Before professional-style induction ranges were introduced to the market, customers without gas designing professional-style kitchens were limited to a cooktop and wall oven configuration.
Miele and Viking are two of the only manufacturers that make a range that looks like a professional-style gas range yet has an induction cooking surface.
What is Induction?
Induction is the best cooking technology on the market because it is the fastest, cleanest, safest, and most efficient cooking method. Induction cooking varies from traditional radiant electric cooking because radiant cooktops heat the glass to heat your pan. Induction cooking is much faster and much more efficient. Induction cooktops have a magnet that reacts with your pan making your pan the cooking surface.
As someone who cooked on a professional gas range growing up, I was amazed to see how fast induction cooktops could boil water. Induction cooktops are the easiest cooktops to clean because the glass does not get hot during the cooking process. For easy cleanability you could place a towel in between your pan and the cooktop while you are cooking to catch any spills or splatters.
Induction cooktops will only work if the cooking surface detects a pan on top of it. This is a great safety features because small children and pets cannot accidentally turn on an induction cooktop.
Lastly, induction cooking has a low amount of residual heat relative to gas cooking. Therefore you do not need to produce a high power range hood to go above your range. I often have customers try to place a 30’’ professional gas range in a condo high rise with no way to vent to the outside. Many towns will not allow you to put a high output gas range in a kitchen without proper ventilation. Professional induction ranges are a great option for customers who are limited by local building codes or cannot vent outside.
Miele
Miele is the largest family-owned company in the appliance industry. They are also the most vertically integrated company meaning that their design, manufacturing, assembly process is done nearly entirely in Germany. The vertical integration of their company results in very strict quality control.
Their products have the best reputation in the Yale service department. Previously Miele was a company primarily known for dishwashers, compact laundry, and cooktops/ wall ovens. Miele recently released a new line of professional-style ranges, including one of the coolest induction ranges on the market.
Miele 30'' HR1622I - $6,999
- 4 induction burners
- M-Touch control panel flips forward during cooking process
- Masterchef menu-driven system walks you through the cooking process of any recipe
- Backlit oven controls make it easy to operate the range
- Twin power convection fans for even cooking and browning
- Moisture plus feature allows you to attach your range to a water line to get spritz of steam in the oven during specific gourmet cycles
- Wireless roast probe
- Soft-close and soft-open doors
- Clean touch steel front designed to limit fingerprints on the cooking surface
Viking
Viking is an American appliance brand that is very well-known in the professional style range market. Recently the brand has been acquired by the Middleby Range Corporation in an effort to restore the brand’s reputation. To be transparent Yale does not sell any Viking appliances.
VISC5304BSS - $7,899
- 4 Induction Burners
- True convection oven
- Availability in a variety of color finishes (extra cost)
- 3-year full manufacturers’ warranty
Which Would I Buy?
This one is a no-brainer. The Miele range has a larger range of burner power, a better oven control system, more features, and statistically is a much more reliable product. There is no question that I would buy the Miele range over the Viking model.
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