LCG3091ST

What You Need to Know about Cooktops

LG Design Philosophy for Cooktops

Design plays a critical role in harmonizing technology and human needs. At LG, we strive to make your life easier and more enjoyable by integrating our digital appliances into your lifestyle and home décor.

Our design philosophy boils down to four basic elements: Concept, Style, Interface, and Finish. By perfecting these elements, each of our digital appliances achieves LG’s goal of “great design.”

Design that integrates fluid ergonomics and digital technology

LG has been delving deeply into design and research in this innovative technological era. Our design team in particular is focused on achieving the company's vision of making life easier—and more fun—with technologically sleek and advanced digital appliances. And, from a practical perspective, technology is becoming an increasingly important tool in our modern lives. A growing number of products arrive already integrated with "intelligent" microchips and/or equipped with networking options.

This area, though still in its early stages, has great design potential—requiring our designers to put on their “inventing caps” to predict emerging needs, design new lifestyle concepts, and test out their designs on a high-end and uncompromising public.

Designing for the future

This trend of designing products for the future was started by the LG Life Soft Research Lab, which was established about 20 years ago. There, researchers, designers, and trend scouts work to predict the future by examining and identifying consumer needs, observing the public's interest in products, and then developing design concepts and solutions based on what they’ve seen.

This means, ultimately, that LG is always one step ahead of the game—always developing products for the future. In this way, our research is focused not only on new products and technological opportunities, but also on understanding key customer and market trends.

LG Kitchen Designs

A great deal of your daily living takes place in the kitchen. So, we put careful research and deliberation into our kitchen designs to meet your needs. The basic elements of Concept, Style, Interface, and Finish are carefully integrated in each of LG’s digital kitchen appliances.

Cooktop Designs

You can see the four basic elements of LG’s design philosophy at work in our full range of cooktops.
* Concept: Radiant and induction cooktops embody conceptual features like our exclusive large-area bridge elements that convert two heating elements into one—for griddles or casseroles—as well as Smooth-Touch™ Controls to make cooking as easier and more stylish.
* Style: Sleek, state-of-the-art design and Smooth-Touch™ Controls keenly accentuate the décor of any contemporary kitchen.
* Interface: Intuitive, Smooth-Touch™ Controls make cooking like a professional chef both easier and more pleasurable than ever before.
* Finish: Our innovative design and attention to detail puts these LG products a notch above the rest.

How Does Induction Technology Work in the Kitchen?

Induction technology delivers fast speed to boil, superior performance, and energy savings compared to gas and radiant cooktops. The electromagnetic energy generated by an induction cooktop coil reacts only to iron-like metals, not ceramic surfaces. Pots and pans absorb and convert the electromagnetic energy—heating only the bottom of the pan making contact with the induction surface.

In induction cooking, heat is generated from an electric current Induced by an electric coil, so the range can actually detect when cookware is removed or when its contents boil out by monitoring the voltage drop caused by resistance to the current. This feature is beneficial in keeping a pot at a minimal boil or turning off automatically when the cookware is removed.

Are Induction Cooktops Safe to Use?

Unlike traditional electric or gas cooktops, the surface of an induction cooktop is cognizant of safety because only the bottom of the pot is heated. As with every kitchen activity, caution must be taken. In this case a burn can still result from skin coming into contact with the pot, or with the cooktop surface immediately after a pot is taken off. But these risks are far less severe than if one’s skin comes into contact with the high temperatures attained by flames or the electric heating elements on traditional cooktops. Moreover, induction cooktops are faster and more energy-efficient than traditional cooktops—the latter because induction cookers don’t displace warm air around the room as with other cooking systems.

Is Induction Cooking Better Than Gas or Electric Cooking?

Induction cooktops are more advantageous than conventional gas flame or electric cooktops because they provides vastly improved thermal efficiency, rapid heating, and greater heat consistency—not to mention a significantly greater degree of control than gas.

Boiling-times depend on the power of the induction cooktop. About three minutes with a 3,600-watt induction cooktop and roughly ten minutes for a 1,200-watt cooktop—both much faster than conventional electric or gas systems. The speed benefits of induction cooking are most prevalent in stir-frying, as a thin pan with three tablespoons of oil may heat to stir-fry temperature within ten seconds.

In addition to the increased safety and speed of induction cooktops, they are also easier to clean because the cooking surface is flat and smooth. Additionally, food cannot burn onto the cooking surface, since the surface itself never gets hot. LG is a leader in induction technology and offers cutting-edge induction cooktops to meet every customer’s need.