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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

induction

Is The US Power Grid Prepared For The Transition To Induction Cooking?

In case you haven’t heard, electricity demand is shooting through the roof.

After more than two decades of flattened usage due to more efficient lightbulbs, appliances, and factories, the growing adoption of EVs and the explosion in new data centers for compute-intensive applications such as AI over the last few years has resulted in skyrocketing demand for electricity, according to a new report in the New York Times. In fact, forecasters estimate that peak demand in the summer will grow by 38,000 megawatts nationwide in the next five years, which is akin to adding another California to an already overburdened grid.

Above: Electricity Demand Over Time and Forecasted Demand. Source: New York Times

The Times report does a good job highlighting how EVs and higher usage air conditioning in homes are two of the biggest culprits for reversing the trend, but largely omits any discussion of another potential big driver of electricity usage in the future: induction cooking.

And from the looks of it, induction could significantly impact the overall electricity usage of a family home. While it’s more energy efficient in general, a household switching from gas to electric induction cooking will use more electricity. How much? According to some sources, an hour of induction cooking will use between 1.4 kW and 2 kW per day. That compares with about 2.5 kW per day in charging for the typical EV.

So, not quite as much as EV, but still enough to translate to a significant draw on the grid once we’re talking tens of millions of induction stoves. All of which begs the question, will the grid be ready?

It’s something that’s definitely on the mind of some in the appliance world. One appliance executive recently told me that grid readiness is one of the microenvironment variables they are factoring in when evaluating their own induction cooktop strategy. Add to that various local restrictions around gas cooking (and pushback against said restrictions), and the calculation as to how much they push electric appliances gets somewhat nuanced depending on a given market’s grid readiness and regulatory environment.

My own guess is that while we’re finally seeing induction making inroads in the US, the adoption isn’t moving at such a rate that it will make matters significantly worse than other factors, such as EV and data center growth. In fact, it’s because those other reasons have grabbed the attention of those responsible for forecasting and building out our electricity infrastructure that the industry will more than likely be ready for when we hit tens and even hundreds of millions of induction cooktops in homes.

BonBowl Looks Like a Pretty Great Personal Induction Cooker

It’s been a long time since I was single and living alone, but I remember a particular hassle from that time was cooking for myself. Aside from not being a very good cook, recipes often made too much food for one person, took too long to create, and the clean up was a pain.

Too bad the BonBowl didn’t exist back then. The BonBowl is a new personal induction cooking system that promises to help people whip up fresh-cooked meals without a lot of complications.

The BonBowl has two parts, the induction cooktop base and a specially designed bowl that fits on top of it that cooks and is also the serving dish. BonBowl is compact enough to stay on a kitchen counter, and the bowl is big enough to serve a generous-sized meal for one. Because it uses induction, there isn’t a hot surface to be wary of, and it plugs into a standard outlet. The bowl is also dishwasher safe, making cleanup easy.

Because consumers in the U.S. might not be familiar with induction cooking, the BonBowl website (there isn’t a mobile app yet) also features a number of recipes for guidance. All of the recipes feature five ingredients or less that you can find at most stores and take less than 15 minutes to cook.

BonBowl’s launch is coming at a time when the global pandemic has re-shaped our eating habits and more people have been forced to eat at home. While restaurants are re-opening, people are still wary about dining there. Restaurant delivery is an option, but it has ethical complications (it’s also expensive!). Having a personal cooker like a BonBowl could come in handy, especially if there’s a second wave of coronavirus on its way.

There has been some renewed interest in innovative at-home cooking appliances. Earlier this week, Tovala announced that it raised $20 million for its connected oven and meal service. The oven itself has a scan-to-cook feature that allows for easy meal preparation.

BonBowl is bootstrapped and was founded by Mike Kobida, a veteran product designer whose previous company, Spectrom3D was acquired by MakerBot in 2015. Kobida currently has three patents pending on the BonBowl.

Single people, or anyone interested in compact cooking appliances, can pre-order the BonBowl right now for $129, and it will ship throughout the U.S. on July 21.

Whirlpool Patents Induction-Powered Sous Vide Cooking Appliance

Whirlpool has been awarded a patent for a new sous vide appliance that utilizes an induction system to both heat and power a cooking vessel with an internal water circulator. The system described in the patent also has Wi-Fi and a microcontroller to control the cook.

While the description of the system is very detailed (you can read it in all its glory here), below is a brief summary of how it works:

The system includes an induction heating surface that both heats water as well as powers an internal circulator within the vessel. The larger vessel, which sits atop the induction surface, has an internal vessel within it. There is a gap in between the two vessels where water circulates and is heated. The heating system is powered by a magnetic coupling  of two plates.  The internal stirring plate rotates and has heated blades on it, which help circulate and heat the water.

