Best heat source for fondue? Will an induction cooktop work?

Best heat source for fondue? Will an induction cooktop work? - Fried egg in pan on stove

I recently visited a fondue restaurant, which had a cooktop built into the table. By all appearances, the cooktop appeared to be an induction cooktop, but I wasn't sure; it could have simply been a contemporary-style glass-top burner.

Does an induction cooktop lend itself well to quickly heating (and maintaining the temperature of) fondue? I thought about getting one of the various portable induction burners available online.

In a more general sense, is there a 'best' type of heat source for fondue?



Best Answer

In my experience, the lowest setting of my induction cooker - 120 watts - is too high and results in scorched chocolate and will also burn dairy products like a cheese sauce. I wouldn't use it for a fondue - I would use a candle.

It's possible this restaurant had specialty induction cookers that could reach lower temperatures. My single-burner el cheapo induction cooker is standard off-the-shelf.

Edited to add:

I use my induction cooker, never my gas stove, for deep frying. With my induction cooker (which goes up to 2000 watts), 600 watts is the perfect setting for deep frying and no fiddling is required - it always works perfectly. So for hot oil fondues, where you're essentially deep frying meat, I absolutely would use an induction cooker. It would be my cooking tool of choice.




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Can you use an induction cooktop for fondue?

The Bon Chef 5150SS fondue pot can be used to melt cheese, chocolate, and other sauces for dipping. It is constructed from stainless steel, but has an induction bottom that makes it compatible with induction cooktops.

What Cannot be cooked on induction?

Non-magnetic cookware, such as copper, glass, aluminum, and ceramic, would be incompatible with induction unless they have a layer of magnetic material.

Can you heat glass on induction cooktop?

If you happen to put glass cookware or aluminum or copper, they will not get hot when you put them on an induction cooktop. This is because they do not support the induction process so no heat will be generated.

Can you simmer with induction cooktop?

Yes \u2013 you can simmer on an induction hob. Just like gas hobs, induction hobs can be easily controlled and set to different cooking levels. In fact, they can be controlled with far more precision than gas or ceramic. Putting an induction hob on a lower power level will allow your cooking to simmer.



Equipment Reviews: Induction Cooking




More answers regarding best heat source for fondue? Will an induction cooktop work?

Answer 2

Induction is not necessarily the most even heat available. Some induction cooktops only heat a small ring that looks like a circle of bubbles when boiling water. This means a great deal of energy is pumping through a relatively small amount of surface area. Conversely, some induction cooktops will heat very evenly. If you have a conventional ceramic or electric coil, that's as even as it gets assuming you have a flat pan. Gas can be very even, but like induction it depends on the unit.

One of the best things you can do is to 'pattern' your stove. Take a pan with a flat bottom and put a 1/2 inch of water in the bottom. Turn the stove to high and see what pattern the bubbles form. For my induction cooktop, it forms the ring that I described above.

The easy way out is to buy a thermostatically controlled electric fondue pot.

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