Discount 🛒 Duxtop 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner, Gold 8100MC/BT-180G3 🎉

2 reviews for Discount 🛒 Duxtop 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner, Gold 8100MC/BT-180G3 🎉

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Not Me – June 28, 2012

   The media could not be loaded.  Chinese product imported by Seller: Sleek, looks nicely constructed, yet it’s economical for a portable 120V single pot induction cooktop.In my opinion there are many 5-star ratings for first time users of induction cookers. It truly is miraculous in some applications and I’m sure the first caveman that was given fire to cook with didn’t complain that the torch they were handed had too much flame on it.This review is for after the novelty of induction passes and it is sitting on your countertop and doesn’t do everything that is claimed and you wonder if a better quality portable induction choice is out there and at what cost:The video shows the flaw my brand new unit has in “keeping food warm” which caused the poor rating. The video was made after the simple boiling of water at 140 F indicated the problem. That should not happen since boiling is 212 F. Imagine buying an oven you set for one temperature but is actually 100 degrees higher!The cheap design will cause the product to fail to perform at low temp/power settings and mine is not what the seller would call “defective” (see reason below). At the lower temperature or power settings, it cannot be used to keep liquid foods *just* warm – it forces them to boil. But one of the major attractions advertised is this ability to set the temperature as low as 140 F which would be a great hotplate you could serve food directly off at the perfect temperature to dig in and eat right away.Even if is not important to you to use the below boiling settings that it has, and you are happy to bring everything to a boil or pull it off in time, it is worth watching the video to see how this generally heats. In the case of the video I put a meal-in-a-bag, my dinner tonight of sweet and sour chicken. You can see it is set to 140 F which *should* only be keeping the food warm and at 140 F, you can basically eat it right from the pot or at most just waft momentarily a bit of air to remove the minor excess heat right in your spoon without having to wait to be sure not to burn your tongue.But: In the video the unit cycles around the boiling temperature every five seconds or so -*even though it is set to 140 F*- boiling my dinner.The reason it bubbles in cycles is because this product’s induction heating tries to achieve lower temperatures by turning itself on and off to regulate how much heating the food received, kind of like some drivers I know use the gas pedal by flooring it and braking all the time 😉 instead of having a soft touch. Evidently my unit is blasting it with far too much energy into liquids as it is maintaining it at 212 F – boiling – though the controls are set only for a comfortable 140 F warming only. Not only is this a problem for warming, but it also means if you put anything with milk or potatoes, pasta or any other starches or proteins, it will burn them even on low settings since it gives them too great a blast of heat which burns alternating with turning off in this “low” temperature mode. If it were “on” less time and “off” more time, they might have pulled it off, but really what is missing is a smooth adjustment in the low range. But they didn’t and it is useless for just warming liquid items. Better to get a traditional hotplate, or just burner that you can adjust down with a continuous low supply of heat.That is where the “cheap” quality is apparent. A truly good induction cooktop wouldn’t be poorly calibrated (see Bulwinkle’s review – I wish I had read it beforehand) at the low end. It wouldn’t alternately blast and turn off. Think of how you cook with gas. Imagine turning it up to a High flame and off to keep something warm, but causing it to boil anyway because you overdo it. That’s exactly the problem here. The “good” quality product would simply have lower wattage settings that worked – which would be like turning on a very low flame just to keep things warm, or putting the electric coil burner on low. Probably low level induction power like this costs more to do properly and that is why we get what we pay for.I bought it to use as a keep-warmer, even 150 F would have been ok. It fails for this yet it is one of the selling claims. I found this out immediately by my first use. I put a cup of water and set it to 140 F. It boiled shortly – not as quickly as the higher settings (and that is *fast*), but maybe in twice to 2.5 times the time which makes sense since the cycling seems to be on only half of the time. I feel bad about bumping it up to 3 stars since it is misrepresented. My respects to everyone who is impressed by inductive cooking in general. I’m going to find a product since I love the technology and would like to have the flexibility to use it as I would a gas or electric stove.The unit arrived