Loving my new Induction Hob

[MrsDangermouse]

I think I posted before that I was changing my gas hob to an induction one....well I've had the induction hob for a couple of weeks now so its time for a quick review.......I LOVE it! And I wish I'd made the change years ago.

I've never liked traditional electric hobs (solid hot plates or ceramic ones) because they take so long to change temperature, and I've always been a fan of gas for this reason (because its so responsive). But induction is a game-changer...the temperature changes as quickly as gas, actually I think its probably quicker! Certainly I've found that pans come to the boil much quicker than they used to - I guess because there's no wasted energy escaping into the atmosphere like you have with gas.

One aspect I was really looking forward to is the ease of cleaning....rather than having to take the pan supports and burners off to clean (too much of a faff to do after every meal!) this one just wipes down. And because the hob surface doesn't get super hot nothing burns on to it and you can wipe it down as soon as something spills or you've finished cooking - it literally takes 20 seconds to clean An unexpected bonus is that spoons/spatulas don't get hot handles when you leave them in the pot either (I've lost count of the number of times I've almost burned myself on a spatula handle).

The downsides.......I've only found one so far: cost! They're not cheap to buy in the first place and you have to have induction-compatible pans too. But even despite the cost I'm very happy and totally recommend induction cooking

 

[caseydog]

I am envious! I want one sooooo bad to replace my regular ceramic/electric cooktop. Almost all of my cookware is already induction compatible, so I just have come up with the cash for the cooktop.

CD

 

[caseydog]

BTW, AllClad makes a set of aluminum non-stick skillets that have a steel plate fused to the bottom. You get the best of both steel and non-stick aluminum. As a bonus, the price is reasonable for AllClad quality. IIRC, I paid about 75-bucks (US) for a set of two pans.

CD

 

[MrsDangermouse]

You can get induction hobs over here for less than £200 (approx $278, €231) but I don't know how good they are...I've never heard of some of the brands. Some of the top of the range ones are approaching £1k though Having bought cheap appliances when we first got this house a few years ago I wanted to go for quality this time....not top of the range, but from a quality manufacturer.

In the end for a couple of reasons I chose the middle of the range AEG IKE64441FB. Firstly its particularly designed for thin worktops (which we have) so it can be installed above a built-under oven. Secondly, it has individual controls for each "ring", and from talking to people who have lived with induction for a while this is much more convenient (some of them you need to select the ring before you can change the temperature). Thirdly I like the look of it: it has no frame, just a chamfered edge to the worktop - it looks very minimalist. And lastly it has a couple of features I haven't used yet, but probably will in the future: a bridge zone to link two of the rings together if you have a long pan like a griddle or fish kettle, and a hob2hood connection....if we replace our cooker hood with a compatible one then the hob will automatically turn it on and off.

I replaced all my pans last year and made sure the replacements were induction compatible so at least I didn't have that double-whammy of expense......you can tell I've been thinking about and planning this for a while Mine are Green Pan Venice which I bought when they were in the sale in March - I may look for a couple of extra ones if they have another sale this year.

 

[medtran49]

We have a couple of induction countertop burners. We love them, especially in the summer when it's so hot here.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I think I posted before that I was changing my gas hob to an induction one....well I've had the induction hob for a couple of weeks now so its time for a quick review.......I LOVE it! And I wish I'd made the change years ago.

I've never liked traditional electric hobs (solid hot plates or ceramic ones) because they take so long to change temperature, and I've always been a fan of gas for this reason (because its so responsive). But induction is a game-changer...the temperature changes as quickly as gas, actually I think its probably quicker! Certainly I've found that pans come to the boil much quicker than they used to - I guess because there's no wasted energy escaping into the atmosphere like you have with gas.

One aspect I was really looking forward to is the ease of cleaning....rather than having to take the pan supports and burners off to clean (too much of a faff to do after every meal!) this one just wipes down. And because the hob surface doesn't get super hot nothing burns on to it and you can wipe it down as soon as something spills or you've finished cooking - it literally takes 20 seconds to clean An unexpected bonus is that spoons/spatulas don't get hot handles when you leave them in the pot either (I've lost count of the number of times I've almost burned myself on a spatula handle).

The downsides.......I've only found one so far: cost! They're not cheap to buy in the first place and you have to have induction-compatible pans too. But even despite the cost I'm very happy and totally recommend induction cooking

Let's see a pic of it. Do you have one?

 

[TheChefGoingHomeToday]

You can get induction hobs over here for less than £200 (approx $278, €231) but I don't know how good they are...I've never heard of some of the brands. Some of the top of the range ones are approaching £1k though Having bought cheap appliances when we first got this house a few years ago I wanted to go for quality this time....not top of the range, but from a quality manufacturer.

In the end for a couple of reasons I chose the middle of the range AEG IKE64441FB. Firstly its particularly designed for thin worktops (which we have) so it can be installed above a built-under oven. Secondly, it has individual controls for each "ring", and from talking to people who have lived with induction for a while this is much more convenient (some of them you need to select the ring before you can change the temperature). Thirdly I like the look of it: it has no frame, just a chamfered edge to the worktop - it looks very minimalist. And lastly it has a couple of features I haven't used yet, but probably will in the future: a bridge zone to link two of the rings together if you have a long pan like a griddle or fish kettle, and a hob2hood connection....if we replace our cooker hood with a compatible one then the hob will automatically turn it on and off.

I replaced all my pans last year and made sure the replacements were induction compatible so at least I didn't have that double-whammy of expense......you can tell I've been thinking about and planning this for a while Mine are Green Pan Venice which I bought when they were in the sale in March - I may look for a couple of extra ones if they have another sale this year.

Thanks for posting this... I've been looking for a while now at replacing my gas hob for an induction one. My son has an AEG one and is really pleased with it.