Induction Stove Cookware Compatibility Checker
The official answer is "do the magnet test" - which works fine until you're standing in a kitchenware aisle without a magnet. Pick your cookware's material below and get an instant answer instead. Nothing uploaded.
Result
Why
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Learn more: why some cookware will not heat on induction
The magnet test
An induction cooktop heats the pan itself, so the pan has to respond to the cooktop's magnetic field. Cooktop Hunter's induction cookware guide gives the check: stick a fridge magnet to the bottom of the pan, and if it holds firmly, the pan will work on induction.
The checker works from the material. Cast iron and carbon steel come out as compatible, as does stainless steel with a magnetic clad base marked induction-ready. Uncoated aluminum, uncoated copper and glass or ceramic come out as not compatible. The guide agrees that pure aluminum, copper and glass cannot couple to the field unless specially built, for example with a ferromagnetic disk in the base.
Stainless steel varies
The guide says magnetic stainless alloys, typically 400-series, work, while 300-series stainless is non-magnetic and will not. Plain 18/8 and 18/10 stainless is in the 300 family, so the checker marks it "depends" and tells you to test it with a magnet. Clad cookware such as All-Clad D3 and D5 works because its construction adds a magnetic outer layer.
Interface disks
An induction diffuser plate can make incompatible cookware function, but the guide says you lose about 30% of the efficiency advantage and response slows. It describes the disks as working by conducting heat, not by magnetic coupling, which makes them suited to occasional use with a favorite pan.
FAQ
Can I make non-magnetic cookware work?
An interface disk can, at a cost in efficiency and speed. Cooktop Hunter says you lose about 30% of the efficiency advantage, so it suits occasional use more than everyday cooking.
Does glass or ceramic cookware ever work?
Not on its own. The checker marks glass and ceramic as not compatible because they are not magnetic, so the cooktop cannot heat them directly.
Does an expensive copper or aluminum pan work?
Only if it has a magnetic layer or disk in the base. Uncoated copper or aluminum will not heat however well it is made, while clad cookware built with a magnetic outer layer does.