Nuwave Pro Chef Induction Cooktop, NSF-Certified, Commercial-Grade, Portable, Powerful 1800W, Large 8” Heating Coil, 94 Temp Settings 100°F - 575°F in 5°F, Shatter-Proof Ceramic Glass Surface

I’ve been a big fan of induction cook tops for many years now. They’re efficient, save a lot of money, are easy to use and are very safe. That’s just the very basic, simple ones. This NuWave PIC Pro Chef is fully featured and simply the “Cadillac” of induction cook tops—and its price reflects its value. I believe the PIC Pro Chef is NuWave’s top-of-the-line induction cook top.For those of you who don’t know about or understand induction cooking, it’s very simple. Underneath the glass cook top, there are copper coils that create an oscillating magnetic field. The magnetic field speeds up the molecules in the cookware, heating the pot or pan, etc., cooking your food. The cook top itself does not produce any heat. Your cookware, getting hot (like rubbing your hands together quickly) is what cooks your meal. The cook top eventually gets hot because the hot pan or pot you’re cooking in transfers some of its heat to the cook top. You can imagine the efficiency of this cooking method. There are no flames to transfer most of their heat to the air, making your kitchen hot. Even with electric-coil cook tops, most of the heat is transferred to the air. With an induction cook top, all of the heat is created by the vessel you’re cooking in, so none of the heat goes to waste. Because the cook top doesn’t generate any heat, it’s VERY safe. In fact, you can cook a meal at the highest temperature with a paper towel stuck between the surface of the cooktop and the cooking vessel.You must, however, have induction-ready cookware made of, or containing, a ferrous metal such as cast iron, steel or some higher quality stainless steels. These cooking vessels are magnetic in that they attract magnets. When you shop for induction-ready cookware, take a refrigerator magnet with you to test if a cooking vessel attracts the magnet. Some cookware will say “induction ready” on an attached label, or will have the squiggly line symbol on the bottom. In reality, induction cook tops can heat any type of vessel, including glass, as long as an induction disk is placed on the cooktop. This induction disk heats up just like induction-ready cookware does, essentially becoming a “hot plate.” I do not recommend using induction disks because they reduce the efficiency of your induction cook top and lengthen cooking times (which, of course, negates some of the advantages of induction cooking).Here’s what I like: When you remove the PIC Pro Chef (PIC stands for Precision Induction Cook top) from its packaging, you’re presented with a gorgeous, sleek, rectangular, black glass appliance. Placing it next to my Nutrichef infrared cook top, which is also a gorgeous, sleek, rectangular, black glass appliance, the two complement each other and make my kitchen look very impressive (even futuristic). Of course, the PIC Pro Chef is portable and can be used outdoors, in dorm rooms, RVs, campers and any other inconvenient location. It’s amazing to see how quickly an induction cook top will boil water. I bought this new PIC Pro Chef Induction cook top to replace an older NuWave model I’ve had for many years. The older model did not have as many features as this newer model.• Multi-stage programmable cooking lets you program it to quickly heat up a dish, then have it simmer for a number of minutes, then switch automatically to a lower heat to keep it warm until you’re ready to eat.• Timer Function to start and stop cooking automatically.• Delay Function delays cooking programs until a future start time.• Lock Function to prevent unintentional button presses.• Wattage Control Button toggles watts used between 900, 1500 and 1800 watts. This allows you to use fewer watts to keep from blowing a fuse or breaker if another high-wattage appliance is running on the same electrical circuit. Or, just to lower costs.• Fahrenheit to Celsius L.E.D. readout.• Easy Start. The PIC Pro Chef is preset to start cooking automatically at medium high (375° F) for one hour when you press the Start button (just for convenience and can be cancelled any time).• Highest and Lowest. The NuWave PIC Pro Chef can achieve higher cooking temperature than any other induction cook top (575° F) on Max/Sear and the lowest warming temperature (100° F) on Low than any other induction cook top. Other induction cooktops are usually in the range of 140° F to 425° F, making the PIC Pro Chef the most versatile induction cook top on the market.• Pre-programmed cooking temperatures include: Low (100° F), Medium Low (175° F), Medium (275° F), Medium High (375° F), High (425° F) and Max/Sear (575° F).• Pressing “+” or “-” will increase or decrease temperature in 5° increments. “+” or “-” also adjusts cooking time.• Large L.E.D. display for time and temperature.What makes the NuWave PIC Pro Chef great is its precision. You can follow the most complicated recipes exactly because you can cook at temperatures in five degree increments rather than hazy, inexact temperatures like “Medium” or “High,” where you don’t know exactly what temperature you’re cooking at. This means less under or over cooking for you. In professional kitchens, every piece of cooking equipment (from deep fryers to cook tops) allow you to dial in an exact temperature. Your frying temperature, for example, can be so precise, chicken frying in a pan can have the surface of the oil as still and smooth as glass. This is why restaurants can fry food day after day without changing the oil. The oil just doesn’t get brown and dirty.The only quirk I’ve been able to find with the PIC Pro Chef, is that there is no “Off” button. There is a “Start” button, which is the equivalent of an “On” button, and a "Pause/Clear" button, but no “Off” button. To turn off the PIC Pro Chef, you must unplug the appliance. Alternatively, you might have a wall socket that can be turned on and off with a light switch. In that case, the light switch will be your “Off” button.The NuWave PIC Pro Chef is a five star product. It goes beyond my recommendation because it is the stuff of the future and of excellence. Enjoy (I know you will).

