Should I buy an Induction hob?

[Fab Foodie]

Dears

Currently we have one of those 5 burner gas hobs, you know, the one with the big wok-ring in the middle. To be honest, as hobs go it's not great, control is poor and at very low settings the small burner often gets blown-out. It's also a pain to clean. I've threatened to replace it many times.

When I was up in the Outer Hebs. I used my friends Induction hob and was pretty damned impressed! Apparently it's also the eco-choice as well being low power/high efficiency and of course not burning gas.
In terms of pots and pans, we have a few copper bottom ones and the odd aluminium pan that we won't be able to use, other than that we have some Stainless heavy-bottomed pans and a myriad of cast-iron skillets and casseroles. Also have a large Typhoon steel wok which is an essential that must work!

So, what are people's experience of Induction hobs (in particular vs. gas hobs)?

 

[neil_merseyside]

Dears

Currently we have one of those 5 burner gas hobs, you know, the one with the big wok-ring in the middle. To be honest, as hobs go it's not great, control is poor and at very low settings the small burner often gets blown-out. It's also a pain to clean. I've threatened to replace it many times.

When I was up in the Outer Hebs. I used my friends Induction hob and was pretty damned impressed! Apparently it's also the eco-choice as well being low power/high efficiency and of course not burning gas.
In terms of pots and pans, we have a few copper bottom ones and the odd aluminium pan that we won't be able to use, other than that we have some Stainless heavy-bottomed pans and a myriad of cast-iron skillets and casseroles. Also have a large Typhoon steel wok which is an essential that must work!

So, what are people's experience of Induction hobs (in particular vs. gas hobs)?

I'm not the cook in this house but I do get to play with the induction hob occasionally - much, much finer control than the previously good gas hob, also you can use a small pan on any bigger ring- no licking flame, no waste. So the fine control is well erm fine...
Hob stays hot by conduction for a little while (much less than old days, and I doubt skin would actually stick!) but the hob will have warning light that illuminates until well after the surface is touch safe.
Check any pans before scrapping as some pans encapsulate a big lump of iron for cheap thermal mass, we have two virtually identical ally pans that work fine as they have encapsulated iron cores, one is labelled as such, the other not.
You can get an adapter plate for copper pans - an iron ring for the pan to sit on, these might be a bit scratchy on the surface though if not careful, as ever lift not drag.

 

[sleuthey]

If your current hob allows you to cook fab food then there is no need to replace it. My experience of them is that I don't need one. If I perfected every appliance and fixture in my house id have nothing left to spend on my bike

 

[uphillstruggler]

a mate of mine has one but I cant get on with it

they like it though. horses for courses I suppose

that is actually no help whatsoever

 

[Levo-Lon]

no, pita and you need special pans ect.
they dont like big pans that need lots of heat i believe.

the one we used on holiday was ok i guess after we figured out how to make it heat.

but i hated it

 

[Oldfentiger]

no, pita and you need special pans ect.
they dont like big pans that need lots of heat i believe.

the one we used on holiday was ok i guess after we figured out how to make it heat.

but i hated it

No gas where we live, so always had an electric hob.
We had to replace the cooker a year ago, and chose one with an induction hob.
Brilliant bit of kit. Instant heat, minutely controllable.
Easy to keep clean. Those are the pro’s.......can’t think of any con’s tbh.
Most of the pans we owned were induction compatible, and I wouldn’t describe any of them as special.

 

[Fab Foodie]

If your current hob allows you to cook fab food then there is no need to replace it. My experience of them is that I don't need one. If I perfected every appliance and fixture in my house id have nothing left to spend on my bike

As I do all the cooking, it's my most used appliance, so it's a pain if it's not that great to use and hard to clean. Also we don't have much worktop space, so being flat I can also put a chopping board on for extra preparation space etc...when not hot (obvs.).
I'm worth it ;-))

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'm not the cook in this house but I do get to play with the induction hob occasionally - much, much finer control than the previously good gas hob, also you can use a small pan on any bigger ring- no licking flame, no waste. So the fine control is well erm fine...
Hob stays hot by conduction for a little while (much less than old days, and I doubt skin would actually stick!) but the hob will have warning light that illuminates until well after the surface is touch safe.
Check any pans before scrapping as some pans encapsulate a big lump of iron for cheap thermal mass, we have two virtually identical ally pans that work fine as they have encapsulated iron cores, one is labelled as such, the other not.
You can get an adapter plate for copper pans - an iron ring for the pan to sit on, these might be a bit scratchy on the surface though if not careful, as ever lift not drag.

Thanks, are scratches an issue other than aesthetics/cleaning?

 

[Sharky]

We spent the last 3 years mulling over cookers. We had an all electric with a ceramic hob. The main problem we had with the old one was that it was warn out (after about 17 years) and the oven was unreliable. We eventually got a rangemaster with a ceramic hob and really impressed by it.

We almost got an induction hob, but the price difference turned us off it and the probable need to upgrade the electric supply to a 45 amp.

Probably doesn't concern us fit cyclists, but there is a rumour that induction hobs can affect heart pacemakers and at my age …….. you can never tell.

 

[Broadside]

I would like an induction hob but our current gas hob is just too handy with a deep well that catches the contents of the pans as they boil over, which is a common occurrence with me 😀

I think some of the smarter induction hobs have some sort of boil over sensing but I could be making that up.

 

[AuroraSaab]

I like our induction hob because it's instant heat and so easy to clean. Ikea do cheap induction pans or the Scoville ones at Asda are very good and often half price in the Sale.

 

[neil_merseyside]

Thanks, are scratches an issue other than aesthetics/cleaning?

Nope, just aesthetics - my warning was a veiled dig at my wife who reads my posts

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I love our induction hob, you need induction pans though

 

[Gunk]

I’ve got a range cooker where the hob is gas and when we’ve stayed in holiday homes with an induction job I’ve hated them, gas is just so much easier and controllable.

 

[dodgy]

We have an induction hob, installed in 2003 and it's still going strong. I'm an enthusiastic cook and it's never given us the slightest spot of trouble.
It's clean, efficient and extremely controllable, on a par with gas for controllabilty. It goes up to '9' in 0.5 units, you can see the subtle difference when simmering something between 4.5 and say 5.0, it's very predictable, enough so that i can set a curry going on the hob, put it on whatever.whatever and know for sure it won't boil over.
The 'special' pans argument is overdone mostly by people who have never owned one. We already had compatible pans before induction hobs were even invented.
I would highly recommend one, we will certainly be buying another when we eventually update our kitchen.
Hope this helps.