I'm a bit confused regarding info on the different types i.e. Ceramic Induction Halogen Solarglo Does anyone know the difference and the pros and cons for each type I'm interested in reliability, ease of use, how easy to keep clean; price is not that important if the reliability and maintenance costs are low. How do they compare with gas in terms of controllability?
There's a very simple answer to this; they're all crap.
Get a gas hob.
Have a look at the halogen hobs, especially those from Stoves which include a higher power unit than some others.
Gas is still quicker but these aren't far behind and way ahead of the others.
"Tom" wrote | I'm a bit confused regarding info on the different types i.e. | Ceramic | Induction | Halogen | Solarglo | Does anyone know the difference and the pros and cons for each type | I'm interested in reliability, ease of use, how easy to keep clean; | price is not that important if the reliability and maintenance costs | are low. | How do they compare with gas in terms of controllability?
The closest to gas in terms of controllability is Induction, but professional quality induction are expensive, and for induction you must use ferrous pans. Any glass-topped hob will be vulnerable to scratching and, under severe abuse, cracking.
Personally I would choose solid plate conventional electric rings, as easier to clean, and accept the limitations of electric.
If you don't have mains gas it's often feasable to have a gas hob on bottled gas.
Owain
Last year we bought a Bosch induction hob similar to this:
David.
Had an AEG 4 ring - 2 halogen 2 "ceramic" for 12 years. No problems with the top scratching but it went when one of the halogen "bulbs" failed and I discovered that you can't replace the "bulbs" only the complete ring. Replaced it with an induction hob - the speed and control of gas and all there is to clean is a flat sheet glass. (and the rings turn off after a short delay if there is no pan on them). The big drawback is that you may have to buy new pans. Suitable pressure cookers were (still are?) expensive.
We got a NEFF 4 ring Induction hob about 4 years ago and its been brilliant. Wife was a "its got to be gas or you are doing the cooking" type, so I got the induction hob, convinced it should be at least as good as gas (which I hated because the house fills up with gas fumes and moisture, even without boiling pans of water) and it is much better. We had to buy more pans, but that was no big deal, the thing is much easier to keep clean, mainly because its more controllable and when it does boil over it doesn't "burn on" as on a red hot hob or plate. As the heat is generated within the base, it is probably slightly quicker to respond than gas. You have to be a bit aware that the surface seems to be some sort of glass and not crash things down on it, or shake pans back and forth across it in case it gets scratched, but after four years of quite busy family of four life it would still pass as near new in appearance. (the odd light scratch if you look for it) Thoroughly recommend Induction - Cant remember what it cost - about £300 ? probably somewhat less now, but worth it for sure.
Hope that helps, Nick
we had a slot in electric cooker with ceramic hob for about 9 years, used 'hob brite' to clean the glass a couple of times a week, the top still looked like new when we got rid of it
andy
we had a slot in electric cooker with ceramic hob for about 9 years, used 'hob brite' to clean the glass a couple of times a week, the top still looked like new when we got rid of it
andy
we had a slot in electric cooker with ceramic hob for about 9 years, used 'hob brite' to clean the glass a couple of times a week, the top still looked like new when we got rid of it
andy
There's considerate.
Only induction works. The rest are purely for people who can't get a gas supply* or have gas phobias. The only real issue is the limitation on the types of pans usable.
Personally, I find Halogen the worst. It really is like cooking on a lightbulb. It lights up very impressively, but you still need to wait 20 minutes for it to get past around 45C and another 20 minutes for it to cool down again. The old style plates with the spiral wound elements are probably next best for cooking after induction, but are hard to clean and look cheap and old-fashioned.
Christian.
P.S. For all those stuck with electric and completely unable to do stir fries or other dishes requiring a high heat (i.e. Saute potatoes), my mother has just bought an electric Wok. It is unbelievably good. I was very sceptical at first, as it is only 2kW or so, but it really does the business. It obviously uses the heat very efficiently and, I suspect, could easily get oil to flash point, so enables a whole set of dishes that would otherwise be impossible without gas.
Christian.
Or who dislike gas hobs because of the fumes, impossibility to maintain a constant temperature without frequent adjustment and the amount of work involved in effectively cleaning them.
Other points on the pros and cons of each are accepted :-p
Lee
I actually don't find gas cookers hard to clean at all. My mother's Halogen hob lasted hours before some nasty baked on grime took permanent residence. At least with the enamel gas hob, a brillo pad will sort it out.
As for fumes, your kitchen should have an extractor fan. The water released by the gas burning will be pretty insignificant compared to the water vapour released by boiling.
As for constant temperature without frequent adjustment, you'll never find something non-induction as easy to adjust precisely as gas. The lag time of other electric cookers being measured in sizeable fractions of a minute, it can't be done. It is particularly the case because of the long duty cycle of thermostat gets it boiling away for 20 seconds and then dead for 40 seconds, particularly at lower settings. Some faster pulse modulation might work better based on a power setting rather than temperature might be better (with overtemp cutout).
Christian.
Hate to know what hobs or pans you are using. Ours is second only to gas in heat up time.
Ours is touchable within 30 seconds.
Not trying to argue the point here, you said personal experience, which is all that I was commenting on also.
What about cleaning the burnt on residue from the burners and the pan holders? Still more work than wiping a sheet of glass. I do realise that the over-printed or etched glass some of the ceramic hobs have can be a problem, but ours is just plain glass, with the printing under which sounds much more sensible. Never had anything which citric acid powder and a green nylon scourer hasn't removed easily ;-p Not to mention that state that cookware gets into when using a gas hob.
AIH it hasn't, but it does have a nice big opening window...
Ah but, I can set the set the control to the preset simmer position and it does just what it says, regardless of the amount of water in the pan. I can walk away and leave it, knowing it won't boil over or go cold. Every time I try that on a gas hob it either boils over or the ring goes out :( Like I said, I know halogen/ceramic hobs have their limitations, but having used both I much prefer them to gas. I use copper bottomed stainless steel pans, if that makes any difference.
Lee
I don't tend to get that. The heat burns the residue away. I just bung the whole lot in a sink bowl with boiling water and replace. About once a month.
I suspect you've had experience of a poor gas cooker, whilst I've had experience of a poor halogen.
We tried some serious oven cleaner (was probably brick acid). No effect. Probably a design fault of the glass top.
Can't say I've seen much problem here. Perhaps the gas burner was clogged up and burning yellow rather than blue?
I find that with my mum's, you have to lift the pan off the hob until the ring has cooled down. Otherwise it will boil over in the mean time. When it is on simmer, it just means boil for x seconds and cool for y seconds. It appears that you are saying that modern halogens (this was an early model) appear to be much better.
Again, a modern gas burner has the zero position next to full blast. The lowest setting is right against the opposite stop, so it is impossible to put the ring out by attempting to simmer at a low heat. There is a firm indent by full power, so it isn't likely to happen that way either.
I think that you probably need to update on modern gas hob design and I probably need to update myself on modern ceramics, although if I had to have electric, induction would be my choice by a mile.
I use enamelled cast iron, mostly, except for a Tefal non-stick frying pan.
Christian.
Clearly the designs have moved on from the model I'm used to. The pans were standard non-stick aluminium types. Probably copper bottomed, but not sure. The hob is actually 3 ceramic and 1 halogen. The halogen is only rarely used, as the large ceramic ring is actually more powerful in practice, if not on paper.
Christian.
Fair enough point :) Although I still think we'll likely be going with induction when we replace this one :)
Lee
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