I've been using a butane camping stove in my RV, and after it was stolen I decided to try this to see if it is feasible option than having a dangerous gas stove.Before this purchase I tried a Waring Professional two-burner with a 500W small burner and a 1300W large burner. My test with it was that no matter whether I had it turned high or low on the small burner, it still used the full 500W as opposed to less wattage when it was turned down low. For comparison sake, It took 30 minutes with the small burner to get the water simmering.Alternately, this NuWave Pro induction hot plate uses less watts if you turn it down, and more watts if you turn it up. Below are some experiments that I conducted to test how much it would do with how little time or watts.Theoretically the lowest setting is 900W, and I used this lowest setting for all the experiments. Note that this is the Commercial NSF version as compared to the non-commercial home version that has the lowest setting at 500W. So the range of the 900W setting starts with 100W when it is on low (100-F); Medium-low runs at about 650W (175-F); Medium runs at about 1000W (275-F), and I did not test Medium-high, High, nor the Max/sear settings because it accomplished what I needed at these lower settings.I used two cast iron enameled pots -- one about a gallon, and the small one is about 3 cups.Test #1:Large pot, 2 cups of water, Low 900W setting, used about 1000W consumption when set at Medium/ 275 degrees F, 5 minutes. Result - water was simmering.Test #2:Large pot, 2 cups of water, Low 900W setting, used about 650W consumption when set at Medium/low 175 degrees. Result - the water was tepid, hot enough to wash face and hands with.Test #3:Same large pot of 2 cups tepid water, Low 900W setting, turned it down to custom 120 degrees F and added five more minutes. Used about 400W of power bouncing between 50W, 250W, 550W, 700W. Result - water got scalding hot -- too hot to put your hands into, but not quite simmering.Test #4:Large pot with 1 qt (4-cups) of water, Low 900W setting, Medium temp 275-F, three minutes, power consumption rate about 1050W. Result - water very hot, almost simmering, good enough for washing/ rinsing/ sanitizing dishes.Test #5:Small pot with 1-1/2 cups of water, Low 900W setting, Medium temp 275-F, three minutes, power consumption rate about 1030W. Result - water very hot, hot enough to make tea but needs to cool before drinking.///Although I love this induction cooktop, there are a few oddities worth noting as a matter of fact.- Note that on the bottom of the unit it is rated NSF (for restaurant/ commercial applications), and also even states "COMMERCIAL AND HOUSEHOLD USE" but this is contradicted in the Owner's Manual where it states on page 10, lines 6 & 7 - "This appliance is not intended for commercial use. "This appliance is for houehold use only . . ." Note that the cover of the manual is specific for this professional appliance.- The other odd thing is that I read the entire manual specifically looking to see if it could be used on a plastic picnic table or wood carving block, etc. and it is completely silent on the issue. I know that many hotplates and slow cookers get hot enough on the bottom that they cannot be used on such surfaces without some kind of stone or fireproof trivet. I was a little peeved that they did not address the issue. Then I looked again at the bottom, and it is completely plastic that would melt if heat came out of the bottom, so apparently it is safe on any surface presumably due to the electro-magnetic field directing the heat upward only. It would have been nice for them to say so.In conclusion, I am not going to purchase another butane or LP gas burner unit (well maybe for backup), but I am going to use this exclusively as the primary cooking appliance (and my microwave).My system:I have a 7KwH 24V battery and a 2000W inverter with about 400W of solar power. I use a little more power than those solar panels produce, and run a 2000W gas generator for one to two hours per day to make up the difference. I have to be conservative with my electricity usage (run my frig/ freezer two times a day for 4 hours), but this cooktop will work perfectly in my RV setup.I would suggest this unit over the non-commercial unit for everyone -- for home, RV, and pro.

I’ve always been frustrated with trying to get oil to the right temperature for frying on a conventional stove top. Even with a digital thermometer, achieving 350°F has always been hit-or-miss, requiring constant adjustments and way too much time.After seeing several YouTube cooks use the Nuwave Pro Chef Induction Cooktop, I decided to give it a try. Watching a cooking video recently, the host set his oil to 350°F with the digital control, prepped his ingredients while the oil heated, and then started cooking without any guesswork. That sold me—I ordered one immediately.Since I didn't have an oil project lined up right away, I tested it with a skillet full of water first. The cooktop has a minimum setting of 100°F, so I started there and used my ThermoPro TP19H digital meat thermometer to check the accuracy. The water reached exactly 100°F. I then tested several other temperatures, and it hit them perfectly every time.One of my biggest surprises was how effortlessly it melted chocolate at 115°F. No more tedious double-boiler setup—just set the temperature and let it do its thing!I can’t wait to put it to the real test this weekend when I make some faux (low-carb) beer-battered chicken using a recipe from Chris Cooking Nashville (ChrisCookingNashville dot c o m).If you want precise, hassle-free temperature control, this cooktop is a must-have. Highly recommended!