What's up with our slow to boil & cook Bosch Induction Cooktop?

bertha_2007

15 years ago

We recently purchased a Bosch Induction Cook top and we bought the correct cookware to go with it. We thought the induction cooktops were supposed to boil water more quickly than conventional cook tops. We don't notice any difference in the time. Nothing seems to cook more quickly...any idea as to why?

Featured Answer

plllog

15 years ago

I have Gaggenau, which is made by the same company as Bosch, but all induction units are pretty similar. I'm concerned about the instructions you have, however.

For deep frying you should never use top heat. You don't want to overheat your fats. They can catch fire. You can use the high numbers for wok cooking where you're constantly adding cold items to a low volume and need to return to high heat fast, but even then you need to be careful not to overheat and scorch your oil. My unit will boil peanut oil on number 6.5 or 7 if there's no food in it. If the oil is boiling it's already past the smoke point, and is breaking down, chemically. Not good.

Power boost is especially for boiling. What it does is use more of the incoming current just for the element you're boiling on, for a limited duration (usually 10 minutes, maximum), so that you can boil faster. On my unit as well, when I don't use boost, it takes a good while to develop a boil. With boost it's impress the neighbors time. This is good for one's cooking because there are some things one wants to bring to a hard boil, but slowly, and there are pots of water that one just wants to get boiling already.

Just for clarity (you might have meant the same thing, but I just want to be sure), about the pan touching the glass, my old favorite pot has curved sides. Chefkev once explained why it was such a great shape for cooking from a food science point of view, but I forget. It's not so great on the induction because a smaller part of the bottom is in contact with the glass. My old not so favorite pot, which I've had about as long, is my new favorite pot of the same approximate size, because it has a very flat bottom which has more area in contact.

Try the power boost. You'll like it.

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Comments (8)

plllog
15 years ago
Are you sure it's wired correctly?

Are you using the correct sized pans for the amount of food?

Do the pans have full contact with the glass? I've found that the ones that have a bigger flat part do better because there's more mass in direct response to the inductors.

For boiling, are you using the boost? That gives you the full power available to the pot.

Pans heat faster for me, and the boiling is exponentially faster (using boost), but the food doesn't cook faster because I'm still cooking at the same heat that I did before. A sear is a sear, a simmer is a simmer. It's just quicker getting to the correct temperature. At temperature, cooking is cooking.
bertha_2007
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, it is wired correctly, and the pan size is correct for the amount of food. Our pans do have full contact with the glass. The boost is a bit of a mystery to us, however...how often and when can you use it? We've been afraid to use it since the booklet seems to indicate boost (as well as the higher settings 8 & 9) should only be used for deep frying. We've mainly used lower settings up to about 6. You had a good point about food not cooking faster, just getting to the correct temp faster. Thanks!
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texaskitchentoo
15 years ago
Our Icon induction goes to "9" then "Hi" then "Power boost." To boil water we go straight to power boost. The water heats very quickly. One thing we've noticed is that the water goes from a simmer almost straight to a rolling boil. It is almost as if the water reaches 212 deg all at the same time. Then we crank the power (quickly!) down to 7-8 range and it will maintain a boil. If we tried to boil on 6 it would take awhile. Power Boost is not just for deep frying.

Also, we can only get to PB when the burner is forst turned on. You can't step up from 9>hi>pb. Not sure how the bosch works.
smiling
15 years ago
Some of the Bosch induction units take 40 Amps (the four hob models), and some of them take 50 Amps (the five hob models). It might be worth it to double check, even if it is wired correctly, that it is supplied with enough amperage to function at full capacity. Often it is necessary to upgrade electric service in remodeling in order to supply these 50 Amp models. Just a thought...
formerlyflorantha
15 years ago
I've read that the quality of the steel in pans varies--18/8 steel is not as efficient, for example.
gsciencechick
15 years ago
I do what texaskitchen too does with our Samsung, use the P/boost and then take it to 8 when it comes to a boil or else the water starts spilling out. Also, I think our boost only stays on for a certain amount of time then it defaults to high. Also, if you are *just* boiling water, it takes less time than if, say, you have eggs in there you want to boil because the eggs need to heat up, too.
michellemarie
15 years ago
I have the Miele induction cooktop and even my cheapo cookware from TJ Maxx and Marshalls works great on it. I also have a Miele dishwasher and it works great. My other dishwasher is a Bosch and it is a piece of JUNK! I hope they make their induction cooktops better than their dishwashers! Good luck in finding a solution.