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Original poster

should I get an induction hob or 'normal' ceramic hob - any recent recommendations?

54 replies

NumptyMum · 30/12/2017 21:32

We need to get a new hob, we've got a ceramic hob at the mo. However I'm getting so confused by reviews for new ones - it looks like the ceramic hobs of 10 years ago were better than the ones available now, as the reviews are so mixed. So I'm wondering what people's experiences are with recent brands of electric/ceramic hob, and whether I should consider an induction hob (and if so, which brand). Prob max £350 though... esp if I have to buy a whole new set of pans (mine are lovely but ancient habitat ones, bought over 10 years ago). Help!

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Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 08:47

I've recently got a Bosch oven, and purposely got one with knobs because of people saying about the touch controls being over sensitive - it has touch controls to set the clock, and goes mad sometimes, jumping really fast even when I've taken my hand away! I know that knobs are a pain to clean around, and hear people raving about the 'slide controls' (guessing those are touch controls?) - perhaps some makes are better than others for them??

Also, I've been reading about some people saying that when pans boil over, the whole hob switches off until it's been dried off. Unfortunately, I'm the sort of person who gets distracted so pans do boil over, and I do spill drops of water or flour when cooking - are some brands more forgiving than others? Or do they all switch off?

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MongerTruffle · 31/12/2017 08:52

My induction hob only switches off if the liquid touches the controls. If you do spill something, you can just pick the pan up and wipe it off because the hob itself doesn't get hot (it gets heated by the pan).

Baxdream · 31/12/2017 08:53

I've got a caple 864i induction. It's only just been fitted but I love it!

MongerTruffle · 31/12/2017 08:55

You'll need to make sure that you have a 45 Amp electrical supply going to your cooker, not a normal 13 Amp one. If your cooker is not ancient then you should have that already.

QuitMoaning · 31/12/2017 08:57

I just had a kitchen revamp and went from gas to Induction. I didn’t choose the gas as it was here when we bought the house but the induction is sooooo much better. So responsive.

I have bought a Gorenje Stark which is not very known but gets incredible reviews and have had no issues and it looks beautiful. They also do some very arty ones. Mine does everything the more well known brands do including flex zone which is very useful.
I have let some stuff boil over before and the hob is fine, it doesn’t turn off. What I have learnt though is to immediately clear up the water as easier to clean then.

Frontstep · 31/12/2017 09:04

We have Ikea induction hob, bought about 3 years ago, and it’s been excellent - it’s the larger rectangular size they do, not to square one. You can link up two of the rings into one, which is particularly great for doing gravy in a roasting tin. It’s really easy to clean. We love it!

Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 09:09

Thanks everyone - very helpful. Our current hob is hard-wired in, was put in last year so I'm guessing it's got the 45 amp supply (there's a switch on the wall to turn it off). But it was a gumtree purchase, and only half of it works! So I'd been considering another ceramic hob, but the reviews are really mixed.

So it looks like I should be considering flexi zones (as otherwise pans with 'overhang' won't cook the food). I'm not so bothered about touch controls, but not against them so long as they aren't over sensitive (like the Bosch ones). Sounds like many recommended brands are above our ideal price range (Miele, Gorenje Stark) but perhaps ones to look at are the Zanussi, or lower price AEG/Neff/Bosch (with knobs!)... does that sound about right??

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whyohwhy000 · 31/12/2017 09:16

Neff appliances are "up there" with Miele.

AnnaMagnani · 31/12/2017 09:20

I have a ceramic hob. It pains me. No gas either here so stuck with it.

Would never have one of the awful things again. Induction is so much better.

Pigletthedog · 31/12/2017 09:25

We bought IKEA pans for our induction hob, good prices and nice solid pans, I cook a lot and they're still good as new 6 years later (even though we've now moved and have horrid gas stove Xmas Sad)

Maggiewashere · 31/12/2017 09:47

I don't know if they're all the same, but my induction hob has a timer for each ring. I soon got into the habit of using the timer so rarely let anything boil dry or burn, which is great if like me you're a bit absent-minded.

PigletJohn · 31/12/2017 12:12

Cooker supplies are more often 32Amp which is sufficient for an ordinary electric cooker with 4 rings and 2 ovens.

Electrical loadings for cookers are calculated using diversity, which says that at any one time, it is unlikely that every element will be using max power. They turn themselves on and off, or up and down, using thermostats or other controls (otherwise the whole cooker would be glowing red hot and your house would burn down).

A larger-than average range cooker might need 40A which is the next size up. 50A is available but most unlikely to be needed and might be awkward to supply in an ordinary domestic house.

I'm told that induction hobs use less electricity as they are more efficient and adjust themselves to the pan, but I haven't seen figures. Apparently (some?) can be adjusted on installation with a preset limit on total electrical load.

PigletJohn · 31/12/2017 12:17

p.s.

Electric cookers should never be supplied from a 13A plug and socket, apart from some miniature ones designed for bedsits. They would blow the fuse very quickly. They should always have their own dedicated circuit.

Gas cookers are OK on 13A because it only uses a tiny amount for the spark ignition and clock.

Superior homes have a cooker circuit to each side of the kitchen, so that you can reposition your cookers at whim.

BakedBeans47 · 31/12/2017 12:22

We have a neff induction hob, I love it and would never go back to gas and would never consider a ceramic one.

So much cleaner, safer, more responsive than anything else I have ever used.

