What's ceramic cooking?
What's a ceramic cooktop?
You can recognize a ceramic cooktop by its red-hot cooking zones. These cooking zones heat up your pan using heating elements. The elements turn red as soon as they heat up. When they're bright red, the cooking zone is hot enough to quickly boil a pan of water. The cooking zones do need to heat up for a while after you switch them on. That means you can't start cooking and baking right away.
Cooking on a ceramic cooktop
You can cook and bake exactly the same way you're used to with other cooktops. Is your meal done? Take the pan from the cooktop and put it on a coaster. The metal spirals stay hot for some time after heating up, even if you've already switched off the cooktop. The cooktop will keep on heating your pan, which means the food might cake. Make sure to let the elements cool down before wiping the cooktop too.
Pans for ceramic cooking
You need pans with a smooth bottom for ceramic cooking. The smooth bottom absorbs all heat, so no energy is wasted. Did you use your pans on a gas cooktop before? It's a good idea to buy new pans. The bottom of your old pans may have been warped slightly by the flames. Because of this, not all heat will reach your pan, which means you'll cook more slowly on your ceramic cooktop.
Not sure if you want ceramic or induction?
Both ceramic and induction cooking is electric. There are still some differences between the 2 types. Ceramic cooktops are more affordable than induction models. Induction cooktop heat up faster, they're more energy-efficient, and safer than a ceramic model. The cooktop itself doesn't get hot, so it cools down faster.