When I decided to buy an induction cooktop I was confused by the various types available in the market. To add to the confusion were incompetent salespersons who had no idea what they were selling.
So lets start with the very basic specification for induction cooktops:
Power wattage: this ranges from 800 to 2800 Watts or higher. Does higher mean better?. Absolutely not for most home cooking even an 800 Watt ould do. this parameter indicates the capacity to heat or transfer power through induction to the vessel being used for cooking. A higher rating would mean that a bigger vessel would heat faster. Given the fact that induction is a very efficient way of cooking this hardly matters unless cooking large quantities in big vessels.
Type of control panel: two types are available 1) membrane 2) touch panel.
The membrane technology were old type and though just as effective is susceptible to cuts and oil impregnation over time. the glass is indestructible and easy to clean. go for glass touch panel. One more drawback is that if a hot vessel touches the keypad it will melt and get damaged.
Anti slip ring. Not many have this feature . it helps as vessels tend to slip when you are using a spoon or ladle hard in the vessel.
preset and power controls: Presets help to cook or perform the common tasks effectively, some are milk, roti, rice and so on. this does not mean that those without these menus are not good, it only takes a little manual reference to figure it out.
A new feature in prestige cooktops is a "whistle counter". this is an interesting feature and very useful a many Indians like to cook food for certain number of whistles in a pressure cooker.
Once you buy it you would thing you need all new vessels, well that’s true to some extent. If you have good steel vessels you can simply use those too. Any vessel made with a high electric resistance and of metal can be used. So all iron and steel vessels can be used though with a little less transfer efficiency then induction base vessels. Another thing to note is that any vessel you plan to use on an induction cooktop needs a flat base. wipe vessel base with a wet cloth before use to prevent dust particles from scratching cooktop glass.
Enamel vessels like flora also work fine.
Aluminum cannot be used as its a good conductor and will not heat up.
Caution: do not dry heat vessels as they can get hot in seconds.
Please be cautious while using "non induction" vessels described above as they get red hot if dry heated.
do not switch off power to the cook top till the cooling fan stops on its own.
I got a pigeon cooktop with2100 watt power and a glass touch panel and its working finr for over a year now.