IMUSA Double Electric Hot Plate, Black

This is s great little burner! Excellent value. Compared to its "familiar 'trusted' brand competition, the Imusa outperforms by all metrixs: The cast iron covering (welded to base) distributes the heat evenly compared to the old coils; it heats up fast, and the extra wattage (1200) is a significant step up from the old 1000. It boils water in a big pot, and simmered chicken consomme, poached 2 eggs, kept all the food piping hot. No impatient "hangry" chef :) The cast iron on black and compact design looks great on the countertop (had to stow my old burner, it looked like a garage item). Elevated feet protect your countertops. One caveat: the entire unit does get hot, even the casing. Use hot plates to move it, keep one handy.

My use is "off label" I bought it to heat a small pan of blueing salts. At full power the unit got the molten salts hot enough to produce a uniform dark blue. My lab hot plate melted the salts in the pan but did not reach blueing temperature. It has enough power to boil a small pan of water and is very sturdy. The smooth surface heated my blueing evenly.

Both the burners work perfect it was easy to take out of a box no assembly and it cooks really fast high temperatures

Impossible to fully express how much I like this new & improved hotplate! Very fine item. I especially appreciate the closed top, so if I ever again let a pot boil over, there won't be any place to clean that I can't reach. The old hotplates with those coils were next to impossible to clean well. The size is just right too for the little studio apt I'm planning in the downstairs back half of my old Vic. Or the tiny house I might build if I ever join an LLC over-50 community. Or ....

I teach 5th grade Sci./Math. I used this to boil water in water cycle experiments. This item was purchased at the start of the second semester and has been used a lot. Now, it's summer time and it still works well, the same as when I fist purchased it. I also use this to boil my water for tea in the morning. The kids know to stay away from the hot plate, but it cools down quickly too.

I really like the hot plate I purchased and glad I bought 2 single ones. I live on a boat and the marine cooktop stopped working. It was expensive to replace so I originally purchased a double portable cooktop with the spiral burners. I thought that was a great stove until I purchased these single burner cooktops. I can cook in two different areas so I don’t blow a fuse in my tight space.

It takes forever to heat up a pot of water. Like seriously, forever. When the water finally heats up, it doesn't stay at constant temperature. Totally useless and a waste of money.

I love it. Works really well. Very light weight and handy to have. I use it a lot if I'm making meals for 2 people. Cools down fairly quick. It's worth every penny.

I would give 3 Star as this is not bad for the price I paid for

After 3 or 4 uses it quit working..very disappointed! My window of return closed,so I couldn't even get a refund.

It works mostly as one would expect for a small hot plate, BUT the cast iron surface retains heat for WAY too long after you turn down the temperature. For example, if you are cooking rice, you need to bring it to a boil, then once it starts to boil you turn down the heat to simmer at a lower temperature to avoid burning. The problem is, this thing holds the heat for so long that it continues to boil for a good 10 minutes even if the power is turned down to zero! It takes way too long to reduce the temperature. So be aware of that when you use it. Also, be prepared to wait a good half hour or much more for it to cool off to the point when you can handle it. The cast iron surface doesn't even distribute heat as effectively as one would like. I measured the surface with a laser thermometer, and when on "high" the centre of it reaches upwards of 1,000 degrees F (!), and the outer areas of the iron plate measure hundreds of degrees cooler than the centre. So don't expect even heat distribution as claimed. It works, but you need to be aware of these shortcomings and adjust your cooking methods. Also, the surface of the plate is very rough, like sandpaper, so it will be a chore to clean fully if you spill anything on it. Overall, I do not recommend this unit unless you are OK with its shortcomings and you need to heat something up using the cheapest possible hot plate available.