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Jennifer has a decade-plus of experience testing the best products on the market, leading her neighbors to ask if she ever stops vacuuming.
An excellent portable unit by a top brand in kitchen products.
An excellent portable unit by a top brand in kitchen products.
Dual burners, automatic shutoff, and built-in timer. Good enough to be a solid backup for a large stove top or provide additional burners.
Expensive, 8 heat settings on one burner, 5 on the other; not as much variation as competing units.
A popular unit with useful features and an inexpensive price.
A popular unit with useful features and an inexpensive price.
Affordably-priced, yet offers useful features, including 10 temperature settings, a built-in timer, and a compact design that's easy to transport. Easy to use and clean.
Somewhat noisy, and may produce an annoying high-pitched sound on high settings. Heats some pans unevenly.
Made by a top name in induction burners, this Duxtop model offers premium features and a solid build.
Made by a top name in induction burners, this Duxtop model offers premium features and a solid build.
Heats fast and has a quick-boil setting that produces results in minutes. The temperature display is large and bright. Accommodates heavy pots. Boasts a 10-hour timer.
Pricey. Not compatible with all induction cookware. Preset temperatures can be frustrating if you need a specific setting.
You'll get lots of features and capabilities with this cooktop, which might surprise you considering the low price.
You'll get lots of features and capabilities with this cooktop, which might surprise you considering the low price.
Highly compact and easy to store and transport. Heats, cooks, and boils fast. Option of 10 heat levels or exact temperatures, plus a versatile timer. Affordable.
Occasional temperature inaccuracies noted. Noisy. Doesn't feel as durable as some competitors.
A portable cooktop from Nuwave with a durable build and intuitive digital controls.
A portable cooktop from Nuwave with a durable build and intuitive digital controls.
It offers 6 convenient preset temperatures and an auto-off function that activates once the cooking time is up. Users can also select a precise heating temperature from 100 to 575.
It heats slower than other Nuwave burners.
We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that's designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections.
When it comes to home cooktops, induction burners are becoming more and more popular, and for good reason. They allow you to cook more quickly, make clean up a breeze, and don’t use as much energy as other cooktops. What’s not to like?
The only real drawback to an induction stove is its high price tag — which is why freestanding induction burners are an ideal alternative. This type of burner is a countertop appliance that provides the same results as an induction stove at a more budget-friendly price point. It's an especially handy appliance for the holidays, or other special occasions when you’re cooking for large groups, and you need to increase your kitchen’s cooking capacity.
To get the most out of your induction burners, you have to choose the right model — which means knowing what size, temperature settings, and other features to look for to ensure that it’s the best fit for your cooking needs.
Induction burners use an electromagnetic field to heat pans up quickly, while the rest of the cooking surface remains cool.
Because of the electromagnetic field, only pots and pans that are made of ferrous metals (like cast iron or steel) can be used with it. You can test whether specific cookware will work on the burners with a magnet — if the magnet sticks to the pan, you can use it with the induction burners.
With a freestanding induction burner, you can increase the cooking surface in your kitchen to make it easier to prepare meals for larger groups, without having to replace your entire stove.
Induction burners heat up more quickly than other types of cooktops, so you can cook your meals more quickly.
While the burner heats up quickly, the rest of the induction cooking surface stays cool, so you’re less likely to burn yourself.
Induction burners use less energy than other types of burners because the rest of the cooking surface doesn’t heat up.
Because only the burners get hot, induction burners are less likely to heat up your kitchen while you’re cooking.
It’s usually easier to clean induction burners since the area surrounding the burners stays cool, preventing spills and messes from cooking onto the surface.
Most tabletop induction cooktops feature a single burner. However, you can find some larger models that include two burners.
A single-burner style obviously takes up less countertop space, but a two-burner style provides more cooking space. Take the size of your kitchen and the group that you usually cook for into account when choosing the right number of burners for your needs.
An induction burner’s power is measured in watts. For the most effective portable induction cooktop, opt for one with at least 1,200 to 1,800 watts.
If you leave your induction burner in your kitchen, the appliance weight doesn’t really matter. However, if you plan to travel with a set of burners, you’ll want to choose a lightweight design, so it’s highly portable. Look for a model between five and seven pounds if you plan to take it camping or on other road trips.
For the most control over your cooking, it helps to choose an induction burner with a variety of temperature settings. Some models offer as few as five temperature settings, while others offer as many as fifty. The more settings that the burners have, the more precisely you’ll be able to adjust the temperature.
For example, a model with fifty settings may allow you to adjust the temperature in 10-degree increments, while those with fewer temperature settings may only allow you to adjust in 50- or 100-degree increments.
When you’re cooking on induction burners, it helps to have a built-in timer, so you know exactly how long to cook your food. Some models have timers that allow you to make one-minute adjustments, which allows for the most precision. Others may only allow you to adjust the timer in five-minute increments.
It’s also important to consider the maximum limit for the timer — some burners may have a limit as high as 10 hours, while others only allow for 60 minutes or less.
For safety reasons, it’s best to choose induction burners that have an automatic shut-off feature. In most cases, the appliance will automatically turn itself off if it doesn’t detect a pan on its cooking surface for a fixed period of time, such as 30 seconds. That means you don’t have to worry about a fire breaking out if you forget to turn off the burner after you’ve removed your food.
Most induction burners feature touchpad controls that make it extremely easy to turn on and operate the cooktop. It’s also important to choose a model with a clear digital display, which allows you to see the precise temperature that the burner is set to. You’ll also be able to keep track of the timer function with the digital display.
Some induction burners have settings to make using the appliance even easier. For example, you can find models with a Fast Boil setting or a Keep Warm button, which takes all of the guesswork out of preparing your recipes.
If you have small children at home, you may want a model with a safety lock system as well. When the lock is activated, the burners can’t be turned on, so you don’t have to worry about little hands burning themselves.
Induction burners vary in price based on their size, power, and the number of burners, but you can typically expect to pay between $50 and $270.
For a single induction burner, you’ll usually pay between $50 and $120.
For a double induction burner, you’ll usually pay $120 and $270.
Make sure that the bottom of your pots and pans are clean before placing them on the induction burners. Debris on the bottom of cookware can affect your cooking results.
Keep your pots and pans centered on the induction burners, or your food may not cook evenly.
Avoid using cookware with warped bottoms on induction burners. Pots and pans must be in full contact with burners for proper performance.
Don’t keep magnetically charged items, like credit cards, near your induction burners, or they may affect your cooking results.
To prevent damage to the cooktop surface, don’t rest items on your induction burners when they’re not in use.
A. Induction burners are actually one of the safer freestanding cooktop options. That’s because only the burners get hot, while the rest of the cooktop surface stays cool. As a result, you’re less likely to burn yourself or allow other items like kitchen towels to ignite.
A. You shouldn’t use glass, ceramic, copper, or aluminum pots and pans on induction burners, because they’re not magnetic. Cast iron, stainless steel, and enameled iron and steel all work well with induction burners.
A. Unplug the burners and make sure they’re completely cool before cleaning. Wipe away any wet spills with a damp sponge. For cooked-on messes, dab a small amount of ceramic cooktop cleaner on the spots. Use a paper towel to rub the cleaner in, and spread it evenly across the entire surface. Let the cleaner sit on the burners for a few minutes before wiping it away with a clean, dry cloth.
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