Electric or gas hob

Mstty

As we are all electric here, can't beat induction as a hob but then we already had the induction pans already. If not it can be a costly setup for job and pans and you won't see that money back in savings over gas.

Very cheap to run from our bills

FreeBear

Mstty said: As we are all electric here, can't beat induction as a hob but then we already had the induction pans already. If not it can be a costly setup for job and pans and you won't see that money back in savings over gas.

Love my induction hob - Got it half price a while back, but had to spend the same again on new pots & pans. A massive improvement over the 1970s era cooker that I inherited.

Bought niece the same hob for her new home over Christmas - She was brought up cooking on gas, but is really taken with the induction.

matelodave

We've had them all, gas, ceramic, halogen and now induction.

By far the best by a long mile is induction, you need to try one just to see how good they are.

They are quicker than gas to heat up and just as quick to cool down so It's as controllable as gas and more controllable than halogen or ceramic. 

They are cleaner than gas as there's far less condensation in the kitchen., It's far easier to clean than gas and even halogen and ceramic as nothing burns onto it., Even boiled over milk just wipes off.. Our hob looks the same as it did when we had it installed 12 years ago. Lastly there are no naked flames to catch stuff on fire

We did get new saucepans and fry pans  - you don't need to spend silly money, ours are from Tesco, stainless steel (they were about £30 for a set of three) and our frypan is from Sainsbury's and they still look as good as the day they were bought. We've also got some le Creuset pots which we've had for years and they are superb with induction.

We don't have gas where we now live, but even if we did we wouldn't go back to it for cooking since having the induction hob.

FreeBear

matelodave said:

We've had them all, gas, ceramic, halogen and now induction.

By far the best by a long mile is induction, you need to try one just to see how good they are.

They are quicker than gas to heat up and just as quick to cool down so It's as controllable as gas and more controllable than halogen or ceramic.

The cheaper induction hobs only have 9 power settings, whilst the more up market (and expensive) ones have up to 15 power levels plus a boost function. I'm cheap, so only have 9 settings and no boost...

The only niggle I have is trying to do a low/slow simmer - The "ring" (heating zone) pulses on & off which can cause the liquid to boil over in a small pan. It might be better with a heavier pan with a thicker base.

wild666

Induction all the way, I have a ceramic hob and a single induction plate hob, I rarely use the ceramic hob because I heat stuff on the induction plate, water heats up in a couple of minutes so anything you want to cook in water is heated to boiling point really quickly then the temperature is lowered and things like potato's are cooked in 15 to 20 minutes if cut small enough. 

matelodave

Ours is also a cheaper Hotpoint hob with only 9 settings but never had a problem with not being able to turn it down low enough to simmer even with a small pan.

It also has two rings with boost settings which significantly increase the power output almost instantly and they are really good for stir frying and searing.

Zandoni

Induction all the way for me, as controllable as gas but so easy to keep sparkling clean.

Zandoni

FreeBear said:

The only niggle I have is trying to do a low/slow simmer - The "ring" (heating zone) pulses on & off which can cause the liquid to boil over in a small pan. It might be better with a heavier pan with a thicker base.

I’ve never encountered that problem, are you sure you have an induction?

THX_1138_4EB

Whatever you use, be sure to place lids on pans wherever possible to limit evaporation and reduce energy needed to maintain temperature.

FreeBear

Zandoni said:

FreeBear said:

The only niggle I have is trying to do a low/slow simmer - The "ring" (heating zone) pulses on & off which can cause the liquid to boil over in a small pan. It might be better with a heavier pan with a thicker base.

I’ve never encountered that problem, are you sure you have an induction?

Quite sure. It said "Induction" on the box, and it is repeated throughout the manual - And yes, I did read the manual