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Original poster

Is having your hob on an island a really terrible idea?

51 replies

IShouldBeSoLurky · 04/03/2016 12:04

I know this has been done before, but please indulge me!

We are planning a kitchen-diner extension, avec island. Partly because the layout of the room makes it difficult to put the hob elsewhere (I want a floor-to-ceiling run of units + oven on one wall and there is a window on the other) and partly because I like the idea of being more sociable while cooking, I want the hob (induction) on the island. Island will hopefully be quite deep and we have no DC so I'm not particularly worried about safety, but I am worried about fat splashing on to the floor behind it and being annoying to clean.

Any thoughts?

OP posts:

namechangedtoday15 · 04/03/2016 13:05

Similar position, about to change the layout of the kitchen. One long wall with an island unit. Also going induction. We have to have sink or hob on the island, simply isn't space for both on long run of units.

We have decided not to have hob on island, but sink instead. For us, we do have children, so safety came into it, but also I'm quite a messy cook. I don't think it would be "social" for me for guests to see what / how I'm cooking as they mooch at the island with a glass of wine or be trying to have a conversation with me whilst there's mountains of steam / more noise of cooking between us. I also thought that if we have to have some sort of extraction hood / filter (although am trying to do without), I don't want that kind of dangling in the middle of the room, would rather have that on the wall.

So those are the issues that swung it for us.

NancyDecca · 04/03/2016 14:45

I have an induction hob on an island and really like it. I do think it is more sociable. Not quite sure I understand the point about fat splashing on the floor behind it - do you mean away from you and on to the floor on the other side of the island? Our island is not particularly deep and I don't think we've ever had this problem. Our hood is not flush to the ceiling but high enough it isn't obtrusive. Personally I would find having the sink on the island more liable to look messy (but you are probably tidier than me namechange )

Original poster

IShouldBeSoLurky · 04/03/2016 14:56

Thanks both. Yes, I agree the sink area is more likely to attract clutter than the hob area - the way I cook anyway! TBH I hadn't really thought about the splashy fat issue until people on here mentioned it as a potential problem. I guess the fact that one has splashbacks behind a hob when it's against the wall indicates that splashing is a thing, but then splashes would logically happen forwards as much as backwards!

OP posts:

Patterkiller · 04/03/2016 15:02

I have my hob with a half sink and boiling water tap on an island. The half sink and tap are just used for cooking and making cuppas. I have a large sink on another run of units and similarly a full run of tall units on the other wall.

I love the layout it really works, splashing isn't an issue, I wipe the bench as I would if there was a splash back and the clutter does tend to be around and in the full sink.

Original poster

IShouldBeSoLurky · 04/03/2016 15:05

Oooh, Patterkiller, that's what I wanted too but when I suggested it to my architect she was like

I was thinking maybe dishwasher in the island too, or is that just crazy talk?

OP posts:

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 04/03/2016 15:07

I have an induction hob on an island, love it. No problems with fat splashing, but the island is double-width so I suppose that makes a difference.

CiderwithBuda · 04/03/2016 15:20

Induction hob on island here. Very happy with it. We did it as we had lived in a rented house with same layout and found it worked very well.

A friend did the opposite. Hob on back wall and sink and dishwasher in island. So we sit at island looking at her back and sink while she cooks! I don't think it works personally.

MyBoysHaveDogsNames · 04/03/2016 15:22

I would prefer the hob on the island as it more sociable for cooking. We used to have one on our island. It had an extractor that rose up out of the work surface, which was quite slick! this also acted as a barrier for any splashes.

what worktop are you having?

Original poster

IShouldBeSoLurky · 04/03/2016 15:24

Undecided on worktop I definitely don't want wood or laminate, or a dark colour, which leaves corian or quartz, but then having seen the posts on here about neolith I am soooo tempted by that, but a bit frit of the £££.

OP posts:

Bombaybunty · 04/03/2016 15:31

Works for us!

Is having your hob on an island a really terrible idea?

AlanPacino · 04/03/2016 15:35

When I first read the title I imagined an isolated hob in a clearing on a small tropical island.

If I had a island I'd want my job on it so I could cook and be able to talk to people in the room instead of looking at a wall, or the burning food.

AlanPacino · 04/03/2016 15:35

Job=hob

langlandgirl · 04/03/2016 15:36

what's the minimum width you should go if you are having a hob on an island or peninsula?

Artandco · 04/03/2016 15:39

I wouldn't want a hob on island. Dh and I often work at ours so wouldn't want laptops near the heat, plus kids do homework there so potential for pencils rolling away and homework sheets on heat. Or they can lean over from stools.

MiniBK · 04/03/2016 16:11

We are going for an induction hob on a double width island and our extractor hood will be flush to the ceiling. That was the only layout that worked for us with the space we have.

Plateofcrumbs · 04/03/2016 16:25

I am just in process of drawing up similar plans and have the same dilemma - it is hob or sink on the island, and as our sink area is normally very messy I am thinking of hob on the island and messy sink tucked away facing away from the room. We do have young DC though so safety is a concern - I want make the island as wide as possible for that reason.

ouryve · 04/03/2016 16:29

TBH, I can't see how fat splashing would be any more of a cleaning headache on one side of the hob than the other, unless the island you're planning on is really narrow.

Plateofcrumbs · 04/03/2016 17:48

I'd imagine the fat splashing thing could be an issue if you have a wide island and are trying to do other activities on the other side. On the floor, not so much.

AesopsMables · 04/03/2016 18:44

Induction hob on island here.

When planning our new kitchen NOT having a sink in the island was a no compromise point for me as friends have one and it is always messy and not very pleasant to look at.

Just fitting extraction as having to spend bloody thousands fit downdraft that will sit behind the hob.

It is a more expensive and labour intensive way if you need extraction but end result will be worth it. I hope.

Original poster

IShouldBeSoLurky · 04/03/2016 21:15

Thanks all. Yes, extraction is an issue and I know we're going to have to spend a lot on it. But TBH anything would be preferable to our current house, which has a shitty recirculating fan in a kitchen from which the stairs lead directly up to the bedroom...

OP posts:

lapcat · 05/03/2016 06:14

We have the sink in the island and the hob on the edge simply because the ceilings are vaulted and extraction in the centre of the room would have looked terrible. The dishwasher is also on the island.

I agree that given the choice I would have the hob on the island and the sink and diswasher at the edge, simply because they are more likely to attract mess with washing up etc.

Tfoot75 · 05/03/2016 06:40

We have gas hob on island. Wouldn't have considered sink, as there's always either dirty dishes/clean dishes/cloths/washing things around it that would look messy in the middle of the room! Our island is long and deep so don't think there is any safety issue different from against a wall? Certainly no splashing issue. It's lovely to face out into the room while cooking, rather than at a wall, so much more sociable.

Mamia15 · 05/03/2016 08:01

Hob on island here. Love it. No splashy problems either. The space around it means I can prep food easily.

No to sink on island - it will mess up the whole island, water splashes will be an issue. However, you do need to make sure sink is easy to get to from the hob (i,e behind/front or next to hob).

Whatthefoxgoingon · 05/03/2016 13:38

I should have put a boiling water tap on my island next to my gas hob. Would have been really handy for cooking. I agree no big sink on island, far too messy.

Melawen · 05/03/2016 13:53

You could always have a small raised wall/ledge in the side that faces out of the kitchen- might catch any splashes - need no be very high I think. (Also stops things falling off the edge!!)

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