Here is the article on the induction site.

And here's one stating that if you're worried about induction, you should also worry about the radiation from your tv, AC, computer, etc.

And other articles talk about having to worry about your electric toothbrush, hairdryers, electric stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, vacuum cleaners, washing machines and dryers. Be especially cautious of any wireless device too.

Of course you could go back to the days of no electronic devices, tv's and hanging your clothes out to dry.

And you could heat your food with fire, but oh darn, that's carcinogenic too.

There's no need to make fun of people voicing a concern, cp. they're worried and they ask. Nothing wrong with that.

The risk that RF radiation poses is negligible for most folks. My father had a pacemaker and defibrillator and loved to cook, so electric was better for this house, and I'm keeping my GE Profile electric cooktop in the renovation. It works just fine, can't justify tossing it in the landfill. That said, my sister has induction and our dad did occasionally cook over there with no issues. I would be more concerned about the radiation emitted by a microwave, and I'm not at all concerned about microwaves, although admittedly, I haven't unpacked mine since I moved back home, and rarely used it before that.

I like induction just fine - I have not drunk the koolaid like some others on GW - but I wouldn't let this concern keep you from buying an induction range if you want one. I'm a scientist, if that matters to you, and I did look into this before deciding it was a non-issue for me.

Here is another article

BTW: I came upon all this info two years ago when I was researching induction for us. 7 years ago, I decided against it because DH has a pacemaker. However after researching this time around, and then checking with his pacemaker company, we go the green light to get an induction cooktop. I read the articles on EMF's etc. I'm not convinced.

Hmm. I was excited about induction b/c my youngest has a motor delay and a visuospatial delay, and cooking with gas or even electric would be somewhat risky. More to think about, I guess.

Still, I think induction could be great for a child learning to cook.

You'll get more EMF from the computer screen you're sitting in front of right now.

You get 60hz EMF every day just sitting in the house from the electrical lines running through the walls.

As for MWs, as long as the door is closed, you're fine. Open the door and you're cooked. Same problems cops have using radar guns inside their cars.

Aliris19, not having any other info but glass and razor blade cleaning, it sounds like your parents have radiant electric. Stuff gets cooked on the glass because of the heat the hob generates. Induction glass doesn't transfer heat, the pot heats and warms the glass. Radiant is as responsive as a campfire, LOL, so I feel your frustration with it.

OK, first let me give you one piece of data, if your parent's cooktop "has" to be cleaned with a razor blade, it's more than likely a regular smooth top radiant cooktop, and probably one of the older technology with a heater inside a ceramic race, which takes forever to warm up and cool down, and generates higher temps at the glass ceramic top, which then necessitates the razor blade cleaning. Newer generations (usually referred to as "ribbon element") has a much thinner wire heater that warms up and cools down at the same (or slightly faster) rate as a regular electric coil burner, and those more often than not just need the cream cleaner with the plastic "sponge" scrubber.

If the cooktop were induction, you could get away with a paper towel moistened in a little bit of 409 or dishwashing detergent and it'd be clean, unless you let stuff burn under a very high temp pot for a long time.

Now, for the *other* complaint, there *are* some kinds of pacemakers that can be affected by an induction stove if the pacemaker has a receiver (to be reprogrammed) at the same or similar frequencies the stovetop works, but I hear that most modern pacemakers do not have that problem anymore but you may want to check with your doctor.

If you do not use a pacemaker, the so called "radiation" is (a) weak, (b) gets weaker with the square of the distance, and, most importantly (c) should be absorbed by the pot/pan bottom anyway and all you need to take care of is that the pots and pans match the "burner" zone as closely as possible and you'd be all set -- the entire point of induction is that the pot absorbs the EMF and generates heat, a tiny bit might be near the surface of the burner if the pot is smaller than the burner (so, for example, do not put a magnetic spoon or fork on that part and expect it to be room temp when you pick it up, it might be very hot).

