SMEG Portable Induction Cooker
Smeg
Portable Induction Cooktop
This is a beautiful induction burner for SMEG lovers. It fits very well into the brand’s overall design aesthetic, and its performance is top-notch. It was one of the fastest and most responsive induction burners. However, it is much larger and heavier than the others in the test, and I don’t like that you can’t control it with temperature. For me, that was a really big miss and one of the reasons it didn’t score a superlative. Being able to select a specific temperature was very important.
Hamilton Beach Portable Single Induction Cooktop
Hamilton Beach Portable Single Induction Cooktop
The Hamilton Beach Portable Single Induction Cooktop is a powerful induction burner that allows you to toggle between Fahrenheit and Celsius (something you can’t do with our top pick, the Duxtop). It only has 12 temperature settings though, and overall doesn’t have as many features as the Duxtop, but if you want to try induction cooking and don’t want to spend more than $100, this is a good option.
Isiler Portable Induction Cooktop
Isiler Portable Induction Cooktop
We liked the sleek look of the Isiler Induction Cooktop and overall, it performed well in our testing. But it only has 9 temperature settings (compared to 20 on our top pick, the Duxtop 9600LS) and after we added cold ingredients in our deep fry test, it struggled a bit to get the oil back to the target temperature.
The Duxtop 9100 MC is not to be confused with our top pick, the Duxtop 9600LS—but for the record, I absolutely confused them when I first took over reviewing induction burners. (Don’t worry, I realized the error of my ways before I published any updates!) It’s actually quite easy to confuse the two models since they look a lot alike, but this less-expensive model only has 15 temperature settings, compared to the 20 on the pricier model. This one didn’t regulate temperature quite as well either.
Nuwave Flex Precision Induction Cooktop
Nuwave Flex Precision Induction Cooktop
The Nuwave PIC Flex is the smallest induction cooktop we tested and while the size is nice for portability, the control panel felt unnecessarily complicated for something so small. It has a nice temperature range, going from 100ºF to 500ºF and you can dial into a fairly precise temperature since the 45 settings can be adjusted in 10-degree increments. However, it was one of the slowest burners to stabilize the temperature in our deep-fry test.
Induction burners we don’t recommend
The Duxtop 2-Burner Portable Induction Cooktop (9720LCBI) is the rare portable induction cooktop that is also indicated as a drop-in unit or hob—meaning you can install it in a countertop cutout in addition to setting it on top of one. I was surprised at how much I disliked this two-burner model, especially considering the fact that Duxtop’s single-burner cooktop has been our top pick for years. But there’s a lot to dislike. For starters, when you hit the “boil” button the timer defaults to just 10 minutes (annoying if you’re trying to bring a stock pot full of water to a rolling boil). The two heating elements also have different power outputs, which isn’t indicated anywhere on the unit but if you hit the boil button on the left burner, the most power it will put out is 1,000 watts—and because it will shut off after 10 minutes, your water may never reach a boil!
The Cooktron 2-Burner Portable Induction Cooktop with Cast-Iron Griddle Pan is the smallest double-burner induction cooktop I’ve tested and the included full-length cast-iron griddle pan and matching lid make it versatile portable use. It’s a good option if you want something for occasional cooking in a cabin or RV, but I wouldn’t recommend it for regular use at home. Though it’s listed as an 1800-watt unit, it’s not as powerful as my budget pick above, and it only has five temperature settings ranging from 248ºF–410ºF.
Cuisinart’s countertop appliances are a mixed bag and the Cuisinart Double Induction Cooktop (ICT-60) gets a hard pass from me. Though it’s an 1,800-watt unit, it’s nowhere near as powerful as the other single- or double-burner units I tested because neither heating element can operate at the full 1,800 watts. The left side has a range of 200W–1,200W (settings 1-8) and the right one only has a 200W–600W (settings 1-5) There’s no way to tell how those settings translate to actual temperatures. There’s not even a conversion chart in the manual.
The Hestan Cue SmartChef Induction Cooktop is a single-burner induction cooktop that was designed to work with Hestan’s smart cookware and a recently-retired companion app. While this induction burner will technically work with any induction-compatible cookware, there’s no real control panel or display (just a slider) so you can’t tell what temperature or wattage you’re setting—just where it falls on a range of lowest to highest. Given the comparably hefty price tag, this is not something we’d recommend for use with anything but Hestan’s smart cookware. And even then, it feels a little gimmicky.
I thought the NuWave induction burner would give the Duxtop a run for its money, given its similar price and slim design. However, it was damaged after just two tests, and its white writing was stained from burned frying oil and couldn’t be cleaned off. I also found it frustrating that it couldn’t regain the temperature quickly enough during our frying test. And one thing I did note with this glass burner is that lighter pans tend to move on their own due to the electromagnetic field. I also noticed this on the Duxtop, but it was less pronounced. It’s definitely a safety consideration.
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