Viking Portable Induction Burner 15x12-in.
by Viking Range Corporation
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List Price: Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Viking Portable Induction Burner 15x12-in.
Customer Review: The "BMW" of Induction Cookers, Made Portable!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having owned a 5 zone induction cooktop imported from the UK in my previous home, I was already spoiled and no stranger to the responsiveness, efficiency, and pure power of induction cooking as well as the different brand units out there. I was a tad nervous about plunking down $500 for a single induction burner, however, this little workhorse has proven to be one of the most joyously hard working appliances in this old kitchen being used exclusively now while the archaic smooth top stove sits cool and idle.
The heat settings on this unit are spontaneous and responsive with a range that will shame your pro-gas stove or cooktop for putting a perfect sear on a roast and boiling a large pot of water lightening fast, plus all settings in between that are dead on accurate as well as a setting low enough to be used as a hot plate. And all this can be done anywhere, even outdoors. What a concept!
I highly recommend this Viking cooker if you are considering bringing induction into your home and would like a test drive a unit that is truly top notch and representative of the genre.
***Important to remember with all induction cooktops is your cookware must be ferrous or magnetic. You can test your pots and pan bottoms with an ordinary kitchen magnet. Cast iron and enameled steel work wonderfully on induction and now there are many cookware manufacturers producing lines of stainless steel that are induction capable.
Customer Review: Lives up to expectation
Summary: 5 Stars
I was new to induction cooking and bought a lower priced one first. I sometimes teach cooking classes/demos and induction is much easier to use than those table-top gas burners. My first induction experience was with a Fagor unit. It works fine for me, but has a major drawback in its "touch button" controls. It's hard to get it to do what you want, especially when it gets some grease spatters on it.
The Viking has much easier control, a larger platform and more power. High is high and medium-high is medium-high. I had no trouble using a whopper of a pan and steaming four dozen clams on it. Preparing a delicate piece of fish or searing a steak, this unit is up to any task. I use it in my own kitchen more and more instead of my glass cooktop, which takes longer to heat up and stays hot long after I'm done cooking.
You can expect quite a performance for its hefty price, but the unit simply delivers and lives up to expectations.
Customer Review: Superb product - beautiful and efficient.
Summary: 5 Stars
I own many Viking appliances so I knew that although expensive, the induction burner would be a good product. It is fantastic. It looks and feels like a quality product and works flawlessly. I agree with the other reviewers who gushed about the burner. I only use the stove when I need to be cooking two things simultaneously. Foods are at cooking temperature instantly, cook quickly and once the unit is turned off it is instantly cool, a big hit for those of us without air conditioned homes. I like the energy efficiency of it as well. I can cook real food on the burner much more quickly than I could microwave fake food.
One warning: the burner will only work with pans with enough iron to generate the magnetism that creates the heat. I have had to buy additional pots and pans because my expensive Swiss set did not work. I have had excellent success with the Maubiel brand of pots and pans. Look for "induction ready" pans.
Customer Review: Excellent, easy, high control
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using the Viking Portable Electric Induction Cooker (15x12-in.) since October 2008. It is fantastic. There are some limits, for example, no Le Creuset will work on it, and Staub works intermittently. But all Lodge work fine (both regular cast iron, and their enameled which has a better cooking surface than the more expensive brands), as will any carbon steel. Pretty much any pan or pat that a magnet can stick to strongly will work. The high is much hotter than a normal cooktop, and the low is lower. With induction, the amount of heating changes the instant you change the power. I have more control over heating than with gas now. The traditional-style control knob is essential, I think. I would not want to be tapping little buttons in the middle of a sauté. Cleans like a charm. It sits on top of my old electric range, which I never use.Customer Review: 5 stars for "home-use" luxury.
Summary: 5 Stars
you can buy more than eight of the new GE induction cookers for the cost of the Viking.both are made in china.both are rated for home-use only.but the Viking has 500 watts more power,has an un-matched clean industrial look,and has much less fan-noise,even when maxed-out boiling more than 2 quarts of water.also,you can use cooking equipment with a 12 inch base on the Viking.the GE has a raised lip on its cooking surface,restricting the cooking base to 9 inches.each unit deserves a 5-star rating,but for differing reasons.i own and use them both.