today with a brief instruction booklet that I completely read in less than 10 minutes. The reason I purchased this was because the Amazon description is clear about saying it had a temperature range of 140 F degrees (and goes much higher on the upper end). This is confirmed in the instruction manual which explains that power settings are independent of temperature settings and from what I see only one mode can be used at a time. That means, you can’t put it on 140 F AND have the lowest power setting “1” on the scale of 1 to 10.The first try was with a cup (8 fl. oz. = 240 mL) of tap water in a smooth magnetic pot (same one in the video) that fit precisely in between the max and minimum sized circles painted on the top of the unit for that purpose. It has nothing to do with my pot as I found after I reread some of the other tech-ish reviews; it is just the design of these low end single place cooktops.Result: The 140 F setting for temperature gradually increased (pretty quickly) the liquid to a boil (212 degrees F). I repeated the test with new cool water in the power mode set to the minimum “1” setting. Similar result. It gradually came to 209 F +.Considerations:It is an excellent unit which responds extremely fast to heating. Impressive. If you just want something higher than 1200 W to quickly boil or fry, this will be a good purchase.Great it has a 140 F setting to keep things *just* warm! (Or so I thought! but … no.)Depending on someone’s tolerance, if they put something in their mouth over around 130 F degrees, it will burn. Then I tried it with a prepared meal-in-a bag dinner. That is in the video and shows the same happens with it even though it 2 1/2 cups of a typical mixed ingredients. The temperature steps below 212 F are not useful when it comes to liquids because of this.Conclusions. Interestingly the manual says there are 10 levels of temperature and implies as is in the case of the power you will set levels one through 10. However, this is not accurate for the product I received which instead of temperature levels 1-10 reads the actual degrees 140 F and up directly on the display. However since it doesn’t work it’s all moot.Finally – if you want it *only* for quick heating, I would recommend it. But, doing half of the job is *not* acceptable for my needs.The heart of the problem, after researching it further, is that all of the induction cookers on Amazon in this price range make similar false claims about temperature control. The temperature control this product and the other cooktops under $400 claim is false and hype. This particular model made in China or something with very similar guts is sold by at least three other vendors under three different brands on Amazon alone for the range of $50-$110. But this one is one of the least expensive, so I’ll rank it with three stars for the benefit of others since a lower ranking might contribute to someone thinking another cheap one is better when it does the same thing.A true warming-simmering performance cooktop this size or a little more powerful is available for about $600-$700. So even though all these sellers claim temperature control for warming to simmering, none of the cheap products deliver and it is fluff all of the sellers competing with each other are saying so the other can’t outdo them – confirmed and a pretty sad state.If you don’t want the temperature control and just a quick heating to boil or fry, this unit is fine and the price is right. If you need the temperature control to make more delicate foods, and to really enjoy induction cooking as a replacement for electric or gas in a wide range of output, this product and all cheap ones like it are not very good – getting a high quality adjustable gas or electric hotplate in this price range is a better choice unless you can pay the $600+ bucks or have the need for boiling speed (but a powerful microwave might take care of most of those needs and isn’t restricted to magnetic cookware only). The traditional burners have better warranties and/or less to go wrong (the coil inside this has fragile winding that can fail compared to nearly indestructible quality standard electric resistance burners, so in the long run I wouldn’t buy this over a good hotplate unless my only use was quick boils and I only expected the product to last a year. If not, I’d start saving up for a good one without all these toy buttons, that just has a single control that works well for warming, which is all the best gas and electric stoves need, and btw, is the design of the $600-$700 induction cooktops. Anything besides the normal dial is unnecessary. The extra buttons this product has make it better suited as a prop for a 1960’s TV spaceship show since they are colorful Chinese factory bells and whistles that don’t add much value for me. I mean, give me a regular power knob thatcan be adjusted well and what good is all the rest… really?!Shucks.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Lee G – June 28, 2012

