So there I was at the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago, standing in front of a chef who had just prepared a really tasty pan-fried chicken dish in savory oils on a little portable cooktop. One gets hungry at these events, and free food is, well, free. In this case, it was also quite good. The chef then pulled out another pan, added a little water, and asked me to touch both the pan and the cooktop. Both were cool to the touch. He then placed the pan on the cooktop, pushed a button and literally within a few seconds the water boiled. He again asked me to touch the cooktop (perhaps to see if I was insensible as well as hungry). The cooktop remained cool to the touch. "What is this odd contraption?" I queried, not meaning to seem like a rube but accomplishing it nonetheless.Turns out it was a Fagor Portable Induction Cooktop, and it is SO amazing. The cooktop generates heat through magnetic induction; there are no flames, heating elements or gas emissions and the cooking surface surrounding the pot stays cool to the touch. What heats up is your pan and its contents, not the cooktop itself, so it's not only a safer way to cook but also far more efficient (the cooktop uses about 90% of the energy generated to perform the intended task, heating the pan). In fact, typically foods cook in 50% less time on this cooktop. When you have a house full of hungry kids (for whom patience is not a virtue but rather an alien life form), or can only wedge in about 1/200th of your day to cook a meal (which is typical in our house), this is a real plus. And it's eco-friendly: because it uses energy so efficiently and heats up so quickly, you use less energy. Good for the environment AND the monthly energy bills. And it's pretty small: just 12" x 14" and only 8 pounds. What a great cooktop for a dorm, or the office, or the patio, or as an additional cooktop at home (I met one fellow who now only cooks on his Fagor Portable Induction Cooktop, despite having a rather nice range). The one catch? You need induction-capable cookware. Pretty simple to determine this: if a magnet sticks to the bottom of your pan, it will work with this cooktop (we have a square griddle and a larger rectangular griddle available that work nicely). Click here to see the cooktop in action - or stop by our Omaha Westroads store and see when Chef Rock will be cooking something up. You'll want one!