The best portable induction cooktops we tested:
Best portable induction cooktop: Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop
Best budget portable induction cooktop: Duxtop 8100MC Portable Induction Cooktop
Best double-burner portable induction cooktop: Duxtop LCD Portable Double Induction Cooktop
Long the go-to option for recipe demonstrators, food vendors, dorm room cooks and even professional chefs, a portable induction cooktop is more than just a simple hot plate. These single-burner devices come in handy even in the best-equipped kitchen. Whether you’re experimenting with induction to learn new techniques or cut down on using your stove, you’re looking for a tabletop device for family hot pot nights or you just need extra cooking space during the holidays, induction burners are a convenient way to increase your kitchen’s cooking capacity quickly and efficiently.
To find the best portable induction cooktops for your kitchen, we spent the depths of winter preparing classic meals like French onion soup and beef bourguignon on 13 different models and found the best three options for you.
Compact and powerful, the Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop is quick to heat food and cooks more evenly than any other burner we tested. It also comes with a bevy of useful settings such as a child safety lock, a timer, and boil and keep-warm presets.
At a little more than half the price of the 9600LS, the Duxtop 8100MC Portable Induction Cooktop is just as powerful and equally great at cooking, though it drops the convenience features and isn’t as attractively styled.
With a pair of burners, the Duxtop LCD Portable Double Induction Cooktop can boil water for spaghetti and simmer tomato sauce simultaneously. It heats as evenly as the single-burner Duxtop cooktops but takes a bit longer, especially if you cook two things at once.
Best portable induction cooktop:
Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop
$152 $112 at Amazon
The Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop was the best all-around induction burner we tried. It excelled in our cooking tests, handling a variety of tasks with ease. Since an induction cooktop can heat pans directly and efficiently via electromagnetism, it can get up to temperature much faster than a flame or traditional electric burner, and the Duxtop 9600LS got up to temperature the quickest of the competition (and held that temperature more accurately). It cooked just as well as our brand-new LG electric range but in a fraction of the time.
The Duxtop 9600LS was the top-performing burner in our cooking tests. With 1,800W of power and temperature settings ranging from 130 degrees Fahrenheit to 460 degrees Fahrenheit, the 9600LS handled every task and ingredient we tested well. It boiled 2 quarts of water in four minutes, quicker than some cooktops that took upward of five minutes to reach a full boil. The 9600LS burner also gently sautéed onions, caramelizing them perfectly rather than blackening or charring them as happened with the other cooktops we tested. At the highest heat setting, the 9600LS also beautifully browned a beef chuck roast in a cast-iron skillet.
The 9600LS is compact — about 11.5 inches wide by 14 inches deep — and suited even to cramped kitchens, and its design is clean and functional, with a responsive, easy-to-read angled control panel that enabled us to make the most of this burner’s cooking capabilities. You can adjust the burner’s output by either power level or temperature; we found it easier to maintain a steady simmer using the power settings rather than temperature selection. A timer, boil and keep-warm settings, and the ability to lock the heat setting to keep it from accidentally being changed round out the selection of its useful features.
The only issue we encountered was the high-pitched whine common to induction cooktops when used with certain cookware. This was actually less severe with the 9600LS than with the other cooktops we tested, so a point in its favor if you are sensitive to the sound.
Best budget portable induction cooktop:
Duxtop 8100MC Portable Induction Cooktop
$65 $58 at Amazon
The Duxtop 8100MC Portable Induction Cooktop is a great alternative for the occasional user, someone on a budget or people tight on space. For around half the cost of the 9600LS, the Duxtop 8100MC cooks nearly as well, browning meat, sautéing onions and holding a simmer better than the competition. It even brought water to a boil faster than its bigger sibling, in around three and a half minutes.
The 8100MC is slightly more compact than the 9600LS (it’s about an inch shorter in depth) and has a similarly intuitive design, though the aesthetics are a bit less slick and the display more minimal. Like the 9600LS, the 8100MC lets you adjust settings by temperature or power level, though those settings are not as granular, spaced in increments of 40 degrees Fahrenheit rather than 20 degrees Fahrenheit as on the 9600LS. Even more so than with the higher-end model, we found it easier to stick to adjusting the burner output by power instead.
