Induction hob opinions please

NeverTooLate

We have a Neff 90cm induction, used it nearly every day for 3 years and it looks good as new.

As others have said the 'bridge' function is useful for larger pans, we use it all the time for a rectangular griddle. 

Very low temp simmering is a doddle, I think the only thing you can't do as well as gas is a wok type stir fry.

I only burn things when I accidently put the empty pan back on the hob and haven't turned it off, cos you get used to not turning it off at all as the heat stops when there's no pan on the ring.

Albermarle

The cheaper Neff inductions are ‘plug and play’, which means they are plugged in rather than wired. However this means you cant run two rings on max power, it will split the power across both rings. 

Other posters mention something similar. I did not realise induction hobs use so much power ( I do not have one) as my electric fan oven runs quite happily on a 13 A plug.

So one hob on max power must be using at least 2 KW, maybe more ?

onomatopoeia99

Albermarle said:

The cheaper Neff inductions are ‘plug and play’, which means they are plugged in rather than wired. However this means you cant run two rings on max power, it will split the power across both rings. 

Other posters mention something similar. I did not realise induction hobs use so much power ( I do not have one) as my electric fan oven runs quite happily on a 13 A plug.

My electric double oven / grill requires a 30A supply. My induction hob can be set to use 13A or 30A, on 13A you are limited to how many zones you can have on full.  

A kettle uses 13A for comparison.  On a 13A hob that power needs to be split between typically four zones, so think about how long things will take to heat up if you need to boil two pans at once and keep a couple of others simmering.

Eldi_Dos

NeverTooLate said:

 I think the only thing you can't do as well as gas is a wok type stir fry.

Try a paella style pan with deep sides, the two handles means it can go straight to table.

DullGreyGuy

Albermarle said:

The cheaper Neff inductions are ‘plug and play’, which means they are plugged in rather than wired. However this means you cant run two rings on max power, it will split the power across both rings. 

Other posters mention something similar. I did not realise induction hobs use so much power ( I do not have one) as my electric fan oven runs quite happily on a 13 A plug.

So one hob on max power must be using at least 2 KW, maybe more ?

It varies by model but you have to remember that you have 4+ hobs and a 13amp plug is maxes out at 3kW generally which would be 0.75kW per hob (assuming 4, less if more) and that doesn't factor in the motors, fans etc. 

Ours uses 2.6kW per hob on high power and 3.65kW on Boost+

DullGreyGuy

daveyjp said:

If you are used to gas a switch to induction may be a mistake.  I've only ever used gas and whenever I rent a property with any form of electric hob I know it will be a pain.  The one in our cottage in the summer was a brand new NEFF induction hob and it was good at boiling and burning!

To be honest that sounds like user error possibly partially contributed by poor pans. 

Like any new device it takes a bit of getting used to just as it did when going from electric (non-induction) to gas and back. Didn't take us long to get the hang of the induction, only oddity is using Boost+ to boil quickly bubbles appear almost instantly but the water at the top of the pan is still tap temp. We do have one cheap pan where things tend to stick/burn a bit but on our normal pans (SS inside not non-stick) there are no problems. 

The thing I hate with gas hobs is like our old one, it had 5 burners which were in 4 different sizes which means if you need to move pans around only the two of the same size can you easily switch and maintain the same level, switching from say the large burner to the small burner was guesswork how much more you had to turn up the gas to maintain the same rolling boil. With Induction all our rings have the same output so switch pan around just set it to the same number and you'll have the same result. 

Albermarle

DullGreyGuy said:

Albermarle said:

The cheaper Neff inductions are ‘plug and play’, which means they are plugged in rather than wired. However this means you cant run two rings on max power, it will split the power across both rings. 

Other posters mention something similar. I did not realise induction hobs use so much power ( I do not have one) as my electric fan oven runs quite happily on a 13 A plug.

So one hob on max power must be using at least 2 KW, maybe more ?

It varies by model but you have to remember that you have 4+ hobs and a 13amp plug is maxes out at 3kW generally which would be 0.75kW per hob (assuming 4, less if more) and that doesn't factor in the motors, fans etc. 

Ours uses 2.6kW per hob on high power and 3.65kW on Boost+

Interesting, I never realised just one hob could use so much power.
If you put all 4 on boost, maybe the lights in your street would go dim 

Jonboy_1984

Our last property had a Teka one already fitted when we moved in (presumably from a kitchen refit two years prior from paperwork we found).
It still worked perfectly when we sold 15 years later and it was only in the last couple that some of the markings started to scuff off. 

Definitely better than the basic electric one in our current kitchen.

(The oven lasted much less time however) 

Stilernin2

Thank you everyone for your information and tips.  I learnt a little about some bells and whistles that are available.

    As an elderly singleton 4 ring cooking is not something I will be doing very often if at all so I'm guessing a plug in hob will be fine.   I did know that induction hobs are more expensive to run though, but again, with a slow cooker, air fryer and combi microwave it will not be used for lengthy cooking.  Also the solar panels help with electricity during daylight hours; the reason for buying the single free standing induction hob.   
     No one has mentioned that they have had issues with the glass cracking which was my main concern.   After Christmas I'll start looking at the different ones to make my choice.  Thank you all again.

ka7e

I've not heard of a hob cracking spontaneously, but they are made of tempered glass so dropping something on it could cause it to crack. It doesn't necessarily affect the workings - my daughter has been using a cracked hob for 4 years.