Nuwave Gold Precision Induction Cooktop, Portable, Powerful with Large 8” Heating Coil,100°F to 575°F, 3 Wattage Settings, 12” Heat-Resistant Cooking Surface

This review is for the NuWave Gold Precision Induction Cook-top (PIC).I received the unit in excellent condition; no visible damage to external packaging and it arrived on the scheduled date; excellent work NuWave/Amazon. I unpacked the NuWave and reviewed the instructions. Other than the slight odor from the first few uses, as is stated in manual, I have had no problems with the unit so far.I have to say the NuWave Gold PIC is by far so much easier to control the cooking process than the almost new Frigidaire gas range that came with my current home. While that range has control knobs that rotate from Off, Lite, Hi, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and Lo over 195 degrees of rotation; Hi to Lo only covers 115 degrees and only the last 15-20 degrees (2 to Lo) makes any change in the burner flame. My local gas supplier confirmed this is very common for consumer gas ranges. The NuWave is much more like using an electric range such as the GE model I had in my previous home; back when I enjoyed cooking. The last 20+ years, cooking has been more of a chore. Not anymore. I can hardly wait for the next chance to use the NuWave. Plus, given the recent news about home air quality and natural gas ranges potentially going away; I decided it was time to try induction. Since receiving the NuWave my existing gas range has literally become additional counter-space as I haven't used its cook-top at all.Although I saw a number of reviews indicating the keyboard cover deteriorates over time/use; the features and price put the NuWave Gold at top of my list. I'm hoping this problem doesn't show up for several years of use. It would be great if NuWave made the PIC with a better or user replaceable keyboard cover; but that's not offered at this time.I selected the NuWave Gold primarily because it offered the larger cooking surface (I frequently use 7” and larger cookware) compared to other induction units AND more importantly it had 10 degree temperature adjustments. Others I looked into typically had 20 or so settings for cooking and a lot of reviewers grumbled about that; NuWave Gold (and Flex) has around 50. Granted the NuWave Gold does have 6 predetermined temperature settings; but all can be adjusted via the +/- buttons. I have noticed that all but the low preset button will initially display an xx5 temperature value and the 5F part will be dropped once a +/- button is pressed. After that, the display will show temperature by 10's until a setting other than low is again selected. I was so pleased with cooking my first batch of bacon on the NuWave. I started on the Medium selection; but the sizzle was bit too fast. I lowered the temp by 20 degrees and had a wonderful cooking temp that made near perfect bacon.The built-in count-down timer is an excellent feature. It is so convenient to adjust the time so the NuWave will shut down after my preset cooking time is complete. However, I haven't quite figured out how to apply the programmable feature. I understand how to use it; but there's no way to tell if the food has come to a boil or reached a required cooking temp. Or when it's time to reduce the heat and simmer or stay warm. My best guess, since there's no temperature probe like with my microwave, is that you have to monitor a prior cooking process once or twice and record the time it takes. Hopefully your cookware selection and recipe volume doesn't vary by much so that the time you learn works out properly. Plus the program is deleted once power is removed from the NuWave. It would be great to have them remain; especially if could enter say up to ten different user programs.In anticipation of the NuWave, I also purchased new cookware set. A Tramontina HA aluminum, induction ready, ceramic coated set, with insulated handles. It's a beautiful cookware set; but when I started using them on the NuWave they didn't seem to heat up very quickly. Performance was similar to using my old Pampered Chef HA aluminum non-induction cookware on the gas range. Fast heating is supposed to be one of the key benefits of induction cooking. So I set up a comparison with my old stainless cookware that readily passed the magnet test. To compare each piece of cookware, I placed a one inch depth of fresh tap water in the pot/pan with a starting temp ~ 55-60F. I then used a Fluke 87 Mark V multimeter with a type K thermocouple for the temperature measurements. The thermocouple rested in the upper 1/4” of the water in the center of the pan. I used a Poniie PN1500 energy monitor for the wattage readings. All tests used the NuWave on it's maximum “Sear” setting. Time was measured using the countdown feature of the NuWave. The SS dia column refers to the stainless diameter on the bottom of the pot/pan in inches; a similar inch measurement was made for the overall bottom diameter. Obviously the volume of water in each pan varied; but notice the consistency in the heating times and how the wattage reduced according to SS dia. Test results are as follows:Vessel Manu SS dia Bottom diameter Wattage Mins to 180F Water Vol1.5qt sauce Tra 4-7/8 5-3/16 536-573 7+ 1.5c3qt sauce Tra 5-1/8 6-1/2 745-771 7+ 2.5c4.5qt saute' Tra 8-1/8 9/1/4 1200-1256 7+ 5.75c5qt dutch Tra 6-3/8 7-3/4 1065-1118 6+ 3.75c8” skillet Tra 5-1/8 6 705-748 8+ 2.75c10” skillet Tra 5-13/16 7 955-1014 7+ 4c1/2qt sauce Unk 3-3/4 NA 785-818 2+ 1c1qt sauce Unk 4-1/2 NA 964-972 2+ 1.5c2qt sauce Unk 6 NA 1225-1248 2+ 2.25c4qt pot Unk 7-1/2 NA 1417-1468 3+ 3.5c5qt dutch Unk 8-1/4 NA 1501-1530 4+ 4c8.75” skillet Unk 7-1/2 NA 1487-1505 3+ 3.75c11” sq griddle Green NA 10-1/2 1305-1345 4+ 3cMy old stainless set dated from 1980's and was simply marked “stainless Korea” on the bottom. They appeared to be made from 20 gauge material and are fairly light weight pots/pans. I also recently purchased a GreenPan griddle with it's Magneto induction coating and added it to the results. However it could not be filled with 1” layer of water – about 3/8” was all it would hold.Notice how much lower the wattage is and the longer heating times on the Tramontina cookware compared to a similar size SS diameter stainless item. Clearly the very thin “holey” SS bottom panel is not designed for optimum heat transfer on the Tramontina cookware. This was confirmed via discussion with a NuWave representative – thicker SS will work far better. My magnet test also confirmed the Tramontina cookware had a much weaker “pull” vs the old SS cookware. While the GreenPan griddle also had a somewhat weak magnetic “pull”, it's Magneto performance was clearly much better than the Tramontina cookware design. The data clearly shows how well the NuWave PIC is protecting itself with the smaller size cookware and their poorer induction power absorption by reducing output power. What struck me odd is, as the volumes of water varied with each piece, the heating times remained relatively constant within the same cookware sets.While the commonly used “induction compatible” or “induction ready” statements by manufacturers are true; they are clearly not always the most efficient design to use with induction cooking. I'd like to see a “induction optimized” marking for cookware that gets the most efficiency out of induction heating. This “induction optimized” cookware should work as well and heat as fast as good stainless performs on an induction cook-top (consumer testing labs are you reading this?) My takeaway from all this testing is that you should buy good heavy stainless cookware with a strong magnetic attraction for use with the NuWave. The NuWave will perform it's best with that type of cookware; and make you much happier using it.One other thing I'll mention. The NuWave Gold model is fairly large and uses a good bit of counter-space. So when it is not in use, I created a simple wooden stand to hold the unit vertically on it's back edge (see pics). Most wall cabinets are 16” above the counter-top and the Gold will fit nicely at the back of the counter when standing vertical. Please note; NuWave does not offer any stand like I'm describing. I used two 3-1/2 x 8 x 3/4” wood pieces for front and back of the stand. The NuWave Gold uses a 12-3/8” diameter for the 1” thick top section and a 12” diameter for the 1-5/8” thick main body down to the counter-top. I added an extra 1/16” to these two thicker measurements for a felt liner in my stand design. Both of these thick wood pieces were cut from a 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 x 8”. The larger diameter arc was centered 1/2” in from the bottom edge of the 1-1/16” piece. The smaller diameter arc was centered 11/16” in from the bottom edge of the 1-11/16” piece. Arcs were cut on a band saw. The three thinner pieces (two 3/4” pieces and the 1-1/16” piece) were then squared up as a complete assembly; thru holes marked/drilled into these, 3/4” in from ends and 3/4” up from the bottom . One of the 3/4” front/back pieces accepts 1-1/4” long wood screws securing it to the 1-11/16 piece. I used 2-1/2” long wood screws to secure the remaining 3/4” front/back piece thru the 1-1/16” piece and into the 1-11/16 from the opposite side. Felt pieces were cut to fit the stand interior sides and bottom (curved pieces). A spray adhesive was used to attach the felt to the inside of the stand. The stand is simple, stable, and secures the NuWave Gold very well. Hopefully my idea benefits your use of the NuWave and your counter-space.In summary, I would absolutely buy the NuWave Gold again. I'm currently mulling over if I covered my range top with a piece of counter top; then I could buy a second Gold unit, make another stand, have two cook surfaces, and even more usable counter-space! My enjoyment for cooking has returned!

