Powerful electromagnet field for cooking - Food for Thought

July 12, 2005

Food for Thought

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By Shannon Bentley

http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/story.asp?id=2005041952

In today's fast-paced world we don't often have the time to prepare a good home-cooked meal. Well now there's some technology that could change all that.

The Induction Heat stove doesn't use gas to cook food, and it doesn't rely on radiant heat like a tradtional electric stove element. In fact, an IH stove's elements don't even get hot! Only the pots that you put on the stove do.

The IH element is a powerful electromagnet that creates a magnetic field. When a magnetic material, like a stainless steel pot, is placed inside the magnetic field, circulating currents are produced within the pot - causing it to heat up. And when the pot heats up, so does the food inside. By controlling the strength of the magnetic field, you can control the amount of heat being generated in the pot. But that means all your pots and pans have to be made of a metal that will sustain a magnetic field, like steel or iron. Materials like aluminium, copper and Pyrex do not work well on an induction stove.

And don't worry, neither does your jewellery. The stove has sensors that detect how much metal is in the area that the magnetic field occupies, and if it isn't at least as much as a small pot, the elements won't even turn on. And, while an element is actually working, all of its energy goes into the metal pot right over it - there is none left "floating around" to heat up anything else, like your wedding band.

So what's the benefit to this hi-tech cooking method? Well, first of all, you can adjust the cooking heat instantly and with great precision. It cooks just like a gas stove but without all the dangers of gas (no open flames or gas leaks). Induction heating is also the most energy efficient cooking method compared to gas and conventional radiant electric heat. Because the induction heat energy is created directly in the pot by the magnetic field, there is little waste. With gas or electrical elements, the energy is first converted to heat and then directed to the pot - with a lot of it going to waste heating up you and your kitchen instead of heating up your food.

Of course, what this all boils down to (no pun intended) is faster cooking time. We did a little test and found that 8 cups of water boiled in about 4 minutes using induction heating, but took almost 14 minutes to boil on a gas stove with both elements set to maximum power.

The microwave has also saved us lots of time. But the biggest complaint is that it dries out your food. If you've ever heated up a dinner roll in the microwave, you know that it quickly becomes as hard as a rock. Now some new microwave technology is using steam. A small removable tank can be filled with water and inserted into the side of the oven. When the steam-cooking mode is selected, the microwave forces water vapour from the tank into the cooking chamber to stop food from losing moisture. You no longer have to cover food with a loose lid or plastic wrap.

Besides keeping in the moisture, steam also keeps in more of the food's nutrition. Independent lab tests (PSB Corporation) found that more vitamin C, protein and calcium remained in leafy vegetables and fish cooked in the steam microwave, compared to those cooked in a standard microwave oven.

Some new technology in the kitchen may just add a little flavour and nutrition to your life. Bon appetite! Panasonic's Induction Heat Stove and Steam Microwave will be available in Canada in 2006. To find out more about Panasonic products visit their website:

Panasonic Canada

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