven. Baking in my gas oven is not really very good. I could probably replace my existing large built-in microwave/grill with something like that, but this project hasn't gotten up the list much yet. I do have a toaster oven on board, but it doesn't work very well, and is kind of dangerous with extremely hot exterior walls when working.




But of course, some boats don't have that much electrical capacity -- so it depends on the boat. The dream setup would be something like CatNewBee's all electric boat with massive lithium bank


My next boat will be set up very much like that -- a lot of lithium battery capacity, a gang of inverters

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Sure, but is it more likely to fail, than any one part of a gas system? Gas system failure of one kind or another is high on my list of most frequent field repairs; I started carrying a box of spares including solenoid valve.


And for a long time, I've been carrying a hot plate to use in case of gas problems, and it has always been a top most often used backup device


So, I guess a built-in induction stove is going to be much more reliable than a gas stove cum gas system, and carrying an induction hot plate like I already carry is no big deal . . .

That single induction hob is your backup and we will probably have one for the back deck for cooking crabs.

[a64pilot]

For the average cruising boat, it’s likely best if they are going to cook electrically that they run their generator when doing so.

Discussing efficiency is sort of mute, it’s like arguing that electric propulsion is more efficient than a Diesel motor, it is, way more efficient, just the electrical power is very limited, the Diesel power is not.

For us to make it work on Solar that would mean that we would need or cook a little after Lunch when we have excess Solar production, but not late afternoon like we normally do.

I believe it’s going to take lithium batteries for electric cooking to work well, or a generator.
2000W at 12V is 166 amps, that is quite a hit, and I know that is wide open which isn’t often used, but that is also just one eye isn’t it? If you cook with multiple eyes, then I can see a sustained load of over 166 amps being likely.

[CatNewBee]

If you dimension your system right, you can cook whenever you like. We have 1000Ah LiFeYPO4, 1650Wp solar an 5kVA inverter, we never run out of juice while cooking, baking ( convection oven) or making ice cream, water or whatever, capacity is sufficient to provide for more then 3 successive days of bad weather without tripping low voltage protection. We have a generator, but never used it.

Redundancy is also no problem on both sides, power generation and loads, we have a propane grill too...

[a64pilot]

I imagine that with 1000 AH of Lithium and 1650W of Solar that yes in fact cooking with electricity wouldn’t be much of a problem.
But that’s not even close to the average cruising boat do you think?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

We've never used gas aboard the 53 we purchased 7 years ago, we immediately went with the NuWave cooktops at the time and I began a CF thread on the subject to share our experience. We also use two induction cooktops purchased at Walmart for $80 each on the 62 in addition to gas and microwave.

It seems funny to me to see people just becoming introduced to such a good idea so many years later, but I guess you have to get started sometime. We also needed to rewire the galley into individual circuits because of electric cooking, making each individual socket independent, and we usually need to run the generator instead of going through the inverter when using multiple cooking devices, like when we operate the microwave and two induction units at the same time. Using only one appliance at a time can be done via the 2500W inverter.

So how many 12volt amp hours do you use in a half hour cooking session with a pot and pan typically?

[alansmith]

My small contribution to this wonderful thread is buy your steel pots and pans from a charity center. Or something like a goodwill center.People are always selling their old pots and pans. They are steel...many of them I see for a cheap couple of bucks

[Singularity]

An unmentioned safety concern: implanted electrical devices. On the one hand we don't seem to have a problem on land with all the induction cooktops in homes worldwide. Is this because there is no safety concern, or is it because people with implanted devices so far aren't big adopters of the technology? On the other hand, there are medical conditions compatible with sailing off-shore where an implanted device could be in place (some of these conditions being present in young otherwise healthy looking individuals). The best thing a person with a device could do would be to contact the manufacturer of their device. People with such devices should have a card somewhere in their possession with the contact information to ask such questions (no one else can give a competent answer).

My simplistic understanding of the "approved by the FCC" type language simply means that the device doesn't spew electromagnetic radiation that would pose an undo problem to other electronic devices, communications, or typical humans. In other words, the FCC has declared the device not bad enough to outlaw (which is different from giving it a clean bill of health).

Originally Posted by Paul L

So how many 12volt amp hours do you use in a half hour cooking session with a pot and pan typically?

I've seen this type of question asked several times but the answers, I think, really need fairly precisely qualifications. For example I can see three different people using three significantly different amounts of energy to cook 4 eggs and potatoes (depending on individual chef style and tastes). Some people seem to simmer their canned soup while others get it up to palatable temperature (if heated at all) and call it a meal...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Singularity

. . . Some people seem to simmer their canned soup while others get it up to palatable temperature (if heated at all) and call it a meal...

And some people microwave it . . .

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Singularity

.....

I've seen this type of question asked several times but the answers, I think, really need fairly precisely qualifications. For example I can see three different people using three significantly different amounts of energy to cook 4 eggs and potatoes (depending on individual chef style and tastes). Some people seem to simmer their canned soup while others get it up to palatable temperature (if heated at all) and call it a meal...

Well of course the answer is not super accurate. Just like saying I'm using a 2000watt unit but it's duty cycle is low so it doesn't use much. The poster said he's used the cookbook for 7 years on his batteries, so a decent average from measuring actual use ought to be available. Probably a better number than estimating duty cycle.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by alansmith

My small contribution to this wonderful thread is buy your steel pots and pans from a charity center. Or something like a goodwill center.People are always selling their old pots and pans. They are steel...many of them I see for a cheap couple of bucks

Why would you buy an old stained hard used pot when the new induction pots are designed for maximum induction area with terrific non stick properties, scratch resistance and will stay clean

[Sojourner]

I live for redundancies so I'll never get rid of our force 10 gas stove/oven, but I too love our induction cooktop. Do most things electrically once I realized solar is free Bread machine, rice cooker, electric pressure cooker (that's a great one to get, the Instant Pot is bloody brilliant), George foreman grill, electric frypan.... we got them all, and use them relentlessly, cause it beats hauling bottles of gas BUT if I have a problem, I want the option of the stove.