The best induction cooker in UAE is something you should be on the prowl for. Homes over the years have reduced gas connection and have switched over to electric cooking ranges for a number of reasons. While a cooking range can help you prepare meals effortlessly it does come with a couple of limitations. The best induction cooker allows you to cook food without being confined to one area. The small kitchen appliance can be easily transported and is extremely handy if you enjoy travelling/camping or live in a hostel or places with limited kitchen access.
Related: Best Induction Cooker in Saudi Arabia
Induction cookers are a lot safer than conventional stoves as there is no flame or risk of getting burned. The appliance transfers the heat to the utensil in which your food cooks. Well, this is an oversimplified understanding of it.
| Induction Cooker | Power | Burners | Check Price |
| Prestige Smart Cook PR50352 | 1800 Watts | 1 Burner | Price on Amazon.ae |
How does an induction cooker work?
Electrical induction heats a cooking vessel with the help of heat from an electric heating element. The vessel must be built using a ferromagnetic metal such as cast iron and stainless steel. You see, an induction cooker underneath the ceramic plate conceals a coil of copper wire. When a cooking utensil is placed on top, an alternating electric current is passed through it. This changes the magnetic field and gives an electrical current known as the eddy current. These are loops of electrical current in the conducting material constantly changing from positive to negative.
When it comes to choosing a vessel to cook in, copper and aluminium pans simply won’t do the trick, unless they have a layer at the bottom that makes them magnetic. Induction cookers are clearly smaller than gas ranges that have multiple cooking stations. What do they offer that makes them worth the purchase? This question brings me to the next section.
Pros and cons of an induction cooker
Weighing out the pros and cons of even the best induction cooker in UAE helps you decide whether it is the right appliance for you. This alone can help you understand whether you require an induction cooker or not.
Pros
- Faster: Induction cookers are known to have shorter cooking time. In fact, if you set water to boil it would take 50% less time to boil on induction than on an electric cooking surface.
- Precise: Due to the flat surface of the utensil and appliance the current runs right through. Improving longevity and ensuring every part of your meal is cooked evenly.
- Safer: The surface of the induction plate is only heated from contact with the vessel. This reduces the chances of burns significantly.
- Energy-efficient: Induction hobs transfer about 84% of energy due to their magnetic fields while gas transfers about 74%.
- Easy to clean: Induction cookers are small and compact. They are simple to clean and do not require you to deal with tough stains that accompany gas ranges. They also are easy to maintain and are easily moveable, so you can clean underneath with ease.
Cons
- Needs special cookware: You need ferromagnetic utensils in order to cook as it uses magnetic fields to operate. This means you may need to invest in a separate set of utensils. Not to mention induction cookers are not the cheapest. The setup is likely to cost you a little more than an electric or gas stove.
- Flat bottom cookware: Since the base is flat and heat is generated from the coil, even ferromagnetic utensils that do not have flat surfaces do not work too well. There is a chance that they may slip or have food cooked unevenly.
- No area to protect spillage: Unlike other hobs, on an induction cooker it’s easy to mess up your kitchen floor or countertop. If you over boil or overcook food then the spilt amount runs straight down as there is no place for it to go.
Now that you have a clearer picture of what you’re signing up for when you buy the best induction cooker in UAE, take a look at the top pick.
Prestige Smart Cook
- Watts: The cooker comes with 1800W of power used to prepare a variety of dishes.
- Weight: It weighs only 2.8kg which is rather light making it easy to move about. You can have it in your kitchen one moment and then in the car heading to a cookout at the next.
- Burners: The appliance comes with a single burner.
- Child Safety: Yes the appliance has an auto shut down feature when a cooking pot is not detected. Even though food should never be left unattended while cooking it has a timer feature that you can use if you have mini errands to run. It comes with a lock feature so that even if your child gets their hands on it, they cant injure themselves.
- Touch Control: The touch control panel has four buttons neatly spaced out. It is in a sleek black colour that is both functional and pleasant to look at. The display helps you see your current settings with the temperature adjustment buttons on either side.
