Induction cooking has been around for decades, but only recently has demand driven prices down and selection up. In the last two years, Viking, GE, Samsung and Kenmore have begun selling induction ranges.

With its energy efficiency, kitchen geek appeal and growing reputation for power and precision, induction cooking may be the iPad of the kitchen. Like Apple’s latest invention, induction technology could forever change everyday tasks, or it might never deliver on its promise.

The induction range, which relies on an electromagnet to heat iron or steel cookware, remains a mystery to most cooks in the United States. In an independent survey last summer by the market research company Mintel of 2,000 Internet users who own appliances, only 5 percent of respondents said they had an induction range or cooktop.

Standing at an induction range, even great cooks must rethink their basic moves. The heat comes on so fast that anyone used to pouring oil in a pan and chopping the last of the onions while it heats is making a big mistake. Learning to control heat levels with numbered dials is like trying to master a new language.

Still, 22 percent of the people Mintel surveyed in connection to their study last summer said their next range or cooktop would be induction. The appeal is especially strong among younger people setting up their first serious kitchens, according to the report. Unlike their baby boomer and Generation X counterparts, the new class of cooks is less tied to the aesthetics of gas and more interested in environmentally sound choices.

Although cooking accounts for only a small amount of energy consumption in a home, induction cooktops are marketed as much more energy efficient than gas or electric because they cook food faster and lose less heat in the process.

Lately, price has been less of an obstacle. Although a Viking induction range can reach $6,000, some models now cost a little over $1,500. LG recently introduced a cooktop hybrid with two induction and two electric elements for $800.

Not everyone is sold. After living with an induction range, Christopher Peacock, the kitchen designer, has his doubts about induction cooking. He installed one in his house in Cape Cod, drawn to its modern look, promise of performance and the ease with which the sealed ceramic top could be cleaned. The problem? The actual cooking.

“What’s wonderful about it is that the pot heats up very quickly, but what I’ve had problems with is controlling it and understanding which setting will provide the right amount of heat,” he said.

He also had to buy new pots. All that lovely copper and the Calphalon from your wedding? Out.

Companies that sell induction units sell pans specially designed to transfer the energy. But there are less expensive solutions. Cast iron, even enamel-coated cast iron, are suitable. So are many stainless steel pans.

Wide acceptance of induction will likely come down to whether it makes cooking that much better and how fearful customers are of new technology, said Lynn Dornblaser, who studies new products for Mintel.

“New can be very daunting when it is something as integral as a cooktop,” she said. “Would you rather have something you understand really well or something that could be a real advantage but is unknown?”

The use of induction in restaurants might help its move into the mainstream. Because induction burners deliver the precise, consistent, low heat demanded by certain sauces and confections, higher end restaurants often have a burner or two at the ready.

And induction is fast. It can boil water in a snap and shave minutes from the time it takes to cook dinner.

And that might be just the edge it needs to work its way into the homes of a nation reluctant to change its cooking habits but also pressed for time.

“If you get that water boiling faster, you throw the pasta in faster and get dinner on the table faster,” Ms. Dornblaser said. “That counts for a lot.”


By KIM SEVERSON


RICHARD PERRY/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Induction ranges can be cost-effective, but are tricky to use.