Are All Glass Top Stoves Induction Heated?
Are All Glass Top Stoves Induction Heated?
So, you’ve just moved into your new home and noticed a lovely glass top stove is installed.
Before you go ahead and cook on it, you’re going to want to know what type of energy is used to heat the stove.
Does it run on gas, electric, or induction?
Are all glass top stoves induction-based?
To tell you something, the answer to this is a little complicated and requires you to learn about the history of the stove first.
The History of the Stove
To fully understand not only what type of stove you have, but the one that will work best for you, we first need to look at how stoves came to be what they are today.
While the first known cooking apparatus to completely enclose a fire can be traced back to China during the Qin Dynasty (221 to 207 BC) and was built from clay, a more familiar origin was created in the mid-18th century by one Benjamin Franklin and was a wood-burning stove made of iron.
Although adjustments were made to the design (namely, having the smoke re-routed to come out of the top of the stove, not the bottom), Franklin’s model formed the basis for modern stoves.
Moving to 1826, English inventor James Sharp was granted a patent for his gas-powered stove.
Over the next century, gas ovens overtook wood burners thanks to their easy usability and smaller, more convenient size.
These gas stoves became the range until Thomas Ahearn put forward his electric range in 1892, taking it to Chicago World’s Fair for showcasing in 1893 and proving electricity could replace hearths and gas in American households.
William Hadaway received the first patent for the electric stove in 1896, and by the late 1920s, this ingenious new design was rivaling even the very best gas cookers.
The next major advancement of the conventional stove was the introduction of glass-ceramic burners and stovetops in the 1970s, allowing cooks all over to warm up pots and pans faster with less heat distribution and an easier-to-clean surface.
These days, we’ve gone a step further again with the invention of induction stoves, which use electromagnetic induction to heat up only the ferromagnetic pan placed on top of it.
What Are Induction Stoves?
Induction cooktops are the latest innovation in modern cooking, and there are plenty of benefits to having this type of stove!
They work by using incredibly powerful, high-frequency electromagnets, which create a kind of magnetic field that heats only the items that are responsive to it.
This means that when using an induction stove, only the pot or pan you’re using gets hot, with the rest of the stove safe to touch, even when in use!
The magnetic field used to heat an induction stove also means that it’s able to almost instantly heat a pan that’s been placed upon it.
This is due to no energy being wasted to heat the air or the rest of the cooktop’s surface; in turn, more energy is used just for heating the pan.
The same works in reverse; induction cooktops cool off almost immediately once the heated pot has been removed.
What Is an Electric Glass Top Stove?
Similar to the induction cooktop, electric stoves offer consistent heat flow and excellent energy efficiency, particularly when compared to their gas counterparts.
To heat something up using an electric cooktop, electrical current first flows through metal coils, which then transfers the heat to the glass-ceramic cooktop.
In turn, the cooktop warms whatever is placed on top of it.
Although this is an efficient way of heating, it pales into insignificance when compared with the more effective induction stove.
Why?
With an induction stove, only the pan heats up.
On the other hand, the transfer of heat from the metal coils in electric stoves will also heat up the rest of the cooktop to an extent and will be slower to cool down or warm up.
Why Would You Want a Glass Top Stove?
Not only are glass stop stoves attractive, but they are actually an incredibly functional choice whether your stove is powered by electricity or induction.
Instead of regular glass, a glass top stove is actually made of something called glass-ceramic.
Both are made the same way, but glass-ceramic has a nucleating agent added that makes it stronger and with less capacity for splintering or breaking.
After a few rounds of heat treatment, glass-ceramic will look roughly the same as glass.
However, without the translucence, it will be far more durable and will react much more slowly to temperature changes.
Are All Glass Top Stoves Induction Heated?
The simple answer to this is no, but they are almost always used on induction or electric stoves.
Therefore, although not all glass top stoves are induction-based, nearly all induction stoves use glass tops.
On electric stoves, heated metal coils heat up the cooktop, which heats up the cookware.
On an induction stove, however, the magnetic field travels through the glass-ceramic cooktop to meet the magnetic cookware placed on top of it, which, again, means less displaced heat and more efficient energy usage.
If Induction Is Better, Why Consider Electric?
Again, there’s a simple answer as to why you might consider an electric stove despite induction stoves offering you more heat control and better energy efficiency—the price.
