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"We made everything in a microwave." "We ate takeout for six months." "Near the end, we just ate cereal out of paper cups for every meal."
As we got closer to the start of our kitchen remodel, neighbors and friends who had redone their own kitchens offered advice -- and horror stories -- about how they survived the experience.
While my kids would have voted to eat at a local taqueria as much as possible while our kitchen was torn up, I was determined to continue cooking at home -- and make better than passable meals everyone would eat. After a failed attempt at using a microwave (I don't want to talk about it), I bought a Duxtop portable induction cooktop burner, put it on the workbench in the garage and made every meal on it through the rest of remodel. Normally $152, it's on sale this Labor Day weekend for $109.
For more, here are the best Labor Day deals we've found.
How does an induction cooktop burner work?
I didn't really understand till I got one, but an induction cooktop generates heat by creating a magnetic field that flows into a metal pan. Not every metal pan will work -- my aluminum pans remained as cold as my disconnected gas range. Instead, you need a pan or pot made of a magnetic metal like cast iron or stainless steel. I bought a Tramontina stainless steel 10-inch pan for frying. I also have several enameled cast iron pots that worked great.
I started simply, making pasta and using sauce out of a jar, but by the end of the remodel I was making fish tacos from scratch and homemade Bolognese sauce. And I was surprised how much I loved cooking on it. My family started avoiding me while I was in the garage cooking because I'd proselytize how amazing it was. "Look!" I'd tell them. "The cooktop stays cool!" Or, "Check this out! When I take the pot off the cooktop, it pauses heating!"
Now that the kitchen is done, I'm thinking of ways I can keep using the cooktop. Maybe, when I'm cooking a big meal and need an extra burner, I can set it up on the counter. Maybe I can use it outdoors during a cookout. Or maybe I can give it to one of my kids as they set up their own home. I actually love it so much, when it comes time to swap out our gas range, I'm going to get an induction cooktop. For more, here are our favorite cookware sets and our favorite chef knife.