Induction Stove Top Coil Size Matters // Thermal Imaging Shows You Why

In this video, I'll talk about how induction stove tops work and why their internal coil size is the most important thing you need to consider when buying a new stove. I'll boil some water using my Duxtop portable induction stove and show you the difference when using an 8-inch, 10-inch, and 12-inch pan. The thermal imaging camera will show you the limitation of the induction stove due to its coil size.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:21 - Background
01:05 - Are Gas Stoves Dangerous?
01:37 - Coil Size Matters
02:42 - Let’s Talk about Pots and Pan Sizes
04:09 - Boiling Water Test- Thermal Imaging Camera
06:45 - Final Thoughts- Buying an Induction Stove
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[@tomwadek]

What did you think about the result? Are you considering ditching gas stoves for induction? Do you think gas stoves are harmful? Let me know below.

[@bobtheelectrician6692]

The very issue you discuss ... misleading burner diameter markers and evenness of heat distribution disqualify induction for serious cooking.

[@tomwadek]

@@bobtheelectrician6692 yeah, it’s unfortunate. I’ve found good brands do clearly list their burner but it’s mostly for kitchen size tops and it’s well over $3k

[@larryrichardson7601]

gas is the best

[@adamnoman4658]

@@bobtheelectrician6692 : A Goldilocks Fairy Tale The supposed benefit of greater energy efficiency is a mirage. It holds true only for a very constricted range of "appropriately" matched cookware/coil sizes. The very informative thermal imaging shows that even the 8-inch cast iron skillet is, in fact, too small as the side walls undergo unnecessary, and perhaps undesirable, heating. In a word, the control is simply not there. - -

[@michalmaly7794]

Man, completely agree. I am telling this to everyone. The problem is that no manufacturer dicloses the coil size

[@chrisdturner]

Yeah, this really annoys me. I get why they do it because they can get away with putting in smaller coils than people realise. The should have to be honest about this as it makes a huge difference

[@Justin34585]

In case this helps anyone, I got bit hard by false advertising around coil sizes. Just bought an LG induction range (model LSIL6334F) with advertised element sizes of 11/8/6/6 inches, and I even spent two hours on the phone with LG customer service before I bought to confirm those sizes. Guess the fact that I had to work that hard to get the info should have tipped me off: both the advertised sizes and what customer service directly told me was very wrong. Actual coil sizes were 6/4.5/4.5/3.5 inches. Wow. Measured by myself using pans dusted with flour to see where the browning happened, with a brand new stainless steel pan that was magnetic all the way up the sides, and a cast iron pan. Beware, people!

[@vinny9988]

Did you find a brand running on 120v with larger coils?

[@smilegagadk]

Shady of LG, Wolf is accurate

[@gijsdahasdkfj]

This is only one of 2 videos (the other was Helen Rennie) I have ever seen covering the practical limitations of Induction for a cook- and I've really looked! I got a portable induction burner and fairly quickly saw how limited the burner size was. Despite loving induction, I can't cook using my larger pans on it (although I cook a lot of stews etc and it works just fine for that). I am incredibly frustrated that nobody involved, especially the manufacturers, seem to have ever actually cooked using induction. Its just magnets, the solution is so easy, but I can never even find any information about the coil size etc on any induction product, and even salesmen trying to sell it seem confused by the question. The simple question "how much of the pan's bottom will be heated by the induction coil?" seems to have just never been asked before...

[@tomwadek]

Yeah I know. It’s frustrating. I went down that journey as well 2 years ago. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Keep me posted and good luck.

[@SosetaFurioasaJr]

exactly. i can barely make crepes or an omlete without burning the middle and having to place the pan on the edge of the heatplate to heat up the edges as well.