The 8100MC also has a timer function, but it lacks a lock or presets for boiling water and similar common uses. That said, the lack of presets didn’t feel like a deal breaker because it’s still possible to simply set the burner on low (or high) and maintain a constant temperature regardless of having a specialized button for it. We liked the 8100MC’s tactile buttons, by the way, which were a pleasure to use.
As with the 9600LS and the rest of the cooktops we tested, the Duxtop 8100MC produced a whine when in use, but again, we didn’t find that to be a deal breaker.
Best double-burner portable induction cooktop: Duxtop LCD Portable Double Induction Cooktop
$327 $232 at Amazon
If you’re looking to expand your cooking capabilities with two burners, then consider the Duxtop LCD Portable Double Induction Cooktop. It was the best performer of the three double cooktops we tested, keeping water at a steady simmer and browning evenly. Although it was slower to heat than the Duxtop single burners, it still boiled water in less than four and a half minutes.
As on all of the double models, the two burners on the Duxtop are not equally powerful and share the total wattage of the appliance when used at once. Either one can be used in power or temperature mode. The left and more powerful burner is the one to use to bring water to a boil or sear a steak; however, you can’t use it on full power when you’re also cooking on the right burner.
The controls are intuitive, and we especially like the simple one-touch boil and keep warm buttons. There’s also a timer that can be set for up to 10 hours. If you don’t use the timer, the cooktop shuts off automatically after two hours of cooking. A lock setting prevents the cooking and timer settings from being changed but doesn’t keep the unit from being accidentally turned on when not in use.
What to know about cooking with induction
Induction cooktops work very differently from the electric or gas ranges you might be familiar with, and their advantages over both traditional technologies make them a great addition to your meal prep routine. Rather than transferring energy by thermal conduction to your pots and pans (which is what’s happening when you use a flame or an electric coil), an induction burner heats the pan directly via electrical induction.
An induction burner works by passing a rapidly oscillating current through a coil of wire located under the burner surface. This creates a magnetic field (you may remember this from experimenting with electromagnets in school), and the current, which is alternating at a high frequency, produces an eddy current in a pan placed atop the coil. Resistance within the pan then creates heat.
For this to happen, the pan has to be made of a ferrous material, which is why aluminum and copper cookware don’t work on induction surfaces. Cast-iron and most stainless steel cookware should work fine. A good way to test is by bringing a small magnet with you when you’re shopping for cookware: If a magnet sticks to the bottom of a pan you’re interested in, it will work on an induction cooktop. Luckily, the great majority of high-quality cookware we’ve tested recently — from Dutch ovens and cast-iron skillets to nonstick pans — is induction-compatible, and manufacturers, recognizing the interest in the technology, have been making compatibility clear in packaging and labeling.
While any magnetic pan will heat up evenly on an induction cooktop, only pans with a flat disc bottom — like those in our best budget cookware set, the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic — will heat evenly from end to end.
The benefits of induction are many. For starters, induction burners are at least twice as fast as gas or electric burners for most tasks. Since induction doesn’t depend on transferring thermal energy, induction burners are both comfortable to work in front of and very safe — only the pan itself is heated during cooking, so there’s no residual heat and the burner’s surface remains relatively cool. And, of course, there’s no environmental risk or climate impact as there is with gas burners.
Single-burner portable induction cooktops are a great way to experiment with the technology if you’re considering swapping out your gas or electric stove, or to incorporate it into your routine if you rent and don’t have that option. With about the footprint of a food processor, they’re great for temporarily adding additional capacity to your kitchen for the holidays or for family meals like hot pot that require a heat source at the table. Since they’re cool to the touch, they’re a lot safer than traditional electric hot plates — and they’re superior performers too. Plus, they’re easy to keep clean and to store away when not in use.
An issue common to induction burners — and we encountered it to some extent on every burner we tested — was that they tend to emit a high-pitched whine, whistling, rattling or humming sound when pots or pans are on the activated burner. Although the sound was annoying to us, some people are more sensitive to it than others and your mileage may vary. Either way, it is not cause for concern or the result of a defective burner.
