I concur that induction is probably a solid thing to have as at least part of a range. Only thing it limits is the type of pots you can use.
I think that ideally, I’d want a gas/induction combination.
That was my impression as well! To see stand-alone models for $99 is kinda crazy.
This was a bit “interesting” though:
Note: In order to use this and any other induction cooktop, you need to have the right kind of cookware. The “rule of thumb” to determine if your cookware is induction ready is; if a magnet sticks to the bottom of the cooking vessel, it is induction ready. Induction itself is a noiseless process; however there may be high pitched sounds from clad cookware, the base of which has multiple layers of metals sandwiched together.
I found a video…and I can’t deal. WARNING: MAKES ME WANT TO CRY.
That one is $50, not $99. I mean, they’re really cheap. It’s the Wirecutter’s pick, too, so it’s the one you want.
The main advantage of gas is it’s analog, and very easy to fine-tune the heat you’re applying. Induction is usually a digital range from 1 to 10, which is fine once you get a feel for it but somewhat less satisfying. I recently got a Vitamix blender and beyond the fact that it’s a ridiculously overbuilt blender with a lawnmower enginer inside, a lot of the pleasure of using it is the analog controls.
I would never have said electric (non-induction) over gas until my current place (which came with decent appliances). Cleaning is so much easier and cooking is maybe 10% less effective than gas. Electric has come a long way.
My new house also has electric glass top stove, and while I still prefer gas, I don’t hate the surface as much as I was expecting to.
The worst part is the number of non-flat bottom pots and pans that I have. Beyond that, I don’t have too much of an issue cooking on electric.
When electric can immediately kill hit to a surface, hit equally high temps dollar-for-dollar with gas ranges, and enables me to install a 40K BTU burner to get some wok hei going, call me ;-)
You would need a 5kw induction burner to get to 35.9k BTUs, which is higher than most people are likely to go at home. I mean, that’s a ridiculous amount of heat. Amazon does sell them.
The conversion is 1kw * 7185 = equivalent in BTUs. So the 1.8kw model I posted earlier is like a very powerful (but not silly powerful) 13k BTU burner.
But one disadvantage of induction is that the heating effect reduces logarithmically with distance, so you have to use flat-bottom pans. No traditional hemispherical woks.
Of course an 40k BTU home-burner is extremely, almost foolhardishly high for a home, most “power burners” are around 15k BTUs. You would need a special exhaust hood and heat-proof enclosure to get 40k BTUs at home from a gas source. Would be pretty expensive and getting the plans approved might be a problem too depending on your location.
Or you can spend $500 and stir-fry in a flat-bottom wok. Or $50 and “suffer” at only 13k BTUs, which isn’t a jet engine but still pretty goddamn strong. I mean my gas burners at home are 8k BTUs and they get pans hot extremely fast.
https://smile.amazon.com/Commercial-Restaurant-Electric-Induction-Stainless/dp/B018VCAGOS
To be clear, the comment is partly meant in jest, due mostly to the massive safety concerns you cite, but from what I understand, some of the particular flavor of classic stir fry dishes comes from the rapidly aerosolized compounds on and in the wok resulting from massive 20-40k BTU gas flames that are more realistic in a restaurant environment, and thus very difficult to replicate at home.
Made some flautas tonight. Stuffed with the slow-cooked spicy chicken tinga from last week (plus mixed in cheese), fried, then topped with queso fresco, Valentina, sour cream, lettuce, and pico de gallo, with a bit of guac and chips on the side. Tasty supper :)
Looks yummy. I’m still working up the courage to do stuff like flautas and chimichangas. Large amounts of hot oil make me a touch nervous. And also I worry that if I start frying things I may never stop.
Tonight I made:
Sauteed Chicken with Cherry Tomato and Roasted Corn Salsa
from America’s Test Kitchen’s Best Mexican Recipes
Basically, you take some boneless chicken breasts, season them with chili powder, salt and pepper, coat with flour, and saute them on both sides. Then you set them aside (under foil), add a bit more oil to the skillet, and spread 3 cups of corn (thawed from frozen in this case) across the skillet and let them cook for several minutes until browned. Add garlic and minced shallot, then halved cherry tomatoes (I used grape as I am still unable to find actual cherry tomatoes). Once the tomatoes are soft, you turn off the heat, add minced cilantro (my fresh had gone bad so I used dried) and lime juice (I need to get fresher lime juice), and serve.
The chicken was pretty great. The salsa was nothing special. I probably needed to a) cook the corn longer (especially from thawed), b) use fresh cilantro and c) use an actual lime instead of a year old bottle. But hey. I got there without having to go to the store again.
Those both look great. Armando, I approve of the flautas. Great use of the chicken.
And Malkav, yours looks great too. How is the Americas Test Kitchen cookbook?
For what it’s worth, you can, “fry,” in a 1/4 inch of oil quite easily. It’s actually a great way to ease into it. I’ve done fried chicken in not much more than that.
And that’s exactly what I did! Doesn’t take too much at all.
Well even the couple tablespoons I used for tonight’s meal were spattering all over - I really need to invest in a screen for this sort of thing.
Also, ATK are reliably great and I recommend pretty much any cookbook they do, with the caveat that the more you own the more likely you are to hit overlap, especially if you buy the big compilations like the TV show cookbook or the Family Cookbook or whatever. I haven’t done very much out of Best Mexican Recipes yet because Mexican cooking uses ingredients that aren’t necessarily as readily available to me, but the biggest stumbling blocks so far have been peppers, and I have found that my coop stocks poblano (the main fresh pepper I was having issues with) and Penzey’s can be relied upon for dried peppers of basically any description.
I plan to do a beef enchilada casserole out of it this weekend.
I also support mixing Indian foods into Mexican dishes. I put tamarind-date chutney on my taco just this week. :)
Actually chicken tinga’s a Mexican recipe already:
http://mexicanfoodjournal.com/chicken-tinga/
But yes, the two cuisines do combine beautifully. The similar flavor-base profiles (heavy use of onion, garlic, tomato, cilantro, tamarind, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and of course chilies) make them natural partners. I’ve always kinda felt like Chipotle’s cilantro-lime rice has more in common with a lentil-less Indian lemon rice than anything, anyway. . .
Oof, there I go assuming things again. My bad!
Thanks for the correction.
I’m not a big fan of mexican fusion food. Korean-mexican had a brief popularity surge. Sucks. Brief surge of indian-mexican which also didn’t work for me. Chinese-mexican isn’t so much a fusion as Chinese people running cheap Mexican restaurants with “tortilla” in the name but they’re also terrible.
Only mexican fusions I enjoy are tex-mex and filipino-mex. Garlic rice and lechon burritos, that works.
Chinese-indian is a real thing though and it is delicious. Cauliflower manchurian is the bomb, yo.
Bulgogi tacos with cilantro-lime crema, spicy slaw, and cilantro say awwwww hellllll nah to that, son.
Admittedly it’s just about the only Korean-Mexican fusion thing I bother with, but bulgogi tacos are bulgogi as god intended it to be served.
It’s OK, but that bulgogi would be 1000x better replaced with al pastor.
Which is actually originally arab-mex, come to think of it.
I’ve really gotta get my gf more into pork (she’s getting there, but it’s been a process), because that would open a ton of options for us culinarily at home.