This is the age of the food lover. Around the world, people not only feel compelled to eat better, they are discovering their love for cooking. It’s not just about putting food on the table anymore; there’s a genuine appreciation for culinary art. And as the popularity of this trend grows, people are also looking for the right tools that give them the perfect culinary experience. And at the heart of it are, of course, not just accessories like knives and bowls, but the cooking appliances themselves.
The evolution of culinary art has always focused on heat. Since the invention of the gas stove in the 19th century, ovens and gas ranges have been the center of modern day kitchens. In the late 1970s, the induction hob was first introduced as an alternative to the carbon-dioxide producing gas range. The induction hob addressed both environmental concerns and the health and safety of its users. Still, many chefs continued to prefer gas, because even though induction hobs made cooking safer, it was difficult to see how much heat was applied to the food. Chefs found it tricky to get a feel for how hot and for how long they needed to cook ingredients without seeing the actual flame. It was a huge inconvenience, and it lasted for decades; but we at Samsung saw it as a challenge that inspired us to re-think the most essential of cooking appliances.
In terms of safe and efficient cooking, the induction hob is probably the appliance that comes first to mind. However, since cooking is an art and not a science, it often relies on experience and a lot of intuition!
So we wondered how we could replace the visual cues of the open gas flame on electric induction hobs. Could we create a convincing virtual flame that would help chefs to “just know” how much heat they apply to the pots and pans? What if this flame could not only show the amount of heat, but would also enhance the entire cooking experience?
Our idea for a virtual flame may sound simple (why hadn’t anyone thought of it yet?); however, making it a reality was a challenge. For starters, finding the right materials was a feat in itself. We needed a transparent ceramic glass top that could project the virtual flame, while traditional induction hobs use a dense smog ceramic glass top. The material would have to withstand temperatures exceeding 120° C, which is tough for most materials. At the same time we needed to keep temperatures underneath the range at a pleasant 85°C, so we had to develop an ultra-efficient fan and circulation system, plus the right kind of insulation. It took a lot of rigorous testing to get it right.
When designing the flame, it was important to make it look convincing. We wanted to use LED lights, but to create the most lifelike virtual flame, we researched how to achieve the right color, brightness and lighting speed. For instance we found that on standard gas ranges, when the pilot light is turned on and the flame is ignited, the flame flickers on average 64 times in 2.6656 seconds and changes its brightness nine times. It was this kind of research that helped us to emulate a convincing virtual flame.
In addition, we added a function to control the size of the flames with a magnetic dial knob for a more intuitive, hands-on feeling for the cook. Since the space underneath an induction hob is cramped, installing a virtual flame projector in that tiny space was a huge challenge. Still, our engineers really wanted to make this work, and thanks to their ingenuity they could design a projection system compact enough for a 430 x 250mm wide flex zone underneath the range.
At long last, the barrier standing between the enthusiastic cook and the safety and efficiency of the induction hob has been overcome. Why did it take so long? Could it be that the designers of previous designs saw cooking only as an engineering problem, and not as a passion? Great design can’t stop with delivering a top of the line technology solution. Rather, we have to keep pushing, and find answers to the problems in our lives – whether large or small, whether they speak to our need for convenience or our emotional connection with the job at hand . Samsung products start from that very point and end with the genuine satisfaction of our customers. Answering the call for a more logical yet emotional way of cooking, we give you the Samsung’s Chef Collection Induction Hob.
