C S P December 2012 131

Magnetic fields. Induced coils.

Ferrites.

This is not a multibil-

lion-dollar project for the Department

of Defense. It’s what gets chef types all

heated up. It’s induction cooking.

“I used it in the foodservice channel

when I was a chef at a country club,” says

Bob Derian, director of food and bever-

age innovation for RaceTrac Petroleum,

Atlanta. “It was a great way to have cooked-

to-order foods without the flame.”

“It’s really about showmanship and

exhibition cooking. That’s where it came

from,” adds Jim Bressi, director of food

research and development for Kwik Trip,

La Crosse, Wis., who also used induction

cooktops in his past life as a chef.

Induction technology creates a cooking

surface that is cool to the touch, promises

precision and consistency, and eliminates

any open flame. It’s safe, energy-efficient

and portable, and has a small footprint.

So why could we find only one c-store

retailer using it?

Jerry Weiner, vice president of food-

service for Rutter’s Farm Stores, York,

Pa., uses induction woks for sautéing

sandwich toppings and cooking stir-fries

and breakfast bowls to order.

“When I started playing with induc-

tion, I remember saying to myself, ‘Oh,

man, where was this 20 years ago?’ ”

Weiner says.

Induction allowed Rutter’s to compete

during the dinner day-part while bring-

ing an element of theater to stores. But

induction still has a serious price point,

and its relevance largely depends on the

type of program being executed. Retailers

should fully understand the technology

and its best applications before making

the induction leap.

Big in EuropeInduction technology is based on a prin-

ciple called Faraday’s law of induction: If

you induce a coil with a current, it creates

a magnetic field. If then presented with

another coil, that magnetic field will in

turn induce the current into that coil.

Still with us? Good.

In induction cooking equipment, a

copper coil sits under a glass cooktop, and

the second “coil” is actually the pot or pan,

which must be made from a magnetic

material (cast iron, steel or magnetic-

grade stainless steel). The magnetic field

excites the electrons in the pan, which

then produces heat. Because of this, all the

heat is generated from the pan, leaving the

cooktop itself cool to the touch.

The immediate benefit of induction

technology is the lack of an open flame,

making for a safer work environment and,

A Very Cool Heat

Induction cooktops deliver precision, speed, safety, showmanship—at a price

By Abbie Westra || awestra@cspnet.com

Early Adopter: Rutter’s Farm Stores uses induction woks for sautéing stir-fries and other entrées to order, as well as prepping sandwich toppings.

C S P December 2012132

in some cases, no need for ventilation or

fire-suppression systems. (See sidebar

on p. 134.) Induction cooktops also emit

nearly no ambient heat, keeping the store

or kitchen’s temperature comfortable.

This, of course, has an economic

impact as well. “With traditional (gas)

technology, at least 50% of the energy

you’re using is going to heat up your

environment. With induction, up to

95% of the energy used goes to cooking

the product,” explains Paul Hallal, senior

product manager, induction, for Mani-

towoc Foodservice, New Port Richey, Fla.

Induction also maintains a precise,

consistent heat compared to gas. It evenly

heats the cooking surface for more effi-

cient cooking while still allowing the user

control over the temperature level, from a

low warmth to a searing heat.

And it’s fast. If you’ve seen Kelly Ripa’s

Electrolux ads pitching induction cook-

tops for home use, you’ve heard her tout

their ability to boil water in 90 seconds.

Induction cooks two times faster than gas

and four times faster than electric cook-

tops, Hallal says. The cooktops are avail-

able as portable plug-and-play countertop

units or drop-in countertop inserts.

Perhaps induction’s greatest differ-

entiator is showmanship. Because of the

benefits already described, induction in

the United States has largely been used in

mobile, made-to-order applications. If

you’re at a fancy Sunday brunch having

an omelet made to order, or on a cruise

ship waiting for your crepes suzettes,

chances are the cook behind the pan is

using an induction cooktop.

While induction has been relegated to

Sunday brunches here, it’s big in Europe.

In Switzerland, where a number of induc-

tion manufacturers are based, 80% of

all equipment in commercial and home

kitchens uses induction heat, Hallal says.

In Germany, half of all foodservice equip-

ment sold uses induction.

Induction has been slow to pick up in

the United States for a few reasons. For

one, it’s less understood in the industry,

among everyone from operators to ser-

vice techs in the field. Also, gas is cheap in

North America, making the initial invest-

ment in induction harder to justify.

And it’s that initial investment that

causes many operators to pause. While

the price has come down in recent years,

an individual tabletop hub (a single

“burner”) can cost about $1,500. Larger

induction zones for multiple pans can

cost upward of $7,000.

“They are coming down in cost as

they’re becoming more prolific in use, but

they were pricey to be begin with,” says

Bressi of Kwik Trip, “so the bandwagon

wasn’t moving as fast as the manufactur-

ers would have liked.”

Weiner of Rutter’s concedes it’s a high

investment compared to traditional gas

ranges, “but the ongoing costs are literally

just the pans.”

Induction in the C-StoreFor all of its benefits, induction doesn’t

necessarily fit in every operation. If you

were working with Betsy Sallade-Farina,

president of foodservice consultancy

Tabletop Solutions and member of the

Foodservice Consultants Society Interna-

tional, she would look at your menu, your

customer, the caliber of your employees,

traffic volume and facilities.

