severoon1

After doing a bit more looking into it, it seems that this is limited to layered pans with layers that expand at very different rates. Enameled cast iron is one because the enamel can crack. Most multilayer pans, especially high quality ones, don't have this issue.

Based on the cutaway diagram All-Clad provides, it looks like all the layers are the same thickness? I wasn't aware of this (upper layers heat). I would assume the farther from the induction coil the metal is, the more diffuse the effect. Having said that, I have wondered how far above the glass the induction effect is present, it doesn't seem like it extends very far up at all. It's also worth noting that the Control Freak ain't most induction burners, it has really good coverage compared to lesser units. I didn't know anything about skin depth, but from a quick googling it seems like my entire question is perhaps moot…whatever's going on in the pan interior doesn't matter past ~1 mm if I'm reading correctly? (In terms of direct heating from induction, I mean. Obviously moving heat around matters a lot.) So if I've got you right, you're saying that if induction was able to reach all the way through the pan, that would be a bad thing because the heat from induction would be created in the top and bottom surfaces, which is obviously bad for cooking. Better is to create heat only in the bottom surface and let it diffuse?

I see. Upon further investigation I see what you're saying. I guess this is so light and conductive that it wouldn't matter much if it were induction compatible. I was thinking it was more like a big heavy block in the middle of the pan. I can't see how a thin sheet like this would make much difference … seems to me to be a way of capitalizing the work they've put in so far so they can justify further R&D funding? I'm still interested to understand if pyrolytic graphite (the kind used in the pan) can be heated by induction directly, just for academic purposes. Everything I can find on the subject says that it's diamagnetic, which I'm guessing means no.

Helping a friend research a cookware purchase, I ran across All-Clad's G5 graphite core cookware. All-Clad says this new tech is induction-compatible, and of course it is because it's clad with stainless. But the question is, if used on an induction hob, what is actually heating? Is the entire pan heating from direct effects of induction, or is it like the Copper Core line, where the induction heats the stainless cladding only and the heat diffuses into the aluminum and copper layers? The reason I ask is that I own a Breville Control Freak, and it's recommended to not use high power on layered pans that don't heat all the way through. Over time, this can cause the layers to separate because of the expansion of the different layers while heating (particularly relevant to enameled cast iron). I've googled a bit and gotten conflicting answers. It seems that some non-ferrous materials do heat under induction, and some sources say graphite is one of those materials. Other sources imply that only some graphite heats under induction, which doesn't make sense to me, but I can't tell if that's because the site is wrong or there are different forms of graphite with different properties, or what. (I've thought about contacting All-Clad, but I'll be shocked if they are willing to give any more detail than, "G5 is induction compatible, like the literature says.") Thanks!

That's true, but the Bellman 50SS is not technically compatible with the Breville Control Freak. If you look at the Control Freak, you'll see that there's a spring-loaded temperature sensor right in the middle of the induction coil, and that is depressed when a pan is placed on it. There's a small ring around that center bit which is supposed to be completely covered with the flat bottom of a pan, and this particular induction hob can sense if it's not. If you look at the bottom of the Bellman 50SS, it unfortunately does not have a flat bottom (you can see briefly in this video if you pause it at 3:57): Initially when I tried using my Bellman on my CF, it didn't work at all. The unit just complains that you need to have something on the temperature sensor if you don't have it perfectly centered. I found that if you do make sure it's centered so the nut and thread pushes down the sensor, the CF will give you a warning, but you can click through the warning and it works great.

I have the exact same setup, a Control Freak and a Bellman 55ss I bought to accompany my Flair 58+ hand pull espresso machine. I bought my steamer before the Control Freak and found it very difficult to use on my range. For one thing, the grate over my burners isn't that great for balancing the steamer, and too much heat sneaks around the sides. I've already had to replace the handle once because it got overheated and the thinnest part of the Bakelite handle where it meets the unit cracked and came apart. It never occurred to me to try the Control Freak until I saw this post, but I spent the afternoon experimenting. I discovered that you don't need an induction plate at all. All you have to do is position the Bellman so that the center nut in the bottom is sitting right on top of the temperature sensor of the Control Freak. If you slide it around, you'll feel when it's on the temperature sensor. To test things out, just put some water in the Bellman and leave the top completely open and put it on your Control Freak set to 100°C. You'll get a message prompting you to make sure the cooking vessel is positioned covering the sensor, and just hit Resume. It just works! My next task was to figure out how to go about getting the right pressure. The trick is to heat the water in the steamer to the correct temperature for ~2 bars of pressure, and you want to make sure that you don't trip the pressure release on the Bellman. That's there as a failsafe, but you're not supposed to depend on it—just imagine the consequences if that pressure release were to fail for some reason, which is one of the reasons I never liked the idea of using it on my gas range either. According to my water vapor pressure calculations (example), 120°C is the required 2 bars of pressure. The optimal amount of water in the Bellman is 250 g, so add that to the vessel and screw the top on to be reasonably tight with the steam wand closed. Set the temperature to 100°C at Fast intensity (it will overshoot by ~15°C or so). Once it reaches temp and beeps, set the intensity to Slow and then put the temp to 120°C. You can go as high as 125°C, I was able to get it to 128°C before the pressure release triggered (which is just around 2½ bars, as advertised). Once it's at 120‒125°C, remove the steamer to a silicon / cork / whatever trivet or hot pad, something stable, and you can go to work. Even off the heat, there will be more than enough pressure to steam a good quantity of milk. I would not try to steam right on the Control Freak because the upward pressure of the temperature sensor makes it easier than I like for something to go wrong. Keep in mind that even on the lowest intensity setting, the Control Freak heats pretty quickly. Make sure to have a trivet next to the unit and make sure you're standing there so you can quickly remove it if the pressure release triggers. I'm certain the Control Freak is easily powerful enough to produce more steam than the pressure release can vent, and it wouldn't take long to turn into a bomb if left unattended.