The invention relates to a method for operating an induction heating device. The induction heating device comprises an induction coil and a frequency converter for producing a control voltage for the induction coil. The frequency converter comprises a rectifier rectifying an alternating supply voltage (UN), an intermediate circuit capacitor, looped in between output terminals of the rectifier and equalizing the rectified voltage (UG), and at least one controllable switching element, looped in between the output terminals of the rectifier. According to the invention, in a predetermined discharge interval (INT) before a zero crossing (ND) of the alternating supply voltage (UN), the intermediate circuit capacitor is discharged to a threshold value by controlling the at least one switching element before the induction coil is controlled in order to produce an adjustable heating capacity.