   I have only had it a week, I found a favorite stainless pan that works wonderfully, So I fixed the handle to it. I tried mac & cheese, the water boils quickly, I spilled some food on the cook top, but it was cold, so it wiped away. I have always appreciated electric frying pans, they hold a lot of food, & they have temperature control, So cooking with this induction over is not much different, because I tell it the temperature, & it always cooks it right. I made a couple eggs so far. I use the @2 setting to toast the bread in the pan with butter, & add ham & cheese & cook the egg, then I put the egg on the bread, . I love the resturant style, because they always taste better that way. I tried the temperature setting, but with eggs & sandwiches, the pan gets too hot, too fast, before the temperature gets regulated, but with larger dishes, I prefer the temperature control better. If the butter burns the bottom black, on the carbon steel pan, that is a good quality, that makes the pan slippery, & the eggs won stick. I also tried sausage in the pan, & if you burn the sausage to the pan, just splash about two teaspoons of water in the pan & scrape it a bit with the pancake turner & take out the sausage before it gets too dry again. When you are finished, you can wipe out the pan with a towel, If you wash it with water. You need to dry it with a towel, so it does not rust & add oil & wipe it out with a towel.I have heard many people complain about the fan noise, My hearing is as good as anyone else, & it was very quiet to me, a little fan, much like one in the computer, is all you hear, & is a very quiet wind noise. I did make one mistake, I had a little stainless mixing bowl, I had the burner set on high, took off the big pan & for 3 seconds, I left the stainless mixing bowl on it. I never thought it had time to get hot, but it almost burned me. I think its great, no heat around the pan, only the pan & the food gets hot.If this thing works forever, I will never have a complaint against it. I made some french fries in the carbon steel pan that I just bought, I can tell you that the cooking process of frying, made more noise than the fan did, for a second, I thought the fan was not running, until I turned off the cooking cycle. I made some mac cheese for grandson, but with vegetables & extra cheese, I turned up the heat to #10, to heat the water quickly, when the water boiled, I turned it to 210 degrees, The stove top then goes to its normal #5 setting. This is good,& since water will not get hotter that 212 degrees, but to steam up the house. I let stove top watch the temperature until it was done. I only enjoy two pans on the stove, the one carbon steel pan for frying, & the stainless for things that could affect the pan seasoning. Cast iron is great, but I dont want to lift them anymore. I tried making popcorn in the carbon steel 12 inch pan with lid, it worked wonderfully, I worried about scratching the stove top surface, but had no problems, a little oil bubbled out of the pan & lubricated the bottom of the pan & it slid so smoothly, & when the pan is at 390 degrees, I believe it is when the e2 error command comes on, telling me that it is done anyway. The 390 degree limit protects the pan & the food, It also happens to me sometimes when I do my stir fries. When it happens, you dont need to cook it any more, it is done. I took a towel & wiped the stove top, & it still looks like new. I could not find a good stainless wok, that would work on the Ductop stove, so I got some two gallon stainless mixing bowls, They heat evenly on the magnetic inductive stove, So now i can make soups & spagetti too.I tried them & they work fine, just remember to use a hot pad to move the pan when cooking in it, a dry folded washcloth will work,they can get as hot as 212 degrees as long as there is food with water in them. Well it has been about 6 months since I bought this tuxtop magnetic induction stove top, almost everyone is using it now, no hot stove, no smelly smoke, the pan gets hot, & it cooks the food. Lately I ran low on food, grandson always like egg ham & cheese sandwiches, but he always leaves the crust. I decided to make pancakes, we have bisquit mix, self rising flour, margarine & eggs, So i took a couple slices of ham & two slices of cheese, chopped them up, & put 1/2 cup bisquick mix, 1/2 cup self rising flour, two eggs, some bacon bits( more flavor) stirred it up & put it in my favorite stainless pan, one that the magnet sticks to. I heat the pan until the butter begins to smoke. I had it on #10 & turn it down to #6 & make pancakes until the mixture is gone. 3 pancakes to each pan (12 inch pan) Grandson loves them, they are nutritious ( don’t tell him that) easy & quick. We add a little syrup, He goes wild on sugar, so we are very conservative on that. He loves them, they are a cheap breakfast, & he is not hungry all the time. If you like them, change styles, you can use hamburger, sausage, Try a cheap sausage that is good for you, make hamburger, sprinkle a little sage on your hamburger while cooking it, It does not have as much fat as bacon or sausage & costs