The
advent of new magnetic materials have made induction heating both
practical and attractive. Thus the new generation of cooking systems
that also include convection ovens and really good microwave ovens,
although their propensity to fry up when you make a mistake and put
metal inside will continue to haunt consumers. Someone needs to
think out a sensor system to prevent that.
It is
all getting much better, not that we are not utterly spoiled now.
I
suspect that those cast iron pots and pans will even come back into
vogue regardless of the weight. No other pot system actually matches cast iron mainly because
the process of seasoning puts in place a cooking surface of elemental
carbon which is perfect and usually stick free. Attempts to imitate
all that are never stable.
Cooking With a
Magnetic Field?
Panasonic’s 2013
appliances draw you into high-tech cooking
By Zoe Ackah
Special Features Editor
Created: November
24, 2012
We had a chance to see
Panasonic’s new suite of 2013 kitchen appliances, including an
induction cooktop, at a recent event featuring Craig Harding,
executive chef and owner of Campangnolo restaurant in Toronto.
Panasonic’s inverter
technology microwaves have been a kitchen staple, but the company has
just begun to produce a full line of cooking appliances in North
America.
The microwave,
convection oven, and cooktop all match beautifully with the expected
sleek glass and chrome finishes and the unexpected matching blue
light burners and displays.
But looks aren’t
everything. These appliances have serious gadget-geek appeal.
The jewel in the crown
of Panasonic’s new appliances is the induction cooktop.
“I love this type of
cooking,” says Chef Harding.
If you are a serious
cook like Harding, you can think of induction cooking as a type of
cooking that offers instant control of heat while being faster and
more accurate than gas cooking, with no flame to accidentally
extinguish.
Induction cooking is
also the most energy efficient. What we are used to is heat-transfer
cooking, where an electric element or a gas burner transfers heat to
pots and pans. Energy is lost in the transfer, not just between the
element and the pot, but also into the kitchen air and sometimes onto
your fingers. Ouch!
Induction cooking
heats the vessel itself directly. In other words, the pot cooks the
food.
Under the cooktop’s
smooth glass surface are copper coils. An alternating current passes
through the coils, creating a magnetic field that moves current
through your pots and pans, heating them up but ignoring the glass
cooktop, your fingers, and anything else that has very little iron
content.
If the stovetop gets
warm, it is because of heat transfer from the pot. The stovetop cools
down a minimum of four times faster than a conventional stove.
Because the induction
stovetop is perfectly flat, it is very easy to clean. And whatever
you spill doesn’t get baked onto the stovetop either—it stays
cool because it’s not metal, get it? You just wipe it off.
“When things boil
over you wipe it up, and it’s perfect!” exclaimed Harding as he
lifted a cast iron pan of scrambled eggs off the stovetop and deftly
picked up some strays that had leapt from the pan.
What makes Panasonic’s
induction stovetop so precise is the addition of infrared sensor
technology. The sensors can tell exactly how hot the food is inside
the pot and make split-second corrections.
“The recovery time
is so fast,” says Harding. As soon as something cold is added to
the pan, the sensor tells the cooktop to respond, keeping the
temperature perfectly even.
“It takes out the
variables and guesswork,” explains Harding.
What does he mean?
Precise, even temperature ensures that every pancake is the same
colour, every piece of fried chicken is golden on the outside and
cooked on the inside, your hollandaise sauce doesn’t separate, and
you’ll probably improve your low-fat, healthy cooking too.
If all you can do is
boil water, it does that four to five times faster than any other
type of stove. Speed heating and sensor technology working together
to create serious responsiveness.
The sensor can also
tell when a pot boils dry or is lifted off the stovetop, making it
extremely safe.
Because the whole
system uses ferromagnetism, you must cook with stainless steel or
cast iron. Glass cookware, copper pans, and aluminum won’t work.
You can look for cookware with the induction cooking symbol, but
chances are most of your pots will work. Hold a magnet to the bottom
of the pot or pan. If it sticks you’re probably fine.
You couldn’t pair
such an interesting cooktop with a lukewarm oven, so Panasonic’s
sibling oven is state-of-the art.
First of all, it’s a
convection oven, so already everything you bake will rise higher and
bread will be crustier. When you roast or broil it is going to be
crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
“It’s much more
advanced than the one I have at the restaurant,” says Harding.
Unlike his industrial
convection oven, the results Harding got from the Panasonic were
perfectly even.
Why?
Panasonic has added a
twin set of fans and a secret “third burner” to make sure the
oven delivers precisely the same temperature to all corners.
Precise and
energy-efficient cooking is certainly the theme here. Good
Housekeeping called previous inverter-tech microwave models from
Panasonic the “even-heating champs.”
Most microwaves have a
single level of power. That single output level turns on and off
while the food spins—those intermittent groans you hear means the
cooking apparatus is turning on and off.
The result is uneven
cooking, with rubbery food on the outside, and undercooked food on
the inside.
The Panasonic model we
saw has three different output levels that are delivered constantly
to the food.
The more
sensitively tuned frequencies penetrate the food, helping cook it
evenly all the way through. This method is more likely to
maintain the natural texture and colour of food.
“Inverter”
actually doesn’t refer to the consistent delivery of microwaves; it
refers to more efficient use of electricity. The Panasonic
microwave’s inverter circuit uses less electricity but delivers
more cooking power, making it cheaper—and faster—to operate.
No comments:
Post a Comment