NuWave Precision Induction Cooktop 1300 Watts

Very impressed. This is my first induction cooktop, and I bought it mainly because I don't want to heat up my kitchen during our hot Texas summer. What I like most though is the fine control this unit has over temperature. It has five settings ranging from 100 to 475 degrees F, but the + and - buttons allow adjustments ten degrees at a time over the whole heat range. From my measurements and observation, it's very accurate. I have boudin sausage simmering in a steel pan right now, and I don't have to worry about it boiling and bursting the skins, like often happens otherwise. I'll be using this unit often. It really heats up quickly. I put a few tablespoons of water in a steel pan just to see how long it would take to heat up, and the water was boiling in less than a minute. My Fagor pressure cooker is magnetic on the bottom, so it works well. I defrosted a package of Italian sausage by immersing it in water in this cooker and setting the temp to 100F. I stuck a thermometer in the water, and it registered 99-101 every time I checked. Perfect. Update: Still more than satisfied, but some notes: The heating element is about six inches in diameter and about a half inch thick. This can be confirmed by putting a thin steel pan on the unit and watching where the water bubbles first. Because of this, heating was uneven when I used stamped steel pans. With a round-bottom wok it's not good at all. A flat-bottomed wok would be different, but it still would not heat the sides. (update 11/11/2015) Amazingly, a round-bottom wok works just fine. The heated area is pretty small, but it stir fries well. My best use has been with a cast iron frying pan, and a Fagor pressure cooker. Both have enough mass to distribute the heat generated by the narrow ring. One more nit. The best feature of this cooker is the fine control of temperatures, over other induction cookers, ten degrees F at a time. But, 210F (actually higher than 212) is too high for a low simmer, and 200 is too low. If I had my wish, there would be a finer control over this critical range of temps controlling simmering. Update: The induction coil is about six inches in diameter, and a bit over a half inch thick. You can see this by watching the water come to a boil in a thin steel pan. I've had mixed results with pans that don't distribute heat well. I tried using a wok with a round bottom, and it didn't work well at all. Most woks come with a flat bottom, and these probably will work better, but the whole idea of wok cooking is to rapidly heat a large surface area. This won't do it. My best results have been with a Fagor pressure cooker for steaming and boiling, and a cast iron skillet for searing and braising. The cast iron does the job of heat distribution that thinner steel pans can't do. Okay, it's not perfect for all cooking. But it works very well within its limitations. My only wish is that it had finer control over the 200-210 heating range. 210 should be below boiling, but this temp setting will boil vigorously. 200 won't even simmer. I wish there were settings in between this range to finely control this critical temp range. Yet another Update: I find the temp control to be spotty with some pans. The three-quart Nuwave sauce pan that I bought separately works best. With a Lodge steel pan (not cast iron) for making toasted cheese sandwiches (for example) I just put it on "sear" and cycle it manually with the Pause and Start buttons. It seems to work best that way for things that don't take long to cook. Also, I have one pan that's weakly magnetic and the cooktop doesn't even recognize it. If testing pans with a magnet, make sure it's strongly attractive.

The box includes the cooktop, quick start guide, owner's manual & cookbook book, instructional DVD and a 9" Duralon ceramic frying pan. It appears to be of good quality. The control are easy to use. The feature that may prove the most useful is the ability to accurately control the temperature with the digital readout. The claims of boiling water quickly are exaggerated. I used a measured amount (3 cups) of cold tap water in the same induction rated pan and brought it to a rolling boil on both an electric range and on the Nuwave2 PIC. It took 6 minutes 30 seconds on the electric range on High It took 4 minutes 50 seconds on the Nuwave2 PIC on High (425°) It took 4 minutes 24 seconds on the Nuwave2 PIC on Max/Sear (575°) The Nuwave2 PIC has a warning on it's top surface "COOKING SURFACE CAN REMAIN HOT EVEN AFTER COOKING" One thing that I forgot to consider was where I was going to place it when using it. It won't fit on the top of my electric range where it would be under the vent hood. If placed anywhere else in the kitchen any smoke or grease would not vent properly. Update: I love this cooktop. I just increased my rating from 4 to 5 stars. When I make hard boiled eggs I start heating the water on Max/Sear and when it comes to a rolling boil I reduce the temp setting to Med (275°) and it maintains a rolling boil. If I use the minus botton to reduce the temp to 270° it immediately comes off the rolling boil. Uping the temp back to 275° it immediately comes back to the rolling boil. Fantastic temperature control.

I read so many reviews before buying the Nuwave PIC 2. I ultimately bought it because of two reasons... I wanted to be able to control temps down to 100F and I wanted to have control of the temperature in no more than 10 degree F increments. The PIC 2 was the only product I found that met those requirements. Products that cost 3x as much didn't meet my requirements. I wasn't willing to pay $600 for an induction cooker. I'm so glad I didn't. The PIC 2 does everything well. When I got my NuWave I used an IR temperature gun to see how well it controlled temperature and how well it maintained an even temperature across the pan. I was pleasantly surprised that it kept the food within 30F of the setpoint over a range of foods and across the pan. Without using a feedback sensor inside the food itself it would be impossible for any device to hold temperatures any closer than that. The heat across the 10" pan didn't vary more than 10F. That debunks the claims by some reviewers that the 8" coil will cause uneven heating. If you want better than a 30F accuracy then you could measure the temperature of your recipe at a given temperature setting then just adjust the setting until it holds at the temperature you want. The PIC 2 held temps very steady once an equilibrium temperature was reached. The PCI 2 is VERY efficient. Boiling water is much faster than using an electric cooktop. I'm an product design engineer and I'm pretty picky about any product I use but, so far, I haven't found anything that wasn't done well with this design. I love it and I use it every day. I liked it so much I bought a NuWave Elite IR oven which I also like very much. If you are fretting over which induction cooker to buy I would encourage you to buy the PIC 2. I don't know how it could be improved upon unless they add a feature to control food temperature with an external probe. That may not be possible since the induction process would heat any metallic thermometer used for feedback. The PIC 2 is a great product. Tony

Good not making noise but time frame for boiling I am not impress