Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop – for those who are looking for the clean, energy efficient way to cook all foods!

From the beginning, you should know that: the Midea Induction Portal Cooktop is awesome, not only for home use but portable/camping use.

And taking it with you is just as easy and provides a convenient surface that is great for cooking demos, potlucks, and camping.

With simple controls and no risk of flame or heating element to worry about, now you can have a good appliance to have for living space without a cooktop (like a college dorm), specific tasks outside of the kitchen or an extra burner for cooking or serving (like Thanksgiving).

And as a tip, it cooks evenly, sauces thicken beautifully and it is a small foot-print dependable source of even heat that cleans easily.

1. Controls

There is not a surprise anymore that the induction cooktop has become an essential appliance, even in professional kitchens.

This time, Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop comes with touch-sensitive smart sensors that control heat and so, there’s no need to pre-heat; the cooktop only generates heat when a pan touches it, making it an ideal appliance for small kitchens, apartments, and RVs.

The controls on the Midea are pretty simple to use and they include: keep warm, simmer, timer, fry, boil, and boost (turns it up).

It’s nice that you can just tap “warm” to warm up some leftovers and then walk away for a few mins and do other things.

And the blue LED controls are easy to see and since you have a pretty dark kitchen.
In terms of controls, there are 10 power settings ranging from 120 watts up to a maximum of 1500 watts.

There are also presets available for keep-warm, simmering, boiling and frying; other features include a timer and a child lock-out.

There is a boost mode which temporarily uses the highest power setting for up to five minutes, while the timer can be set for 1-180 minutes (but cannot be used with boost or boil settings).

2. Surface

In terms of cooking surface, this one gives you a greater cooking surface: heating surface covers most normal sized pots and pans perfectly and there is a lot of even cooking.

It is designed a Patented 3-ring copper heating element under a 7.88 inches in diameter display circle that is flush with the top surface of the unit.

An important aspect refers to the fact that the controls are on the top surface, which could become problematic when a larger pan is used as your fingers may be perilously close to the utensil.

However, the plate top will keep cool whilst it is cooking (however your steel pot will not). And as the surface is smooth and sealed, clean up after is a breeze and there is no worry as to where a spill has settled.

3. Heating Elements

With a single burner, Midea Induction Cooktop gets to heat through magnetic induction instead of a traditional flame or an electrical heating element.

The principle is very simple: it uses an electromagnet to heat an iron or steel pan more rapidly than gas or electric and it loses less heat during cooking providing the clean, energy-efficient way to cook the foods you love most.

And to be clearer, the only time that the cooktop generates heat is when the metal of the pan touches the surface.

4. Power/Watts

No, you have the chance to control the amount of heat with just a touch and an LED slider bar that’s intuitive and easy.

It has 10 power levels. This unit takes 2 to 3 minutes to boil a pint of water, which would be almost certainly less with a 1800W cooker.

Consider that if the power level is changed by adjusting the power level on the power regulator bar, the selected function mode is stopped and the cooktop goes into power mode.

Also, there is a boost button that shifts the entire heading to its highest setting (1500 Watts) for a short time, 5 minutes when you can turn it off or let the boost shut off by itself.

5. Sensors

Your induction cooktop will detect if you are using compatible induction cookware and if there is any pot on the cooking surface.

You can test other pots and pans for induction by using a magnet. In fact, the unit turns it off in less than 10 seconds if an induction-ready pot isn’t on the circle.

6. Ventilation

Believe or not, Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop is pretty quiet, its fan sits relatively high compared with the other induction cookers and the fan is certainly bigger.

And yes, when the unit is heating, the fan is on: it’s not a high pitch sounding fan.

In case you want to draw a comparison, consider the fact that when the unit is on full blast (for example, by selecting the ‘B’ button at the top right), the fan sounds quieter than a range fan and its pitch is not too annoying.

7. Safety Features

The advantage of induction cooking is (if you have compatible cookware) heat only occurs when your pan is placed on the burner. So, forget about flames and burns: induction means safety during the whole process of cooking.

Heating only the pan, there is nothing to be afraid of; it provides overheating protection with auto-off and child lock.

Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop includes a safety lock and this feature will keep small hands away with a lock that will keep little ones from turning the cooking surface on by accident.

8. Accessories

If you decide to purchase Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop, you get a stainless steel cooking pot included which has ridge less bottom for better conductivity.

The unit comes with a 12 cup combined pan/pot cooking vessel with glass lid: the pan is a bit lightweight but more than adequate.

It is just decent at best, but it’s a good size for getting started with the cooktop being a versatile shape and size.

And an important aspect, the heating surface of the vessel fits the heating circle perfectly. As for documentation, there is a manual from the box and it’s short.

9. Dimensions

This Midea unit is a top contender by any reasonable measure: the unit itself measures approximately 12″x 15″x3″ and it requires a flat, level surface. And it weighs 11.5 pounds.

10. Pros

11. Cons

12. Consumer Ratings

Concerning the consumer rating, the things are ironclad: the exact rating (at Amazon) indicates the fact that Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop is considered to be a handy device to have, especially if you don’t have too many appliance options available to you (apartment rentals, RVs, camping, etc.).

However, customers are not so happy with the fact that with this cooktop, you can’t just grab any old pan out if your cupboard, they literally will only work with certain types of cookware.

Also, the fan runs as soon as you turn the device on and for a long time after you shut it off.

It is true that it provides shortcut buttons to keep warm, simmer, fry, boil, and boost, but some of the shortcuts are not very useful because it’s easier to manually control the heating power of the cooktop.

13. Price

Midea MIND179ST-B Portable Induction Cooktop is available at this price on Amazon site.

At first, customers consider the prices kind of high but once they discover how it works and all its features, they turn to be happy with their acquisition.

The fact that it comes with a nice pan with glass lid is another advantage as well as the fact that it works great and looks very classy.

14. F.A.Q

15. User Manual

Write us in comments and will send it by email.

16. Summary Table