Portable Induction Burner Brand

CatDaddy

I'm on a hunt for a single-burner, induction cooktop, essentially a hot-plate for the 21st century. There are tons of them out there. Duxtop seems to be a leading manufacturer, but the Empava units from Lowes are about half the price. What do you use?

Mickerly

We started with the unit from IKEA. It's less than the one from Lowers. It works great for camping. It would be great for a college dorm room. Occasionally we need a second burner. We just bought a Duxtop. It is much nicer. There is greater control over temperature and the magnetic coil is a little bigger. If your menu requires more precision, the Duxtop is a better unit. Either one will work for camping.

There is one caution. You will start looking for an induction cooktop for your home kitchen too.   ; )

Yoshi_TAB

Hi, 

We use this one.  

Amazon.com: Nuwave Gold Precision Induction Cooktop, Portable, Powerful with Large 8” Heating Coil,100°F to 575°F, 3 Wattage Settings, 12” Heat-Resistant Cooking Surface: Home & Kitchen

elbolillo

We use this one from Duxtop: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FLR0ET8?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

Boils water in about 5 min. 

CatDaddy

Yoshi_TAB said:

We use this one.  

Interesting! That one only has a few power settings but lots of temperature settings. I haven’t used an induction stove before. Do you find that to be a limitation?

CatDaddy

elbolillo said:

We use this one from Duxtop

Thanks! That’s the one that gets top marks in reviews but it’s twice as expensive as the Empava unit I have been considering. 

elbolillo

CatDaddy said:

elbolillo said:

We use this one from Duxtop

Thanks! That’s the one that gets top marks in reviews but it’s twice as expensive as the Empava unit I have been considering. 

I went with it because of the reviews. I wanted a unit that had good reliability, sufficient power, and good adjustability. This is the unit that most cooking sites recommend, and I couldn't be happier with the purchase. We recently used it on a trip with a portable power station and it performed flawlessly. They also make a less expensive version 9100 MC.

dsfdogs

I purchased a Nuwave Flex https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YJ6ZPFJ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1 at the suggestion of another owner. I've used it a few times and like it. I've never tried other portable induction stove tops so don't have anything to compare to except the standard propane stove. I like that I can use it at 600 or 900 watts vs the full 1300 watts. Looks like it's on sale right now for $68. 

rcarlson1957

Can't go wrong with a DUXTOP. They've been making them for a long time. 5 yrs and 60K miles of camping and still works like new. 

CatDaddy

I ended up getting an Empava EMPV-11EC06 single element induction cooktop. It was $61.12 from Lowes with free pickup from my local Lowes. The description says it has 18 temperature settings, but there are three other settings (melt, simmer and keep warm) so it really has 21 temperature settings. 

It seems to work fine. I made fondue with it for New Year's. The "melt" mode worked great.

I looked very seriously at the Duxtop 9600 but it was literally twice as expensive and had one fewer temperature setting. I also prefer the LCD display on the Empava to the LCD display on the Duxtop. 

It's not listed anywhere but Empava customer service said the induction coil is 6-3/16 inches in diameter.

I believe the Empava EMP-11EC06, EMV-11EC06, EL-11EC06 and EMPV-11EC06 are all the same unit with different model numbers for different channels (Home Depot, Lowes, etc). Lowes is currently selling the EL-11EC06 for $59.62. 

Thanks for everybody's input!