The whining noise is more pronounced at high-heat settings or in lightweight pans, pans smaller than the burner coils or pans with little food. Heavier cookware, such as cast-iron pans, can mitigate it somewhat, as can always making sure to choose pans that fully cover the burner area.
How we tested
We tested each induction burner with an array of simple but standard cooking tasks, noting which models performed especially well or poorly and if there were any design issues that impacted functionality. We assessed the burners across a range of criteria.
Cooking functions
- Heat distribution: We determined how evenly the burners performed by heating greased and floured skillets and evaluating the browning pattern.
- Sautéing: For a real-life application, we tested how well the burners sautéed onions, noting whether they caramelized or if they started browning and burning.
- Searing: We also tested the high-heat searing abilities of the burners by browning large chunks of chuck roast for a beef bourguignon.
- Boiling: We did a couple simple tests to see how quickly the burners were able to boil water and, subsequently, if they were able to consistently hold a simmer.
Build
- Included features: Out of the box, we noted things like preset cooking functions, the size of each burner and quality of construction. We also paid attention to any useful features like a child safety lock or cooking timer.
- Sounds: If any burners beeped when making setting selections or when the timer was up, we also took note of that.
- Button feel: We noted how tactile the buttons were and if any were especially unresponsive. Some burners only had membrane control panels, while others had physical buttons and switches.
Other induction cooktops we tested
GreenPan 1800W Induction Cooktop
$130 $100 at Amazon
When it comes to cooking performance, the GreenPan 1800W Induction Cooktop is a close runner-up to the Duxtop 9600. It also heated evenly, kept water at a slow bubble and was almost as fast, taking only about 30 seconds longer to bring water to a boil. The control panel is simple to use but isn’t as large and easy to read as the Duxtop. And while you can set it by power or temperature, it has fewer settings all around. It also lacks the one-touch boil and keep warm features, though it does have a child lock to keep it from being accidentally turned on. We also appreciated its crevice-free glass surface that is easy to wipe clean.
NuWave PIC Flex Precision Induction Cooktop
$80 at Amazon
With its 11-inch round surface, the NuWave PIC Flex Precision Induction Cooktop is extremely compact and offers a big benefit to those in a small kitchen. However, with 1300W, it’s less powerful than the others we tested — all of which have 1800W. This led it to be slower to heat up, which was most significant when it came to boiling water. The NuWave has six heat settings from low to max/sear, and each setting can be fine-tuned in 10-degree temperature increments.
If you don’t set a cooking time, the cooktop shuts off after one hour. The timer may be complicated, but it does offer a ton of preprogramming options, allowing you to cook at different heat settings for varying amounts of time. For instance, you can set it to cook a soup on high for about five minutes, bring it to a boil, then automatically drop to a simmer for a longer period of time. A 40-recipe cookbook with color photos is included.
Ikea Tillreda
$60 at Ikea
The Ikea Tillreda was slightly slower at boiling water than our top picks, but what really bothered us was that even at the lowest setting it couldn’t maintain a simmer. However, while it didn’t show a perfectly even heating pattern, it did do a good job of browning beef for stew. Almost every other cooktop we tested has circles on the surface to show you exactly where to place your pan, but the Tillreda has just a very small circle in the center surrounded by four lines, which makes it a little trickier to position your pan precisely.
In addition to its low price, the Tillreda does have some real advantages. The totally smooth ceramic-glass surface is super convenient to clean. When not in use, the controls lock to keep children or a wayward adult finger from turning the cooktop on, but that does mean that every time you cook, you have to remember to deactivate the lock. If you don’t put a pan on the burner or use the wrong cookware, you’re alerted by a beep. One thing to keep in mind is that you can only program the Tillreda by power level, not by temperature.
Aaobosi Portable Induction Cooktop
$66 at Amazon
The design of the Aaobosi Portable Induction Cooktop is visually appealing, and it’s a steal for around $66, but we found the buttons tough to use, and it was unable to consistently maintain a simmer.