You can see a diagram of the blade-system below:

An internal plate with blades circulates and heats water within the vessel gap

The whole system, which is controlled through a user interface on the induction hob/surface, has a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth temperature probe that sends water temperature information back to the induction surface. The system can also be controlled via Wi-Fi and an embedded microcontroller.

With this patent, it looks like Whirlpool has created an interesting induction-based sous vide system that is differentiated from the sous vide circulators from the likes of Anova and Nomiku and the water bath systems that started appearing over a dozen years ago.

As with all patents, there’s no guarantee that Whirlpool will actually productize their innovation. The company filed the patent in late 2015 and it doesn’t appear at this point that the company has brought the system to market. Personally, I think an induction cooktop with a turnkey sous vide cooking vessel is an intriguing new product, so I’ll be keeping an eye out to see what the appliance giant does with this patent.

How will sous vide fit into into the kitchen of the future? Come to the Smart Kitchen Summit to find out. 

Group That Brought Us Wireless Charging Wants To Do Away With Power Cords In The Kitchen

Appliance garage getting tangled up with power cords?

Not to worry. Eventually, those pesky power cables may some day be a problem of the past. That’s because the Wireless Power Consortium, the same group behind the Qi wireless charging standard, has set its sights beyond mobile phones and now hopes to change how appliances are powered in the kitchen.

Imagine A Cordless Kitchen

So what would a cordless kitchen look like? Not unlike those futuristic videos you’ve probably seen, one where everyday surfaces like kitchen countertops and tables can send power to products ranging from coffee makers to cookware.

In a white paper published by the WPC in February, the group highlights a few key use cases, two of which are illustrated in the artist rendering below.

Using cordless appliances on a kitchen counter. Image credit: Wireless Power Consortium/Philips

The first image on the left is one where a small kitchen appliance like a blender is powered without the need for a cable. In the second image on the right, the counter acts not only as a source of heat using induction heating, but also utilizes wireless power technology to enable communication between the cookware and the heat source to set the appropriate power for high-precision cooking.

How Does It Work?

How will wireless power in the kitchen work? Like the Qi standard for smaller devices like phones, the KWG will use induction charging, where a magnetic power coil (MPC) in the surface couples with a second coil in the appliance.

If you are familiar with induction heating for cooking, this utilizes the same induction power transfer concepts, only in this case instead of heating a pan or other piece of cookware, the power is converted back to electricity.

The KWG has settled on NFC as the primary communication technology in part because it is safer. One obvious safety benefit of NFC is the technology requires close proximity for communication, which means practically zero chance of an appliance communicating with the wrong transmitter.

A Long Cook Cycle

The history of the Wireless Power’s Kitchen Working Group (KWG) dates back to 2013 when consumer electronics giants Philips and Haier started pushing the WPC to look at developing a kitchen standard.

Four years later, the group is still busy plugging away and, while things are moving slowly, the group chaired by Hans Kaublau is still working towards a world where kitchen cords are a thing of the past.

Why are things moving so slowly?

According to Kablau, there are few reasons. One is it’s simply taken some time to get wireless power charging to the point where it can power appliances. Qi, the WPC’s first standard, took years to develop, starting in 2009 with 5W power requirement and in 2015 bumping that up to 15W capability (medium power). This year, the WPC hopes to enable charging of high power devices with 100W capability.

Second is it takes time to get buy in from all the major stakeholders. While Haier and Philips were there from the beginning, the group has yet to get buy in from appliance giants Whirlpool and Electrolux.

Another challenge may be a divided industry. There continues to be something of a wireless power standards battle going on, with the Airfuel Alliance developing a different set of technologies for wireless power that utilizes resonant charging, a technology that offers benefits over WPC’s inductive charging such as longer ranges for power transfer. The Airfuel Alliance, which is backed by technology powerhouses like Qualcomm and Samsung and battery giant Duracell, doesn’t have a kitchen-focused initiative, but does say the technology can be used for “kitchen applications”.

All of this still that hasn’t stopped the two founding companies of WPG’s Kitchen Working Group from working on prototypes. In 2016, Philips showed off a prototype on Fuji TV in Japan of an electric fryer with wireless power. You can see the video of the product in action below:

Cordless Kitchen Demonstration by Philips with Würth Elektronik Coils

The KWG is hoping to finalize the version 0.9 specification by the end of 2017. The specification has largely been defined but is currently being tested by the working group.

As a result, “we could be looking at products out next year,” said Kablau.

While I am excited for a future where we see cords go away and all our kitchen appliances are magically charged simply by setting them down on the counter, I suspect such a future is still a long way off.  One only has to look at how slow induction heating has been to take off in the US to see how resistant the traditional kitchen and appliance makers – as well as consumers – are to change.

Still, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for the future of the cordless kitchen.  There are clear benefits of dropping power cords, whether it means a more orderly countertop or the greater safety of no cords on wet surfaces, and with cordless kitchen products debuting as soon as next year, it might be time for the industry and consumers to start getting excited as well.

