If you are a budding chef, induction cookware and stoves provide a marvelous way for you to prepare food without the hassle of traditional heating elements. A stove equipped with induction elements uses magnetic waves to heat solid metal cookware, providing safer and more exact means to cook your food. Rachael Ray® cookware is a common brand of induction cookware, but other companies are producing these types of pots and pans, and older cast iron cookware work as well.

Induction heat cookware is typically made from pure, unalloyed metals, though induction steel cookware has become more common in recent years. Rachael Ray steel cookware is one brand that uses the superior strength and lightness of steel to trump traditional cast iron cookware. When selecting this kind of cookware, make sure that it is labeled as induction compatible. Older cast iron pots and pans respond to induction, while aluminum or copper cookware typically does not. Regardless of the composition, induction cooking is superior to other traditional heating options. An induction element heats the entire pan evenly and quickly, allowing you to have greater control over how your food is cooked. Moreover, induction elements do not become hot, so when the stove is turned off there is no risk of burns or fire.

Due to their convenience and safety, induction stoves and cookware are the option of choice in upscale kitchens, though with dropping costs they are becoming very popular with chefs on a budget too. As a developing chef, you should carefully consider these technologies when designing or upgrading the kitchen equipment.

[Image courtesy of MDeWorld/ wikimedia.org]