Induction Hobs - Opinions and Experiences

ToxicPaddy

Hi there,

I am looking at buying an induction hob instead of a gas hob for a new kitchen and would like to hear peoples opinions and experiences of them.

I would ideally like a 5 setting up to 80cm in size.

Has anyone moved from gas to induction? If so, how have they found the move and would they recommend one? Does it take much getting used to when cooking on them or is the transition and fairly simple one? Any horror stories about using them?

I know all about that certain types of pots can only be used and thankfully most of what I have are metal and I have done the magnet test just to be sure, so no major expense for the outlay of new cookware is required.

Thanks

mikep

I bought one of the cheapo lidl ones and love it so far, it's only one ring but is very quick and responsive. I find it great for doing rare steaks and also for simmering..I found it didn't take too much getting used to.
I have a 5 ring gas and would consider changing to induction for main hob but might always keep a gas hob...just in case..

Alun

I moved from a conventional ceramic hob to induction, and have never regretted it for a moment. The response when you turn down the heat is instantaneous, just like gas, as there's no real latent heat in the ring itself, just the pan. Getting a large pot of water up to the boil is much much quicker, and if anything does boil over, it doesn't burn on for the same reason.

The only thing I would say is that if you're in any way technophobic, they can be a bit of a challenge as they're pretty much all touch controlled with lots of beeps and lights, so can be a bit confusing at the beginning. Also being touch controlled the control area can be sensitive to water spills and wipng them clean can suddenly result in all the rings being switched off accidentally at once.

ToxicPaddy

Alun wrote: »

I moved from a conventional ceramic hob to induction, and have never regretted it for a moment. The response when you turn down the heat is instantaneous, just like gas, as there's no real latent heat in the ring itself, just the pan. Getting a large pot of water up to the boil is much much quicker, and if anything does boil over, it doesn't burn on for the same reason.

The only thing I would say is that if you're in any way technophobic, they can be a bit of a challenge as they're pretty much all touch controlled with lots of beeps and lights, so can be a bit confusing at the beginning. Also being touch controlled the control area can be sensitive to water spills and wipng them clean can suddenly result in all the rings being switched off accidentally at once.

I work in IT and I'm far from a technophobe so the technology behind it is what caught my attention in the first place :D:D

I actually just rechecked the cutout side and it's actually 750 x 555mm so I could go for a bigger unit and maybe choose one with the controls to one side if they exist to sort that issue about buttons being turned off when wiping.

Thanks for the info guys, the more I read and research these items the more I'm liking them

Tails142

There is zero downside to induction, maybe not quite as powerful as gas for heat (maybe 90%) but to me the biggest benefit is how easy it is to keep clean, just wipe spills with a damp cloth after.

Way safer too, no risk of setting tea towels on fire, leaving gas rings on etc.

Having had gas in my last house and various types of electric over the years it's induction all the way for me from now on.

Alun

One more thing to watch out for is quite how fast pans heat up when empty ... I left a pan on accidentally without any water in it on full power and walked away for only a minute or so. Came back to a destroyed pan, the base had completely delaminated from the body of the pan and I had to bin it.

Alun

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

I work in IT and I'm far from a technophobe so the technology behind it is what caught my attention in the first place :D:D

Me too, I don't have any issues with it at all, but on the rare occasions my wife uses it (!) I hear lots of swearing interspersed with beeps coming from the kitchen

ToxicPaddy

Alun wrote: »

Me too, I don't have any issues with it at all, but on the rare occasions my wife uses it (!) I hear lots of swearing interspersed with beeps coming from the kitchen

:D:D:D:D

Muahahaha

In the same boat OP, I'm renovating a kitchen and gas is out as the hob is going to be on an island unit with a downdraft ventilator which you cannot use with gas as it can suck flames into it. So induction the only game in town for me. I'm no technophobe but I would also prefer an induction hob with actual knobs rather than the touch screen format most of them have. I know two people with induction and part of their digital display has gone on the blink so it is not immediately clear what number you are on.

