Under the glass of an induction hob are coils, and the magnetic field they produce makes the bottom of your pan heat up itself. That only works with metal that is attracted to a magnet, such as iron and most kinds of steel. A pan therefore does not have to be made especially for induction, as long as its bottom is attracted by a magnet.

You'll find the following materials in pans, and how your hob reacts differs per material.

Cast iron, bare or enameled, attracts a magnet across the whole pan and therefore heats up on your hob. Give a thick pan time and don't put it straight on the highest setting. Sheet steel, also called "carbon steel" in product names, is magnetic throughout the pan and heats up, although not always evenly. Seasoning with induction alone is difficult: our pan expert does that on a gas burner.

A stainless steel (RVS) pan almost always reacts to a magnet, via the outer layer or the base, and heats up without needing to be seasoned. Other stainless steel cookware, like a whistling kettle, does not always work on induction. Enamel on steel usually attracts a magnet because of the steel underneath the enamel. As a result, most of those pans heat up, even though enamel is a layer of glass.

Aluminium does not attract a magnet, not even with a ceramic non-stick coating on it. An induction base is magnetic: with such a base the pan will heat, without it the pan stays cold. The coating on top, ceramic or not, does not affect induction. Copper is likewise non-magnetic and stays cold, unless the maker has put a magnetic layer into the base.

Earthenware and ceramics, as the material of the pot itself, do not react to a magnet. Such a pot usually stays cold. A single pot can be made for induction. Glass is also non-magnetic: a pan that is entirely glass will stay cold.

When choosing among the materials that work on your hob, you should then weigh the difference in weight and maintenance between stainless steel, cast iron, steel and aluminium.

Start with the pan itself and only then look at what's written about it:

1. Look on the bottom for the spiral-shaped induction symbol: the maker uses this to indicate the pan works on induction.
2. Hold a magnet to the bottom: it reacts to the same metal as your hob, so even without a symbol or a known brand it gives a good first indication.
3. On our product page read the row of icons under "Heat source": the check or cross next to Induction applies to that exact pan in that exact size.

Years of cooking on gas don't change a pan's material, though sometimes they alter the shape of its bottom. With the full induction test you can also check whether that base is still flat.

The Material attribute on the product page is less reliable, because that can include the lid and the handle: "Glass" may then sometimes refer to the lid. If a description promises "all heat sources" but the underside says something different, go by what's on the bottom of the pan.