The Freedom Induction Cooktop from Thermador is one of the most innovative appliances on the market.
In this article I’ll talk about how this cooktop performs in the kitchen.
Table of Contents
Intro
Induction cooktops are becoming a popular choice for many homeowners instead of gas because of their responsive heat control, easy clean up and safety features.
Founded in 1916, Thermador has been a vital trendsetter when it comes to leading cooking technologies, first in commercial kitchens, but then introducing the very first pro-style stove to the residential market.
In carrying on their tradition of creating pro-style appliances, the Freedom Induction Cooktop was made, and it’s truly the first of its kind.
Unlike all other cooktops on the market that have specific burners or burner zones, the entire surface of the Freedom induction cooktop can be used as a burner.
That means you can place your pot or pan anywhere on the surface and it will automatically detect the placement and size of your cookware.
This also means you don’t have to worry about using small pans with small burners and large pans with large burners.
You truly have the flexibility to use large pots and pans freely, even large griddles and chef pans, which we’ll show later.
Power Levels
Here we’re testing our 36″ freedom induction cooktop, which allows for up to 6 pots and pans at the same time.
The control panel automatically detects where each pan sits on the cooktop. As you move the pans around, the cooktop remembers the pans temperature setting so that when you place it back down, the cooktop resumes at the previous temperature you were using.
In terms of temperature settings, this cooktop has 18 power levels, starting at 1, the lowest. This setting is used for delicate tasks like melting chocolate or heating sauces without burning the bottom of your pan.
The power levels go up in .5 increments all the way up to 9, which can be used for deep frying.
Then you have Power Boost to get you water boiling in record time.
There is also a Pan Boost setting that gets your pans quickly up to temperature so you can start cooking faster if you’re in a hurry.
Speed of Cooking
The reason why people love induction is because it saves you time and gets dinner on the table faster.
When we tested the Thermador, we were able to boil 2 quarts of water in under 4 minutes, great for hard boiled eggs, pastas, couscous or oats.
We also tested 6 quarts of water, the typical amount needed for cooking a 1lb box of pasta, in just under 12 minutes. By comparison, using a high powered gas range took us a full 18 minutes to boil.
The reason for this is because with there is no energy loss with induction and all of the heating power is efficiently transferred directly to the pan.
With gas, not all of the heat from the flame is absorbed by the pan, almost half of it escapes around the sides, making induction a far more efficient and responsive heating source.
In addition to high heat performance, this cooktop also performs well with low heat.
Using the lowest setting we were able to melt chocolate and keep it melted for a long period of time without scorching the bottom of the pan. Same goes for a delicate Alfredo sauce we made.
These low settings are also handy for just keeping your food warm until you’re ready to serve.
If you have a recipe that calls for frequent temperature changes, the MyZone feature is really neat.
It allows you to control the temperature of the pan by sliding it up or down the cooktop instead of using the control panel.
At the bottom of the cooktop is the lowest power level and as you slide up, the temperature gradually increases to the highest setting. This is really cool and gives you a more tactile, responsive cooking experience.
Not to mention, it prevents you from easily burning or overcooking foods that are sensitive like onions or seafood.
Use Cookware of Any Size
As we mentioned before, the Freedom Induction cooktop let’s you use cookware of any size without having to worry about it fitting on a particular burner zone.
This allows you to use all sorts of neat cookware from wok pans to large griddles.
In one of our tests we used a large griddle. Being able to use a large griddle like this is a game changer and will likely become a fan favorite in your kitchen.
This particular griddle is 21 inches x 13 inches and sold as an optional accessory by Thermador.
If you’ve ever tried to use a griddle before, you likely have experienced inconsistent temperatures across the griddle surface. That is not the case with the Thermador cooktop since the cooktop is able to apply heat across the entire surface.
One of the most popular uses of a griddle is for breakfast foods. We were able to fit 8 pancakes at a time and could probably fit more if I was being more careful with placement. The pancakes cooked perfectly even across the entire griddle.
Other breakfast foods like eggs or bacon are also a breeze to cook. The results were perfect.
But griddles aren’t just great for breakfast items either. We cooked two hibachi style strip steaks on one side and vegetables on the other – needless to say the results were yet again perfect and delicious.
Want to use large chef style woks and pans?
We tested a 16″ chef pan which allows you to cook large amounts of food at once. For this test we did wok style vegetables with soy sauce. Normally this pan would be too large for most induction cooktops and even some gas cooktops, but the Theramdor handles it with ease while giving you the most beautiful results.
Wireless Cooking Sensor
The Freedom cooktop can also be paired with an optional wireless cooking sensor.
Apply the sensor to the side of the your pot using the supplied silicon pads. Using the cooktop control panel, you can select any temperature from 165 degrees all the way up to about 350 degrees.
The cooktop will automatically bring the contents of the pot to the selected temperature and keep it at that temperature indefinitely.
This allows you to keep foods like soup or chili at a consistently warm serving temperature, simmer milk, make the perfect risotto, melt fondue cheese, or keep oil at the perfect temperature for deep frying things like homemade French fries or chicken wings.
Easy Clean
After all our testing, we made a bit of a mess. But luckily this cooktop can be cleaned in less than 10 seconds.
For this ease of use alone, induction cooktops should be a strong consideration for anyone looking to speed up their time in the kitchen.
Safety
In additional to convenience, safety is another often overlooked benefit of induction cooktops and you’ll never leave your house again worried that you may have left your cooktop burners on.
Since your pots and pans are what generates the heat in induction cooking, as soon as you lift the cookware, the cooktop turns off.
Further, the cook surface itself doesn’t get dangerously hot. The only heat is the residual heat from the pan touching the cooktop and as soon as it’s lifted, the cook surface begins to cool down.
Thermador has also intelligently included an indictor light to tell you if there is a high level of residual heat present, giving you a visual cue to avoid touching the surface directly.
App Integration
Last but not least, Thermador wouldn’t be on the cusp of innovation without their convenient app integration – Home Connect.
Designed to simplify your life, Home Connect allows you tons of possibilities at your fingertips from personalized control of your cooktop, helpful notifications, custom recipes and cooktop maintenance settings.
Conclusion
This Thermador Freedom induction cooktop offers the most innovative cooking precision without sacrificing impressive quality.
We think this should be near the top of your list when considering a new induction cooktop.