A properly functioning microwave is also safe. Even the rumors that microwave ovens "destroy all nutrition" are unfounded, and quite the contrary, research in the last 25 years or so has *consistently* shown that microwave ovens preserve more vitamins and nutrition than cooking the traditional way and, not only that, microwave cooking the proper way also produces fewer carcinogenic compounds because it doesn't brown food and the browning can produce the vast majority of carcinogens in food if it's taken to extremes. By which the scientists mean a bit of browning (when sugars and carbs are beginning to caramelize) is OK, but by the time it's very dark and crusty (lots of stuff made on grills or made on a very high heat frying pan) you are eating stuff that might cause trouble (I'm spacing out on the name of the compounds right now, Acrylamide, perhaps?).

I'm gonna ask something that will sound weird to you, but trust me, it will be a *huge* favor to everyone if when you hear something, try a little googling or research or even ask about it -- there is so much misinformation going on it's a huge shame. We need to get better at rooting out misinformation and living a better life than trolls from far away want us to live by just posting misinformation and half truths in our social media.

With that in mind, thank you NonDesignAaron for asking the question, and remember, there was a time that USA meant bleeding edge technology and science and we thought science was going to help us all out of our troubles. We now know enough to ask questions instead of blind acceptance, but we should still be asking questions and looking at the *science* not rumors from trolls that would rather use all we produced while making us live a horrible life.

Thank you in advance,

-- Paulo.

In the interest of correcting misinformation, cancer incidence (in the United States) has increased, but its a function of the population living longer. Cancer is a disease of aging, so the longer people live, the more cancer will occur. Age adjusted cancer rates (again in the US), a much more appropriate measure, have actually declined over time. This is presumably largely due to less people smoking.

This fact doesn't rule out the possibility of common daily radiation from computers/MW/induction cooktops/cellphones/etc exposure playing some role in cancer development, but there's no good science that this is actually the case. The estimated risk of low dose radiation is extrapolated from the (very real) risk of high dose radiation exposure and generally considered to be a linear relationship, but that extrapolation and the linear relationship is, in fact, highly questionable, controversial and unproven.

There's no need to make fun of people voicing a concern, cp. they're worried and they ask. Nothing wrong with that.

My apologies if my comments were offensive. I was trying to lighten up the mood a bit by pointing out we're surrounded nowadays by lots of different things that cause radiation and other things that are considered carcinogenic.

That cancer incidence has increased overall as a function of increased average longevity, doesn't affect the specific risk due to a specific hazard (never mind the validity of the particular hazard in question). (That is, the incidence of some cancers is up, some is down, and the overall average may be up and mostly influenced by something altogether different, but the particulars matter).

Thank you all for clarifying the likely stovetop. In all honesty I don't know, don't actually care enough to google and can't really ask; my Dad who put it in is dead and my mom wouldn't be able to articulate gas from electric much less anything fancier (bit of an exaggeration).

All the same I've long wondered because after doing my kitchen with the tremendous, giving and all the other amazing adjectives to describe the helpfulness of GW, I got to realizing one day that the kitchen my Dad redid seemed terribly GWebby. I tried to search for photos of it or guess at his password but came up with nothing. Still, I suspect he may have been here long before me and so I thought perhaps this was one of those vaunted new-fangled stovetops proclaimed hereabouts. I'm glad to know it isn't, because so many are so in love with them (with qualifications to be sure), and I think what my 'rents have is so terrible, the disconnect just has bugged me for years now. Thanks for setting me straight.

As for trolling -- if my presumptions and assumptions were part of the trolling of which you speak, I apologize. Upon re-reading I understand you were likely not even accusing anyone here of trolling. But on first cursory glance, it looked like it and I was going to suggest, politely, not accusing well-meaning folks of such misbehavior. Some of the trouble is that one doesn't know what one doesn't know. I agree much of the radiation fears all around all around are dispel-able with a little science. But you have to know your preconceptions are dubious in order to research your misinformation first. So ... best all to bite one's tongue and try to explain credibly rather than scold trollish behavior. Possibly that wasn't even intended, I see now; however I did just read it a little that way at first.

