Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I received the All-Clad induction burner from Williams-Sonoma.com a few days ago. I was delighted to finally experience the induction cooking. The unit is very attractive in design and finish. It is substantial but it is easy to move around. It has a well lit display, actual buttons to push and a dial to turn to select menus, manual modes and set the timer. The variety of controls is excellent. There are three choices! One is preset. You select a cooking program by pushing the "MENU" button from Melt to Sear, the total of 7 (seven) choices. There are two manual modes. One is description mode from EX LOW to HIGH (6 settings). The second manual mode gives a range from 1 to 10.
I used manual mode 1 in EX LOW to cook rice in a 2.5-qt LeCreuset pot. First, I boiled liquid (chicken broth) using "MENU" option "BOIL", and then I switched to EX-LOW using the manual mode. The switch to manual mode was instant. There was nothing to turn off, just to press on the "MODE" button. On EX LOW, the liquid boiled just barely but continuously. There was no ON-OFF cycling. Tiny bubbles from the entire bottom surface of the pot were reaching the surface without breaking at the surface. I added rice and set the timer. After 20 min the unit shut itself off. The rice cooked evenly from the bottom to the top.
I also seared sardines (outside on the deck) in a non-stick Circulon skillet with perfect results. The skillet was 11" in diameter and the sardines cooked uniformly over the entire surface of the skillet. There was no hot spot in the center.
I also used 12" All-Clad Copper-core skillet to cook 2 large red onions and 2 red bell peppers. The vegetables got cooked much faster and browned nicely. I just had to keep turning them over. From my previous experience cooking these many onions and peppers at once in the same skillet on a Gaggenau electric cooktop in the kitchen resulted in a soggy onion-pepper mixture. I think that induction and little air movement outside helped to keep the moisture level low. That is how the onions and peppers browned so well.
Of course, nothing is perfect. The induction burner is not silent. The noise is produced by a fan inside the unit. The noise was somewhat intrusive and annoying. The noise was not mentioned in the description of this appliance. Even though I really enjoyed the cooking on All-Clad induction burner, the noise issue may become too irritating for me to keep using this appliance.
3 months later:
I've discovered that when I used high temp settings--fry or sear (MENU) and medium-high and high (MODE)--the red light inside the button (depending on selection) would start blinking and the unit would stop heating a skillet after about 10 min. I fried slices of eggplant for moussaka using LeCreuset 12" fry pan. The unit didn't shut off and error message didn't appear. However, there was no cooking for about 1 or 2 min. The heating would resume for 1-2 min and then it would stop. When I subsequently cooked the meat sauce on medium, the unit worked normally. I cooked outside in the shade.
I called All-Clad and found out that their personnel isn't educated about this appliance. After countless calls no one would tell me why the unit was doing it. I replaced the first unit with a new. The new unit does the same. I suspect that this is a design flaw. The high temp settings could only be used for very short periods. The unit worked long enough to sear steaks before placing them in the oven.
Click Here to see more reviews about: All-Clad Stainless Steel Electric Induction Burner
Bring your favorite cooking surface with you, without the need for fuel, with All-Clad's electric induction burner. Using an attractive stainless steel body and a black ceramic glass cooking surface, the burner is durable and looks great wherever you may use it. The temperature ranges from low to high on a 1-10 setting scale, and specific cooking functions can be specified through the menu options. In addition, a timer and residual heat indicator help you to cook for just the right amount of time, and store the unit safely after use.
Producing some of the finest cookware in the nation, All-Clad has been featured in many high class and gourmet restaurants for its superior performance and aesthetically designed pieces crafted from American artists using the finest metals. A firm believer in quality over convenience, All-Clad's metals are formulated and bonded with cooking performance in mind, and are combined with stunning designs to provide you with the best cooking experience possible.
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