[@BitmapFrogs]

there's a new tech that's called flex induction or total zone induction, and what they have is layer the underside with smaller coils and a system that detects the pan, that way they can cover it better... never used it tho so don't know how good it is

[@Drmikekuna]

I have seen a number of these ring videos, and have tried the flour test myself. I see the same thing, but when I have used the stove in real life it seems to work just fine. I have a range at home and a cooktop in my camper van. It finally dawned on me. When these tests are run they are usually at full power. I only boil water at full power, I cook somewhere in the medium range. With a decent pan and a slower warm up the bottom of the pan heats more uniformly. When I repeat the flour experiment at medium there is less ring and more uniform brown. Just thought I would add my two cents.

[@tomwadek]

Thanks! I appreciate your perspective.

[@ZealothPL]

But its a bit of a false advertising then, i just got a 3.5kW induction hob that claims it supports cookware up to 26cm in diameter...but I can't even use it to boil water, because all the power gets dumped into both TINY (compared to the advertised 26cm) and incredibly THIN ring, to the point where it literally superheats the pot so much the water cannot touch the ring. You can have 15L of water and melt the bottom of the pot out of it. What is the point of this?

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

in cooking school, they teach that a sauté uses 100% of the available heat. medium heat is for "warming" . warming isn't cooking -- it's for left-overs. The biggest induction cooktop, Viking Professional 5 Series VICU53616BST $7079, only has 9" induction coils, so 10 inch pans, max. Many chef's use pans up to 16" diameter (on gas) to cook a lot of stuff quickly -- but not on induction !!

[@komo1966]

Nice insight with the thermal camera. There is another aspect of induction that complicates the control of your cooking. I have been cooking on induction hobs for over 20 years. My last one is a lot cheaper (€600) than the first one (€2000) while both could be considered as middle range over here in Europe. Throughout the years I have been struggling finding the perfect frying pan noticing that some are very slow and won't even reach frying temperatures, while others spread the heath very poorly. Last week I connected a power consumption meter to the hob. Filled all my 16 pans with water and put the hob on boost. Half of the collection (all of the cooking pots) would easily get the promised 3200 W. The other half couldn't reach that top at all. The worst contender stopped at 750W. Two paterns were clear: pans with an anodised aluminmum core and a magnetisable layer are struggling the most and within the same family of pans the smaller ones (24 cm) could't get all the power out while the bigger (32 cm) didn't have problems (this somehow seems to contradict your magnet size analysis). Price was no indicator. A €5 pan with a hollow bottom did fine while two €80 pans of top brands like Le Creuset and Ballarini underperformed strikingly. My laymans conclusion is that somehow the 'communication' between pan and hob makes the electronics decide to limit the power delivered. That would prevent the warping risk and indicate that there is no power lost but it makes the ajustable scale (1 to 14 in my case) useless because you don't know what amount of heat you are generating at a certain setting. Gas is certainly more straithforward in this aspect.

[@tomwadek]

yup, I couldn't agree more. I'm working on a video in respect to gas vs induction

[@YouzACoopa]

If cast iron has the most magnetic material and it isn't laminated with anything else, how is it not the most ideal for induction?

[@patrickbuick5459]

Just to clear things up slightly. Magnets have nothing to do with induction cooktops UNLESS you are referring to the coil, which is an electromagnet. They take a LOT of copper wire to make the coils, so as Tom says, why the larger coils cost so much more. Tom is so right, all those terms, eddy currents etc occur in the pan, they are *induced* in the metal of the pan by the electromagnet. It is these induced currents that heat the pan and can only be effectively induced over the electromagnet. Magnetic fields reduce very quickly over distance (inverse square law for the math geeks). Now you know why they are called induction cooktops. This is why having a coil at least as large as the pan bottom is important. Most of them just measure the temperature of the glass, which may not be keeping up with the hot pan. That is why they tend to overshoot while heating quickly and don't have the fine temperature control they could have. There are ones which measure the pan through the glass or have a sensor physically come through the glass to measure the pan, but they are few, far between and very expensive. Until consumer demand causes more of those to be made, just be aware of the limitations. This is very similar to wireless charging except instead of a pan, there is a coil in the device and it uses the induced current to charge the device instead of heat it (mostly).