I've never quite figured out whether my parent's cooktop is induction -- it's glass and you have to clean it with a razor blade and I absolutely despise the thing. "Saving" EMF exposure by not using that thing would save me twice in less radiation and infinitely less aggravation! I hate that thing (but for all I know it's not "induction").

It is not induction. You don't need a razor blade to scrape off baked on food with induction because nothing bakes on. The surface barely heats up. Only the pot heats up.

Now, for the *other* complaint, there *are* some kinds of pacemakers that can be affected by an induction stove if the pacemaker has a receiver (to be reprogrammed) at the same or similar frequencies the stovetop works, but I hear that most modern pacemakers do not have that problem anymore but you may want to check with your doctor.

100% true which is why it is imperative to check with the company that makes the pacemaker you have. They have a record of it in their database and all you need to do is call with your number.

Interesting...seems to have set out a "hot" (no pun intended) button with some! I want something safe and I have done mega research and have found what I've found. Like everything...there are compelling arguments on both sides.

For these retorts...(a) weak (where is the data for that?) (b) gets weaker with the square of the distance, (Yep, I admitted that, research has found that distance to be 12"...I DO NOT stand 12" away from my front burner, the one I use most c) should be absorbed by the pot/pan bottom anyway and all you need to take care of is that the pots and pans match the "burner" zone as closely as possible and you'd be all set I DO NOT want to worry every time my pan is not the exact size of the burner that I'm increasing my exposure

alirs19---I think you make the best and WISEST point on here. I couldn't agree more. I'm not so naïve to not realize I'm already exposed in this world. But if I have the info, researched it and have options, I might opt out.

Thanks all for the feedback...that's what we were looking for as we decide.

Induction is great for cooking. It's great for kids and forgetful people and people with small kitchens and people who dislike cleaning. It's awesome for candy and delicate sauce-type stuff.

But ya know, you can cook on anything. Don't stress over it It's all good, unless you have a particular need. Stillpat, YOU need induction! My mom? Needs it. People who have unreliable electric service? Get gas.

NOBODY needs regular coil electric. Those are no fun.

Yeah, I am still going with it. With gas, there is a very good chance my son would set himself or the house on fire, or kill us all with CO poisoning. With electric, there's a good chance he'd burn himself. And I imagine you could start a fire by leaving a burner on long enough, as long as it goes unnoticed. Induction seems made for my family.

"NOBODY needs regular coil electric. Those are no fun."

I much preferred electric coil over the now-standard electric flat top.....I hated that. But the coil stove loses by leaps and bounds to induction. I LOVE it, and since all of life is risk vs reward, I think the EMF risk I take standing next to my induction stove is worth the reward I get from using it. Every cooking method has risks of some sort (CO gas, unattended burners, overheated stove tops, etc), so I choose to take my risk from cooking on an induction stove top.

Well, yeah, I guess I'm lumping coil in with the standard electric flat top. I assume they have coils under there but I've never actually checked. :)

OK, let me start by apologizing -- I was not and I am not accusing anyone here of trolling, so I am sorry if I offended anyone. My apologies.

What I was saying and am saying is that we have witnessed people trolling on the internet, this isn't news, it has happened for many years.

A few years ago, a friend of mine, who tries to eat healthy, was very upset that someone went to the website they congregated and announced that microwaving destroyed all nutritional value in food and made it carcinogenic, so he was ready to trash his microwave and didn't know what to replace it with because he had grown up with his parents steaming things and warming things in the microwave -- so we had to tell him (a) you can steam things on the stovetop and (b) the microwave was not the problem, someone was just trolling that group.

As for some other questions, NonDesignerAaron asks how do we know that the radiation is weak. Because it has been measured (no, sorry, I do not have references right now, but if I find them I will certainly come back here to post them) and it's on a similar scale to the radiation emitted from old electric blankets for the portion of the burner that is not covered by a pot.