nearly half the price. I bought this Tuxtop 3 months ago, it served me well, despite some misuse, be cautious of overheating it. It shows that I did abuse it a bit. The bakelite top is connected to the button display pannel, in case of overheating, the display could slightly separate from the stove top, a leak could cause malfunction,& drip water on the display pannel. I took mine apart, dried up the water, checked for any other damage, then put it together & used JB weld quick a (350 degree epoxy),on the top to seal the leaky crack,to avoid additional malfunction. It still works properly, after time to dry out. I finally epoxied a small ridge in front of the control display, to keep the water out of the controls, it works well since. I make mostly french fries, grilled ham& cheese, stir fries, & popcorn. After a year of owning it, I dont think I could ever be comfortable without it. It is like any computerized appliance , water in the wrong place can cause malfunction. Even though my pans are big enough, moisture still runs over the sides of the pan during the cooking process. I bought a pop up camper, gas cooking can be very hot in a little space, but with the duxtop, all the heat goes into the pan & the food. We cook coffee & vegetables inside, but meats are messy & smokey, so we put a little table outside for the Duxtop under the awning, & cook the meat products there. Its a life saver for us campers. After two years it is still working, I turn it on, press plus until it is on #10,I boil water mostly for coffee, Great for beans, it heats quickly on #10 then I put the lid on it & cook on #1 setting, I think it automatically shuts of in an hour, I may turn it on again for a while. Makes soups, back to #10 til it boils, then back to #1 with a lid on it. I now use steel porcelain pans, they are at every thrift store in NC, I love them. I got a griddle lately & use the Tuxtop mostly for liquids & remind wife that it does not need to boil wildly, In NC at 2000 alt the water boils at 208 degrees no matter how high you turn it on, due to boiling point of water.Then I turn it on #1 with a lid. The griddle heats left overs, temperature is constant, it cooks hamburgers, warms up ready cooked fried chicken. makes toasted cheese sandwiches. BUt I will take the Duxtop camping or where ever I go, I take the griddle too & the portable gas grill, in case I can’t get electricity. I bought another one, even though the old one still works too. I received this Magnetic Duxtop in fine condition & on time. My last one, I got was 4 years ago. I really abused it by cooking french fries on it. On setting #10 = 1800 watts, it cooks fast, but as it gets close to finish, the heat needs to be reduced to # 4 = 1000 watt or # 5 . This keeps the Magnetic Inductive stove from exceeding the safe range before shutting down. That mistake slightly melted the plastic below the bakalite table. I have cleaned the fan, Removed dust a few times & because of the abuse I gave it, I had to use JB weld to patch up the problems that I caused. . If it is new, all the functions will work, But, if you want to turn on your coffee & walk away to warm it up, it would be best to turn it On, press Temperature setting, & click on Minus untill you reach the 180° setting, then it will turn off when it reaches 180° temperature, & you will not have to clean out the burned coffee, from the coffee pot, when you get back. Where I live, we get good porcelain steel coffee pots for $3 at the thrift store. If you do not live near the Carolina’s, this may not be so available. Shortly after I got my first Duxtop, we went camping, we cooked about everything in it for the next six months. We moved into a rental house, their stove was no good, we didn’t care, our Duxtop worked just fine, even for camping, most campsites have electricity.. I did buy a Magnetic Steel pan ( flat bottom wok ) this is good for cooking greasy things. Do not wash those with soap, unless you want to re- oil it again. They are more sensitive to rust than cast iron, then I also bought a good stainless steel frying pan, But do not get tefflon, this will get hot enough to burn the teflon off.I have cooked pop corn, but you do need to be careful, not to run it into shut down. Like the problem I had with cooking french fries. When you buy Kettles, do not forget your magnet. If the magnet does not stick, don’t buy it. My friend came from Florida & loved mine, so he went back to Florida to find one in a garage sale. This is the most incredible stove top that you can buy, but you have to follow the rules , if you want it to work for you. Some people returned theirs, just because they did not have Magnetic Inductive pots & pans. You can use cast iron, but they are heavy & take more time to heat up. I had to buy new pots for mine, but I love it anyway. I love cooking this way, you never feel the heat. The pan gets hot, & the food gets hot from the pan. If you spill something on it, you can lift up the kettle & wipe the stove with a moist wash cloth without interrupting the cooking process.