If you want to hear Wireless Power Consortium Char Hans Kablau speak about the cordless kitchen, make sure to come to the Smart Kitchen Summit in October. Use the discount code SPOON for 25% off of tickets.

How The Smart Kitchen May Help Induction Cooking Finally Heat Up In The US

In the world of food tech, induction burners and cooktops have an uncertain future, despite some of their obvious benefits. Known for their ability to save energy and offer precise cooking temperatures, the market is poorly differentiated and highly segmented.  This has confused consumers and led to slow growth and adoption in the home kitchen. For those looking to optimize their smart kitchen design, it’s difficult to determine whether an induction surface aims to be a platform for other devices or an intelligent loner. And for masses, the induction burner may be a costly, unnecessary luxury.

Induction cooking uses magnetic induction as opposed to the more common thermal induction used in gas and electric cooktops. Magnetic induction rapidly generates heat and is safer and more efficient than other heat sources. Restaurant and commercial kitchens have recognized the value of the burners, adding capacity when needed in peak order times.  Kitchen in revolving restaurants 50 stories up discovered the value of these burners, as have RV-ers and boaters.

It is important to note that not all cookware can be used with induction cooktops. The easiest way to determine if your pots and pans are suitable is to test them with a magnet. Many manufacturers of induction burners sell specially designed cookware to complement the overall purchase.

At issue is the confusing array of choices available, with variations coming among the options accompanying the burner itself. The entry level segment is those single burners that look to be fancy hotplates, often showcased on infomercials and home shopping shows. They frequently are on television cooking shows in food trucks or small kitchen operations. Because of general consumer unfamiliarity, a well-designed TV commercial can illustrate the benefits and versatility of the appliance.

The next segment is the market for standalone induction burners with some degree of IoT smarts. Offerings in this area are quickly “heating up” with products from established manufacturers (Salton and Hamilton Beach) to crowdsourced-based hopefuls and newcomers such as FirstBuid’s Paragon and the Oliso Smarthub. Cookware giant Meyer has bet on the pairing of induction heating with Bluetooth pan and app control and guidance to present a “guided cooking” system in the Hestan Cue, which the company plans to finally roll out to customers in the spring. Using Bluetooth or WiFi, a sensing probe and in some cases proprietary pots and pans, these induction burners can be controlled using apps on your smartphone tailored to individual recipes.

The move from standalone burner where the home chef provides the smarts to those controlled by sensors and apps adds cost. Entry level units, such as the NuWave (the one As Seen on TV), are priced as low as $70, but the addition of IoT features takes the price up to $500. For those on an unlimited budget, there is the Breville PolyScience model (with the apt name Control Freak) with a special probe and precise temperature control for $1,800.

Moving up in price, but down in intelligence, are the induction burner cooktops that are sold either separately or along with a stove. Whirlpool and General Electric, along with other major appliance manufacturers, are in on this part of the market with prices ranging from $600 up to $7,000 (for the Wolf induction cooktop and stove) and beyond. Many induction cooktops offer timers and precise heat controls but little more in additional functionality. The exception is the Samsung version which projects an artificial flame to show consumers the level of heat being generated. Samsung does have a few induction models that can be controlled with a smartphone app, but that functionality is limited to such features as a virtual on/off switch.

At CES 2014, Whirlpool showcased an interactive cooktop that functions as a platform similar to Samsung’s Family Hub which currently is baked into their newer refrigerator lines. The vision for the interactive cooktops is one in which the home chef can find recipes on a stove-top screen and use built-in heat-controlling sensors to facilitate culinary greatness.  The induction range in this scenario becomes an IoT platform to control and interact with other smart appliances. That was three years ago and now, with the fridge a more popular choice as an IoT hub, the cooktop may be reduced to a lesser role in the smart kitchen.

And finally, at this year’s CES Panasonic introduced a unique spin on induction with a countertop induction oven. Unlike other induction heating products, Panasonic’s Countertop Induction Oven (CIO) is a fully enclosed cooking unit that is the size of a microwave oven. According to Digital Trends Jenny McGrath, the CIO was able to cook a full meal of chicken cutlets in about 23 minutes.

There have been past concerns about adoption of induction cooking in the U.S., compared to its popularity in the European market with smaller kitchen spaces. That appears to be changing.  Poor uptake was based on the limited consumer choices and consumers figuring out how the burners fit into their personal culinary style. The smart induction cooktop will have a challenge finding its market niche, most likely needing to capture the imagination of architects and designers seeking low energy, smart kitchen functionality. The fastest growing segment, souped-up induction hotplates (with or without IoT functionality) appeals to the niche of those in search of nice-to-have gadgets like sous vide machines. For the massive Blue Apron recipe-in-a-box crowd, however, it’s a bright shiny object that looks cooler in a YouTube video than on a ceramic countertop. The most obvious appeal is to provide an extra burner when you have your friends and family over to cook together.