Induction hobs

[JumperandJacket]

Wasn't sure where to put this thread so hope you don't mind it's here.

I'm planning a new kitchen. I've always had a gas hob before but our new house isn't on mains gas. I originally thought about an Everhot but now I'm wondering about a induction hob.

Can anyone recommend them for someone used to gas? I really struggle with ordinary electric hobs- I end up burning things because I can't control the heat as I would with gas. How does induction compare?

Any views would be very gratefully received.

I prefer my induction hob to gas, I would never want to go back to a gas hob. Induction is infinitely more controllable than any other form of electric hob.

Just got an induction and I love it. Very responsive and easy to use. Don’t miss gas at all

Love mine. They all have timers so you can set it to cook for, say, 10 minutes and it will turn itself off. Mine is very controllable. About two seconds to respond to prevent something bolling over. Very slightly slower than gas.

I was a life-long gas user and couldn't imagine switching to anything else, but my PILs have an induction hob on their Rangemaster and I was hooked the first time I ever cooked anything on it. When we moved to a new build with gas to the boiler but not to the kitchen we upgraded from the standard Bosch ceramic hob to a Siemens induction.

The one we have has a single touch-operated slider which controls all four rings, so you have to select which ring it controls before adjusting. Four years in and it's more or less instinctive, but it took a lot of getting used to and even now I'm adjusting the wrong bloody ring about once a week. Given the choice, I'd rather have individual rotary knobs for each ring like PILs range, although the frustrated Star Fleet officer in me also enjoys pretending I'm on the Enterprise when operating the touch slider.

However, there are also no visual clues from the ring itself about how hot they are. Ours has a digital display showing the setting for each from 0 to 9 which is a god-send. There is also a H indicated when a ring is hot but not switched on. The display flashes when a ring is on but there is no pan on it.

It is fast and responsive, no different to gas. What is different though is that because pans have to be steel or iron and tend to have thick bases, the pans themselves have a significantly higher heat capacity and take longer to heat up or cool down compared to using aluminium on gas.

I use a wok probably five days in every seven. I know some have issues with woks on induction but I've got a flat-bottomed one from Aldi and find it works OK. What does frustrate me is that other specialised pans are difficult to get hold of for induction or expensive, or both. A Spanish paellero traditionally dips towards a point in the middle, and a Portuguese cataplana is traditionally made of copper and has a round bottom. You can buy induction friendly ones, but they are literally ten times the price and I've struggled to justify the expense. I don't use a stove-top espresso machine, but I know others who do have have struggled to find steel ones.

We are electric only so I’m not a great one to discuss the merits of gas over electric. However our induction is great. The boost button is superb. Boiling water in about 30 seconds.

New properties no longer have gas. My builder refused to put gas in. Prices for gas are low but this will change..

I appreciate that doesn’t answer your question! Just some interesting info around gas/electric -induction options

I also was used to cooking on gas, both professionally and at home. However, a pre existing kitchen design prevented me buying a replacement gas cooker, so I went for an induction hob with a 13amp plug, so it can be situated where you like. I love it so much for all kinds of reasons - aesthetically it is beautiful and there are touch controls (no fiddly knobs to clean/round.) Consequently it is a dream to keep clean. It is so efficient. It has a timer so I can go away and leave it, knowing it will turn off when done. I'd never go back to gas.

I've heard stories where people cannot operate all four rings on some hobs when it is plugged into a 13A socket. A dedicated fused spur would be a lot better.

Also worth pointing out that as far as I know the advice still stands not to use an induction hob if you have a pacemaker fitted.

Changed from gas to induction a couple of years ago. Have adjusted to the cooking but also like how easy it is to clean, and how the space can be used as worktop when not cooking.

Thank you so much, everyone, for all this info!

I was struck by people saying it’s easy to clean- I’m always a bit scared of scrubbing away at an electric hob in case I scratch it. What do you do if eg something boils over?

I've not needed to scrub mine, I just wipe off spillages asap. I think because it's so much more controllable than old-style electric hobs, it's less likely that you will have a bad boil over. The area which isn't 'ring' doesn't get really hot.

you wipe with special (easy to find in the supermarket) chemicals.
No metal to rust, no nooks and crannys to get into. One flat surface.
The biggest thing I found (I moved into a flat with induction) was a lot of my pans didn't work, so some of them needed replacing (which is not appreciated just after buying a flat).
It took me a while to get used to, but I love it. I found going from gas to electric more of a switch than electric to induction.

I have never found cleaning the hob an issue, mine switches off if it detects a boil over and just needs a wipe with a damp cloth then a buff with a dry cloth. If there are any stubborn stains you can mix 1 part bicarb and 1 part white vinegar, wipe it over, leave it for 20-30 minutes then wipe off and buff up (or use something like Hob Brite)