Induction Cooking:
Units For North America

North America: Available Countertop Units

This page covers free-standing countertop equipment; we also have a page of similar tables for build-in induction units.

This page presents information on units intended for home use, as opposed to units specifically made for commercial use--in restaurants, catering, and suchlike high-stress environments. While residential equipment would be a poor choice for a commercial environment, the reverse is not necessarily true--indeed, the only barrier to commercial induction equipment in home use is price--but if you do a lot of at-the-table cooking and want a top-flight unit to grace your dining table, don't overlook the "commercial-unit" possibilities.

Countertop Equipment

Quick Comparison, Countertop Equipment

Before we get into the full data sets, here is a table of what we think are useful comparisons. The available units are listed in order of their dollars-per-watt cost, which we think is the single most important yardstick--by no means the only measure of importance, but a powerful one. In determining it, we use the lowest price we know of for each unit (which--shameless plug--is what we sell each for, where we do sell it) and the unit maximum power.

All these data are taken from either the maker's web site or, if we have it, the maker's manual for the item. Clicking on a model number will jump you to the details page for that model (from which you can, if we handle it, also order it).

Be aware that a very large fraction of countertop induction units are made by a very small number of factories, mostly in China. If you notice remarkable resemblances in appearance and specifications between units from different brands, there's probably a good reason. But . . . that does not mean that units with obviously similar "trade dress" are exactly identical, even if they rolled out of the same factory; that is because the contracting supplier--the people whose name is on the nameplate--can, and do, specify different quality levels for components and other factors, so two "identical" units from different makers, while they may initially work the same, may have very different life expectancies. As always, reputation is the bottom line.

Prices, anywhere they appear on this site, are never more than one hour old (but only for units we sell--we have no direct, automated access to prices for the very few units we don't yet carry). The order in which the units are listed is hand-set: we try to keep it in ascending dollars/kilowatt order, but as prices change--which they can do frequently--the order may fall out, so always check the actual numbers.

We go to some lengths to try to assure that the data we present is accurate and complete, but--as common sense should suggest--we cannot warrant these data, which are presented for solely your convenience and guidance; the makers of the subject equipment are the sole and final source of definite data. So nyah, nyah, all you lawyers.

With larger units, shipping is often free; even when it isn't, it's not any serious part of the final price. But with countertop units, shipping charges--which seem to be largely arbitrary, sometimes as much or more as it would cost to ship an entire 4-element cooktop--can be a significant cost consideration. We do not include them in the tables below, but we do show them on the "buy" page for each unit we carry here. You should always check shipping charges carefully before making a final putchase decision.

Note: we do not list Berghoff models because it is impossible to get reliable data on their specifications.