cooking pots, skillets, etc. be made of a “ferrous”

metal such as iron, in order to be able sustain the

magnetic field. Materials like aluminum, copper, glass

and ceramic are not usable on an induction cooker.

Consequently, you could end up paying thousands of

dollars to replace your existing cookware, since

aluminum is one of the most popular metals used in

commercial cookware due to its superior heat transfer

ability and lower first costs. So from just the cookware

replacement requirements alone, you could be

sacrificing any money that might be saved in energy

costs, not to mention the potentially higher costs

associated with maintenance and repair of induction

elements.

A New Advantage for Gas…

Cooking using a gas heat source is the most basic

and simplest way to cook. However, the energ y

e fficiency in this cooking process using normal

cookware on a typical gas range is not that great,

typically transferring about 30% of the energ y

generated by the flame to the food being cooked. This

is mainly because the convection heat transfer from

the flame to the cookware is inefficient due to the hot

energy escaping over the sides of the pot. This is the

technical reason for the old saying, “a watched pot

never boils”!

Over the past several years, the speed advantages

of induction cooking have been challenged by

incorporating “heat-sink” technology into pieces of

traditional aluminum cookware. Yes, the familiar

heat-sink that is commonly usedd in the electronic

industry to absorb the heat in computers, televisions,

radios, etc. has found its way into the foodservice

industry. So this same technology that is designed to

keep microprocessors cool in a computer can be used

A Challenge to Induction Technology

Over the last decade, induction cooking

technology has been promoted as faster, safer and a

more economical way of cooking food in today’s

foodservice operations. And it has often challenged

traditional gas cooking methods as a means to

advance range top cooking techniques into the

modern age. The slow acceptance of this method,

however, has kept the natural gas “blue flame” still

as the preferred and reliable method for multiple

cooking tasks throughout today’s foodservice

environment.

The Mechanics of Induction…

The induction cooker “element” is a powerful,

high-frequency electromagnet, with the

electromagnetism generated by sophisticated

electronics in the element under the unit's ceramic

surface. When a good-sized piece of magnetic

material — such as a cast-iron skillet — is placed in

the magnetic field that the element is generating, the

field transfers energy into the metal. That transferred

energy causes the metal in the skillet to become hot.

By controlling the intensity of the electromagnetic

field, you can control the amount of heat being

generated in the skillet.

The Drawbacks of Induction…

Depending on the number of “hobs” incorporated

into an induction range, electric service to the

appliance may need to be increased. Typically, a

single hob will require 208/240 single phase power

and draw 3.5 kw and require a 14.9 amp circuit with

the number of hobs determining the overall required

power configuration.

Secondly, induction cookers require that all your

The Voice of GFEN

1 Published by COOKING FOR PROFIT Magazine/December 15, 2010 © 2010 Gas Foodservice Equipment Network

by Tom Stroozas - CFE, RCGC, CFSP

Using heat-sink technology to win the boil test.

to make cookware hot. So by incorporating a heat-

sink onto the base of a piece of cookware, the “fins”

help transfer heat from the flame to the cookware.

The energy efficiency improvement from Eneron,

the company that pioneered this innovative

“technology”, has been independently tested by the

PG&E Food Service Technology Center (FSTC). The

report states, “Where previous efforts to improve

energy efficiency have focused on the range top,

Eneron, Inc. has taken the approach of focusing on the

cooking vessel. Using the Eneron, Inc. stock pots

proved to be a remarkably effective method of

increasing range-top performance.” The full report

can be found on PG&E's FSTC website:

www.fishnick.com

The result of a comparison testing the performance

between a heat sinked Eneron Turbo Pot and a

standard pot is shown in figure 1. Here you can clearly

see that a heat sink equipped pot is almost twice as

efficient as a standard pot. And, in a heat up time test

(figure 2), the specially designed pot cuts the time

needed to boil 1.5 liters of water down from 12

minutes to 6 minutes; a 50% reduction over traditional

methods, but still using reliable and efficient gas!

and more importantly, time! Afterall, time is money,

and a great way to increase that ever important bottom

line! Let’s look at some real potential savings:

• Savings/pot 10,000 BTU/hour

• Savings month (6 hours/day) 1.8mMM

BTU/month

• Gas savings/month x $1.20/therm $22

• Annual energy savings/pot $264

So instead of investing in several thousand dollars

to replace your gas range with induction technology it

makes more “cents” to spend a few hundred dollars on

these new heat-sink equipped pots and pans and

reduce your cooking time and potentially increase

your production!

If you are interested in learning more about this

new wave of commercial cookware or how GFEN can

assist you with foodservice technology, log onto the

Gas Foodservice Equipment Network website at

www.gfen.com.

Published by COOKING FOR PROFIT Magazine/December 15, 2010 © 2010 Gas Foodservice Equipment Network 2

How You Can Benefit…

So the benefits are quite simple and you don’t

have to go out and buy both new cooking equipment

AND new cookware to increase your range top

cooking efficiency. By using your old familiar gas

range and investing in a few heat sink equipped pots

and pans, you can save significantly on energy costs,

Figure 2 8” pot tested on gas range top burner rated at

15,000 BTU heating 1.5 liters of water.

Figure 1