Need Help Regarding Induction Cookers / Cooktops / Stoves in India !

princeoo7

princeoo7

On a Journey called Life :P
Skilled
Greetings to all !

As the title says. I and my dad are in hunt of a induction Cooker / Cooktop / Stove .... what ever it is called :p

Budget is in between 3k - 4k.

I don't need hybrid one !

please share some light for choosing one.

Reviews from personal experience are most welcomed :D

I have gone thought the following sites making my head spinning :confused:

https://www.bijlibachao.com/applian...n-india-prestige-bajaj-inalsa-best-brand.html

I am not opting for online buy ! But still I think I will find most of this in my local area !

Thank you for reading my thread :)

Have a nice day ahead :D
 
An induction cooker is a very simple device - it's basically a table-top version of electric rice cookers.
The main part is a copper coil underneath the glass-top and so its functionally identical across different makes.
So, your decision would rely on features for the most part.
Since you're spending more than 2k, get one with a warranty.
Prestige makes decent induction stoves (seen it up close but have not used one) but any of the major brands are fine because the device is as reliable as a rice cooker its based on.
It basically passes current through the copper coil. the coil does not heat up, it instead creates a magnetic field (eddy currents).
So it actually heats the vessel (not the food directly).
In a nutshell, it does to metal what a microwave does to food.
I have a cheap induction cooker (my sister got it for free from chroma) and it's been working without issue for about 4 months now. but if it were to malfunction, i have no warranty.
Keep money aside for cookware. induction stoves only work with vessels made with iron and steel. aluminum doesn't work (and i think copper as well but not sure).
Basically, if a magnet sticks to the vessel then it will work with the stove.
Also it has to have a flat base but most important - it must have a thick base. Thin vessels can burn and catch fire in a matter of seconds! (it happened to me :D).
The free kadai you get with the stove is only good for boiling water, eggs, maggie etc. (at least it was until i set it on fire)
Keep an eye on it when cooking, it cooks fast (it boils a cup of water in less than 50 seconds) and goes from cooking to burn everything even faster.
Spend money on quality cookware. You won't need a pressure cooker since rice cooks quickly. I spent 1.2k on a good pan for general heating. i was going to buy some more utensils but realized i cant cook.
Pro Tip: How do you know if the vessel is thick enough? Pick it up and if it feels solid enough to bash someone's skull in - you're good! :happy:
 
Crapmypants said:
An induction cooker is a very simple device - it's basically a table-top version of electric rice cookers.
The main part is a copper coil underneath the glass-top and so its functionally identical across different makes.
So, your decision would rely on features for the most part.
Since you're spending more than 2k, get one with a warranty.
Prestige makes decent induction stoves (seen it up close but have not used one) but any of the major brands are fine because the device is as reliable as a rice cooker its based on.
It basically passes current through the copper coil. the coil does not heat up, it instead creates a magnetic field (eddy currents).
So it actually heats the vessel (not the food directly).
In a nutshell, it does to metal what a microwave does to food.
I have a cheap induction cooker (my sister got it for free from chroma) and it's been working without issue for about 4 months now. but if it were to malfunction, i have no warranty.
Keep money aside for cookware. induction stoves only work with vessels made with iron and steel. aluminum doesn't work (and i think copper as well but not sure).
Basically, if a magnet sticks to the vessel then it will work with the stove.
Also it has to have a flat base but most important - it must have a thick base. Thin vessels can burn and catch fire in a matter of seconds! (it happened to me :D).
The free kadai you get with the stove is only good for boiling water, eggs, maggie etc. (at least it was until i set it on fire)
Keep an eye on it when cooking, it cooks fast (it boils a cup of water in less than 50 seconds) and goes from cooking to burn everything even faster.
Spend money on quality cookware. You won't need a pressure cooker since rice cooks quickly. I spent 1.2k on a good pan for general heating. i was going to buy some more utensils but realized i cant cook.
Pro Tip: How do you know if the vessel is thick enough? Pick it up and if it feels solid enough to bash someone's skull in - you're good! :happy:
Click to expand...