- Price: You can add this Prestige Smart Cook Induction Cooktop to your kitchen for an estimated cost of AED 190.
Choosing the right induction cooker
If you think investing in an induction cooker is worth it then we are on the same page. However, making a choice shouldn’t be impulsive. Despite going through the rankings above there are a few questions you need to ask yourself before taking the plunge.
Size
Smallest induction cookers begin from a size of 30cm. This can hold a maximum of two cooking zones. On the other end of the spectrum, the largest induction cooker reaches up to 90cm. As you can imagine, it is common to find ones in the middle at 60cm while offering you two cooking zones.
If you intend on replacing an old cooktop with the best induction cooker in UAE, be sure to measure the available space in your kitchen. If you are living in a shared apartment or hostel room, I would recommend one of a smaller size that you can keep in your room.
Touch controls
Instead of knobs, induction cookers have touch control. Undoubtedly they too contribute to a more futuristic look but their presence goes well beyond aesthetics. With a portable piece of equipment, knobs could get easily damaged rendering your appliance useless. Touch the glass to change temperatures and select a cooking mode with just one finger. As a bonus, they are much simpler to clean and blend well with your kitchen.
Auto-switch off
One of the most appealing features is the auto-switch off function. Based on the mode you select, the appliance shuts itself down if it detects the utensil has spilt over or run dry. Keep your eye open as the best induction cooker in UAE is one that has an auto-switch off feature when it detects that the utensil is not resting on the cooker surface. This really boosts safety and avoids accidental damage.
Pan detection
A default feature in most induction cookers. Pan detection allows the appliance to identify the size and shape of the utensil placed upon it. This heavily contributes to the energy efficiency measure claimed.
Timer
The feature is reserved mainly for advanced models. The timer function allows you to program the best induction cooker in UAE to switch off / reduce the temperature at a specified time. This gives you room to focus on other items that you wish to prepare.
Child lock
Certain modes come fitted with a child lock. This is an added safety feature but at no point should your utensil or child be left unsupervised near the induction cooker.
Induction Cooker FAQs
An induction cooker contains a coil of copper wire under the ceramic plate. When a ferromagnetic utensil is placed on top, an alternating electric current is passed through it.
An induction cooker cannot cook food in just about any utensil. Glass, copper or aluminium pans simply don’t work. You need a ferromagnetic utensil in order to cook food. This means pots and pans made out of cast iron and stainless steel. If you intend on sticking to aluminium and copper then ensure you coat them with a layer to make them magnetic. You can search for induction-compatible cookware.
Since the surface of an induction cooker doesn’t get hot, people can touch it without getting burned. In addition, it also means that if you spill sauce or other liquids onto the cooking surface, it won’t burn, making cleaning easier.
There are two parts to this question. Induction cookers are far more efficient at energy consumption than both gas and electric cooktops. They cook food faster and lose less heat in the process. However, they do come with an increased price tag. Yet with off-late price has become less of an obstacle with multiple offers and financing options.
To boil 5 gallons of water, a 12,000-BTU gas burner takes roughly 36 minutes. Now an 1800-Watt induction cooker can do that in a mere 22 minutes.
You can add pieces of equipment such as drop-in units that are installed directly into the cooker or slide-in units.
Gas-free Cooking
A bonus you eliminate the daily exposure to flames and its byproducts that can affect the health of an individual over the years. Carbon monoxide does not pollute your home when you adopt induction cooking. The best induction cooker in UAE isn’t one with a single burner or 2 burners. It also isn’t one that weighs less when compared to another. The best induction cooker in UAE is simply one that fits your exact cooking needs. If you are someone who is always mobile then choose a smaller cooker that is easy to carry around.
If most of your meal prep happens in a single location then you can go for a larger and heavier appliance since it won’t be moved about enough. Be sure to invest in induction-compatible cookware if you’ve decided to buy an induction cooker. Undoubtedly you shall save a lot of time and energy once you bring home the best induction cooker in UAE. Before we wind up, we would also like to show you some of the best electric pressure cookers since they offer uniform distribution of heat. Spend less time cooking and more time with your family.