[@bobtheelectrician6692]

Workaround for cooking cereals that have a tendency to burn easily: put a petal-type stainless steel steamer basket in the bottom of the pot first. Will help add more potential boiling points, dissipate some heat and discourage solids from touching the bottom. Make note of the petal overlap: you don't want to stir in the wrong direction and fold things up.

[@tomwadek]

Thanks for the suggestion.

[@jstones9872]

hi Tom, not sure if i commented on this previously but people should know about the Thermador Freedom induction cooktop. It has NO fixed burners and senses the pans size and placements. The 36" has 56 seperate magnets all small but depending on pan size the appropriate number of magents are engaged for that particular size pan. It's pretty incredible.

[@tomwadek]

Oh, that sounds pretty cool. I never heard of it before. Thanks for sharing.

[@MyYvFr]

Great explanation! Thanks for the video.

[@tomwadek]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RedBeardedRabbit]

I don't respect any manufacturer that doesn't list the coil diameter. In spite of some (IMO minor) drawbacks, I think this is a big advantage of radiant electric cooktops. I especially like the ones with multiple diameters (e.g. 6/9/12in) in 1 element - very flexible! Also induction is more expensive and, as far as I can tell, more difficult/expensive to repair and more prone to issues. Portable radiant electric cooktops with 6/9in diameter would be really cool!

[@syedimtiazhussain2682]

then how can we calculate the size of the coil for the required input voltage. (i-e) I have a 180v to 220v in input voltage then how can I calculate the rating of the coil, for this voltage.. ? mens which coil will be best for these voltages, and how, to calculate theoretically ?

[@Jspg119]

Anybody have suggestions for a induction that has a coil size of at least 10?most my pots and pans are 12 it's really hard to find

[@shigemorif1066]

Fun to see the heat camera in use! It’s interesting that so many KZbin videos focus on gas and induction when the great majority of people have electric stovetops. (Google says 68% of households.) I’d love to see more tips about cooking with electric since induction is so expensive I don’t think it’s going o dominate the market anytime soon.

[@tomwadek]

I agree with you. Induction is still far too expensive. Unfortunately, I don’t own or use an electric stove. I would have to buy a portable stovetop to do some videos on

[@patrickbuick5459]

As with anything, as adoption increases, prices come down due to scale and competition. I'm sure the percentages differ with region for electric coil stoves, but yes, coil electric element is pretty ubiquitous where I have been in Canada, and that is a large part of it. A lot of the coils on the stoves I have had weren't particularly even, so lighter pans were susceptible to uneven heating. Heavier pans forced them flat. (Not necessarily level.though.) I believe there is no direct heat measurement, it is essentially pulse width setting the temperature through some fancy control that *may* measure resistance to estimate a power level or temperature. Hmm... time for research.

[@shigemorif1066]

@@patrickbuick5459 Its why I like using cast iron to help smooth out the unevenness with pre-heating. With coils, I also never have to worry about scratching a glass surface. I bang around my pots too much for glass, lol.

[@Foobarbazqazqatquz]

THANK YOU. Why is this information so hard to find!?!?

[@DavieJones_Lockr]

So what's the largest coil you can get on a portable?

[@IceFox28]

Thank you for into informative video. Most of our pans are 12" stainless steel with copper bottoms. I own a couple staub and le creuset cast iron cookware but those are odd shapes and mostly for niche baking. My parents keep ragging on me to look for a cheap induction burner to try but I am unsure if this is like the whole air fryer phase of trend ( a lot being terrible and or defective) or not at this point.

[@tomwadek]

No problem. Glad you liked it

[@josealvarez9517]

I still use gas for unique foods like a paella but induction is the way to go.

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

only if you use pans with a 6" diameter for everything ... Unless you get a Viking Professional ($7079) that will accept 9" pans. Hope you never cook for more than 2 people, you would need LOTS of little pans to go with the little induction coils. You'd need 2 of the Viking beasts to cook fish filets for 12 people. I use propane (not a greenhouse gas) with BIG burners, and 12" sauté pans and stock pots.

[@jrmint2]

I often use large pans for cooking...like 12" saute pans and pots...do they make induction coils that large? at similar prices to regular stoves?

