Review on 🍳 COKLAI 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop with 6 Programs, Sensor Touch Countertop Burner, Count-down Timer, Pre-Set Timer, 10 Temperature Levels, 9 Power Settings Induction Hot Plate for Cooking by Brian Whitmore

We have an old-fashioned electric burner. It's a serpentine like you see on the stove, plug it in and it heats up. Neither I nor my wife know where and when we got it, but it's old (probably before 1980). Last week my wife had to travel and wanted to bring it but we couldn't find it. I've seen them in stores, and if you watch shows or read about mini homes or RVs, you often see kitchens with one or two of them. Take it out, plug it in, use it, put it away. For our own use we often camp and it would be great for al fresco cooking. You need an electric one, but it's a lot better than cooking things like RV-smelling bacon in it. So this is the first one I've ever tried, used, or even seriously considered, and it certainly has some positives and negatives. First you need to use a magnetic metal pan. It comes with a small magnet for "testing" your pots and pans, most of mine fail this test. I've only done one pot and one cast iron skillet. Decided to try the pan. I poured some water in and turned on the burner, then started reading the instructions. It has settings milk, soup, braising, boiling. So I hit cook and the fan comes on (it's not loud, but certainly not quiet) and runs fast. After 2 minutes, that inch of water began to boil. I decided to boil eggs and then things got a little more difficult. Again I pressed "boil" and after 3 minutes 30 seconds the water was boiling. But how do you refuse? The only way to find out is to select another option (I chose stew) and then press the down arrow until it shows 400 (don't know if it's watts or degrees). Like many electrical appliances (including ovens and electric ranges), it can be turned on or off. It maintains temperature by turning it on and off. But it's so fast that it turns on for 3-4 seconds, the water boils, steam comes out from under the lid, then a click and boil, after 6-8 seconds a click and it starts boiling again, another click and everything stops. So the cycle turned on and off very quickly, start cooking, stop, start cooking, stop. Eggs ran out to find. So the pluses are that it's fast, the water boils in just a few minutes. It's pretty quiet, very portable. It would be easy to plug it into an outlet in a hotel bathroom, or even install it outside of your home for long cooking times on a day when you don't want extra heat in your home. It has a timer function and an appointment function (meaning you can turn it on at a specific time in the future I think). It also has parental controls, which I haven't played with. A few minutes after taking the pot out, it was cool so couldn't touch it right away, but if you put it away after use, it doesn't take long to cool down. The smooth glass surface makes cleaning easier. The downsides are that you need a magnetic pot. I had one but your pots may not work. Management is very confusing. I don't know if all induction heaters are designed that way, but I think a 0 to 10 (or 1 to 100 or temp, anything but soup or stew) heat scale would be easier. Between times, dates, and the settings available in different settings (e.g. some let you adjust the temperature, some don't) it's a bit confusing for me to be honest. I also don't like the quick on and off switch. If I have to simmer something for 10 minutes, does it cook/cook normally or do I need to add more time beyond the time it hasn't actually cooked? 4 stars because I think it's getting more and more useful, I'm learning to make better use of the settings. I love how portable it is and especially when we do things like camping I see us using it a lot. At home probably only to cook something on the street if for some reason we want to do it. Works, looks good, hope it lasts.