You don’t need special pans they just have to have a magnetic base. All except one of ours were fine.

And it’s definitely not noisy. If I have it on powerboost to eg boil a pan of water it emits a low hum but that’s it

You do have to match the pans to the size of the cooking zone, if you have a small saucepan on the largest zone it won’t work but that’s no biggie you’d do the same with gas

scaryteacher · 31/12/2017 12:55

Have just moved from a house with induction to one with ceramic. I loathed the induction with a passion, and find the ceramic better. I am looking forward to moving back to the UK and the slab of cast iron on top of my range, which is my preferred hob.

ElfrideSwancourt · 31/12/2017 13:04

I love my induction hob wouldn't have anything else now. You do need pans with iron in them (cast iron or stainless steel) because it works magnetically.

Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 13:24

I've tested my ancient Habitat pans (bought about 15 years ago) and they are magnetic, so I hope they will be OK! They are very battered but I love them because they can be used in the oven also and have clear glass lids.

Re the wiring, we have separate wiring for the oven, so the oven and hobs are both wired independently and have separate off switches. The kitchen is in a small extension built earlier this year: we had an extremely exacting electrician who wanted to know the exact appliances (make, model - the lot) that we were going to use. Given we weren't even sure of the finished dimensions of the extension at that point (the builders had gone off piste with the architect's plans...) we hurridly scoped out a likely oven, and got the hob off gumtree in the hope that it would work. So we have separate wiring for the oven and the hob, I'm not sure of the exact wiring for the hob but I'm pretty sure it's more than a 13 amp plug (the model of hob was a Hotpoint CRM641DC).

Anyway, I'm guessing we'd probably get an electrician to wire it in, was just hoping we wouldn't need to pay too much...

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Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 13:59

I've found an AEG at a good price: does anyone have experience of this one? AEG HK654400FB

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Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 14:32

Now I'm getting confused - I'm looking into dimensions/fitting, and I think our worktop might be too thin??? it's an Ikea one (2.8cm). Does that mean we can't have an induction hob??? Oh god I'm so confused... SadConfused

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BubblesBuddy · 31/12/2017 16:13

My granite work surface is about that. You need a hole in it and the hob sits on top and you may need a bit of space below, as with any hob. Induction may need new flat pans. They just do not work with any old pan. I bought JL pans and they are excellent. So are Le Crueset.

My main induction hob is a Miele and has several pan zones marked within very large heat zones. Any pan fits from a large frying pan to a tiny milk pan. The quality of the pan matters. The hob does get a bit hot and spilt water sizzles. I remove any boiling over pan, turn off the hob, wipe up the water, and start again. My hob is barely on at 1 setting going up to 9 with boost for very rapid heat. It’s easy to clean and looks brand new after nearly 7 years and a lot easier to clean than a gas hob we have have in a flat. I also have an AEG induction in our holiday home and that is good too but not as versatile as the Miele because it’s smaller.

I wouldn’t buy a Hotpoint or a cheap one. Neither do my boobs get anywhere near the controls! How odd was that comment?! No controls are over sensitive and do not get knobs! No self respecting induction hob has knobs!

Original poster
NumptyMum · 31/12/2017 18:13

My DH did wonder at the boobs comment re the Bosch, but I could see how it might happen if you were a bit smaller and reaching for something at the back of the hob... maybe! I do know how annoying our Bosch oven is for the touch controls, we never had a problem with the Ikea Whirlpool ones in our old flat.

I'm now veering toward an AEG and stretching our budget, but annoyingly the one I linked to earlier has gone from the place I hoped to get it. Not sure that we could stretch as far as a Miele...

Thanks also for the reassurance re the worktop, DH reckons it won't be so different from our current ceramic hob, so perhaps they work on the assumption of 30mm worktops rather than thinner ones...

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Oldraver · 31/12/2017 18:50

We've recently bought an induction hob as we had to have a new oven and as the shape at the back was bigger the old gaspipe got in the way, so we decided to have it taken out and go for induction.

We wanted controlabilty similar to gas but have been amazed how brilliant the hob is. It heats water in our cast iron pans in minutes compared to the gas where we always used kettle water as the gas took so long

It's Fisher Paykel just over £400, with touch controls..the top is very sleek, the glass probably about 5mm thick...it's a dream to clean.

It does have some sound when it's set on high but nothing too annoying

BakedBeans47 · 31/12/2017 22:22

Ours is a long one rather than a square one so no reaching to the back

ContraryLollipop · 01/01/2018 20:51

We got a Hopoint induction hob and I wouldn’t recommend it.

There are two big circles and two small ones. They don’t switch on if the pan is too small or not dead centre. Only our biggest two pans fit on the large circles, and the smaller circles are a bit too close to the big ones... we don’t have any configuration of pans that allow us to fit 4 pans on at the same time :)

Also if multiple pans are running it is extremely noisy.

It also is quite deep, so it takes up quite a bit of the drawer underneath, moreso than other hobs, according to our kitchen fitter.

Ours was notably cheap at the time, I’d be careful of this, not all induction jobs are created equal!

sonsmum · 02/01/2018 13:26

Neff induction here. Wouldn't be without it. Boiling is so fast and I can instantly turn the temp down. No need to lift pan off heat. When finished, you can still touch the surface, no heat residue.
Only makes a little bit of noise if the pan is not sitting correctly in the heating area.
Easy to clean, easy to use. Switches itself off if there is an incident, ie. got distracted and pan boils over.

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