I love induction cooking, and although I’m not yet in the market to upgrade my gas range quite yet, when I do, I’m going to be making the switch to an induction cooktop.
I used an induction cooktop for the first time at Smeg’s test kitchen earlier this year, but it wasn’t until I tried and tested a portable induction cooktop in my own home that I was truly converted. Although I love the flexibility of a gas range, plenty of features on the induction cooktop won me over.
And although I can talk about the benefit of induction cooking all day, one particular bonus stands above all else. If you’re a chocolate fan (and to be honest, who isn’t), you’re going to love it as much as I do.
Chocoholics rejoice
Using an induction cooktop makes melting chocolate a cinch. Forget about using the bain-marie method to avoid the chocolate burning on the bottom of a pan. With an induction cooktop, you can pop the delicious treat straight on the heat.
If you’re not familiar with the term bain-marie, you’ve probably heard it referred to as a water bath. It involves filling a saucepan with hot water, before placing a heat-proof bowl over the top. You'll then need to place the chocolate you want to melt into the bowl. From here, turn on the heat and keep the temperature at a steady heat.
The problem is, when I use gas it doesn’t take much for the water to boil over, making a mess on my cooktop and sometimes spilling over into the chocolate mixture. And I really don’t like wasting chocolate and having to start over. I also find the bowl can be tricky to remove, and the whole process gets messy and overly complicated.
Luckily, you don’t get this issue when melting chocolate on an induction cooktop. No water boiling over, mess to clear up, or burnt fingers to contend with.
Why it’s easy to melt chocolate using induction heat
If you place chocolate straight into a pan over gas or electric, it’s much harder to control the heat. So, if you take your eyes off the ball, you quickly end up with a burnt mess. Apart from wasting a luxurious ingredient, you’ll have the nasty task of cleaning up a messy pan.
However, with induction cooking, the heat is much more precise. This means you can set the temperature low enough to melt the chocolate without it resulting in a burnt or scorched mess.
Plenty of YouTube videos explain how to melt chocolate on an induction cooktop, including this guide by chef Bridget Davis, who explains how the low-intensity heat melts the chocolate without burning or drying it out.
You'll need the correct tools for induction cooking
While it’s easy to melt chocolate on an induction cooktop, you’ll only be able to do it using an induction-compatible pan. This is because induction heat is passed through electromagnetic energy, so it will only work with magnetic cookware.
So, if you have cast iron, enameled steel, stainless steel, or carbon steel pans, you’ll be just fine. However, you’ll be out of luck using aluminium, copper, glass, or ceramic pans.
Next up
I’ve currently got my hands on Ikea’s Tillreda portable induction cooktop. I’ll be putting it through its paces over the next few weeks and will be reporting back on how it performs.
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