土鍋とIH

Why a donabe does nothing on an induction hob

A donabe is made for a flame. On an induction hob most of them do not get warm at all — and that is physics, not a defect. It is the one incompatibility here that no amount of care or technique gets around, because it is decided before the pot is even lit.

What the hob is actually doing

An induction hob heats by inducing an electric current in the metal base of the pan; the pan itself becomes the heater. It needs ferromagnetic metal — cast iron, or certain stainless steels — touching the surface. Fired clay conducts no such current, so the field passes through it and nothing happens. Most hobs simply show an error or refuse to switch the zone on.

This is why the answer is not "turn it up" or "use a different setting". There is no setting: the pot is not the wrong shape or the wrong size for the hob, it is the wrong material for the method. A gas flame or a radiant element heats the pot from outside; induction asks the pot to heat itself, and clay cannot.

The version that does work

Induction-ready donabe do exist: the maker bonds a metal plate into the base so there is something for the field to act on. In Japan they are a normal shelf item (IH対応土鍋), sold by general retailers, not a specialist curiosity. What you cannot do is convert an ordinary donabe — and a listing that says only "donabe" is describing the ordinary kind.

Where to look

If you cook on induction, the specification you need is stated on the pot, not inferred from the pictures: look for an explicit induction or IH marking, or a visible metal disc in the base. A listing that says only “donabe”, however traditional the photographs, is describing the flame kind.

There is no shop link on this page. Recommending a pot here would mean recommending one whose base construction we cannot check from a listing — which is the exact failure this page is about. The two care guides below cover the pot once you own it.