As induction technology is still relatively new, induction stoves are expensive to manufacture, and there isn’t yet quite enough interest to keep the prices low compared to well-established gas or electric cookers.
This means that anyone looking at upgrading to an induction based stove will need to pay out a significant amount more cash than they might for an electric or gas stove.
Usually, the savings will balance out in the long run, and over time, an induction stove will prove to be a well worthwhile investment thanks to its energy-efficient technology saving you buckets of cash.
However, significant upfront costs can be off-putting to many consumers, particularly if you’re choosing a new stove in addition to an entire kitchen redesign and are already over budget.
Will I Scratch My Glass Top Stove?
Although the introduction of the nucleating agent and process that goes into creating glass-ceramic for use on your cooktop ensures a resilient and robust surface that’s resistant to breaks, this type of cooktop is still more fragile than some other variations.
In simple words, it can be easily scratched if not handled with care.
Ideally, people who use a glass top stove would stick with stainless steel pots and pans.
This material is excellent as it’s suitably hard-wearing and durable, with enough weight to remain stable but also lightweight enough not to damage your glass cooktop.
Some also recommend aluminum or copper cookware, which have fantastic heat-conducting abilities.
That said, these types of pots and pans can leave residue behind when being used on a glass cooktop.
A solution to this is using cookware that’s lined with aluminum or copper with a stainless steel exterior.
What Cookware Shouldn’t I Use on My Glass Top Stove?
Any rough cookware is liable to cause scratches on your lovely glass-ceramic stovetop.
As such, we’d recommend avoiding anything made from materials such as cast iron, stone, or other glass or ceramic cookware.
In particular, it can be a bad idea to use cast iron on a glass-ceramic electric stove; this type of material is known for taking a while to warm up, but once it does, it will hold onto that heat for a long time.
If your glass-ceramic cooktop has a safety mechanism that switches off if temperatures get too high, cooking with a cast iron pot for extended periods may find you continually having to turn the oven back on after the safety feature kicks in.
What Cookware Should I Use for a Glass Top Induction Stove?
The above recommendations are fine as they are if you’re thinking of using an electric stove.
However, if you’ve got a glass top induction stove, you’ll have some extra considerations to think about.
Firstly, you’ll need to remember that only specific materials will be heated by the magnetic field used in induction cooking, so anything like glass or ceramics simply won’t warm up.
Aluminum and copper also tend to be less efficient when used on an induction stove, although there are exceptions (namely, copper that’s been fitted with additional layers of magnetic properties).
To properly heat anything up using an induction stove, you’ll need to use magnetic cookware made of ferrous metals (metals containing iron).
Despite what we said earlier, this would include cast iron and carbon steel.
Naturally, using these heavy metals comes with a risk of scratching your glass cooktop.
To get around this, you could consider placing parchment paper between the cooktop and cookware. Induction only heats magnetic items, so this is safe.
Alternatively, you could invest in a baking mat to protect a wider area of your cooktop.
If you want to stick with stainless steel to protect your cooktop, you’ll need to check if it’s magnetic stainless steel (18/0 or 420) at the base layer to ensure the magnetic field used to heat up your stove can affect the cookware you’re using.
An easy way to check whether your cookware is likely to work on your induction stove is to simply put an ordinary magnet to the bottom of the pan.
If the magnet sticks, you should be good to go!
This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though, so be aware that there will be times when this trick won’t work.
Nevertheless, it should give you a decent starting point.
In addition to the right material, you’re going to want to think about the shape of your cookware.
As glass cooktops need to be in direct contact with your pot or pan to transfer heat, it’s best to use something with a broad, stable base.
Is There Anything Else I Should be Aware Of?
If you use a pacemaker, the British Heart Foundation suggests you remain at least 60 centimeters away from an induction hob while it’s switched on.
This is a downside for the induction stove as most electrical appliances won’t affect pacemakers.
Still, it’s always best to be safe and perhaps consider a gas or electric stove if you have one.
Conclusion
Are All Glass Top Stoves Induction Heated?
We found that the answer is no, but you might be interested to know that there are some other options than merely gas, electric, or induction.
For example, some induction stoves also include a gas burner.
There are also other features you might want to keep an eye out for, including integrated extractors and in-built induction wok zones for those difficult-shaped woks!
To put simply, if you’re tempted by an induction glass top stove, there’s no reason to sacrifice your favorite cooking styles to enjoy the functionality and energy-efficiency this type of stove offers.