Induction hobs - a step into the future
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As you know, the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1831. Today, restaurateurs can also say thanks to the ingenious Englishman: the principle he discovered is the basis for the operation of induction equipment, which has been equipping kitchens in the HoReCa segment for about two decades.
A new high-tech product with a high efficiency - an induction cooker - is presented on the Russian market of professional kitchen equipment. What are the advantages and disadvantages of induction cookers, what does the market offer to the Russian consumer and what criteria should a restaurateur be guided by when choosing such equipment? We will try to answer these questions.
Technology advantages An induction hob is an electric hob with a glass-ceramic hob fitted with induction hobs. The difference from all other types of plates lies in the principle of heat generation. In electric stoves, the product is heated in stages: from the heating elements, heat is transferred to the surface of the burner, the bottom of the cookware on the stove is heated from it, and from the bottom heat is transferred to the product. In induction cookers, the stage of transferring heat from the heated surface of the burner to the cookware is skipped.
The principle of operation of an induction hob is based on the use of the energy of a magnetic field. In this case, thanks to the copper coil and the high-frequency electric current, heat is generated directly in the disc of the bottom of the dish and heats the food from the bottom. Thus, it is not the hotplate that heats up, but the saucepan or pan itself.
The surface of an induction hob usually heats up to no more than 60 C and after switching off it cools down in just 6 minutes. This happens precisely due to the fact that the hob is heated only from hot dishes. For comparison: a gas stove, at the same temperature, cools down in 24 minutes, and an electric one in almost 50. When working in the kitchen, this is one of the advantages, since the surrounding air practically does not heat up.
“It’s especially noticeable if the kitchen has a full fleet of induction equipment,” says Kirill Khlebnikov, Deputy Director for Engineering and Technical Service at Delovaya Rus (Yekaterinburg). “Then we use other options for air conditioning - a less powerful system is required ventilation. The induction cooker creates a different microclimate in the kitchen, the chefs work in more comfortable conditions.
Induction hotplates have a wide range of heating power - from 50 to 3500 W. And this power can be smoothly changed using numerous modes. At minimum power, you can simmer food in the same way as over low heat, and at maximum power, the water in the pan boils faster than on a gas stove.
Induction cookers combine the advantages of other heating equipment: they are able to provide the highest heating accuracy - with an accuracy of a degree, and this is plus an electric stove, any temperature change here occurs instantly, like on a gas stove. In addition, they have some unique features that are not available to other plates. This is, for example, the "booster" function, in which, within a few minutes, the power of one burner is transferred to the next.
In terms of cooking speed, an induction hotplate is not inferior to gas burners and is close to microwave ovens. Water on such a stove boils much faster than on any other, including gas (1.5 liters of water can be boiled in 3.2 minutes, and on a standard electric burner only in 14 minutes).
Save time and money? One of the main advantages of an induction cooker is its economy. Due to their cooking technology, induction cookers save not only time, but also energy. The stove consumes energy several times less than any other. This happens due to the fact that heating according to the configuration of the pan allows you to select the optimal mode that provides minimum energy consumption. That is, the stove automatically adjusts to the diameter of the bottom of the pan and heats only the required surface area.
The stove will not start working without the dishes on it. Moreover, if the pot or frying pan is empty, the stove will not turn on either. By the way, heating of objects with a diameter of less than 12 cm is blocked by a special sensor.Therefore, if a spoon, fork or knife is accidentally left on the stove, they will not get hot and there will be no danger of getting burned.
Undoubtedly, a positive point is that there is no smoke and fumes when cooking on an induction hob, because food accidentally hitting the glass-ceramic surface does not burn, since the burner itself does not heat up. In addition, induction hobs are safe - they are free of open flames, hot burners and mechanical parts, which reduces the likelihood of burns and ignition. To ensure mechanical safety, the corners of the slab are rounded.
Such a stove is easier to care for: its surface is absolutely smooth, there is simply no place for dirt to accumulate. And since it also practically does not heat up, all care is reduced only to periodic wiping of the surface with a damp cloth.
Despite the fact that an induction cooker can successfully replace not only an electric one, but also a gas one, it still has certain disadvantages.
Induction hobs should not be installed over ovens, refrigerators, freezers, or other appliances with metal surfaces.
And most importantly, only special cookware, the bottom of which is made of a ferromagnetic alloy, can be heated on an induction hob. These are cookware made of stainless steel, aluminum with a ferromagnetic bottom, cast iron cookware. But dishes made of copper, brass, aluminum, heat-resistant glass and other non-magnetic materials are useless for such a stove. As a rule, accessories suitable for "induction" are marked with a special pictogram.