Cuisinart Double Induction Cooktop
$230 at Cuisinart
Of all the cooktops we tested, the Cuisinart Double Induction Cooktop took the longest by far to boil water: more than six and a half minutes. It was unable to keep water at a steady simmer, even on the lowest setting. Although it didn’t show a perfectly even browning pattern, it was able to put a good sear on chunks of stew meat. The controls are easy to use but can only be set by power level, not by temperature. The burner on the right is not only less powerful but also designed to be used with a smaller pot.
Breville Control Freak
$1,500 $1,480 at Amazon
The Breville Control Freak is for people who want the very best and have the big bucks to pay for it. As the name promises, it gives ultimate control over the cooking process. It heats a pan to a specific temperature for a task like searing a steak or melting chocolate — or, with the probe that comes with it, maintains a perfectly steady temperature in a soup, sauce or stew. The probe can also be used with an accompanying setting to keep oil at a constant temperature for deep frying, and an LCD display shows the exact temperature of the pan or food as it’s heating.
With the Breville, you can control the speed at which food heats up and the intensity at which it simmers. We found all of this technology delivered on its promise. This cooktop not only heated quickly but also browned perfectly evenly, and did indeed maintain a spot-on temperature over an extended period of time. Keep in mind, however, that it’s a lot larger, bulkier and heavier than other single-burner models, so you won’t want to be pulling it out and putting it away often. If you can spare the countertop space to keep it sitting out permanently, you just might find yourself using it regularly instead of your range or built-in cooktop. A carrying case comes with the product as well.
Tramontina Guru 4-Piece Starter Set
$300 at Tramontina
The Tramontina Guru is a powerful induction burner with a large cooking surface and built-in scale, and it comes with a set of pans that performed well in tests. We don’t think the smart features justify the high price tag, however. Most cooks will be better served pairing one of our overall picks with the pans they already own.
The Tramontina has a series of preset temperatures for warming, boiling and braising, which was convenient. It took only four minutes for water to boil — on par with the top performers in our tests. But onions got a bit charred and needed watching to make sure they caramelized rather than blackened. The burner, measuring 19.7 by 19.7 inches, did a nice job searing a chuck roast, browning the meat evenly and effectively.
The app has nearly 200 recipes built in, which may be helpful if you’re new to induction cooking, but while the app was responsive and the connection held steady, it didn’t really make it easier to use the burner. In some cases, like stirring onions with a wooden spoon, using it meant we had to take our hands away from the cooktop, where they would have been more useful. That said, the interface of the app was more responsive than the touchscreen on the burner itself, suggesting that it was really designed with that in mind.
The starter kit comes with a 4-quart stainless steel sauce pan and lid, as well as a 9.5-inch ceramic nonstick pan, a set of measuring spoons and a small metallic ruler. The pans performed well enough that they’re worth seeking out if you need pots that are compatible with an induction burner.
Isiler Portable Induction Cooktop
$70 at Amazon
The Isiler Portable Induction Cooktop was a close second to the two Duxtop cooktops we recommend. This burner’s large footprint — about an inch deeper than the Duxtop 9600LS — is what ultimately pushed it out of contention. If you have a lot of counter space, then this burner worked as well as our main recommendations. But in our small apartment, that extra depth meant it was harder to use and store.
Zavor Pro Portable Induction Cooktop
$200 $130 at Sur La Table
The Zavor Pro Portable Induction Cooktop works well and offers a lot of functionality, such as numerous preset cooking settings. If you’re highly sensitive to noise, then this burner might be a good choice, as we didn’t notice a whining sound when using this model. However, the Zavor has the largest footprint of the models we tested and was more expensive than most induction cooktops we tested. Plus, it has heat settings that are incrementally adjustable only by temperature, not by power level, which we missed when trying to hold a simmer.
Max Burton 6400 Digital Choice Induction Cooktop
Currently unavailable at Amazon
The popular and affordable Max Burton 6400 Digital Choice Induction Cooktop has an attractive look, with an angled display that makes setting the burner simple. We ultimately dismissed this burner from consideration as a winner because its heat settings weren’t granular enough to maintain a simmer. It also has a higher-pitched whine than others, which was difficult to tolerate, and creating burnt onions rather than nicely caramelized ones.