Product review (5 stars): First Induction Experience
As an electronics engineer, I've been fascinated with the concept of induction cooking since the 1970s. Low-cost Magnetron tubes eventually put microwave ovens ahead of induction cooking technology in the kitchen, but microwave ovens don't allow for turning food over by hand, or allow for hand-stirring during cooking. A "must" for many types of food.

For the past 30 years, whenever my wife wanted to cook fried foods, she would do it on the patio - weather permitting - to keep the grease and spatter to a minimum inside her kitchen. She usually struggled with one type or another of a very hard to clean single-element "hotplate". With a large frying pan sitting on it, the thing was unstable, had too little power (only 750 watts) for frying, and was usually a mess from spills and splatters which "baked on" to the unit forming hard black deposits (the red hot heating elements are great for turning cooking oil into varnish - not to mention the fire hazard involved if splashed oil hits the element).

This Sunpentown unit provided a large flat stable (and cool) surface for her pans, and is simple to keep clean and "brand new"-looking all the time.

The 1250 cooking watts is plenty for deep frying. She prefers to use one of the 7 different "cooking levels" (duty cycle, actually - the same way a normal big electric range turns the element on and off to maintain an approximate heat setting); but doesn't care to use the built in temperature sensor settings.

The built in timer is nice, but we almost never use that feature either.

My only wish is that the built-in cooling fan for the electronics was just a wee bit quieter. It's quiet, but still noticeable in a quiet room.

Because the cooking vessel is heated directly (wasting little heat) I don't believe it's possible to deliver more heat to a pot from any 115V 'hotplate' style single-burner cooker. There's the added advantage that a misplaced towel cannot possibly catch fire either. It's also very difficult to burn one's self with this unit. The glass does become hot due to heat from the pan - but cools quickly enough (and, after all, when frying it only reaches about 425F - compared to a traditional hotplate's 1100F element).