Induction Cooktop

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by DFDureiko

Speaking of cooking, I was thinking of getting a halftime 4x convection microwave, 15 A, being 15 A apparently it uses convection and microwave at the same time unlike normal convection ovens. Therefore it's much faster Strangely they're only available at Walmart.com and smart home.com
Has anyone had experience with this oven??

Wife loves the conv / micro from the factory install! Next will be acquiring one of those catastrophic induction units ... can't wait. We've been looking for several years, but this thread helps push us in the right direction!

[Lara Me]

Nuwaves arrived yesterday. Tried em out with the supplied/purchased cookware, and gotta say I was impressed. I caramelized some onions, heated some meatballs for the kids, and it worked as advertised.

In hindsight, I might rethink the "infomercial" purchase. I bought via the toll-free operator, and what a comical experience. Reading from a script, the entire transaction took 20 minutes, mostly me saying no the various upgrade requests, and then no again when they tried to reduce the price to get me to say yes to the upgrades. They even offered me magazine subscriptions and a free Walmart gift card to get me to try some stupid service. I've read where the online process is much less of a hassle, but still annoying.

The "buy one get one free" offer was misleading and the "free" cookware was not truly free when you factored in their ridiculous S&H. By the time, I made it to the end of the obstacle course ordering process, the $99 Nuwave ended up being $225 or so, which represented the $99, then $90 in shipping handling, and another $35 in various upgrades (to the Pro 1800 watt unit and a carrier bag). Each one of their accessories such as their griddle or pressure cooker ends up costing more due to overpriced S&H, so avoid them.

But... the cookware they shipped was actually quite well made 18/10 stainless, and the two ceramic skillets also well made, and not the usual crappy gift with purchase quality you might expect via a TV offer. The carry bag at $15 on the other hand was a $5 poorly made unit that offered the sole benefit of being fitted.

The Nuwave seems to work as advertised. It's mostly made of ABS plastic and is nothing that I'd write home about, in contrast to the metal ones I've seen at Costco and online, but that is just the casing, and the guts of these cook tops are likely all the same. I did see a unit at Costco for under $60, and you would get the same type of cookware for another $60-80, so when you factor in the second unit, there is no discount to buying one to get one free.

The Pro version of this cook top is actually kinda large, and will easily cook a 11-12" skillet. I think the regular version is a bit smaller, say for a 10" skillet. It's a bit oversize for an AS countertop space, but should work. Plus, it works with a typical 8qt pressure cooker.

I'm keeping this set, and will keep one for the AS and the second one out at home, but if this thread motivates you to try one of these cooktops, save some dough and try out the Costco one or one of the others available on Amazon that have good ratings.

[Foiled Again]

Ouch - sorry I didn't warn you about the Shipping and handling. That is pretty much a standard infomercial ploy. I got the two skillets the first time I ordered - and they were nice but the lids broke and scratched the skillets when I wrecked so I gave them away. They were never built for storing in an Airstream, but you'll probably Love them for home. I've got a set of nesting pots and pans with removable handles that work great on the Nu-Waves.

The first one I got came with a two handled shallow pot, a steamer insert and a fondue set that fits into the pot. I never made fondue before in my life, but Rotel + Velveeta Queso? I'm the queen of the trailer park when a football game is on! You can hear the hoots (and the coronary arteries clogging) from six sites away.

Definitely either get a cheap one locally or order on the web and keep saying NO to most or all of the add-ons.

But Lara Me and anyone else who uses the 800 number.... DO feel sorry for the poor operators whose jobs depend on upselling and cross selling you. The answering service my partner and I own doesn't handle this kind of business, but the big centers that do... Whew it's a tough way to make a living. Believe me, any operator who doesn't follow the script - regardless of how many times you say "OH HELL NO" - will be fired immediately. Not only that but most only get decent pay if they successfully cross-sell or up-sell. An op who falls below sales quota for more than a few days will lose her job! Lara Me - at least 30% of your "shipping and handling" above the basic two units went to the operator. She probably bought something frivolous like groceries with it.

For a sit-down non-factory job, stress is huge in these big call centers. Operators are under constant stress to handle a lot of calls, follow scripts to the letter, upsell/cross sell to quotas, keep hold time or wait time as close to zero as a human can - and literally only take a potty break when calls are slack. For every person who thrives in that kind of workplace there are 20 who run screaming with their hair on fire in a week. I know an owner who lives in a conspicuously rich lifestyle... I sometimes envy him, but it's nice to have a quirky little boutique service where the operators have time to laugh and the clients are doctors, lawyers, trades people - who respect what we do for them and who treat our staff like the golden asset they are.

Paula