If you *do* end up with an induction stovetop (it's not for everyone, I tell you, and I *love* mine and suggest that most people get one) you will quickly find out that the best, fastest response comes from having a pot/pan closely matched to the size of the burner for maximum efficiency. Once you get used to how fast the thing works for both heating up and cooling down, you will not want to make the process slower by putting a 6 inch pot on a 10 inch burner, trust me. But, in case you do, yes, your belly is about 12 inches from the burner, but the things most likely to cause trouble would be farther from it, nominally a pacemaker and it's receiver, which would be out of range.

I would like to talk a bit about radiation here. We got a pretty bad impression because of the way the word came into our daily use vocabulary. This is very similar to words that have very specific meaning in psychiatry but a different, general meaning in the general population. Radiation in science includes heat, electromagnetic radiation (which by itself has many different bands, like broadcasting/telephony, microwave/radar etc) and several different kinds (ultrasound, seismic waves, gravitational) in addition to ionizing radiation which can cause trouble including cancer.

We usually do not talk about all kinds of radiation that are useful or cause little trouble (gravity, for example, is very helpful and useful keeping stuff right where you left it until you come back and move it -- it's rare that we have trouble with gravity by, say, falling off a cliff or getting hit by a piano which fell off the 5th floor because people were trying to move it). On the other hand, we know of many cases of trouble caused by the harmful radiations from Xray, Uranium, Radon etc.

The other piece of data that is interesting is that EMF affects things in different ways depending on the frequency and power. For example, frequencies around 2 GHz at very low power are just fine for Wi-Fi and cellular phones. Things tuned to 2.1 GHz and in a high power beam can cook foods because that's the frequency that resonates with the water dipole in living tissues and food. Which is why microwave ovens are in an enclosed Faraday cage, not only to protect the users, but to increase the efficiency of the operation.

Induction burners for home use are tuned to much lower frequencies (around 22kHz) which are not known for causing trouble with living tissue and, the second reason is that the frequencies used in the home version only couple effectively with magnetic metals. There are induction heaters that can melt aluminum, copper etc in industrial use, and there was at the very least one Japanese manufacturer studying different frequencies to make the burners accept aluminum pans in the home -- the problem is that pan detection was not reliable and manufacturers want to avoid the problem that induction cooking had in the beginning, when they were not using any pan detection: in the 1950's or so, when induction stoves first came out, the burner would be on or off when the user turned it on or off; the problem is that it's hard to just look at it and know it's on, so if it was on and someone put a metal spoon holder or anything similar on top of the burner, they could later get burned by stuff they did not expect to be hot. So manufacturers not only added the pan detector, but they require that the pot/pan be a reasonable size that covers most of the burner.

Please note the irony (no pun intended) in that. I'm not complaining things got safer, I'm all for that. But, like a friend of mine says, there are plenty of things we could not have right now if they were introduced now instead of decades ago. For example, we are used to gasoline tankers driving by roads and streets, when they are extremely dangerous. Electric stoves can certainly be set for very low and one might get burned by touching something that looks like it's off. And if insurance companies could remove gas stovetops and ovens from homes, they would, because they are a large source of fires and CO poisoning.

Cheers,

-- Paulo.

As for how electric burners are built and why they behave the way the do.

The very first electric burners were a wire made from nickel-chrome alloy which was coiled and the coil was laid into races on a ceramic holder. This had several disadvantages, including the element was exposed, which made it easy for people to touch and get an electric shock, it was very hard to keep clean, and there was a long delay between the request to heat up or cool down and the response, because the ceramic holder needs to heat up or cool down and it takes a long time to do so.

The second version was safer: they covered the first version with a thick cast iron disk, which put the elements out of reach but did not improve response time. It was easier to clean though, I'll give it that.

The third version is what we in USA know as "coil" -- the element is encapsulated in an insulating powder and metal tube (calrod[tm] among others) which was supposedly easy to keep clean (when it got red hot it would burn off the dirt) and responded much faster. For this kind of element, very thin and very long offer faster response than short and fat.

Then we got "smooth top" burners. The first kind to appear was exactly like the original and the cast-iron clad kind, except that it had the glass-ceramic top instead of the cast-iron, so response times were very slow.