[@tomwadek]

Yes they do, but it’s pricey. They often will include one large “burner” for searing and such but for induction, I prefer all the coils at least 9in in diameter.

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

The biggest induction cooktop I am aware of, Viking Professional 5 Series VICU53616BST $7079, only has 9" induction coils, so 10 inch pans, maximum. What about BIG stock pots (18" diameter) or sauté pans (16" diameter) that professionals now use. I use 12" pans at home (gas). a 6" induction coil would suck.

[@tomwadek]

A 12inch pan will have a contact inner dia of 9 inch’s so a 9inch coil will work great. A 9inch coil will still work well on a 14 inch pan. Chef who cook on large pots usually prefer gas stoves for that reason.

[@notarycat]

The only reason gas stoves are labeled 'dangerous' is because they can't be turned off by an outside third party. I will always have some sort of gas stove. We RV, so we're looking into an induction burner only to keep the heat down when we're using RV park electricity.

[@Layarion]

can you talk about Heat Dissipaters for gas tops?

[@bobtheelectrician6692]

Would adding a larger stainless steel diffuser plate to a smaller cooktop be of any benefit? Cooking speed is fine for liquids, but using a 10 inch pot with a 6 inch coil portable clearly leaves burn rings at the bottom.

[@tomwadek]

I’m not sure, my gut tells me the thermal transfer would still be the same or even worse. You would still have a “hot spot” radius or diameter but now you have two transfers and an extra loss of efficiency.

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

Have you tested the bartscher IK 35TC? Or the bartscher IK 35TC XL?

[@tomwadek]

No sorry

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

@@tomwadek ok thank you

[@MrKockabilly]

This is very informative. I still have a question though. My oven has a 10" diameter defined by a round shiny ring that I assume to be the plate area and within which I place my 9"-bottom pan. It works without apparent problem. However I noticed the plate also has a concentric 8" diameter white marking within the place that makes me wonder if that is the actual hot plate that should define the largest pan I could use, at least for efficiency. I browsed but can't find any manual. What do you think?

[@tomwadek]

Your oven or induction burner? Sorry your question is throwing me off. What’s the make and model of the induction stove.

[@MrKockabilly]

@@tomwadek Its an imarflex IDX-2500 induction oven

[@stevetravis3400]

Excellent video, would like to see gas vs induction!

[@tomwadek]

Thanks! I’ll work on a future video

[@paulh6395]

I have not found one supplier who states the coil size and i have emailed 4 suppliers with no response or a email saying they dont know.

[@tomwadek]

I know. It’s frustrating

[@paulvictor9368]

It is also this issue of too small coil size that causes warping of carbon steel skillets.

[@philiphimmelstein9510]

Greatly appreciate the video, so difficult to find reliable info on these shortcomings! I'm considering the Duxtop dual burner model to avoid my apartment's ancient electric range. New(ish) to cooking so luckily I haven't invested in a ton of cookware yet. I'm curious, what would you say is the maximum length the inner pan diameter can exceed the element while maintaining good heat transfer? Currently searching for the max volume Dutch oven that will work on this cooktop. Also, would you be able to elaborate on the idea that you wouldn't do a sauce in a 10in SS skillet on these burners? If I pull the plug on the dual unit I'd have a saucier on the second burner for rouxs, warm emulsion ect, but I frequently do pan sauces and a 10in SS fry pan is my daily driver. Also sent a message on Instagram but it disappeared so I'm not sure it went through and figured I'd add my comment here. TYIA and again, great content!

[@tomwadek]

Hi, thanks for the comment and I’m glad you’re enjoying the channel. Strangely, I didn’t get a message on my social media. I think a 10inch contact diameter would be the max for a 6 inch coil. What I meant by I wouldn’t do a sauce on a 10 inch was in reference to delicate sauces that need to be simmered down with constant even heat. The 12 inch pan with a contact of 10 inches or so showed that the heat was not evenly distributed outwards. Sauces would be difficult to control in this setting. Hope that helps. Cheers!

