Le Creuset and induction cooking

[UTH]

I know there are plenty of people who will say Le Creuset is overpriced tat or whatever, so consider me told on that front.

I got one of these for Christmas: https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/p/cast-iron-squa...

The last few times I've cooked steaks, I've put the pan on my induction hob at top whack (9) and had it on there for a good 20 mins, if not more, to try and guarantee it's as hot as it could possibly be. Last time, I even moved it from one side of the hob to the other and whacked it up to 9, just in case one side was considering itself 'too hot' and limiting the heat, or something like that - (I don't 100% understand how the hob works as sometimes it won't let me put it as high as I want)

However, even after leaving it for this long, I come to put the steak on and it just doesn't seem to be hot enough - my old cheap, thin pan used to get so much hotter and sear the steak pretty well, lots of smoke etc.

Is this just the nature of Le Creuset pans? Should I just give up on using this pan to cook steaks as it's clearly not doing the job as well as I'd like? Or am I being an idiot? Perhaps it's the induction method, as I can't help but feel having it over a raging gas flame it would be getting bloody hot.

I'd hate this pan to have been a waste of a Christmas present, but it seems a bit disappointing so far.

[twing]

i had the same with a Dutch-pot but the following is on the link you posted --->


Use the product on the most appropriately sized hob ring — it’ll make your food cook more evenly, and reduce the risk of damage to the handles and sides. This is especially important on induction hobs: if you use the wrong-sized ring, there’s a risk the hob won't ‘recognise’ the product.

Cooking on a medium or low heat gets the best results — even for frying and searing. Let the product heat up gradually for great tasting food that’s cooked evenly. If you do need to use a higher heat, lower the setting once the desired heat has been reached.

[UTH]

twing said:

i had the same with a Dutch-pot but the following is on the link you posted --->


Use the product on the most appropriately sized hob ring — it’ll make your food cook more evenly, and reduce the risk of damage to the handles and sides. This is especially important on induction hobs: if you use the wrong-sized ring, there’s a risk the hob won't ‘recognise’ the product.

Cooking on a medium or low heat gets the best results — even for frying and searing. Let the product heat up gradually for great tasting food that’s cooked evenly. If you do need to use a higher heat, lower the setting once the desired heat has been reached.

Yeah I think I remember reading this at some point. I have no issues with it not 'recognising' the pan, as it's very obvious when that's the case, it simply doesn't work.
Thing is, as we all know with steaks, you really want the pan as hot as humanly possible to get a really good sear, and so far that's just not been happening. Last Ribeye I cooked the outsides were certainly not what I'd call nicely seared at all, yet I'd left it on the heat too long so had overcooked the inside. Worst of both worlds.

[tog]

I used to have exactly the same pan and had exactly the same problem. I could never get it hot enough on either induction or my old halogen hob.

Induction hobs frequently manage how much power they are using - I can't use all rings on maximum heat at the same time for example. If I turn one up too high it will reduce another. It explains in the manual which rings affect which others, but I can never remember exactly the right combination to use.

[UTH]

tog said:

I used to have exactly the same pan and had exactly the same problem. I could never get it hot enough on either induction or my old halogen hob.

Induction hobs frequently manage how much power they are using - I can't use all rings on maximum heat at the same time for example. If I turn one up too high it will reduce another. It explains in the manual which rings affect which others, but I can never remember exactly the right combination to use.

Ok thanks, that does make me feel a bit better that I'm not being a total idiot.
In my previous flat I had the same issue with not being able to have all 4 on high heat......I put 4 pans of boiling water on just to see and put them all on full power, you could see the power moving around between the pans.
When I moved and renovated this house I made sure the sparky put a big enough power source/cable or whatever to the hob so I didn't have the same issue.
But still, this bloody pan never gets hot enough regardless.

[JeffreyD]

I've found having the ring on a slightly lower setting for longer works well.

This is my second induction hob and both turn themselves off if you leave a heavy "steak" pan on max setting for too long.

This current one (A Stoves range) gets properly bd hot when boiling water compared to my last one (miele) but for both I've found leaving the pan on 8 (out of 10 settings) for a longer time gets the pan hot enough to create a crust without it turning itself off.

Neither hob turns itself off when using a stainless steel pan to boil water.

[UTH]

JeffreyD said:

I've found having the ring on a slightly lower setting for longer works well.

This is my second induction hob and both turn themselves off if you leave a heavy "steak" pan on max setting for too long.

This current one (A Stoves range) gets properly bd hot when boiling water compared to my last one (miele) but for both I've found leaving the pan on 8 (out of 10 settings) for a longer time gets the pan hot enough to create a crust without it turning itself off.

Neither hob turns itself off when using a stainless steel pan to boil water.

Ok this is interesting. My hob does have a P setting, above the max 9. It will switch back to 9 after 5 mins on P, but sometimes when a pan is already hot, it'll just not give me P as an option. Not entirely sure why!

I might be doing steak tonight, so I might give the lower setting for longer idea a go, fingers crossed this is the miraculous solution I'm after!

[21TonyK]

Did you try a lid over it?

[JeffreyD]

UTH said:

Ok this is interesting. My hob does have a P setting, above the max 9. It will switch back to 9 after 5 mins on P, but sometimes when a pan is already hot, it'll just not give me P as an option. Not entirely sure why!

I might be doing steak tonight, so I might give the lower setting for longer idea a go, fingers crossed this is the miraculous solution I'm after!

When i say lower I still mean a high setting - 8

although I've started doing thick steaks on a medium setting for longer with regular turning and had some great results.

Still can't beat fire though.

[LeadFarmer]

Could it be due to the power output of your induction hob? Do they all have different power outputs?

