Recommendations for an induction hob please

Very reliable, lots of safety features, easy to fit easy to clean. Damn powerful boost.

Cons: slow to operate (touch buttons). Some makes have a magnetic knob that can been moved around and twiddled.

We got a Neff from John Lewis (two year warranty). Four rings, boost function, timer, quite happy with it.

It's really good, lots of boost power, logical controls with good law and logically laid out. The only minor criticism is that it can be a bit fiddly to make a setting, you aim for 5 but it sets to 4 for instance.

The neff ones and bosch ones come off the same factory line and have a two year warranty wherever you buy them. (Neff is the upmarket marketing name to get more cash from the punter.)

I have a four ring Bosch and its quite nice, however the boost only works on one ring at a time. The more expensive ones have multiple boosts that can work on more than one ring at a time.

The top of the range hobs have flex induction zones, where the individual induction coils can switch on where the pan is, they can cost £2k so I doubt if the OP needs/wants that.

Perhaps you should tell John Lewis that, the Neff they are selling is cheaper than any of their Bosch ones.

Ours was a Neff T40B30X2 at £399 two years ago.

Our Bosch is different again to those settings

G.Harman

Thats probably this one

I think the series 8 are like that. I just had series 6 as its unlikely that I need more than one on boost. It was either that or go for a flex induction and that was ~£350 more.

Well if you say so George I wooden know and don't much care.

I bought Bosch PIE611B18E for £340 or so less the £30 or so that I am supposed to get for the old Neff one 'they' took away.

All 4 zones have a boost function, and a timer function. The maximum current draw is set to 20 amps (or less).

It fitted in the old hole better than I had dared to hope.

I have an earlier of this hob which I paid more like £450 which has worked for the past 13 years. A man from Bosch replaced 1 of the circuit boards about a month after I bought it, but since then it has been OK.

Many thanks for the replies. Of the many manufacturers names out there, only Neff, Bosch and Miele have been mentioned. Miele seem a lot more expensive than I want to pay, so I'll stick with Bosch and Neff. As Dennis says they're made in the same factory, I'll read a few on-line reviews, check prices and use my trusty selectapin!

Thanks again.

We've had a Neff 5 "ring" one for a few weeks/

- Absolutely brilliant at simmering.

- You have to be careful of the "POWAH!!!" setting, since it says in the book you can melt the glass surface - and I believe it.

- UI is a bit pants. I'd still prefer a knob per ring, but that would spoil the next point ...

- Really easy to clean.

About the only thing that's a pain is that it's easy to get a pan in the wrong place, so of course it stops working.

It's a bit of a faff but doable. However, everything in its place. We looked at getting a Peugeot 308 recently, but the heating control is all done from the touch screen. Which means taking your eyes off the road if you want to alter the temp setting. These touch-screen and heating via a set cabin temperature instead of a set air-supply temperature fads need to end.

Indeed.

About the only thing that's a pain is that it's easy to get a pan

But picks up again if you move the pan. When I was doing some beans the other day the ring wouldn't come on - but SWMBO pointed out to me that the pan was too small for the ring, so I moved it to another one.

Couldn't agree more! Touch screens in cars with be the next "How could we have ever thought that was safe or a good idea?" thing like using mobile phones etc.

They really are disastrously bad compared to a well designed switch or knob. Hate them with a passion. Designed by wanky geeks without a clue about safety.

Tim

I'd guess they end up being much cheaper to make in bulk.

I'm one of those odd people that touch screens don't seem to like. Often have to tap them several times to get them to work.

There's at least one country that requires such controls to be automatically disabled unless the car is not moving. Applies to things like GPS naviators too. (Might have been Japan, but I can't recall for sure.)

Good idea. Trouble is designers are putting controls that you might want to use whilst driving into touch screen menus. Want hot air to your feet? Two stabs at the screen. Want to know what the radio is playing? Another two stabs. Madness.

Tim

That's where Tesla have a huge UI mistake. Star Trek interfaces is cool for stationary - GPS, system settings, watching battery state...

But for stuff on the move, you need a knob. A big uniquely placed and shaped knob that you can feel, grab and twist blind.

My Mazda 6 has a touch screen and a large knob.