Home appliances company Coway said its new induction cooktop is enjoying high demand thanks to its auto cooking function, as more consumers are choosing to cook at home rather than eat out amid the pandemic.

The auto cooking function of Coway’s Noble Induction Freedom, launched in November, saves the trouble of watching and controlling the heat for pots and pans to keep the contents from burning or boiling over.

When cooking rice in a pressure cooker, for example, the cooktop automatically controls the heat once the type of rice -- white rice or mixed grains -- and the number of servings are selected.

It also cooks more quickly, completing two servings of white rice in 19 minutes, Coway said.

In a blind test by the Korea International Sommelier Association in September, rice cooked on Coway’s Noble Induction Freedom received top scores in 11 out of 13 categories for taste, aroma and texture.

“Consumers who prefer the taste of rice cooked in pressure cookers but found them troublesome to use can now easily have pressure-cooked rice using the auto cooking function,” a Coway official said.

Pots and pans can be placed anywhere on the cooktop for heating, the stove automatically detects the size and location of the cookware, allowing up to six cooking vessels to be heated at a time.

Once the pans are placed on the cooktop, a “smart auto sensing” function displays the heating power and timing controls for each of them.

When cookware is moved to another spot on the cooktop, there is no need to re-enter the heat level or time as it identifies the pan and applies the same settings.

Coway’s Noble Induction Freedom comes in two sizes -- 921 millimeters wide and 580 millimeters wide. The wider version is pebble gray, and the smaller one is available in pebble gray and Himalayan salt pink.