For a short time we had "halogen" burners -- this did not last long, it seems, or at least I don't think we can buy new ones anymore. Apparently they were not very reliable. The idea was that they should respond better.

Then we got "ribbon elements". The idea with this is that the elements are made of a very thin flat ribbon, which not only heats up and cools down faster, but since they can be held in place without the ceramic races (although they are still on a flat ceramic disk) the response times are closer to the regular calrod coils.

The pictures below show vintage hotplates -- the first one you can see the construction from above, the second one from an angle that shows that the element is low in the race thus not touching the pans. The third one shows the elements working.

Induction elements do not heat up directly, so you can't see them working. The cast-iron covered elements heat up, but do not turn red as far as I know. Alls the other ones (coils/calrod, smooth-top glass-ceramic covered elements turn red when set to high heat) and heat up.

Thank you for the great history lesson, pcpr, It's always nice to know how things have evolved.

I have cooked on gas, electric coil, solid electric, and glass top electric in the various homes I've lived in. Solid electric is the worst. Glass top sucks somewhat less. Electric coil is okay. Gas is nice.

I want induction!!!!

I also know someone who won't eat microwaved food because it emits electromagnetic radiation.

She is technically correct and yet completely wrong in her worries.

Same level and type of evidence.

eam44: Please know I’m not trying to be confrontational or critical, but would you please explain this comment: I like induction just fine - I have not drunk the koolaid like some others on GW

“Drinking the koolaid” comes from the Jonestown massacre, and implies peer pressure, and/or blind followers, and/or to not question. Perhaps you meant it in another way?

I see ‘subway tiles’ mentioned more often than ‘induction’. I discarded the subway tile option for our renovation– great for some, just not for me, but I’ve no issue with anyone should they recommend them (even strongly) to me – and I may re-visit the option. I embraced induction by means of a strong suggestion that I consider it – and I wouldn’t have had the suggestion not been made with some conviction. I say this because my initial reaction was a steadfast “no way, I want gas!” and it took a lot of thought before I even considered investigating it as an alternative. I didn’t 'drink the koolaid', I didn’t go into the decision blindly - and I have yet to see others who have. Thus, the 'koolaid' comment I find somewhat demeaning, and I hope this was unintentional.

I was completely unaware of induction before joining GW. Everyone I’ve spoken to in person has no idea what it is. When I tested it at two appliance stores, I was told it had been around a long time but hadn’t hit the mainstream population yet. GW isn’t selling Kool-Aid in my opinion; GW’ers offers choices to us all that we’ve sometimes not thought of, or are unaware of, or have previously decided against.

nondesigneraaron, I’m not saying it causes radiation to the point of danger because my belief is that it does not, but if you are seriously considering eliminating your MW due to radiation, I also do not think you’d be comfortable with Induction.

I don't think eam44's induction/koolaid comment was suggesting anything sinister about the technology or it's evangelists. On most any thread about ranges/cooktops, someone will suggest using induction to the OP and proceed to enthusiastically enumerate it's advantages. Since induction is not in widespread use in the US yet (despite its being very old american technology,) I call this process evangelization (remember Guy Kawasaki at Apple- his title was evangelist.) I for one am a convert to induction. I came to GW looking for feedback on Wolf ranges, learned about Blue Star and then was converted to induction. Eam44 offers people who do not wish to abandon flames an argument for sticking with what they know and love. (There is definitely an air about induction being the rational choice and gas being an emotional choice here on GW.)

PS Eam, I hope you don't mind my speaking up on this issue. I m not trying to speak for you.

Perhaps I've not read enough posts, but I haven't seen gas as an emotional choice, only another option, like electric, and now - induction. I didn't suggest eam44's comment sinister, I only hoped it was not meant to be demeaning, as the statement "to drink the Kool-Aide" implies what I stated above.

On most any thread about ranges/cooktops, someone will suggest using induction to the OP and proceed to enthusiastically enumerate it's advantages. Since induction is not in widespread use in the US yet (despite its being very old american technology,) I call this process evangelization. I am going to make the assumption I'm being far too sensitive.