I was excited to receive this. But when I tried using it, it simply wouldn't stay on when I tried to cook. It kept shutting off after a few minutes. I was convinced I was doing something wrong. I called Nuwave to get some help. I told them my problem, and they immediately said they'd send me a new one. A short time later it arrived. It works perfectly! Before, I couldn't even boil water with it. Now I can do everything you expect of a cooktop. I love the range of temperature settings, and that I can easily simmer. Kudos to Nuwave for an excellent product and excellent customer service! And many thanks to Perla for taking good care of me.

Works really well

Had one for years and liked it. Dropped a glass on it and the top plate shattered, so ordered another. They work well, with one flaw. The temp settings are not accurate. On this new one water boils when the Nuwave is set to 180 deg. Obviously that's not right. Not a deal killer as you can adjust for it, but it's not ideal. The temp in the pan also swings too much as it varies around the set point. Overall I do like it better than a regular stove top burner, so recommended, but it could be better.

I love it, use it daily. This isn't my first one. They've lasted about 10 years for me. Using it daily, I find the time it's worked is reasonable.

We were using a butane cooker but the cost of gas canisters really adds up! This induction cooker is powerful and cooks so evenly. The first time I made fried eggs with it I was confused by how uniform they were? But I really like how easy it is to use. Sometimes tricky to get a good char but that’s ok.

I love it! We are waiting for an induction stove to be installed but it was put on back order so we are without a stove for a month. After researching brands, this one stood out to me the most. I have used it about 10 times and I am more than impressed. It heats quickly, is efficient, the fan is quiet enough that I don't notice it, and it cools very quickly like high end induction stoves do. It was worth paying more for a great quality product! Highly recommend.