Induction burner/cooker..anyone tried one?

[saphound]

I'm thinking of buying one so I can preheat sap on my covered back deck where I also do my boiling (propane). Then I won't have to carry pots of boiling hot sap from the kitchen stove anymore..an accident waiting to happen. I might even be able to finish syrup on it and save the stove from all the splatters and clean-up.
Has anyone else tried this and if so, how did it work for you. Thanks.
If you don't know what they look like you can see some here:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=induction+cooker&_sop=12&_osacat=20628&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R2.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.TRS1&_nkw=induction+cooker+portable&_sacat=20628

[Run Forest Run!]

I tried something similar. I bought a portable 2-burner unit, not induction, but the regular stove coil type. It does work, however when it's really cold outside I found that the breeze really slowed down the time that it took to get the sap boiling. I found that on days like that it was just as fast to add cold sap to the main pan and let the big pan return to a boil.

If you can rig up some kind of good shelter for it, you might find it helpful, but it's slow. I used it for one season and then haven't brought it out again.

[Austin351]

I used a 2 burner propane unit. One burner was kept boiling for the sweet and the other was for preheating. Not exactly what you are looking at doing but the process / transfer is the same.

[Daveg]

Looks convenient. Expensive to operate compared to wood or gas, but a time-saver for sure.

[saphound]

I tried something similar. I bought a portable 2-burner unit, not induction, but the regular stove coil type. It does work, however when it's really cold outside I found that the breeze really slowed down the time that it took to get the sap boiling. I found that on days like that it was just as fast to add cold sap to the main pan and let the big pan return to a boil.

If you can rig up some kind of good shelter for it, you might find it helpful, but it's slow. I used it for one season and then haven't brought it out again.

From what I'm reading Karen, these things heat water twice as fast as an electric coil type burner...or a typical gas range burner. I don't think a breeze would affect the induction process..it makes the pot hot almost instantly and only where there is contact. Plus the pot would have a lid on until boiling. As for cost of running one, I have no idea. They claim 70% more efficient than an electric stove because no heat is released to the air and wasted. Was hoping someone was using one of these by now and could comment.

[Ed R]

I started using one this year because my electric coil type was way to slow. Way faster to bring to boil and works great, just make sure your pan is induction compatible if you can. Mine was.

[GV2]

I just purchased a cheap electric kettle for $20 and used it on my last 2 boils. A litter+ of boiling sap every 6 minutes into a 2x3 pan. Wow what a difference!

[Run Forest Run!]

Saphound, if induction burners wouldn't be affected as much by the cold and breezes then I'm definitely interested in hearing about anyone who has tried one out-of-doors. I also tried using a kettle and left that option out of the mix in subsequent years. Again, it works, but it's slow.

As for the cost of running an induction burner, if it worked fast and did the job I don't care about the $$. I'm in this for the fun.

[Trapper2]

As for the cost of running an induction burner, if it worked fast and did the job I don't care about the $$. I'm in this for the fun.

Karen, If your just in it for the fun, we are cutting next years wood supply on April 1st. Your invited.

[Run Forest Run!]

Karen, If your just in it for the fun, we are cutting next years wood supply on April 1st. Your invited.

Sounds great! Wisconsin is one State that I've yet to visit. Throw in some of your famous cheeses and I'm penciling you in!

[Trapper2]

Karen,
I just looked at the Latitude for my house, it is exactly the same as Caledon. Only 432 miles away if you go straight through Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. lol

[RileySugarbush]

We use one of these in our bottling process. Here is the process: Decant out of 5 gallon settling bucket into stainless pot. Heat to 190+ on propane. Move to filter feed pot with fitting near bottom on induction plate to keep warm while filtering. Add DE and stir as we pump through filter press into water jacket bottler. Adjust density and bring up to 190. Bottle up and go.

I list them all so you can see where it fits in. Note that you need a pot that is MAGNETIC! or these don't work. It will be significantly better than a resistance coil element, faster and more efficient since it heats the magnetic pot directly.

[saphound]

Thanks for the replies Ed, CV2 and John...I figured there must be some here who have tried it. I think I'll go for it and report my findings also. And Karen, I'm with ya..cost for me is secondary if it works. Besides, this is a unit that could be used for cooking year round, their main intention really. Another propane burner will just sit around unused for 11 months. And yes, a magnet has to stick on your pot bottom or it won't work with induction. I've seen these disk-like things with a handle you can buy that will let you use a non-metallic pan or pot..you put that on first, then your pot on that. But probably better to get an induction ready pot for maximum boil. Unfortunately, the stainless pot I use is non-metallic, so I'll have to buy a different pot..but they aren't that bad if you shop around.

