Give me your best induction hob tips

[BertieBotts]

DH came home with one from Aldi the other day and I'm slightly suspicious of it It vibrates.

We've got all the proper pans and stuff for it now, have figured out that you set it by temperature, rather than high/low/medium, but it's definitely different. I can't figure out at all what the higher temperatures are for considering that the low-medium ones burn things to a crisp alarmingly fast, it's thrown out of whack everything I've ever learned about what cooks faster than other things and I can't make a white sauce in it, because the lowest temperature is 60 and that burns butter.

Help?!

It sounds a bit rubbish. I have a built in induction hob and it goes all the way down to an incredibly low setting, perfect for just keeping something warm.

Sounds like it's not working to me. Would take it back for a replacement or refund. I bought a portable induction hob earlier this year as a test drive for a built in one and it went from boiling to barely simmering pretty effectively.

It probably is rubbish, it was cheap from Aldi. But it's the only working hob we have (we don't have a proper kitchen) and I was thinking there must be a bit of a knack to it - it boils water in seconds, for example, which wouldn't happen with gas/electric.

I love induction hobs; as you have learnt already, they are so much more efficient than gas or electric.

It does sound you have a bit of a dud though, as it should be keeping things warm on the lowest setting.

Vibration is "normal", though it was much more pronounced on the second one I had, which was also the cheapest.

We has an induction hob in our holiday cottage last summer and no instruction book. It took us most the holiday to work out how to use it, though it did simmer things once we'd worked it out.

I'm probably exaggerating on the alarmingly fast thing, it's just much faster than I'm used to, especially as we've had portable hobs for the last year which got temperamental after being used for too long, stuff spilled on them etc and invariably ended up so ineffectual that you could touch the hob when it was supposed to be on.

It does simmer, that's not the issue. Was just wondering if people had tips on how to use it, since it seems to take a while to get the hang of them. We have three functions - you can set it by setting (number 1-12), temperature (60-240) or power (no idea, something in watts). DH reckoned it had a slow cook setting but we haven't found it. The manual is in German.

We did find tonight that on the temperature setting, it goes in pulses, whereas on the power setting it is on more constantly.

I love the fact that when you spill something you can wipe it up immediately and it doesn't get burnt on

It's trial and error really, My built in hob boils rapidly at 9, simmers gently between 3 and 4, and 6 or 7 is a good setting for frying. 1 and 2 are just barely warm rather than doing any actual cooking. Having switched from using gas for 30+ years it's taken me a little time to work out the settings for trickier things like omelettes or jam making but I'm learning.