I have found information on many things - plugmolds are one example where I was completely in the dark, where people enthusiastically spoke of why they would be a good choice - this is 'helpful' to me, not preaching - and I greatly appreciate the detailed information and explanations.

I use the term evangelization as a marketing term- not a preaching one. You can replace evangelization with education if you prefer- the meaning is the same. Nobody is suggesting the information is not helpful- just perhaps that the proponents can be overly enthusiastic and the other team needs some cheerleaders too.

Thank you, Rita. In the kitchen forum I do see quite a few more comments on less color or less 'busy' as opposed to the opposite, and felt these were suggestions and opinions - granted, some very strong but not overtly offensive or preachy IMO.

jmorawlec: Are you happy with your choice? The one major drawback is adjusting the temp to simmer or low after being at high...how are the kids doing with that? I'm used to an older electric range that has no pwr boil like they do now so I'm excited about that feature...and the stay warm feature...2 things new since my range. But I do hate how it takes awhile to go from HOT to simmer...lots of boil overs. How's it working out for you?

If you're worried about a microwave, you need to take your E&M physics course again. You probably flunked.

Psst. All light is electromagnetic radiation.

I'm not worried. Yes, I have induction and I have a microwave. I move away to do other things while those things are cooking, because I have other things to do, and I'm not worried should I step close. There are a lot worse things out there. If you ARE worried, set them to cook, and go do something else while they cook. Any radiation won't go far.

Paulo, I have had an induction range for about 18 months, and somehow missed any radiation concern, so this thread caught me by surprise. Thank you for addressing the topic so thoroughly. I found it very helpful. I was going to comment that I recall my owner's manual instructing me to match pot size to heating surfaces and I do, solely as a matter of function, as you mention.

I recently recommended induction to a friend who was renovating her kitchen. She installed induction and is very happy with it. Gas is not an option for us due to our location and I like the induction so much better than electric.

Aaron, overall I'm happy with it. The kids are 9 and 10, they are great with it. To me, using electric just means being able to anticipate turning the heat down before it actually needs to be turned down. The only part that I complain about, is cleaning if something does spill on it. Although, I've been cooking on it for more than a year so far, and haven't had to clean it with a razor blade as others have mentioned. We rarely have boil overs, but if we do, I clean it up quickly. The ease of cleaning is what appealed to me with the induction. I did lots of reading before making the decision to not go with induction. As someone mentioned earlier, I would worry about EMF exposure every time they cooked.

"I have not drunk the koolaid like some others..."

EEam44, whenever I encounter someone using these (or similar) words, I am left wondering if that person actually knows anything about Jonestown and the horrors that unfolded there and, if so, how (and why) they could possibly have decided that it's something they want to say/write. I encourage you to watch some documentaries or something, if you really don't know about Jonestown and what happened there. If you do know and still enjoy using that phrase, then you should at least know that a lot of people find it offensive, for multiple reasons.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I'm still torn...LOVE THE IDEA behind induction...Just wish there was some scientific websites that have researched it a bit more. I get the emotional side...it is the POTENTIAL risks that concern me. It seems clear that EMF is transmitted...just to what extent and at what distance. And what of holding the handle of the pan... Things to ponder this week. Our reno is fast approaching and I need to order a cooktop! Thanks again!

nondesigneraaron is leaving to ponder, and I don't want to feed an OT zombie thread, but

veggiegardnr, I would be willing to bet eam has only the media related knowledge of Jonestown that has led to the ubiquitous phase. My DD has OCD and there's another wildly erroneous phrase that makes a person want to poke their ears out.

Anyway, I read a book about Jonestown several years ago and it was, as you allude to, heartbreaking and horrifying. To me, it shows how quickly error takes hold and gets made infallible in our media saturated world. Error, snarky/cutesy phrase, repeat, repeat, repeat. And I don't mean to suggest I've never done it.

"Scientific websites" don't bother because it's self-evident. Sorry. It's pretty basic physics. There is no concern.

