Do you have a hob on your island?

[jitterbugintomybrain]

Does it work well? Do you hate it?

Planning our new kitchen. I wanted the island clear but might have to compromise and have a hob on it.

I used to (then moved house.... No island now).

I think it works well if it fits with the overall layout of kitchen and island is big enough. You can cook and chat to people perched on stools opposite, my oven was opposite so a natural place to put hot stuff from there. I'd want electric not gas for ease of cleaning and smoother lines though. And think about how extractor will fit in.

no because it is difficult to have good extraction arrangements.

I'd get the extractor that's part of the hob so no hood needed. Supposed to work well.

Yes. Induction hob with extractor in ceiling above. The island is huge though so no risk to people sitting at the stools on the other side. I'd be less keen if it was smaller. It's very sociable - I'd hate to cook facing the wall now. Much better than having your sink on the island imo.

Yes and I love it! Was here when we moved into the house

I do. It’s great - you can prep right beside the hob and chat to people sat on stools opposite. The pop up extractors are crap though. What you want is a white extractor that fits into the ceiling cavity and is flush with the ceiling, you don’t even see it.

www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-jlhda918-ceiling-cooker-hood-white/p2915670

I did in my old house and loved it. Very sociable. Will be doing it again when we redo the kitchen at the new house...

Oh great, glad you all like them. It will be a big island so it's not a problem in terms of splashes etc.

@jitterbugintomybrain I have just had the IKEA induction hob with downdraft extractor installed on my kitchen island. I love it, the hob is so powerful and the extractor is great, really happy with it.

We were going to but then stayed in a holiday let with one. Nobody could sit behind the hob when it was being used because of the splashes. They go much further than you think, the floor was really stained.
I suppose it depends what you cook and how much you like cleaning!

I think it's better than a sink being on an island as you stand at the hob more. Providing:

• extractor is in the hob
• island is big / deep enough to be safe if you're having stools at it. You don't want to spill and scald anyone.

Nope. The kitchen planner was pushing us to, but I knew it'd end up full of cooking clutter half the time and, like you, wanted to keep it clean. Hope you don't have to compromise, but maybe you're more prompt and fastidious at cleaning and tidying than me. Sinks are worse imho as then, at the very least, you have the washing up stuff on display. Somehow that looks worse on an island than against a wall/window.

Yes, had it in my last house and loved being able to talk to people on the island and cook. Just put in a new kitchen and did the same.

I had in my last house and would do it again. Induction works brilliantly because you don't have the worry about errant homework ending up on top of a hot stove.

Lots of friends went for sinks on the island and that seems impossible to keep clear. If you are cooking with guests sitting at the island, you have your back to them and are putting dirty dishes all around them!

But only you know what works for you and your family.

Not an island but a peninsula, we’ve got an induction hob on it. We love it!! We’ve got stools the other side and it faces out towards the living area, so it’s lovely and sociable. We can also cook and watch tv (if we wanted!)

Controversially, we don’t have a hooded or in worktop extractor. It would totally ruin the look we were going for and I was dubious at how effective the in worktop extractors would be.
However we do have an extractor in the ceiling nearby that we can just flick on as required (it’s kind of similar to a strong bathroom extractor) this allowed us to comply with building regs and it vents straight outside. We’ve never had an issue with a build up of grease / cooking smells. We don’t deep fry or anything so that could be why....

Anyway in a nutshell - we love our hob!

Thanks for all the replies. Ideally I'd rather not have anything on the island but out of a sink or a hob think it will be the hob. I can't see why the floor would get stained as it works the same as if it's against a wall. And we're not that messy. What do the downdraft extractors look like? Do they stand out or are they smooth and black like the hob?

Ours would be similar LittleOverwhelmed. It's going to be a big island 3m by 1.5m so it should be ok I think. Good luck with your installation!

Yep and I love it! Ours is central so we have one side of hob food prep and the other serving which works well for us. Agree it needs to be double depth tho and we have a pop up extractor (Elica) which is really good (and we do occasionally deep fry) which also helps with splashes as it provides a barrier for splashes but doesn't affect the sociability iyswim.

We have our ovens below it as I don't like them easily visible (slattern) so we have slide n hide door which also works really well. Incidentally if you're interested we also have a warming drawer which I wasn't too keen on but it filled the space below the oven aesthetically, and we actually use it a lot more than I thought we would, as it's great for warming bread and mince pies , melting chocolate and butter etc - good luck!

Yes and I love it. When a friend came round after I had first had the kitchen put in she called it 'a command centre' and it is. I love that I can cook without my back to the room.
It does need to be big enough to have space on both sides to moves pans to or do food prep. Also if you want a breakfast bar on the island as well it needs to have enough depth to have a 'splatter zone'

It makes cooking much more of a communal event and when DS are learning I can sit opposite and supervise much more easily.

No: I have the Bible and Collected Works of Shakespeare!!

I did in my old house. I loved it

Yes have an Induction hob on it and I love it. It’s quite a big island with plenty of space to spread out and it’s lovely and social too

I did have a hob on island but in current house have sink, which I decided to put in instead because of my kitchen it would look better (nice sink, nice taps, it does actually look nice!) which a range on the wall behind it which also looks nice. But I think for practicality of use I preferred the hob on the island. Standing cooking while chatting to people, watching tv etc, but do think both work well!