Community Forums

JewelMcD · 04-09-2013, 07:44 AM

So we have a new rv with the induction cooktop. It has settings that go from 1-10 with 10 being the highest heat. If you put one burner on 7 then the other burner will only go up to 3. You can't put both burners on high heat such as 10 and 10. Is that normal or is there something wrong with mine?

FlyingDiver · 04-09-2013, 08:24 AM

You don't say what model you have, but I expect that's normal for that model. This limits the total draw on the circuit, while still allowing a very high output on one burner when you need it.

JewelMcD · 04-09-2013, 08:26 AM

I believe all the appliances on our coach are Whirlpool including the induction cooktop. Our coach is a 2013 Winnebago Tour.

FlyingDiver · 04-09-2013, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JewelMcD

I believe all the appliances on our coach are Whirlpool including the induction cooktop. Our coach is a 2013 Winnebago Tour.

I don't think so. I only see four burner induction cooktops on the Whirlpool website. I was going to guess it was a Summit, but the Summit 2 burner model has 8 heat settings per burner, not 10.

Found it, I think. This one:

Double Burner Induction Cooktop

JewelMcD · 04-09-2013, 08:37 AM

Yes, that's it. I just looked. It is by True Induction.

JewelMcD · 04-09-2013, 08:42 AM

That link just answered my question. It says that the total power available is 10 if you are using both burners. Basically, you can't use high heat on both burners at the same time. Kind of ridiculous for us that cook alot.

docj · 04-09-2013, 08:43 AM

Normally, having two induction burners would require two 20A circuits; the model installed in your MH uses "fancy" electronics so that two burners can be run off of only one circuit. The electronics are advertised to permit "sharing" of power; what you have already seen is that it accomplishes this by simply limiting the power to the second burner so the total can't exceed the circuit's maximum current.

Steve Ownby · 04-09-2013, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JewelMcD

That link just answered my question. It says that the total power available is 10 if you are using both burners. Basically, you can't use high heat on both burners at the same time. Kind of ridiculous for us that cook alot.

I bought one of these as a stand alone unit and I can tell you it works great. It will bring a pot of water to a boil quickly on the 5 setting and it will continue to boil on 2. It really works well. It's the limitations of standard household 120 vac service that require this.

bruceisla · 04-09-2013, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JewelMcD

That link just answered my question. It says that the total power available is 10 if you are using both burners. Basically, you can't use high heat on both burners at the same time. Kind of ridiculous for us that cook alot.

I think you will actually find it's not an issue. High temp (10) is really hot and the induction top cooks very fast. You will probably find you use 5/5 or 6/4 most often when using 2 surfaces .... as least I do ...

FlyingDiver · 04-09-2013, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JewelMcD

That link just answered my question. It says that the total power available is 10 if you are using both burners. Basically, you can't use high heat on both burners at the same time. Kind of ridiculous for us that cook alot.

Yeah, Winnebago went cheap with that unit. It's 120V, 15amp. 240V 15amp (total 3600 watt) would have been much better.

My other objection to the cooktops pretty much all RV manufacturers use is that the burners are too close together. You can't put a 12" skillet or decent size stockpot or dutch oven on one side and still use the other side. :(

joe

docj · 04-09-2013, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bruceisla

I think you will actually find it's not an issue. High temp (10) is really hot and the induction top cooks very fast. You will probably find you use 5/5 or 6/4 most often when using 2 surfaces .... as least I do ...

I don't disagree that the medium settings are probably used most of the time, but cooking is an energy "problem", not a heat one. For example, to get a pot of water to a boil takes a certain amount of energy, regardless of how hot the burner seems. If you want to get the water to a boil in the least amount of time you would use setting "10".

It appears that using setting 10 on one of the burners means the other one has to be off. I assume that if you have your spaghetti sauce simmering on "2" on one burner you would have to bring the water to a boil for the spaghetti using a setting no higher than "8" which means it will take longer.

IMHO, this sounds as if it is more trouble than it is worth for any serious cooking.

FlyingDiver · 04-09-2013, 12:30 PM

Everything's a tradeoff. Getting a better cooktop would require the RV to have a real 240V panel. Not all coaches have that. Personally, I would prefer a different one.

OTOH, if you're ready to cook the pasta, you probably don't need to keep the power on to the sauce. I usually turn off the heat on the sauce about that time, since I don't want to serve it simmering hot.

My main objection (as noted above) is that there's no room on any of these little two burner cooktops for both a stockpot for the pasta and the dutch oven we use for the sauce. I'm planning on specifying two individual burners instead of a dual burner unit, just so there's enough room between them.

targaboat · 04-09-2013, 12:36 PM

Gosh, you all have such problems.

FlyingDiver · 04-09-2013, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by targaboat

Gosh, you all have such problems.

Well, for people who live full-time in their RV, and cook almost all their meals in it, these are serious issues to deal with. Cooking decent meals in the small RV kitchens is not easy.