So far I've only seen a Smeg model with knobs , models with knobs seem few and far between. From research there is some good tech in the mid range and upwards models. I especially like the idea of models with a time function where you set it to get to boil a pot of veggies and then the timer continues that boil for your set amount of minutes before automatically switching off. That means you can just set it and walk away till it beeps to tell you its done. Some of the higher end units have a single zone system where you can place the pot anywhere on the glass and it will heat up. Its a nice feature but seems to add hundreds onto the price so I'm not sure if its worth the extra expense for just a bit more convenience.

horgan_p

We saved up and bought a Neff induction hob (I actually bought all neff appliances one at a time over about 6 months).
We use ours twice a day, no problem whatsoever. Its a pain having to buy new pots and pans, but once they are bought its done.
Our hob is about 3 years old and I would buy again.

micks_address

We had our last one about four years when it gave up. Bosch model. Replaced again with Bosch as found someone who had bought one and didn't suit their kitchen so got a deal. I would say buy as powerful one as you can. I think ours is 4.3kw I notice if we have more than two rings on the power cycles between the rings. It's fine but if was buying from shop I'd look at 7kw

dudara

We bought a Belling Cookcentre range cooker with induction hob for our new house and overall I’ve been very pleased with it.

https://www.did.ie/belling-cookcentre-90cm-induction-range-cooker-black-90eiblk-90eiblk-1-prd?param1=wgmidmarfb&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ZOO64Cj4QIVCJ3tCh0Otw_DEAQYAyABEgIJAfD_BwE#fo_c=1898&fo_k=11dc5693646557a0b3f72f5fcb13831a&fo_s=gplaie

Pros
Very easy to clean
Quicker cooking times
Can link different zones together to create a single larger zone
Warming zone to the side for low heat
Auto turn off when you remove a pan from the ring, and auto re-rengage when you put it back on.

Cons
Took a little getting used to - as pans heat faster, you don’t need to put them on in advance to warm up, otherwise you destroy them
Some of my cast iron skillets don’t seem to distribute the heat as well as they did on a regular ceramic hob. However, I’ve learned where the hot spots are and work around it now
The UI is touch-sensitive, and can be water sensitive, e.g. if water spills on it, you’ll need to dry it off before you can change settings

Muahahaha

How do people find induction for wok cooking? I know you have to get a special flat bottomed wok but is there any disadvantage vis a vis gas for wok cooking? I'd imagine that with induction the bottom of the wok gets very hot but the side walls remain cool?

Alun

Muahahaha wrote: »

How do people find induction for wok cooking? I know you have to get a special flat bottomed wok but is there any disadvantage vis a vis gas for wok cooking? I'd imagine that with induction the bottom of the wok gets very hot but the side walls remain cool?

The thing with induction is that generally the pans you use have a base that's ferromagnetic, i.e. will get hot due to the induction field, but the rest of the pan is made of either stainless steel or aluminium and therefore only gets hot through conduction from the base. Same goes for most flat bottomed wok-like pans.

Obviously if the whole pan is made from a ferromagnetic material such as plain carbon steel like a traditional chinese wok, or cast iron like an Indonesian wadjan it will be different, but again unfortunately the induction field only reaches a few centimetres above the hob, so only the lower regions of the pan will get really hot and for the rest you're down to conduction again.

I have a round bottomed wok made by Electrolux that sits on a stand you place on the hob, but again it's only the bottom 3-4 inches in diameter of the pan that gets (really!!) hot and the rest only moderately so. An expensive mistake

You can get proper professional wok induction hobs that are curved to fit a wok, but they aren't cheap.

Spook_ie

Brought our first induction hob about 12 years ago mainly for safety reasons, if you take a pan off the zone you can put your hand on the hob and though you will get a minor burn or discomfort your skin doesn't seem to stick to the hob unlike gas and ceramic. Think small hands accidentally rather than adults testing it!

Alun

Spook_ie wrote: »

Brought our first induction hob about 12 years ago mainly for safety reasons, if you take a pan off the zone you can put your hand on the hob and though you will get a minor burn or discomfort your skin doesn't seem to stick to the hob unlike gas and ceramic. Think small hands accidentally rather than adults testing it!

Yes, one of the most striking demos you can give to people is to place a small pan of water on one of the larger rings, bring it to the boil and place your hand on the ring next to the pan

That and the famous one of the cut in half pan and half fried egg !

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3163614/Who-knew-frying-egg-blow-mind-Video-reveals-strange-electromagnetic-power-induction-HOB.html

wild turkey

Ive been looking at getting one. Has anyone had to upgrade their wiring to accommodate it ?

Roen

If your current cooker is hob and oven combined and powered from the one cable from the board then ideally you'd need to run an extra cable from the board.

One for the oven. One for the hob.

My set up is oven/grill one side of work area, hob other side. One is just spurred off the other. It's not ideal but was like that when I bought the house. When I go to replace either I'll run the extra cable.