Head-to-head · Best Compact Induction Cooktops

Hamilton Beach 34104 Portable Single Induction Cooktop vs IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Hamilton Beach 34104 Portable Single Induction Cooktop comes out ahead by a clear margin (4.4 vs 3.9). The gap is mostly about Countertop cooks who fry — shallow-frying cutlets, doughnuts, a Dutch oven of oil for onion rings — and anyone who wants to use a wide skillet on a portable burner without the rim going cold. Also a sensible pick as a second unit next to a slower burner, since it is frequently discounted. — read the strengths below before deciding.

Higher ratedRanked #3 in Best Compact Induction Cooktops

Hamilton Beach 34104 Portable Single Induction Cooktop

4.4

1 sourceall derived$79.95

Hamilton Beach's 34104 finished second to the Duxtop 9100MC in Serious Eats' test of 17 portable induction cooktops, and it wins outright on the one job the Duxtop struggles with. It was the fastest and most efficient burner in the group at heating oil, comfortably clearing the 375°F frying mark on full power. The cost is a slower boil — 20.5 minutes for a gallon — and a touch panel sensitive enough that the tester kept triggering a 30-second Boost function she could not find a use for.

Strengths

— Heated frying oil faster and more efficiently than any other burner in Serious Eats' 17-model test, and could push past the 375°F frying target on full heat
— Strong temperature stability across long cooks, which Serious Eats called out specifically alongside its ease of use
— 8.5-inch coil and a stated 4- to 10-inch pan range, the widest cookware tolerance among the affordable picks in that test

Watch-outs

— Took 20.5 minutes to boil a gallon of water, four and a half minutes slower than the Duxtop 9100MC in the same test
— Touch controls are oversensitive — Serious Eats hit the Boost button by accident more than once during testing
— The Boost function itself is close to useless: it runs maximum power for exactly 30 seconds, a duration the tester could not find a purpose for

$79.95 · Check Price on Amazon Full review →

Ranked #5 in Best Compact Induction Cooktops

IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop

3.9

3 sources2 derived$74.99

The TILLREDA is IKEA's answer to the argument that portable induction is complicated: four buttons, no temperature mode, no presets, no menu. Serious Eats found it genuinely powerful for the price — it boiled a gallon in 18.5 minutes and cleared the 375°F frying mark with headroom — and easy enough that it removes the induction learning curve entirely. The catch is a seven-inch coil and a stated 7.9-inch pan ceiling, the tightest cookware limit in the field.

Strengths

— Four buttons total — Power, Lock, Plus and Minus — which Serious Eats called "dead simple" and the shortest learning curve of anything in a 17-model test
— Cleared the 375°F frying target easily on full heat, one of only two burners in that test to do so with room to spare
— Boiled a gallon of water in 18.5 minutes, matching the pricier Duxtop 9600LS despite a smaller seven-inch coil

Watch-outs

— IKEA's stated pan range is 4.7 to 7.9 inches — the narrowest of any burner in Serious Eats' test, and a real constraint if you cook for more than two
— Serious Eats put a 12-inch skillet on it and the chicken around the rim of the pan did not brown evenly
— Power settings only, with no temperature mode at all, so hands-off heat maintenance is harder than on burners with both

$74.99 · Buy at ikea.com Full review →

Derived means the reviewer published no score, so one was inferred from their written verdict. Everything else is a number the publisher printed. How we rank.

How they stack up

Hamilton Beach 34104 Portable Single Induction Cooktop

Against the Duxtop 9100MC the trade is explicit: the Duxtop boils faster and holds a steadier simmer, the Hamilton Beach 34104 fries better and takes wider pans. It has the same advantage over the Duxtop 9600LS, which never got oil past 350°F in the same test. The IKEA TILLREDA also cleared the frying target but caps at a 7.9-inch pan; the Nuwave PIC Gold is 300 watts down on all of them; and the Breville Control Freak CMC850 Induction Cooktop is the only unit here bought for precision rather than power.

IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop

The TILLREDA is the simplest burner here and the most restrictive on cookware: 7.9 inches against the Hamilton Beach 34104's ten and the Duxtop 9100MC's open-ended five-inch minimum. It matched the Duxtop 9600LS's 18.5-minute boil while costing well under half as much, and unlike the 9100MC it has a lock function. The Nuwave PIC Gold offers far more claimed settings and far less confidence in them, and the Breville Control Freak CMC850 Induction Cooktop is the opposite appliance in every respect.

Specs side-by-side

Spec	Hamilton Beach 34104 Portable Single Induction Cooktop	IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop
Type	Portable countertop	Portable countertop
Burners / Zones	1	1
Total Power	1800W	1800W
Power Levels	10 settings	9 settings (200–1800W)
Temperature Range	175–450°F (15 settings, °C selectable)	None (power settings only)
Burner Diameter	8.5 in	7 in
Recommended Pan Diameter	4–10 in	4.7–7.9 in
Controls	Touch panel with Boost	Touch — Power, Lock, Plus, Minus
Timer	Up to 150 min	None; 2-hr idle auto-off
Cord Length	45 in	55 in
Dimensions	13.88 D × 11.73 W × 2.68 H in	12.8 × 10.6 × 2.5 in
Weight	6.4 lb	6.2 lb
Model	34104	TILLREDA, IKEA art. 104.935.20
Voltage	120V ~ 60Hz	120V
Warranty	1 year limited (US)	2-year limited
Lock Function	—	Yes

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