Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it needs replacing.
SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that induction hobs are the way forward.
I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)
Thanks
Careful, does she really just want a set of new pans? Induction hobs require the base to be magnetic, ali or stainless steel pans aren't unless they have an iron core in the base.
If you already have (mains?) gas I can't see a good reason for not just replacing the gas hob. Induction are good but not as good as gas. I'll get an induction hob for the new kitchen but we don't have mains gas.
Our's has been life changing. That said we only have electric in the kitchen. It takes the piss out of all the other electric hobs i've had over the years. I have used gas hobs though and reckon they are comparable controllabilitywise. And might be more economical as there's no wasted heat, certainly look better and easier to clean.
I got a cheap two 'burner' one on ebay cheap as chips, it works for us.
Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob? I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.
Do professional chefs do their own hob cleaning? ;-)
I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the current hob is a PITA.
Tim
There is a theory that the Nox gases released into the house by gas cookers are quite bad for you. Especially if you have an existing pulminary problem such as asthma. If you walk into a house with a gas cooker, you can tell instantly by the smell.
We have a halogen hob. Cheaper and uses conventional pans but not as efficient. Easy to clean.
If you looked carefully, you would most certainly see induction hobs in TV chef programs. Specific example - Heston, but I am sure I have seen them elsewhere.
To OP - induction is the way to go. If unsure, get a cheap 1 or 2 ring plug-in one and see what it is like. But bear in mind that some built-in ones have supersonic settings - maybe one ring at a time? That has to be seen to be believed but takes more than 13A so your plug-in one cannot manage it.
We recently bought a new cooker with an induction hob. We had to buy a new set of pans as our old ones weren't magnetic enough. I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys me. We were replacing a 30+ year old electric cooker with radiant rings. It had to go because I couldn't source new ring trays and the old ones were rusting through. My wife is absolutely delighted with it. The only problem was the poor instruction booklet. It took me ages to find out how to set the timers - I found out by Googling for the manuals of other makes. Once you know the manual makes sense! My sister in law has one too and she also is delighted. I've yet to hear anyone say "I wish I hadn't bought that Induction hob.".
I think induction hobs vary in speed and controllability so choose carefully. We bought a single plate one to try out the idea. It wasn't nearly as good as the cooker we eventually bought.
We bought a Stoves cooker in the end.
Edgar
Dennis is our resident expert on induction hobs :-)
Yes.
I've just been on a cookery course and the chef used a portable one-ring induction hob. I was quite impressed with it myself - to the extent that I'm now in the process of searching for a similar one myself - stand-alone single ring unit.
The control was virtually instant - he stopped a pan boiling over with a single button push, and used it to saute, simmer and boil (pasta) It was the first time I'd really had a chance to look at one in-use close-up and I was very impressed - if only I'd noted the make/model...
Prices do vary though - from a £25 Aldi special to £2500 or more )-: So finding the right one for me may take some time.
Gordon
more )-:
If you just want to play get the £25 Lidl one. I got one the other mon th as I just happened to be in store, they had one and I wanted to play. Best £25 I've spent in a along time.
Our small kitchen doesn't have enough space for it to remain on the work top so it lives elsewhere but it's so good(*) I go and get it and use it everytime I cook (ie. everyday...). It's rated at 2kW so has the same grunt as a medium if not large gas ring.
(*) Alternative is "red dot" solid hotplate cooker. Thermal inertia of a n elephant.
eh, our gas heater burns 71 g gas per hour per kW or produces about 70 ml of water an hour at 1 kW. 70 ml is a large double measure of sprits.
But that's for 1kW for an hour pan cooking rarely takes that long and won't be running at a 1 kW either. I reckon the burnt gas will contribute less than half of that 70 ml of water to the air, you'll have more from the cooking itself.
Brilliant things. More efficient heat transfer than gas, ie faster to heat a pan from cold, or bring something back up to temp.
Scott
I ought to be frightened of 'em as well. When I was about 7 decided it would be a nice thing to make Mum and Dad an early morning cup of tea. Kettle was heated on gas cooker, great lump of cast iron thing with cast iron burner rings etc(*). Lit it but the damn thing back fired, gas burning from the jet up the inside of the burner tube. Made one heck of a noise and terrified I went screaming up stairs. So much Mum & Dads nice quiet morning cup of tea... B-)
Dad later explained and showed me what had happened and how to deal with it (turn off the affected ring). It certainly left a mark on my psyche, this happened nearly 50 years ago but I remember it like yesterday, but I'm not frightened of gas cookers, even ancient hefty cast iron ones.
(*)
Well don't be such a mucky cook then. B-) Or just give it a wipe over after it's cooled.
If you don't mind been blinded by the glow when you lift a pan or a from the glow around the edges with a small pan.
Still suffers from thermal inertia and the associated ease of burning stuff due to the bang bang control and temperature overshoot.
No different to ceramic "easy to clean" if you don't spill anything on it. 'Cause if you do it near instantly carbonises and as for anything vaugely sweet...
Induction is hot but not hot enough to burn any spills, they'll dry out but not burn.
A lot more water vapour with a gass cooker of course. What about Halogen, they were all the rage a few years back.
Brian
I'll admit to a long standing prejudice against gas cooking which probably has little real foundation - like many prejudices.
That said I've noticed when house hunting that kitchens with gas cookers tend to be grimier than those with electric. So if it's not the quantity of water it may be the soot from combustion combined with grease and stuff from the cooking that is carried up onto the ceiling and walls and deposited there by the condensing water vapour. I imagine an eggcup full of water misted around a room would dampen quite an area. Perhaps an advantage of electric cooking is that the fumes remain in the air longer and have a better chance of getting out through a window.
We use pan with lids and little steam gets out - except when things need fierce boiling. Then the windows and doors are fully open. One of the benefits of having to buy new pans is that the new ones came with glass lids which is apparently a good thing.
Anyway each to his own. And now that we can fit good cooker ventilators maybe it won't matter any more.
Edgar
As long as they vent to the outside.
I remember those. They only worked with "town gas" (coal gas) IIRC, and wouldn't work after the switch over to natural gas.
I think they used a platinum wire, which was warmed up by the current from the battery. This wasn't hot enough to light the gas, but it was enough for the platinum wire to catalyse the oxidation of the hydrogen in the town gas, which raised the temperature enough to light the gas.
I remember those too. They fitted into a gas connection with a bayonet fitting next to the fire.
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