Electric Stove - Variants

Variants

The first technology used resistive heating coils which heated iron hotplates, on top of which the pots were placed. This was subsequently developed into a spiral hollow steel tube that had a heating element running through the middle. The tube was wound in a spiral underneath the pan. Unlike the earlier iron hotplate the steel spiral was heated to red heat imparting more heat the pan than the hotplate could.

In the 1970s, glass-ceramic cooktops started to appear. Glass-ceramic has very low thermal conductivity, a coefficient of thermal expansion of practically zero, but lets infrared radiation pass very well. Electrical heating coils or infrared halogen lamps are used as heating elements. Because of its physical characteristics, the cooktop heats more quickly, less afterheat remains, and only the plate heats up while the adjacent surface remains cool. Also, these cooktops have a smooth surface and are thus easier to clean, but are markedly more expensive.

A third technology—developed first for professional kitchens, but today also entering the domestic market—is induction cooking. This process has hitherto only heated ferromagnetic cookware directly through electromagnetic induction. Recent developments have enabled non ferrous cookware to work as well, but not as efficiently as ferrous. Induction stoves also have a smooth glass-ceramic surface.