Sunlight is EMF. The ultraviolet range is damaging. So we wear sunscreen. It doesn't have silly vague "health effects". "Grounding" doesn't fix it. This is pure BS from people who are just barely bright enough to get scared by big words but aren't smart enough to understand what they mean, like the anti-vaxxers and people who detox. (Yes, I went there!)

I wonder how many expressions we use today that tie back to something very unpleasant?

I get why people talk about folks like me, who adopted induction, as evangelizers or whatever. In my own case, I've known about it for a long time, but like almost everything interesting, induction cooktops used to be extremely expensive here, then disappeared (mostly due to cost), ended up in Europe where they were promptly embraced and improved a lot, then they come back as "Euro" stuff. Another things that did that were front-loading washers and pressure cookers. On one hand, it makes me happy they are still available and the prices are falling so ordinary folks like me can afford them, on the other hand, jeez, the amount of misinformation associated with them is just staggering.

Just to finish the story though, then there is my husband. He was probably already tired of me talking for *years* that my goal was to get an induction range. Mind you, I *grew up* with gas, and we had gas at the apartment at the time. So, he had no idea why I was even talking about it.

So, one day, we are visiting friends several states away for a big party (there were something like 50+ people for brunch at the time), and my friend's boyfriend, who was a professional chef, was making brunch for everyone. I was making my way thru the party hugging and greeting everyone until I got to the kitchen to get some brunch -- imagine, if you will, a guy cooking for 50+ people and the stovetop is covered with about 4-5 layers of newspapers, with frying pans, griddle etc frying pancakes, eggs and bacon for everyone. I calmly stick my head in the dining room and tell my husband "Dave, you need to see this!" and he comes to the kitchen with a few more people he was talking to. They just look at the scene for about 10 minutes with their jaws on the floor, we get the food, they continue to look at the scene. The chef made sure everyone had enough food and said "I'm done!", turned off the stovetop, crumpled the newspapers and the kitchen was clean. Then we hear a bunch of people, including my husband, saying "I want one of those!".

It's a very visceral reaction. And you don't even need to cover the stovetop in newspapers, a wipe with some 409 and you're done, I don't even bother with newspapers.

And yeah, after finally getting my induction stove about 4 years ago, I do not want to go back to gas or electric or anything else unless I was forced to.

For people who have electric stoves, what I've heard many years ago and it served me well while I've lived with electric stovetops -- put a frying pan with a very small amount of water in it on the burner and turn it on high.

When it comes to a boil, turn it off until it stops boiling, then turn it on to the temp you want. That's the time lag to turn down the temp. Let's say it took 30 or 60 seconds for the vigorous boiling to go down until it wasn't even simmering anymore -- that's the time it needs to be turned down in advance.

So, for example, if I were making rice, and I knew that my stovetop took about 45 seconds to switch from high to low, I'd look at the water and when it was about 45 seconds from boiling, I'd switch it to 3, which was the temp I'd be simmering the rice until cooked and everything worked just fine.

Of course, now, with induction, all I have to do is to press 3 when the water starts boiling and I'm done.

I have wanted induction for 15 years. Sooooo happy it's cheap now!

As for the concerns about EMF radiation -- those are pretty old, I've first heard of them in the mid-80's. In all of these years, what *has* been stablished is that the concerns about stuff like leukemia when people lived near high-voltage lines (we're talking about those pylons carrying 350kV or more) were basically linked to the fact that they were spraying weed killers under the towers to keep the area clean, often by flying over the lines and spraying.

We won't find more in the web basically because there's nothing else to see, scientists testing for "stray" EMF don't find any more leaking from microwave ovens or induction burners than they find from TV sets, computers, the motor in your vacuum cleaner or any other electric appliance, including regular electric burners.

As for stray radiation from the pan handles, that is unfounded too -- the induction field is near the bottom of the pan, that's where it's absorbed and turned into electricity that is then turned into heat. If you are worried, then get pots and pans with an insulating handle, most people with kids would do that anyway because a pan made entirely of stainless steel or cast iron would have a handle that can become very hot during operation and would need to be grabbed with a pot holder anyway to avoid burning one's hands.