[Bannock]

£140!!! Lidl had copies of these for £14.99 just before Christmas, buggers had sold out before I could snag one though. I have an induction hob too and cook steak once a week, so it's interesting to hear of the OP's travails. Maybe I dodged a bullet missing out on the Lidl pan, but then £14.99 wouldn't have been the biggest loss if it turned out to be sub-optimal.

[JeffreyD]

LeadFarmer said:

Could it be due to the power output of your induction hob? Do they all have different power outputs?

The two I have had definitely have different power outputs. The latest one boils water significantly quicker than the last.

I think it's due the inbuilt safety override - something that wouldn't happen with a simple gas burner.

[Zumbruk]

UTH said:

The last few times I've cooked steaks, I've put the pan on my induction hob at top whack (9) and had it on there for a good 20 mins, if not more, to try and guarantee it's as hot as it could possibly be.

I'd say there's something "wrong" with your hob. Le Creuset stuff works really well on induction and if I did what you do (20 minutes! ), the glass top of the hob would melt. We have a Neff 5-zone and I can get a cast iron skillet smoking hot in a few seconds on the "P" setting.

Edited by Zumbruk on Wednesday 2nd February 11:31

[NWMark]

Zumbruk said:

UTH said:

The last few times I've cooked steaks, I've put the pan on my induction hob at top whack (9) and had it on there for a good 20 mins, if not more, to try and guarantee it's as hot as it could possibly be.

I'd say there's something "wrong" with your hob. Le Creuset stuff works really well on induction and if I did what you do (20 minutes! ), the glass top of the hob would melt. We have a Neff 5-zone and I can get a cast iron skillet smoking hot in a few seconds on the "P" setting.

Edited by Zumbruk on Wednesday 2nd February 11:31

I was just about to reply the same - we have a NEFF 5 -zone induction hub too and the big ring on 9 heats any pan to smoking hot in seconds.

My guess is the pan you are using is too big or has too much mass for the power of your hob to heat it up properly.

[UTH]

Zumbruk said:

UTH said:

The last few times I've cooked steaks, I've put the pan on my induction hob at top whack (9) and had it on there for a good 20 mins, if not more, to try and guarantee it's as hot as it could possibly be.

I'd say there's something "wrong" with your hob. Le Creuset stuff works really well on induction and if I did what you do (20 minutes! ), the glass top of the hob would melt. We have a Neff 5-zone and I can get a cast iron skillet smoking hot in a few seconds on the "P" setting.

Edited by Zumbruk on Wednesday 2nd February 11:31

Thing is I think the hob is fine as it boils water brilliantly, cooks everything else absolutely fine.......I think it's just this pan isn't well suited to what I'm trying to achieve the more I think about it.

[Calza]

Try warming it up in the oven first with the steak?

[UTH]

Calza said:

Try warming it up in the oven first with the steak?

Well I usually cook thick steaks reverse sear so that would work as oven first, but thinner steaks I go straight to pan.....I guess I could just heat the pan in the oven beforehand......seems a bit of a long winded way.....but it would achieve what I'm aiming for I guess. So I might give it a go tonight. Especially if we're having garlic bread or something that needs the oven anyway......

[hyphen]

UTH said:

I know there are plenty of people who will say Le Creuset is overpriced tat or whatever, so consider me told on that front.

I got one of these for Christmas: https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/p/cast-iron-squa...

The last few times I've cooked steaks, I've put the pan on my induction hob at top whack (9) and had it on there for a good 20 mins, if not more, to try and guarantee it's as hot as it could possibly be. Last time, I even moved it from one side of the hob to the other and whacked it up to 9, just in case one side was considering itself 'too hot' and limiting the heat, or something like that - (I don't 100% understand how the hob works as sometimes it won't let me put it as high as I want)

However, even after leaving it for this long, I come to put the steak on and it just doesn't seem to be hot enough - my old cheap, thin pan used to get so much hotter and sear the steak pretty well, lots of smoke etc.

Is this just the nature of Le Creuset pans? Should I just give up on using this pan to cook steaks as it's clearly not doing the job as well as I'd like? Or am I being an idiot? Perhaps it's the induction method, as I can't help but feel having it over a raging gas flame it would be getting bloody hot.

I'd hate this pan to have been a waste of a Christmas present, but it seems a bit disappointing so far.

Whats the power rating on your zone? I have an induction hob (7.4kw ish) going back a few years and the biggest ring is rated at 2.4 kW and 21cm ish which is lower than todays top versions which can be 3.5kw for a ring and 11kw overall.

With Cast Iron, you are supposed to use low to medium heat and keep it going for 10 minutes, but for my Le Creuset rectangular grill I put the Boost mode on, and then down to 8 and it's fine. (mine fits across two rings but if just grilling one steak would use just the one side.

With regards to Le Creuset quality, I have had my griddle a while and was happy, but since read that a proper griddle should have deeper ridges and more triangular shaped to the top than rounded ones.

Since I read that I had a browse of griddles in an upmarket department store, and the likes of Staub and so on were indeed much deeper and less rounded so I would in future not default to Le Creuset but actually look and feel the competition prior to purchase.

Edited by hyphen on Wednesday 2nd February 13:21

[hyphen]

tog said:

...Induction hobs frequently manage how much power they are using - I can't use all rings on maximum heat at the same time for example. If I turn one up too high it will reduce another. It explains in the manual which rings affect which others, but I can never remember exactly the right combination to use.

Induction hobs look much the same, but despite this price varies from a few hundred to £2K. The power specs differ at the price points so very much a case of getting the best you can afford.

Mine retailed for around £500 and whilst have no complaints, I would spend more in future regardless.

Edited by hyphen on Wednesday 2nd February 13:22

[Jer_1974]

I have the same pan and an induction hob. Mine gets smoking hot and changes colour slightly when it gets smoking hot. Even the handle gets too hot to touch after a while.