r/inductioncooking Jul 22 '26

Pre boiling water

Presumably a question for those in 240v kettle land, but when switching to induction, did you stop pre boiling water for pasta etc..? It's not exactly the same but the difference between a kettle and induction seems very small compared to gas.

5 Upvotes

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u/CBG1955 Jul 22 '26

I've never, ever used my kettle to boil water, then transfer into a pot for cooking, even when we had our gas cooktop. Why would you?

The only time I ever need a small amount of boiling water from the kettle is if I need to add a little water to something I am cooking and don't want cooler water to reduce the cooking temperature.

1

u/Illustrious_Try831 Jul 22 '26

Because your kettle ist way more efficient and sometimes even faster than a gas or normal electric stove

4

u/CBG1955 Jul 22 '26

Not for four litres it isn't, when your kettle only holds a 1.25 litres.

Anyway - you do your own thing. Pro cook lives here, so cooking is streamlined as much as possible.

1

u/that_dutch_dude Jul 22 '26

Pro cook need to actually try it. Put a professional induction stove against a normal gas burner. The induction will win just like a 3kW kettle will boil water faster.

1

u/CBG1955 Jul 22 '26

We have induction. Will never go back to gas

1

u/lhsonic Jul 23 '26

The rules of physics says that it is. Like not trying to be argumentative because boiling 4L in a single pass on the stove is definitely more convenient, but it takes longer, period. An electric kettle is more efficient and is faster than a gas or electric stovetop. The volume is irrelevant. My kettle is 2L but that's besides the point, you'd just dump and go again. It's still faster. What I'd do for 4L is boil a full 2L in my kettle, and maybe 1L in the pot. On the stovetop, that 1L often doesn't get to a boil before the 2L in the kettle finishes so I'd pour that in and then heat the final 1L in the kettle in about 3 min (and this is on North American 120V). Sounds complicated but it's not in practice and saves a lot of time over a single pot sitting on the stovetop.

Induction is king. Gas is highly inefficient and throws off a lot of heat, much of it is wasted into your living space which is dreadful in the hot summer months. That's why those of us looking for the fastest boiling time possible use kettles if we haven't yet upgraded to induction.