Gas, ceramic or induction hob?

[Bobb1nR0bb1n]

I’ve no idea

Oh yes I hadn't realised till after we got an induction hob, not all pans work on it, and it's usually the expensive ones you need to buy! We found some of our existing ones and parked and others didn't. We bought suitable ones which were as cheap as possible but we find after a while they stop working so false economy.

Induction but choose carefully, ours is wired in on 32amp so it is powerful enough to use several rings. Our oven just plugs in on a standard 3 pin plug.

Check the size of the pans you want to use because if the pan is bigger than the ring the edges will not heat up, this is not gas. Mine allows me to combine the either the left or right sides to allow for a slightly larger pan and I don't have rings, just the area that detects the pan and heats that area. It was an eye watering price just over 10 years ago (£850 Die Dietrich brand) but looks almost brand new just a couple of tiny surface scratches.

Easy to clean and control once you get the hang of it.

I agree. After cooking on gas for over 40 years we now have induction.

Like @GiantHornets my induction hob is not so good if I want to use more than one ring on a high heat.

I miss being able to cook an omelette properly and stir frying on a very high heat.

I find that pans bow after cooking regularly on high heat and they aren't fully in contact with the hob.

Ideally I would want induction with a gas wok burner.

Induction 💯

Depends on the type that you have. Mine is 80cm and has two separate heat zones so you can have two sets pans at super high temperatures. My smaller induction 4 "plate" Bosch hob only had one super high temp but I have a 5 plate hob with two separate heating zones.
I would advise getting an 80cm hob if you cook a lot as on a smaller hob bigger pots tend to not sit properly (in my opinion).

If I could have gas here, it would be gas

However we dont have gas out here and I chose induction and tbh Im happy enough with the control, what really pees me off with it - a pan spits out water and it shuts down and can take a few minutes before it realises its been cleaned up and can be turned back on and the same when I pull a pan too close to the controls - switches itself off

Still the extra workspace it also creates is a plus

My kitchen is too smll for an 80cm hob.

I had initially asked for a gas hob when our kitchen was being done, but the fitters had brought an induction hob by mistake. I checked my pans, which happened to be magnetic so I said I would keep the hob. They hard wired it in and discovered it didn't work, so got a plug in one to replace it.

I understand now that the hard wired one would have been more powerful, so when this one goes I will replace it with a more powerful one.

Gas all the way. Also handy in a power-cut when you can provide hot water to all your neighbours with induction hobs because they're gasping for a cuppa.

Definitely induction! I've used all 3.

We damaged ours 2 months after installing it.

The hob is a glass plate, so yes, they can be damaged. In our case we have shelves for spice and herb jars above the hob and the jars were made of glass. One fell down and the rest is history.

We replaced all jars with plastic, removed everything heavy/glass/metal from the surrounding cabinets.

8 years later - no further damage.

please tell me about the controls on induction? We've had funny touch-on controls in holiday cottages, would that have been induction hob?

On my induction hob the controls are flat within/ on the surface of the hob. So you just touch them. DH stabs them or keeps his finger pressed down really hard and wonders why they don't work for him. And he uses the main on off setting to turn off the kettle. Rather than turn off the actual 'ring' he's using.
So for me they need the hob as a whole switching on. Then the actual 'ring' you want to use and in my case that's a slider from 0-10.
It's straight forward when you know how it works.

😂
Well said

Not well said. I like induction but I miss my gas hob for stir frying and making things like omelettes and pancakes.

Also, in case we have a power cut.

My induction hob manages very low temperatures fine and all the rings have a boost setting which heats things up with incredible speed. It’s 8 years amid now so I’d imagine the technology is even better now.

😂

How are you making your omelettes and pancakes that you can't use an induction hob?!

Yes, it would be useful to have gas in a power cut (not that I can remember the last time we had one), but it's not a consideration that would stop me from buying an induction hob

I have a single ring camping stove to use in the event if a power cut.

I can't do omelettes and pancakes on a ceramic hob (have ruined many) but it's not an issue at all on induction.

I had gas for years but had to move to induction when we moved to a house with no mains gas. Wouldn't go back, I love it. Plus it's much easier to clean.

I can and do make pancakes and omelettes on my induction hob but when you tip the pan away from the heat source it is much cooler than if it was over a gas flame.

In a widespread powercut gas may not work anyway as it relies on electricity to pump it.

Gas creates indoor air pollution that contributes to asthma.

Induction rocks.

OP, just be aware that induction is more efficient as there is no wasted heat, but it is actually more expensive to run because electricity is more expensive than gas.