[lulugrein]

We replaced our gas stove with a single induction burner at the cabin/sugar bush last year. Works great year round and I used it for first time finishing syrup this season. Awesome! Had a beautiful consistent boil and easy to control the temp. Could walk away and know it wouldn't get out of control. It is extremely efficient. Yes, you have to use a magnetic pan (grab a fridge magnet and check whats in your cupboards). With rain coming this weekend I may do some boiling on the induction burner out on the deck. Will surround it with some kind of barrier so wind doesn't carry heat away. Mine is a NuWave. Check out here https://nuwavenow.com/Product?PID=30341&DID=C Good luck!

[saphound]

Thanks Lulu...yeah, I've seen those Nuwave burners. Now there is a Nuwave2 model..might go with that one.

[Run Forest Run!]

Costco carries the burners in the store from time to time. They have also had them online at Costco.

[RileySugarbush]

Note that if you use one of the magnetic sheets so you can use a nonmagnetic pot, you will lose some of the efficiency gain of induction, since it just becomes a hot plate.

[saphound]

Note that if you use one of the magnetic sheets so you can use a nonmagnetic pot, you will lose some of the efficiency gain of induction, since it just becomes a hot plate.

Yeah I figured that was the case. Sucks that our very nice set of cuisinart stainless pots and pans are not magnetic, but I will pick up a magnetic stockpot for boilng sap/syrup.
Let me ask you something about your Nuwave. Do you ever use it on a low setting for simmering or making rice?
Some of the reviews I've read about other brands say they don't do that well..that they just cycle on and off instead of a steady low heat. Haven't read that about the Nuwave yet. And I've seen the Nuwave infomercial where they claim it's a great rice cooker. What do you think. We make rice a lot around here.

[RileySugarbush]

We only use it in the sugar house and so far have not made rice! However, we have an induction stove top in the house and it makes rice fine, despite cycling on/off at the lowest power settings. The biggest problem we have is that it is very powerful and unless you are boiling water it is unnecessary and somewhat dicey to use it at high powers.

[helptheold]

I tried to use a portable one this year but it had an auto shut off when the burner had been on too long. Then I had to wait for it to cool down enough for the sensor to use it again. Switched to a camp stove and am much happier.

[saphound]

Thanks for that info. I'm not sure if they all do that, but I'll surely look for one that doesn't. What was the make of the one you were using, helptheold?

[helptheold]

Gourmia I think. It was a pretty basic burner, ones that have more functions may stay on longer.

[Kettle Ridge]

Saw the late-night informercial for Nuwave last year and bought a couple units. Then purchased some 30-quart induction-ready pots and attached a faucet to one to use for bottling. Very inexpensive and love the ease and portability. Takes a long time to heat up a full pot of syrup but maybe that is a good thing for niter control? Might still decide to go to water-jacketed bottler for more volume.

[saphound]

Decided on the latest model from Nuwave, the 2016 Nuwave Titanium. Runs at 600, 900, or 1800 watts. It hasn't arrived yet but I'll let y'all know how it works out.

30 qts is a pretty big pot. My batches are a lot smaller, and I want it mostly for preheating sap and I'll probably only be preheating 6 or 8 qts at a time. But that's an interesting idea for bottling..hmmm.

[Ed R]

Make sure its set on 1800 watts when your finishing syrup. I couldn't understand why it was taking so long yesterday to finish my last syrup, I had it on the lowest wattage. DUH!

[saphound]

Make sure its set on 1800 watts when your finishing syrup. I couldn't understand why it was taking so long yesterday to finish my last syrup, I had it on the lowest wattage. DUH! So you use yours to finish your syrup, Ed? Good to know, thanks.

[Ed R]

Ya I draw off light off the 2x6 and finish it where I have better control. It takes a while even at 1800 watts and the highest temp setting to bring nearup up to boiling, but you have great control over the boil once your there.

[saphound]

Ya I draw off light off the 2x6 and finish it where I have better control. It takes a while even at 1800 watts and the highest temp setting to bring nearup up to boiling, but you have great control over the boil once your there.
How many qts do you usually finish in a batch...and what size pot do you use..thanks

[Ed R]

I have 3 pots that I use, a 10 quart a 20 quart and a full sized turkey fryer. I usually use the 20 quart because I try to finish as I go( and have the nearup at least warm if not hot at start up) and keep my batch sizes to 2 gallons or so. This last batch I finished was just under 2 gallons and it started at ambient temp and took even longer due to my wattage issue.

