Cooking with an induction hob?

We had similar with our kitchen but I decided against induction because you have to buy a wholle new set of special pans. So went SMEG and bought another ceramic hob, which I would recommend

We have one.

Before I continue the only real way to cook is with gas, if you have this option its the best way to go.

However induction hobs are quite nice. Easy to clean. Make sure you get one with digital buttons so the whole surface is flat. Much tidier. I built mine into the work surface so its one flat area which looks very smart.

Upsides: Super quick heat time, switch it on and bam full heat.
Easy to clean, looks very smart.

Downsides: They are temperamental in terms of consistent heat, basically unlike other methods it gets to the temperature you have set then switches off until it needs to do it again, this can be a tadge frustrating when doing stir frys. The better units though will have a facility to keep the hob on regardless.
They ar quite strong but you are always wary of banging sauce pans down and what ever, the other down side is its not really compatible with heavy bottom pans or pans that are not perfectly flat on the underside. If they are rimmed on the underside (Many gas centric pans are) or it has fancy arse swirls etc, it won't make a good contact with the hob.

Don't be put off though, but remember like all things in life you need to spend some money, if I had the space I would have got one of these bad boys:

http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/home-appliances/hobs/152175/prices

But I didn't have the room so got a beumatic

One other thing don't get them stone looking jobs, jesus they are shite.

In terms of ceramic Vs induction, they are broadly the same. If it has a glass flat top on it your choice of pans can become restricted.

So saying I use Le Cruset pans on mine which I don't think you are supposed to and its just fine.

Hi Gary

Thanks for that it is very helpful. Sorry I don't know what a stone looking job is.

Yes we do have a gas option and were going for that until the kitchen designer belatedly discovered that we did not have sufficient gap between the hob and the splashback on the wall in the material we have selected. It's something called Corian. But it is the worktop material and what my wife really wants. So even if the tail is wagging the dog that's the way it is and I am happy with that.

We could stick with gas by having a wider worktop but that would leave us with an odd looking taper at one end of it.

The specifed cooking appliances are all Miele. We are happy with that because we have their stuff already, have had for years and are well satisfied with it.

I will check out whether the Miele does have the facility to keep the heat on. It should do for the money.

Can I ask two specifics please. Will I be able to use a wok - I guess your comment re coming off the heat is probably referring to a wok. Do they have the ability to really simmer?

Given that we can take a gas hob but it may leave us with a not too clever looking worktop is your overall view that it would still be better to accept that than the limitations of the induction hob?

Thanks for your help

Max

You will not be able to use a traditional wok, its got no where to 'sit'

However a brief look around and you will find flat bottomed woks. As I warned in the first post this is not gas my friend! Simmering does happen, its just a bit hard to explain, gas will give you a constant heat, where as the induction type will heat up rapidly, then cool, then heat up then cool.

Corian is a lovely surface anyway, so I guess you makes your balance. An induction hob is probably the way forward. Miele make superb equipment so buy with confidence regardless of what the spec is, but please don't go for the cheapest option (As I am sure you have discovered meile don't have a cheap option!) if there is one regret with mine its that four pans on it is a little tight.

As a Chef, I find its the best electrical source of heat you can get, traditional rings burn without fail and the stone hobs take an age to heat, then get to hot and stay too hot for too long! but gas will always be the best.

If you are heavy into wok cooking you can get a small gas appliance just for a wok, this may be compact enough to fit in with your work surface:

http://www.trade-appliances.co.uk/_2111_Miele_KM406.html

Thanks Gary all helpful stuff.

I have been meaning to ask you for a long time (having been on the forum as Max in Hampshire for many years but now unable to use that name since changing ISP) what is the name of your place in Amport?

Max

Without wishing to hijack the thread is gas cooking from a manageable sized bottle a practical alternative to non-available mains gas? We have a cooker purchase looming and mains gas simply isn't available in rural Denmark. Nor do we want a damn great tank on the lawn.

Yes its perfectly possible.

Your best bet is gas on the top and electric underneath, these types of oven are readily available.

In the UK at least you can get Red/orange coloured gas bottles which can be lugged by one person. If you just use it for cooking they last a good long time.

Max I am at the Amport Inn end, or the 'cheap end' not that there is anything cheap in Amport! I prefer the Black Swan though.

Thanks garyi.

I rate an induction hob for general use much better than gas or electric. The best thing is they heat the pan so there are no hot spots on the pan and give very even cooking. They are very efficient. Are much faster than gas in terms of heat control and also how quick/slow it can heat something up.

The downsides are, as a cook, there is no visual indication of heat so you need to learn to know your hob. Also if the bottom of a pan or the hob is wet then this can cause a thin layer of steam that makes the pan skate. If your into wok cooking then the heat distribution is not the same (flat bottom for a start) so gas would be better. Also anything you want to heat must be magnetic.

My ideal hob (for home) would be 4 induction rings with a central wok burner (and useful when you need to skin a pepper or flame something). You can do this by buying hob the sections from component ranges but I don't know of any single hob available that offers it.

If your into cooking you also might want to investigate this www.ukthermomix.com it's an amazing piece of kit!

Sorry, I always get confused although the general advice remains, I have a ceramic, which does not require magnetic pans and you can see its hot because it goes bright red.

As I say though the general advice on this thread still stands, glass tops are the better for electric cooking.

Hi Stuart
Thanks for that. It seems a pretty positive vote for induction over all others!

I do like banging away with a wok but it would not be a prime consideration. I think we will give Miele a call and see if they will demo one for us. They are not that far away. If so I will look out for the points you have made.

The thermomix looks fascinating, perhaps something to look into when our kitchen is rebuilt.

Thanks

Max

BTW Max,

I've a corian work surface as well. Around most of it has a 15cm high corian splashback but behind the cooker the splashback goes straight up to the cupboards/extractor above. No problems with gas for me (in fact it's plumbed in in case I want to change/add gas in the future) and the worktop is regular depth.

I looked into induction, but as soon as I discovered I would have to throw away my Scanpan frypan etc I stayed with an Asko wide ceramic hob (900mm wide).
Unfortunately the nagger would not allow gas in the house.
Snap for corian - it is brilliant to use/work on.

I really wanted corian but could not afford it. Plus I don't think it would have settled in our 1790s house so well, so we went with wood.

I wonder if the poster would be better looking at ceramic, just so he can continue with his pans?

Thanks for the photo Stuart. Our designer's proposal is similar to your arrangement. It has a Corian splashback along every work surface, not as high as yours, and then a splashback going all the way up to the hood.

Obviously our problem is that Corian stipulate a greater gap between the hob and the splashback than we can provide unless we start messing obout with a wider top and tapering an end to meet a wall which would probably look naff to say the least.

I am pretty sure we will go for induction so thanks again to you and Gary for your help.

Max