What may look like an oversized toaster oven may actually be a peek into the future of cooking, with Panasonic unveiling what it says is the first ever counter top induction oven, and then some.
Induction technology — more popular in Europe — uses magnets instead of flames, to heat specifically designed plates or trays, and nothing else. If you were to touch the oven surface with your hand, you wouldn’t feel any heat at all.
“So the induction cooker on the bottom heats the metal in this pan. This heats up very, very quickly and to very high temperatures,” explained Ken Megarr, a researcher and developer for Panasonic. “The other technology comes from the top, and those are high intensity infrared lights. They provide browning across the top and also because of their wavelength throw heat into the product as well."
With the ability to cook things like a chicken dinner for four in under 20-minutes, Panasonic claims this is two to three times faster than a conventional oven.
Now among the big questions here, who is this best suited for and does this replace anything in your kitchen?
Master chefs from the Culinary Institute of America were consulted on its construction and say, aside from not being able to cook large meals, this technology suits most of their needs.
“I think you know people that have limited kitchen space at home would do really well with something like this because it’s a very versatile piece of equipment,” said David Kamen of the Culinary Institute of America. “People who don’t cook a lot and don’t want to make a big investment in a lot of different pieces of equipment this would work well for because again it’s very versatile."
The counter top induction oven is out around the holiday season for around $600.