This post tells you exactly what to get. There are models with safety/ protection built in such that they will auto stop in case there is a incompatible vessel on top, or the vessel has overheated.
 
axeman said:
There are models with safety/ protection built in such that they will auto stop in case there is a incompatible vessel on top, or the vessel has overheated.
Click to expand...
Actually all models do so. I have two one cheap Pigeon(<1K) and one Kenstar (>2K). both offer similar functions. Choose one with higher wattage and support for a larger diameter of vessels.
Induction cookers are pretty helpful. I found that boiling water in the I/C is faster than in the gasstove. Main advantage is there is flame. so you are safe. also you can use a fan in the kitchen while cooking.
only disadvantage is you need thick bottom stainless steel utensils else your food will get burnt. Also, there is no proper simmering function. If you set lower the heat output the heat gets applied periodically which means for a low heat the heat may gets applied 3-4 times in a minute. The foods receive full power at these times. At other times the power is off.
 
As the above poster said .. go for cheap higher wattage stove. No need to for any costly brands as such. I have one prestige 4k induction stove, which is really a pain for making chappatis, because it will auto cut many times during the process due to overheating. Only difference is that in our case we can set the wattage so output varies depending upon the setting, otherwise making tea will be very hard. :) . If you are buying it for emergency or offloading some of the stuff from gas stove then any cheap induction should work.
 
I am going to replace my gas stove with it ! So what should I go for ?

Should I for for things between 1.5k To 2.5k :confused:

I need it as a complete replacement!

And I do need it to be able to make Chinese food too... ;)
 
Go for one that doesn't come with free kadhai(whose price is added to the cooktop) as it is thin & useless. I feel Philips & Havells are better than Bajaj/Prestige. Avoid others. I have Havells with 2 yr warranty. Got it for 3.5k. Had to be repaired once after the end of the warranty period but has been running fine since.
You'll need proper cookware with iron base. I would recommend aluminium cookware with iron base over non-stick as the coating goes off faster in induction cooking.
 
Another option these days: Infrared Stoves. Uses infrared rays to heat the vessel. Will work with all vessel type, even glass vessels I think. Don't know power efficiency, or other issues with such products.
 
Pick up a havell's or philips like pauldmps suggests since he has one. dont worry about which one specifically, they're all the same underneath just set a budget and get the one with the most features+warranty. (you'll want something reliable since your replacing your gas stove)
your main 2 concerns (in my experience) will be:
a) getting new cookware (in fact, go to the store and get an estimate of what you'll need and how much it costs)
b) learning how to cook on an induction stove (it takes some guess work initially to figure out what wattage/temp to cook at)
 
I mostly cook normal indian food and Chinese food ! dad is currently busy so waiting for him to be free for a visit to market ! In the end he is going to pay [emoji23] [emoji39]
 
Not all the parts in warranty are free. I had one cheap one from Fabiano before I bought Kenwood. The Fabiano one was in warranty before It had stopped working and I was asked to shell out 700 for a 1.3k induction cooker. I then went for Kenwood with 1 yr warranty which too stopped working within warranty, however they replaced its internals with new one free of cost. Plus the Kenwood one has a rating of 1900 W but cooks faster than 2000 W Fabiano one. So cheaper is not always good. The most delicate part that stops working is the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT).
 
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pratulk09 said:
Not all the parts in warranty are free. I had one cheap one from Fabiano before I bought Kenwood. The Fabiano one was in warranty before It had stopped working and I was asked to shell out 700 for a 1.3k induction cooker. I then went for Kenwood with 1 yr warranty which too stopped working within warranty, however they replaced its internals with new one free of cost. Plus the Kenwood one has a rating of 1900 W but cooks faster than 2000 W Fabiano one. So cheaper is not always good. The most delicate part that stops working is the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT).
Click to expand...
How much time did kenwood took to replace it ? And is the replacement procesa as same as pc components or we just submit it to the store we bought it from ?
 
Got a prestige one some 2.5 years ago and it is still working fine. But the newer ones from prestige are not built so well. While the one that I have is quite heavy, the newer ones are very light and tend to crack when used with high heat. Office has Philips model and that has worked quite well for the past 1 year.
 
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