[@philiphimmelstein9510]

@@tomwadekThanks for your quick reply! Makes sense! I'll avoid the 12 in (10 in inner diameter) pans. If 10in outer (8.5 or so inner diameter) pans are the max and the 6.5 inner cast iron is ideal, it sounds like keeping any new pot purchases under an 8in inner diameter might be a good rule of thumb for Dutch ovens, stock pots and the like? Hm. Yeah I wouldn't be doing any heavy reductions, just a 1/4 cup or so of wine to deglaze. Sounds like I should be fine with the 10in if I do most delicate work in the saucier - probably worth the slight drop in capability for finess to be able to sear a decent size steak. Thanks for your input! Lastly, if yourself or anyone can speak to the power sharing/capabilities of these portable dual models it would be a huge help! Seems like the second burner will have a lot less power, but hopefully enough to saute veggies, make a sauce, or boil a small pot of water while searing a protein on the main burner.

[@bobkoure]

In the US (110VAC at the socket) dual burners don't seem to be the best idea as plug-in devices are pretty much limited to 16A (80% of 20A) or about 1800w. A bit constrained for a single burner, but for two...? Built-ins use 220VAC and are hardwired the limit doesn't apply. Of course, if you're just tempering chocolate or something, it's probably fine.

[@Jcom999]

My question is when we cooking large pans on small gas stove it evenly distribute heat across the bottom , which means most of the pans are able to handle the heat from a gas stove or a normal electric stove .. My self using large pans for cooking finds induction is not convenient for my style unless I break my bank for higher end models with proper coil size and high end pans etc . Finally end up with ceramic glass top one

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

Have you tested the caso prochef 3500?

[@tomwadek]

No I haven’t sorry

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

@@tomwadek ok thank you. Cant find the coil size anywhere

[@tomwadek]

@@knifesharpeningnorwayunfortunately, most manufactures don’t advertise it. You may have to email them directly. Happy holidays!

[@knifesharpeningnorway]

@@tomwadek thank you and samme to you

[@scottc3165]

Looking for a countertop burner to accommodate a 12" skillet. Any ideas?

[@tomwadek]

it's tough with induction. I think the Polyscience is your best bet but its pricy.

[@scottc3165]

@@tomwadekThank you! I will check it out. Any ideas on maybe infrared?

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

gas.

[@jamess.8223]

Can you recommend any electric or induction stove with a coil size of 12" I have a Lodge 15" cast iron skillet and my cooking surface is 12". I have looked everywhere on Amazon and Google and I can not find a single one! Any help would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: Heck, I would settle for a 10" cooking surface and I can't find any of them either... Thanks for your time, Jim

[@tomwadek]

It’s hard for me to find one that’s more than 6 inch lol

[@Jhennieten]

@@tomwadekI say the same thing about men

[@tomwadek]

@@Jhennieten😂

[@Trashed20659]

Gas is inherently dangerous. The most common news story I hear about house fires and the occasional explosion are almost always gas supply related. There are also common stories regarding people dying in their sleep from gas leaks. Induction is the most efficient way to go, even compared to other forms of electric, and safer as well. More advanced induction cook tops can adjust to your pan size and shape automatically.

[@youknowvin]

No way will I give up gas for induction. I usually use the vent hood and I am not worried about toxicity. Besides, switching to any type of electric stove is not more efficient. This is because most electricity in the states comes from coal fired plants and this steam turbine process is only about 35% efficient. Besides I cannot use induction around my wife as the last counter top unit I fired up caused her severe inner ear pain that persisted for days. Two factors. First she has a superb hearing range. Second most of these counter top units operate in the low 20 KHz range, I verified it with a scope. So the frequency was close enough that it caused her pain. Many of the induction units on Amazon lie about their coil size. I bought one that said it had an 8 inch coil but it was really about 5.75 inches. I reported this in my review and the seller tried to bribe me to take it down. Though the tops are very dark most are actually transparent. If you hold a bright flashlight right against the glass you can usually see the coil. Here's a funny thing. I was watching another "internet expert" tell me all about large All-Clad, Demeyere, etc pans. Liquid would not stay in the middle of any of his pans. He had warped them all with his induction stove and was apparently unaware.

