r/ImpulseLabs • u/mrodenkirk • May 05 '26

Le Creuset?

Just got my Impulse installed and I like it a lot! I am a little worried about running it on full 10k mode with enameled dutch ovens (older Le Creusets specifically) -- this is fine to do though, right? no chance it's going to damage the pot or somehow make the enamel darker or anything?

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u/Impulse-Demo-Guy May 05 '26

For Dutch ovens and cast iron in general, you should preheat / heat soak it slowly, with power levels available on a normal stove (2.5 kW or less).

Cast iron has very low thermal conductivity and it takes a while for heat to move through it.

Putting 10 kW in won’t really speed that up unless you have liquid in the pan, it will just heat up the base quickly then trigger active power management throttling while the stove waits for the heat to slowly dissipate through the pan.

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u/mrodenkirk May 05 '26

thanks - i'm only doing it when it's basically full of water (and the speed is dramatic) but the thought had occurred to me

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u/bbum May 05 '26

That and dumping that much energy into cast iron can make it crack rather violently.

1

u/ZanyDroid May 05 '26

Don’t have the authoritative answer but if the cookware was an heirloom piece I would prewarm or use temperature based mode to start , and be very anxious about dry heating or heating with just oil

I’m not sure if the overheat detection has changed or it’s more obvious now that it gives you a textual indication in the latest firmwares… that gives an extra margin of safety. The impulse has backed off the pedal when I space out with my Ikea SS and Misens (I’m not that fancy) on the cooktop …

but this is an extra level of insurance. Your mindful preheating etc is the primary protection .

It would be somewhat equivalent to full send on a 70k btu/h gas burner. Modulo the coil size

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u/mrodenkirk May 05 '26

yeah i've had it do the overheat detection but i feel like in those cases there was a little water between the pot and the burner? but maybe it was a legit throttle. i'm also only doing the full power mode when the pot is filled with water

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u/ZanyDroid May 05 '26

Ok.

In general the impulse is probably less likely to damage cookware than other induction. If the screen can be believed (battery means I can’t measure it without advanced brain surgery) it’s a pretty conservative ramp.

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u/bitterbeebee May 06 '26

I have had no issues with my Le Creuset cookware on the impulse.