Expensive pleasure The first induction hob was proposed by the German company AEG back in 1987, but at first it did not find widespread use both due to its high cost and due to the cautious attitude of consumers towards the new heating principle. But professionals soon showed interest in the new product. In the restaurant business, first of all, the speed of cooking and its quality are important. Thus, the cost of purchasing such an expensive equipment was justified.
Today induction hobs are making their first successful steps in the Russian HoReCa market. “Among the considerable number of manufacturers of professional induction equipment, a number of brands can be distinguished,” says Olga Luchinina, director of the Adamant company (Yekaterinburg). - First of all, these are German firms - Bartsher, Virtus, Mastro, as well as Electrolux, Bertos (Italy), Garland (USA).
All products are of very high quality. The advantage of induction cookers over traditional ones, which can become decisive in the choice of kitchen equipment by restaurateurs, is, of course, serious energy savings. Plates are good in all respects - economical, safe, hygienic, they have one main drawback - they are quite expensive. I think that only 5-10 percent of Yekaterinburg establishments operate on such equipment, mainly, these are restaurants of a high price segment. Our client, as we explain to our foreign partners, is not yet ready. The West has long calculated the economic benefits of buying "induction", they know - in this case, substantial sums of money will not be wasted. Despite the cost, the self-sufficiency of these plates is very high.
If in the same Germany induction cookers are already becoming commonplace, in Russia it is often a rather unusual thing. But, according to Olga Luchinina, the mass use of induction cookers in the HoReCa segment is a matter of the near future, the demand for them will certainly increase due to the fact that today people are striving to save in any form.
Before making a choice ... “We work with several manufacturers of induction cookers,” says Kirill Khlebnikov. - These are recognized market leaders, German companies Heidebrenner, Schooll, and Chinese, South Korean firms (Better, Kocateq). Naturally, the products of the former are more expensive, the equipment of manufacturers from Asia is much cheaper, but, I believe, it is no less of a high quality and reliable.
The consumer is offered various induction equipment.Its differences in design and concept: tabletop induction cookers and stationary floorboards, which can be used as part of a thermal technological line.
For establishments specializing in ethnic cuisine, the range of induction cookers includes special equipment for the oriental kitchen segment - wok induction cookers. The peculiarity of cooking oriental dishes is high temperature, cooking technology and special dishes (wok pans with spherical bottom).
Experts note that wok induction cookers are more in demand on the market, they can reproduce the effect of cooking on a "live" fire. They are irreplaceable in democratic establishments that have chosen the direction of oriental cuisine. In particular, compact tabletop one- and two-burner Chinese models are inexpensive and therefore sold out faster, large stationary stoves are sold per piece.
- Induction cookers under wok preserve the thermal characteristics of gas stoves, - Kirill Khlebnikov continues, - and if we consider that, for example, in Yekaterinburg, gas is not allowed everywhere, and the institution offers Asian cuisine, then the choice is quite justified.
Of course, "induction" has many advantages, it generally increases the culture of production, but before making a choice in its favor, it is necessary to calculate well how much production is planned to be cooked on the stove. Based on this, we need to determine the volume of induction equipment that we want to place. It happens that in one or another kitchen it is much more convenient to arrange one surface with 6 heating zones than to put 6 small single-burner stoves, and vice versa. This must be taken into account. But the main question is whether investments in equipment will be justified in terms of the traffic of a given institution, its class, etc.
- If this is a large project that allows you to equip the kitchen with "induction", in the future its installation will bring good savings in everything. I repeat, everything needs to be calculated. Of course, the European version has a greater advantage. German manufacturers Heidebrenner, Schooll. Kuppesbusch, the French company Bourgeois and a number of other brand companies are very serious about "induction", and their range of cookers is relatively wide. It may be irrational, especially now, to buy a single-burner stove worth 150 thousand rubles. However, operating a 6-8 burner burner will ultimately result in significant cost savings. I think that purchasing a solid induction cooker, for example, for a restaurant with author's cuisine, is the right, cost-effective decision.
The induction hob combines an innovative approach with a compact design. It is the induction hob that is suitable for presentations, field service, for kitchens with limited space and rooms where the installation of a gas stove is impossible for technical reasons. So, a mobile induction wok-cooker from the German company Heidebrenner is appropriate for catering, an induction stool stool with 4 burners, as well as a 6-burner cooker will become an assistant for a chef of a large establishment.
According to experts, "induction" in our professional kitchen is a technology of the future, which must find its consumer. Yes, it is still quite new for Russia and not all restaurateurs know about the existence of induction equipment. But saving energy, time and effort, safety and cleanliness in the kitchen, and most importantly, speed and quality in serving customers in the restaurant business, as they say, are worth a lot. In modern successful business, the saying is always relevant: "time is money."
