Even an Alpha Male likes to stay cool in the Kitchen.

When we talk about energy efficiency in the catering industry, there are an ever increasing number of claims and counter claims about the products that offer the highest efficiency ratings, represent the best value for money and provide the best performance.

If, like a growing number of chefs and catering professionals, you prefer to sweat over the choice of the menu, rather than the ingredients of the main course in your kitchen, you might like to take a closer look at induction cooking.

Induction energy is a relatively new power source having been discovered in the 19^th century and the electronic components required to control this power were only produced in the 1980's. Induction energy is created from the magnetic field that surrounds an electrical current flowing along a wire.

Through the use of sophisticated electronics this same magnetic field can be manipulated to produce heat when metal is placed within it. The science is anything but simple, but the result is arguably the fastest, safest, cleanest energy available to the catering industry.

In a world that is fast becoming as conscious about the type of power we use to create great food, as it is about the quality of the food itself, induction cooking is growing in popularity in every corner of the world. And in a small corner of Northamptonshire one company is doing its part to make induction cooking the way forward for every one of us.

Today, the only company of its kind in the UK is working with chefs and caterers to change the way they look at and use energy. Enabling us all to cook with it rather than waste it on keeping our weight down, by heating our kitchens to boiling point. Induced Energy began as the dream of one man, a man who understood electronics and who had seen the endeavours of others to make a commercial hob unit powered by induction energy, and thought he could do better.

By designing and building a truly commercial unit able to cope with the toughest demands. The original plan was to manufacture an Induced Energy Hob inside 6 months, but it was to take much, much longer. Five years in fact and after many melted sauce pans and small culinary explosions the company had produced its first unit offering all the aspects of gas without any of the negatives.

The brand began selling its single model portable Hob range in late 1997, but in less than a year had lost the man responsible for the creation of the product in a flying accident.

The brand continued to make friends in numerous quarters, including many premier catering locations in the UK and Europe. Some nine years after the death of Colin Saunders the company was in the hands of his wife Rosie, who moved the business from its original location in Monmouth to their current Northants address; and who today is committed to making Induced Energy a major name in catering equipment.

The desire to develop her late husband's legacy has resulted in the creation of a 6 model range of products, providing an induction energy cooking solution for every kind of location.

To say that she has been personally responsible for the company's longest running product development and testing programme is quite an understatement. Having used a portable Hob at home for many years she was convinced of its benefits and capabilities. "It's a bit of a cliché I know, given that the alpha male runs most kitchens in commercial locations, but I really did feel that my time with my product in my kitchen, told me something about its credentials. I felt that if the product were to succeed it needed to be understood, trialled and fully appreciated by anyone who new anything about the concept of induction cooking, where ever they may be".

Following trips to exhibit the brand in Dubai and further a field the company has a customer base that reads like a who's who and that now stretches to Eastern Europe – so their Mountain to Mohammed strategy seems to be paying off.

Induced Energy is now on its third generation units, a range that now includes single, twin and four ring hobs in either table top or drop in models. These stylish 3kW hobs have been independently tested by the Cranfield Institute and found to deliver at least 95% of the energy into heat in the pan.

Water can be boiled three times faster than an equivalent gas powered unit and heat is produced instantly reacting as soon as a suitable pan is placed on the hob; meaning there is no power wastage during warm up. Sophisticated electronics recognise when a pan has been removed from the hob and immediately stops the supply to the individual ring.

Precise power control is achieved through a 1-99 setting range and a user friendly display warns of the need to change the air filter and also shows a "no pan present" warning. All units feature the unique Induced Energy front to front ventilation system that helps to prevent electronic failure and units can be used for both Wok and Sauté cooking. Can't be done on a flameless surface, think again! The heat produced by Induced Energy units extends to 30mm above the hob surface, a feature unique to their products. Magic did I here you say, no just know how and it goes further.

For those catering projects with large budgets and a desire to have seamless cooking surfaces, Induced Energy hobs can work beneath solid top counters made from such substances as Pyrolave - a favourite of designers who want an unbroken and in most situations a colour coded cooking surface.

Today, the Induced Energy brand is expanding its business and product range, through a number of product development partnerships that will provide Induction Energy catering equipment alternatives for all locations. So the dream of one man is alive and well in the hands of one woman, through a range of energy efficient products that offer the kind of catering environments even Alpha males can keep cool in.

Weblink: www.inducedenergy.com