Best gas hob with a low profile?

[scarey8]

We are about to take a deep breath and revamp the kitchen, which means goodbye to the very old and not very good freestanding gas cooker and hello to a built-in oven plus a gas hob.

Having looked at gas hobs in showrooms, I realised that the pan supports make them much higher than the gas rings on a cooker, but then looking on the web saw quite a few, mostly Smeg, hobs with a low profile ie the hob surface is sunk below worktop height so the pan supports are at the same height as the worktop - similar to a freestanding cooker. Good news as I'm 5 ft and would find those high hobs too awkward to use unless I stood on steps!

Now - which one? Several questions:

1. control knobs at the front or side? At the front looks like you could burn yourself on a hot pan while turning the knob but I suppose you learn fast!

1. anyone have a low profile one with a good simmer ring?

1. Using a wok. Currently I have a large/fast burner at the front that I use the wok on. So I don't really need a specialist wok burner, I don't think anyway. But when reading the manual for a hob with a wok burner, it said to use the special ring supplied to avoid damage to the worktop. Do they mean damage to the hob surface, or heat transmitted somehow sideways to the worktop? I'll have to ask. If I have to use a wok on a raised pan support, then I'm back to the original problem of too high to use. Wondering if the same would apply to using the large/fast burner? Anyone use a wok on a non-wok burner or a wok burner without using a stand, and found problems please?

The 5-ring hobs are very big too, so not keen on these either as if using a wok, I don't use any other rings, or maybe just one other to do the noodles. Also it's easier to use a wok at the front of the hob, not the middle or back - bit too far to reach comfortably for me.

Have you thought about getting the whole kitchen installed slightly lower? We are both tall so i installed the whole kitchen on blocks of wood so the finished height is about 5cm higher than normal. If you prefer it lower than normal height, it wouldn't cost a lot more to get it fitted slightly lower. I reckon it probably added about half a day extra work to make it higher.

Kitchen units have adjustable legs, with a few inches of adjustment.

Appliances don't.

If you want, you can put your hob on a kitchen unit of matching width, and screw it down a bit.

Thanks both for your suggestion re worktop height. I had thought of that but DH is 6ft and uses the kitchen a lot too, so best to keep to the average 90cm height, I think.

Scarey8 - this is probably far too late for your hob question but for the rest of the kitchen worktop/sink based tasks you might want to consider using a small portable step of the right height for you. I'm an Occupational Therapist and I know it sounds mad but a step that you can move around easily means that, from an ergonomic point of view, you would always be working at the optimum height for you so less likely to strain muscles etc. The side handle should probably be lower than your worktop height to not be in the way but you could have a look at this idea : remaponline.org.uk/remapedia/2015/02/lightweight-portable-half-step/

PS Not here very often but can't be alone in having missed Piglet John!