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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Ceramic Hob - to buy or not to buy?

58 replies

busy2busy · 11/02/2007 18:34

Hi

I am getting a new kitchen (i have a very small galley kitchen).

Quite like the look of the ceramic hobs (with one or two halogen rings).

However a bit dubious about the control - are they any good to cook on? Does anyone have any experience?

OP posts:
Aefondkiss · 11/02/2007 21:29

we had one and dropped a bottle of olive oil on it and it cracked

ernest · 11/02/2007 21:30

I've always had gas before, but new house has ceramic hob .... and I LIKE it. I find it much easier to keep clean, ours regulates easily, so can go from boil to simmer ok, I've never boiled over to the point it's flooded the whole hob, blimey, that must take some doing!. I also like the fact it's basically extra work surface, you can warm the plates nicely on the 'rings' while dishing up. I wouldn't go back to gas.

So one voice in the wilderness.

We do have a 'special scraper' . I was bought in the coop for £1 so don't really see it as being a big deal.

Much easier to clean.

Looks much nicer.

More work space.

Ours is just an electrolux, nothing mega fancy, but I'm happy with it.

PanicPants · 11/02/2007 21:37

Big kisses for ernest and TheOriginalXENA.

Ernest - thats exactly why I wanted a ceramic hob.

louismummy · 11/02/2007 21:43

i have an induction which are better than ceramic, more controlable than gas, quicker to heat water than my fast boil kettle!!! LOVE IT. would never go back to gas....

Original poster
busy2busy · 11/02/2007 22:37

Thanks Ernest - that's just what I wanted to hear too.

Wish I could afford an induction - they sound great.

I have a very small kitchen and I was thinking it would provide a bit of extra space.

Everyone has put me off a bit though.....

OP posts:
Original poster
busy2busy · 11/02/2007 22:38

Panic Pants - when is yours being installed ? Perhaps you could post a review? :-)

OP posts:
Original poster
busy2busy · 11/02/2007 22:38

Panic Pants - when is yours being installed ? Perhaps you could post a review? :-)

OP posts:
Original poster
busy2busy · 11/02/2007 22:41

Soup Dragon - is yours sh!te because of the cleaning or the cooking.

(I can live with it being hard to clean- but not rubbish to cook on!)

OP posts:
DimpledThighs · 11/02/2007 22:50

I cook a lot and have a ceramic and love it - no noticable problems for me and love the way you can get it looking really clean and it streamlines with the work surface and you can put stuff on it.

Original poster
busy2busy · 11/02/2007 23:20

I think I am back onto the ceramic hobs now - choices choices....I'll have to have a look for the best offer on the internet.

Ikea units but their appliances seem quite expensive.

OP posts:
CocoLoco · 11/02/2007 23:38

I hate ceramic hobs, but not as much as I hate cheap electric hobs. Thankfully we have a gas hob again now we've moved.

bubbles4 · 12/02/2007 07:40

i love mine too didnt have much choice as no gas in this house but i find it nearly as controlable as gas and keep it clean with either fairy power spray or hob brite

StrawberrySnowflakes · 12/02/2007 08:17

we brought ours with us ONLY to find there was no electric point for cooker in new house(only gas) and no where to put it on circuit board!..so £100's of pounds for us to spend the first week we moved in!

Cloudhopper · 12/02/2007 08:32

We bought one for our kitchen because it had no convenient gas point, so we had to have all electric.

I was dreading it, but I find it brilliant. When not in action, it acts as another work surface, and I find it really convenient to have the extra worktop space, especially in a small kitchen.

Also I remember cleaning a gas stove top - having to remove the top bit and wash it somehow, cream cleanser everywhere. Ugh - I find the ceramic much easier which just needs a wipe clean most days and occasionally (once a fortnight) needs a good scrub with one of the halogen cleaners. We live in a hard water area which makes it worse, but it isn't that bad.

It does take slightly longer to heat up the pan, which I find only a problem for stir fries and other quick cook things. You do get used to it though, and eventually you just adapt. The advantage is that after you have turned the hob off, it has residual heat which helps to keep food warm if you need to.

Furball · 12/02/2007 08:47

I've always had gas (and now still have)which is a pain to clean as you have to take all the metalwork off to really get to it. When we moved to this house last easter there was a ceramic hob - I loved it sooo easy to clean. I bought some hob brite and it always was sparkling. Was disappointed when I couldn't have one when we had the kitchen done, but now have a stainless steel range which is really easy to clean with and ecloth.

Bucketsofdynomite · 12/02/2007 10:35

Modern ceramic hobs are fine for cooking and so much easier to keep clean than gas hobs. Life's too short to be dismantling gas hobs when a swift swipe on ceramic hob takes seconds.

SoupDragon · 12/02/2007 16:07

It's sh!te because of the cooking! Sorry

Californication · 12/02/2007 16:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ernest · 12/02/2007 16:56

you're defin itely doing it wrong then. With heat settings 0 - 9 there is definitely an um, middle ground between off and boiling....?

And you can melt chocolate on it ( can do very low, ideal for plates and melting chocolate for chocolate fondues) without having to fanny about with a bain marie.

Furball · 12/02/2007 17:06

chocolate doesn't hang round in our house long enough to melt!

PanicPants · 12/02/2007 19:44

Ooh popped back on tonight and have seen lots more positive posts

SoupDragon · 12/02/2007 20:01

You melt chocolate in a microwave you don't need a cr*ppy ceramic hob to do it.

snigger

LemonTart · 12/02/2007 20:05

well I have a gorgeous ceramic hob that I love. It has a lovely bevelled edge so no difficult metal strip round it to clean. It is a piece of cake to clean and looks beautiful - much nicer than all those gas rings sticking up! Clean, smooth, gleaming - I love it. It is very quick to heat, very sensitive to control..
All I can say to those who dislike it is - that you must have bought a duffone! Buy a top end high quality one and you will love it too I love cooking and wanted a decent one - glad I went to ceramic.

caffeinequeen · 12/02/2007 20:07

No no no no no no no no no no
DON'T DO IT!
Crap control of the heat
Crap to clean thus gets messy thus
Crap look overall

Also if a pan spills over (not an impossibility when you're, you know, COOKING) often the controls are on the same surface making it dangerous to boot.

Get gas.

that had been in my system a bit too long, don't you think?!

SoupDragon · 12/02/2007 20:22

Mine's a Naff. I mean Neff.