Struggling with my induction hob

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Am I being stupid or do induction hobs reeeeeaaally take some time getting used to? We have a new one, and have only ever had gas hobs before so the transition is panicking me.

It's a Beko one - nothing fancy. But can't figure out why it takes ages to heat something up. We've put some cold, leftover chilli in a pan to heat and it's doing nothing. Does it not accept cold food? It also took me half an hour to boil a 1 small pan of water and can't figure out why.

We are using the correct diameter pan for each ring. All our pans are magnetic, and it flashes anyway if it's not the right pan.

DH is bemoaning that 'gas is so visible, sorry is it to control, so easy to simmer things on' and is fantasising already about ripping out the new hob 😒

Any top tips welcome. Please tell me I will grow to love it eventually!

We have recently got an induction hob and I'm finding it fairly slow to heat things up too. We have spent a fortune on the pans made especially for induction hobs - smooth bottomed and magnetic so it shouldn't be due to those. I'm wondering if my problem is that I'm not putting it on full power first. So if something needs to be cooked at a moderate heat I put it on number 7 straight away instead of 9 and then turning it down. I've noticed that my husband has things almost boiling over and he hasn't mentioned having an issue with it.

In all fairness, I used to have an induction suitable green pan.

It mangled every egg I ever tried to cook in it, though, so I binned it.

And all of my various pans have made some noise on the 3 induction hobs I've had through the years. One of my circulon pans sounds ready to explode just before it reaches the boil!

The ceramic part of green pans is the supposedly non-stick coating, btw.

My induction hob goes up to 9 and then has a P after it, this will boil water in about 30 secs then you turn it down to simmer. Don't leave it on P or it will boil or burn things in about 1 min. I put it up to P and watch and as soon as it starts bubbling move it back down to 5 or 6. But as other posters say you must have induction pans. Argos, Tesco, Sainsburys etc all sell them these days. I love my induction hob, really easy to use when you are used to it.

Thanks for that Tinty - I've just checked the manual and ours has a P too (I hadn't discovered it as it doesn't come straight after 9)!

I don't have ikea pans (is it their 365+ range?) but they are supposed to be good. Does sound like it's not working. Mine only makes a slight temporary noise when switched to boost (highest power)

I've rejected houses on the basis of an induction hob. I simply can't cook Indian food on one. Some may be able to, but I just can't. Having said that, when I lived in my London flat, I had one and had no issues as I wasn't cooking proper family meals - just stuff for myself which was simple and easy. To each their own.

Why on earth would you reject a whole perfect house just because it had an induction hob? So easy to change it.....

Thanks everyone. I haven't seen the IKEA special induction pans but will check them out. My budget doesn't really stretch to Circulon rn. I think it's going to take some getting used to as gas is so visible - you can change state really quickly. DH loves tech but sees this as requiring too much thinking and not enough intuitiveness in its settings. He's convinced himself he won't be able to move from high heat frying to simmering without having to press 'bleeps buttons'.

I'm sure this is just a change of habit thing though ..

I had an induction job and it was fab. No buzzing. Couldn't get one to fit my new kitchen though, and can't plumb in gas myself so stuck with halogen.

I don't really understand your husbands point about not being able to get from boiling to simmering without pressing buttons? You'd have to change the level of gas on a gas job to get from boiling to simmering.

I always went for "heat up, get to boiling, down to simmer". I never used fancy pans - just standard stainless steel that was magnetic and a fairly normal frying pan.

Fingers crossed you get the hang of it OP, or get it replaced if not!

@EpoxyResin Le Creuset should be fine on induction hobs, they have iron plates within them. Our (one) LC pot works fine.

www.lecreuset.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions