New ove and hob choices

[WorkingItOutForMyself]

Am hoping someone might be able to help.

We are having a new kitchen fitted soon. Oak shaker doors style with acrylic worktops.

We are toying with the idea of having a fitted oven and a ceramic hob. I like the idea of it because it seems easy to maintain, easy to just wipe over. Also looks quite smart I think.

However it isn't cheap. We are paying a premium for it, so our budget doesn't stretch to such a good oven.

So I'm looking at freestanding cookers/hobs now. One thing I hate with a passion though, is that we get so much muck stuck down the side of our cooker where it meets our wooden worktops. Eugh, it's GROSS. I want to avoid this. But having never had anything other than wooden tops, I wasn't sure if it even happened with acrylic style worktops.

Can anyone advise?

Are fitted ovens in general a good/bad idea??

Thanks!

[Fluffycloudland77]

I've got a fitted oven and its fine. Did you mean an induction hob? Ceramic gets hot doesn't it?.

[ToBeeOrNot]

Presuming you mean induction? I'd never touch a ceramic hob.

I like fitted appliances for the exact reason you mention, no dropping any food down the sides.

[WorkingItOutForMyself]

I do mean ceramic, actually.

Ive not had good experiences with induction.

Are ceramic no good?

Perhaps I'll get good old gas after all?

[ToBeeOrNot]

Not for cooking with imo, worst of both worlds.

We looked at induction but ended up sticking with a gas hob. Reason being a decent induction was quite a bit more expensive than a good gas hob. We have a gas on glass hob which I think looks nice and smart.

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

We used to have a ceramic hob. They are not fast, and because it gets hot, stuff can burn on so you have to scrape it rather than just wipe over.

We put in an induction hob a couple of years ago and it's brilliant. Faster than gas, nothing can burn on, and it is a doddle to clean.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I really wouldn't get ceramic, they don't wear well and aren't very controllable.

Gas ovens are much cheaper to run than electric ones if it makes a difference.

[mandy214]

Hi, I've just had a ceramic hob put in and an in-built double electric fan oven (in fact we had the gas pipe removed from the kitchen!). I wanted the "sleek" look of a flat hob, but couldn't afford induction and I was worried too that I'd have to change most of my pans to be compatible with an induction hob.

I love to cook, but I'm not Delia, so controllability and speed aren't necessarily big issues for me. I've never used an induction hob though so can't really comment on the difference, but perfectly suitable for my family's needs. Really love it.

It's not quite as easy to clean as I anticipated, I do have to clean it properly where water / spits catch, but its a 5 minute job.

[Lilymaid]

Induction is brilliant. Cooked with gas hob for donkey's years, then bought induction - just as easy to control temperature and zillion times easier to clean.

[vienaa]

I have a free standing range,(gas on top and oven electric) you don't get no food down the side as there is no gap, but I do get a lot of crap go under it as there is a gap, and they are a bugger to clean as its so low.. When my kitchen id finish, intergrade induction hob and intergrade oven for me....

[Millymollymama]

Definitely go for an induction hob. Nothing beats them. Easy to clean and quick. I would never have a freestanding cooker. I haven't had freestanding for 35 years. A built in double oven is great because you can see what is cooking and you get eye level grilling . I think if you ever sell your house, integrated looks so much better than freestanding, especially in a new kitchen. Why would you spend a lot of money to have a great looking kitchen and not have a decent hob and oven?

[FlaviaAlbia]

I have a ceramic hob and built in oven. We were on a tight budget when we did our kitchen and saw induction and gas hobs as nice to have but not essential. We're only cooking family meals and it does the job fine. It does have the disadvantage that food spilled onto it burns, but other than that I'm happy with it.

I would like to upgrade to an induction hob at some point having seen my friend's (and my pots would work with it so I wouldn't have to buy new) but I'm not bothered enough to do it while the ceramic one still works