Aaron and others: this is why and what I was referring to "people trolling" on the web. They find something that sounds plausible, spin it into some form of conspiracy and now a lot of folks get worried about it. Meanwhile, they are cracking up that everyone is worried.

I would stop worrying about EMF if I were you.

Interesting how the song plays on...

I've spent the last few days doing my own research and checking on things mentioned here. Thank you all again. I'm still torn but leaning in on induction.

I've had a bit of a conversation with someone from "the other side" and here were her main arguments and concerns:

1) No long term studies so we basically don't know for sure the effects on us. (have to give her that one)

2) She's mighty concerned that if the manufacturers are telling us stand back 12" than something is astray

3) Electric gives off EMF too but that is Infrared radiation vs. Induction's EMF being more like a microwave (yet a MW is enclosed, cooktop-not so much)

I've even reached out to some people across the country who go in and test EMF and such but they too haven't done much with Induction. One guy said it's fine, others say they aren't sure. Gotta love it.

nondesigneraaron, I give you credit, you care about yourself and your children (you didn't say you had kids, but asked another poster how their kids handled some things so this is an assumption on my part), and you are not only openly listening to others, but doing your best to investigate this on your own which is always a wise thing to do. Through all, you have remained upbeat in your responses. My proverbial hat is off to you for this, and I feel whatever you end up with, you'll feel good as it will be your choice : - )

Inverse square law. It doesn't magically travel through handles.

You might be able to burn yourself if you're wearing metal buttons and lean reeeeeeeeally close. That's why the 12" are recommended. CYA.

Studying harmless things is a waste of time and money. Things have to pass a sniff test before you devote resources to them.

If we want to talk about danger, let's do that.

16% of house fire deaths begin with a stovetop or oven. The VAST majority of these fires are caused by cooktop fires. And the vast majority of those are from gas cooktops.

Induction is even safer than electric. Around 250 lives per year would be saved if everyone in the US switched to induction.

Has anyone with an induction range noticed your animals being affected by it?

Not only I have not noticed anything when I had a dog, but she lived to be 14 years old, which is very old for a German Shepherd Dog, and she basically had a wonderful life. We have not seen any trouble yet either.

Now, the only things that have been "affected" by my induction range were things which we put inside an induction-compatible pot or pan and turned the burner on. Which, to be honest, was the effect we were looking for to begin with, so no surprise there.

It's a very standard range/stovetop, except that you don't have to deal with a flame or a very hot electric element.

Millions of people have been using this technology since at the very least 1970s, except that, back then, the stovetops cost enough that only very rich people had them in their kitchens, and now that the technology is less expensive, they've been catching on.

Again, it's not for everyone, but most people who have used induction prefer it to all the other stovetops.

Has anyone with an induction range noticed your animals being affected by it?

Absolutely YES! Whenever I'm cooking at my induction cooktop, my dog comes running over hoping for scraps!

The GSD in my avatar lived to 14-15ish. We're unsure of her exact age but she was adopted at around 3-4 years old. Her "brother" was a, larger, 95 lb mix and would've lived past 14 if the Rimadyl hadn't caused an ulcer. We also have a cat that will be 11 in March, and has no health issues at all. The two kittens brought home last Easter are insane, but I don't think it's because of my cooktop ;)

Yes, when it was first delivered, our cat was fascinated by her reflection on it. We've managed to keep her off the kitchen counters because I can't abide that, but it took us a bit longer to keep her shoo-shoo'd off the induction hobs (she wears rubber-capped nail covers). One night we were eating dinner and I heard it beep on - Kitty turned it on by walking across it. We shoo-shoo'd her off, and the induction turned itself off, as it's meant to do when it does not detect a magnetic pan. And that made me feel pretty great, knowing if I leave it on accidently it'll turn off, or if a child accidently touched the controls, they won't get burned.

Otherwise, no ill effects.