“There are some applications that are

natural, and some that we’re going to

need to really drill down on the concept

to figure out,” such as a store open 24

hours a day, she says.

▶Menu and Customer. Induction is

ideal if you want to cook food to order in

front of the customer. While induction

heats faster than gas or electric ranges, it’s

“When I started playing with induction, I remember saying to myself, ‘Oh, man, where was this 20 years ago?’ ”

Magnetic Fields: Induction technology means all the heat is generated in the pan, leaving the cooktop cool to the touch.

C S P December 2012134

still not as fast as grab and go. Will your

customers be willing to wait a few minutes

for their meal? That said, cooking to order

means less food waste and the ability to

charge more.

And the real strength of induction is

the ability to place a cooktop in virtually

any space and start cooking. If you’re not

making food in front of the customer, the

investment may be harder to justify.

▶ Employee Caliber. Cooking on

any type of range requires more labor

than an oven, especially the automated

high-speed ovens that have taken over the

market. “Very, very high-volume opera-

tions would probably require a dedicated

cook,” says Sallade-Farina. But Weiner

contends induction ranges are even easier

than some ovens. Every item has a set

cook time, and the employee simply turns

the temperature dial to the appropriate

notch and cooks for its allotted time.

While the cooktops themselves

do require care, employees need to be

trained to take special care not to bang

the pans. If a pan is even slightly dented, it

breaks the induction, rendering it useless.

▶ Traffic Volumes. “If the traffic isn’t

there and the food can’t be turned over

every single day, the value of offering

freshly cooked food is going to be greatly

diminished,” Sallade-Farina advises.

▶ Facilities. Induction’s small foot-

print makes it easy to set up a station

virtually anywhere, but consider the other

equipment inherent in using any cooktop,

including prep areas, refrigeration and

hot-holding cabinets located close to the

cooking station for easy access, and proper

hand-and dish-washing/sanitizing sinks.

Sallade-Farina’s advice certainly relates

to the foodservice operations at Rutter’s.

Stores that have Rutter’s expanded food-

service offering each have two induction

woks, set out in the store in plain view of the

customers. The woks are used at breakfast

to make bowls—scrambled eggs with the

customer’s choice of toppings served on

a bed of hash browns—and dinnertime

entrées such as chicken teriyaki and pasta

with Alfredo sauce. The burners are also

used to sauté all the vegetables for sub

sandwiches; once cooked, they are placed in

hot-holding drawers on the sandwich line.

Because they heat up so efficiently, the

induction cooktops aren’t turned on until

an order is placed, and they’re flipped off

as soon as each order is done. It takes 3

minutes and 40 seconds to produce a stir-

fry with freshly sautéed vegetables, from

order to delivery in the customer’s hands.

Weiner opted for a concave vs. flat

cooking surface because the concave sur-

face ensures the entire wok pan fits snugly

in the bowl—promising even heating

and reducing the risk of the pan being

knocked off.

While not using induction now, Bressi

of Kwik Trip foresees using it for product

demonstrations. “We even built our food

product demonstrators little carts that

they can roll out into our store, and at

any given day they could be doing sand-

wiches or pizza slices,” he says. Induction

cooktops would be very useful for dem-

onstrating home meal replacements or

other heat-and-eat entrees, he says.

The Future of InductionDespite slow acceptance in the United

States, induction has the potential to

become more prevalent as prices drop

and the technology is used in more types

of equipment.

“I definitely think it’s going to increase

stateside,” says Sallade-Farina. She points

out that schools and hospitals embraced

induction when they brought cooking

out from the kitchen to the front lines.

“Now that people are used to the wait

time for fresh, it will grow,” she says.

A topic not even broached in this

article is the use of induction for hot

holding in both back-of-house and self-

serve applications. High-end buffets use

induction warmers that are built into

the counter for an upscale look. And

Hallal of Manitowoc sees induction

taking the place of water-based holding

units—leading to more precise holding

and shorter times for units to get up to

temperature. “I also see it being in con-

vection ovens, fryers, pasta cookers, pizza

ovens. I truly see that the future will be

induction,” Hallal says.

C-store induction trailblazer Weiner

is likewise bullish on the technology.

“Maybe not for me but for my grand-

children for sure, this is the home kitchen

of the future,” he says. “I cannot see this

not getting there. It’s just too good.” n

No Hood Required … MaybeIt depends on the municipality and the type of induction unit, but some retailers can get away with not having ventilation or a fire-suppression system with an induction cooktop—another benefit over gas burners.

But because cooking can create grease-laden air regardless of whether you have an open flame, a ventilation/fire suppression system may be required. Jerry Weiner of Rutter’s Farm Stores did need to install a hood and an Ansul fire-suppression system in his stores, but the efficiency, safety, speed and showmanship of induction still made it well worth it.

Spring USA, Naperville, Ill., has a line of induction units that are designed to limit maxi-mum vessel temperature to 525 degrees Fahrenheit—below the temperature that would ignite a fire. Once the pan reaches 525, the induction range switches to a standby mode.

“To our knowledge, no fire or health department district has required a ventilation/fire-suppression system in conjunction with the use of MAX Induction units,” says Tom Brija, president of Spring USA. Such cooktops may be useful for retailers who cannot install a ventilation system.