[saphound]

Well from what I've been reading, and I'm about blue in the face from all of it, is the larger diameter pots, (or frying pans), don't work as well. Even though it will hold one, the actual burner size (induction coils) under the glass are 7.5 inches on a lot of them to 9 inches on the one I'm getting, so those outer inches never get "energized" and thus have to slowly get hot from conduction from the metal that is under the coils. There may be bigger coils on some of the commercial models, but they get very expensive.
Now, you have more experience with these than I do (none yet lol), but I'm thinking a pot around 10" is what you want to use for best results...which will be around an 8-10 qt pot.

[lulugrein]

I had commented earlier about using the NuWave. Since then I've used it to finish 2 more batches. I usually draw off about 2 gallons of near syrup from evaporator pan, split it into 2 pots so that I have about a gallon in the stainless steel pot when I start heating it up on the NuWave. Really makes more sense to start with a smaller volume (no matter your heat source) to get up to boiling point more quickly. I use "med/high" setting and get a boil going in about a 1/2 hour, then turn down to about 340 degrees and start adding near syrup to it from the other pot. Induction is great. Nearly immediate response to adjustments in the temp setting. Like gas but so much less heat loss. I'll do the same next year.

[saphound]

340 degrees?!:o

[lulugrein]

Yes, not so different than temp coming off a turkey fryer or other such devices that we finish our syrup on right? Maybe less?


340 degrees?!:o

[saphound]

Oh, I see what you mean now LULU..burner temp not syrup temp.


Update: So yesterday afternoon the UPS truck delivered my new Nuwave Platinum induction cooker...about a half hour after I had dumped my last pot of preheated sap into the boil. So I didn't get to try it for pre-heating sap, but I used it today to finish the syrup and also to bring the filtered syrup back to 183 for my canning jars. I tried it with a pot of water first to see how everything works and at the highest setting and it brought a gallon of cold water to a boil in about 15 minutes..twice as fast as the biggest burner on my gas stove. Cold sap yesterday was taking 30 minutes. So then I put my nearup in, brought it to a boil and it was already at 215. Good thing I stopped yesterday when I did. At 219 I did a test and the redline was just below the surface. I reduced the burner from max to med and tested again after a minute when it reached 220.5 Redline was just a hair over the syrup, about a 16th, just like I like it. Remove the pot from burner and set on the stove, the boiling stops immediately. I really like this induction thing. As others have noted, the control is amazing. You start with one of the 6 preset buttons, low, med/low, med, med/high, high or max/sear. Then you can adjust those temps up or down in 5 degree increments with the plus or minus buttons. Try that with gas or electric.
Can't wait to cook with it. Time will tell how well it holds up, but as of right now, I'm very satisfied with it.

[lulugrein]

Cheers! Glad it worked out. I'm not one to promote a product but I think we're on to something here. Love the efficiency of it. Am waiting to see what the electric bill looks like just out of curiosity. Doesn't matter really. I've spent more for less! Works well for cooking too, though low settings is a little funky. Enjoy the off season!

[saphound]

Well I'm thinking any increase in the electric bill will be offset by a decrease in our house gas bill. I ran the main burner on our gas stove wide open nearly all day yesterday. Low setting on this one is 100 degrees..can't get into too much trouble with that. Thanks for the input and enjoy your off season too!

[saphound]

Doing my last boil of the year today. The induction cooker is doing a great job for preheating sap! It's actually heating it faster than I can add to my hotel pan..4 liters sap takes about 15 mins to get to a roiling boil. I have it set up on a small table next to my main propane burner...so much nicer than carrying pots of boiling sap from the kitchen.
Karen, I really think you would like one of these. If you do, get one that can do 1800 watts. :)

[Run Forest Run!]

Thanks for providing a follow-up on your induction experiment. It sounds like a great idea - plus I already have some pots that are induction friendly. I'll keep an eye out for a deal during the off-season.

What are your tap/syrup numbers for the season saphound?

[saphound]

Doing my usual 12 taps. Was going to do a few more this year but the day I tapped, the sap was really gushing so it scared me out of it. Didn't stay that way long tho..I should have put them in. I should get a couple qts out of this batch which will put me a little over 2 gallons syrup for the year..again about my usual.