[@tomwadek]

Personally, I prefer gas and always have but if I was forced to give it up, I would consider induction.

[@jacobpetersen5662]

That stove has an 9" coil. They ALL do this... they do not provide heat in the full coil, something EVERYONE misunderstands. You will likely achieve between 5-6" no matter if you get an 8 or a 9" coil.

[@klbass68]

Have you found a PORTABLE Induction cooktop that has a coil size greater than 8"?

[@big6pun07]

I can cook on a tiny burner with a large sauce pan in a regular stove when you add oil and stir yoir food these hot spots shouldnt be a huge issue

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

You don't cook a lot do you?

[@big6pun07]

@@user-tg2gm1ih9g I usually get your mom to cook for me

[@user-tg2gm1ih9g]

my issue with induction is: Pans which are induction capable (cast iron, carbon steel, cheap stainless) are poor conductors of heat -- giving uneven cooking temperatures. Pans which are good conductors of heat (copper, aluminum, etc) are not induction capable. [ Good stainless is non-magnetic, and isn't induction capable. Cheap stainless steel is magnetic, but it's not stainless steel, it will rust. ] Not giving up my copper !!

[@tomwadek]

Try a 5 ply ss pan or a copper core ss pan.

[@nickcrider4309]

Never fear! We are still fine to use gas stoves. I freaked out when that study came out so I did come careful digging and discovered the meta analyses which were used int he study are from '09 and '13; the 09 study was inconclusive, the '13 study claimed that nitrogen dioxide rich environment might exacerbate "wheeze" in asthmatic children. But any time we walk downtown, we are exposed to 100 times the amount of nitrogen dioxide as cooking with a gas stove. But if this is a concern for you, experts agree that simply using your exhaust fan takes care of the issue. The real issue here is a political one. Gas is under scrutiny from people pushing for renewables in an all or nothing way. If that is important to you, you probably want to think about moving away from gas. However, if that is not as much of a consideration for you, then keep using gas. It is not hurting our health. That is a pretext for environmental groups with a vested interest. Make your decision based on the environment, not arguments based of of old, unreplicable, inconclusive, studies. Love the content!

[@tomwadek]

So I came to the same conclusion lol. The studies were more of “ this is probably what’s happening” more than it is happening. That being said, if induction prices come down, I wouldn’t mind switching😂. Glad you are enjoying the channel. Happy cooking

[@smilegagadk]

Gas should be banned people still die from leaks all the time, and I can’t relate to this video I have a wolf induction range. Theres no size that’s too large of small.

[@stevenpeters467]

The outer part of the pan still gets hot from the conduction of the pan material. The small ring of fire on your gas burner doesn't reach the outer part of the pan either--it heats via conduction.

[@updatename6637]

Coil size doesn’t matter…. Coil size NEVER corresponds to actual heating surface . On your duxtop coil size is about 7” but real heating size 4” Coil size 9” - heating size same…4-5” Don’t mislead viewers. Only small cookware 5-6 “ will work for searing…. Bigger …. It’s a problem…. To boil water is perfect even for huge pots…. Try to fry 2-3 onions in big pot…. It will take forever .extremely uneven heating surface . And for your duxtop : advertised max power is1800w, and you are getting only 1100-1280 max. Power level 1 - advertised 200, but starts from 450. Not even one power level is corresponding to description.

[@tomwadek]

Not true at all. Please research. Diameter of the pan will correlate with the coil size diameter of the induction stove. Limitations of which pan you can affectively use.

[@updatename6637]

Look at the bottom of boiling circle . 4 1/4 max

[@updatename6637]

I had in last 12 years all of them !!!! From 1.8 kw to 8 kw. Same size of active heating surface !!!!!! But coil sizes are different……

[@updatename6637]

Take apart your duxtop and measure coil size , than measure active heating diameter …..

[@tomwadek]

@@updatename6637 I look forward to your video proving otherwise. Please let me know when you post it.