Gas to induction for new kitchen?

GeX

GeX

GeX

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I've always been quite firmly in the gas hobs and electric fan oven camp, but want to explore induction hobs as we're redoing the kitchen and this would be an opportunity to change.

Earlier in my life, I worked as a chef and enjoy cooking. I don't get to be as creative when doing so as we have kids now and need to balance effort vs what we know they'll eat.

Currently have a gas 5 burner range cooker. Any replacement needs to be this kind of width as I find single / 60cm too cramped.

Most of our cookware is https://www.procook.co.uk/product/procook-professional-steel-saucepan-set-4-pieces?lifestyletest=yes like this, suitable for induction.

The gas hobs I've looked at are https://www.aeg.co.uk/kitchen/cooking/hobs/gas-hob/hkb75450nb/ and https://ao.com/product/ppq7a6i40-bosch-series-6-gas-hob-black-105217-41.aspx

Induction hobs, https://www.aeg.co.uk/kitchen/cooking/hobs/induction-hob/tk95in00fb/ this is the cheapest AEG one that has 5 cooking zones. Tho I don't really care for all 5, and it's just the extra width I like.

I've noticed that all induction hobs seem to have touch controls, I don't like that.

Benefits are cited as easier to clean.. but it's not exactly hard to clean a stainless steel gas hob - and the ones I linked above are glass like an induction hob anyway.

Installation wise, we don't have a 16A spur for an induction hob and so it would need that cost factoring in. We do have a gas supply that feeds the existing stove.

In writing this you can probably infer that I've convinced myself that gas is better. It's a known thing for me, has tactile controls and is cheaper to both buy and install. I view induction as a perfectly good option if you don't have gas - but I do.

Am I missing anything?
 
Induction wins over gas for me and have solely used an induction hob for almost 8-years now I would never go back. Anything I need a gas flame for can be solved using a blowtorch or the grill on my oven.

Induction is easier to clean, easier to manage heat, gives off far less ambient heat and is generally nicer to live with day-to-day. Touchscreen controls are a delight as you will never accidentally knock them, turn the gas on, you know all that dumb stuff that having a control knob can add. Of course most people never do that... but touchscreen just works for induction.

Just be aware that not all induction hobs are created equal - you need to understand the underlying technology and how it delivers power and pick something that works well for what you want to do. And you also need to get a hob that has genuine control over its power levels and eschews any fancy bells and whistles like wireless connectivity and junk like that.

I went for a narrow/wide model which has four large zones side-by-side and can combine them together to make larger cooking areas. I absolutely love the thing and would buy another one in a heartbeat, were I to find myself living in a property that didn't have induction.

I did get loaned a Control Freak for a few months some years ago and that thing was so much fun to cart about and cook from. Wouldn't touch one with my own money, but would cherish it if I got given one!

You do you... but anything you can do on a gas hob you can do on induction. And yes, that includes stir-frying as outside of some very specific hobs that most people wouldn't even consider, you can't do that properly on a gas hob either.
 
Since you already like to cook I'll tell you two things:

1.You will only ever need a damp cloth with a bit of fairy to clean the surface and it will wipe off. No scrubbing any part of the hob ever again.
2. There are at least one option from Nef that have a twisty disk thing that I've used and they're pretty good
 
I thought I'd love touch controls but have started to dislike them.
Reason, they don't like having water/moisture on them. Mine constantly switches off because I've wiped away some water or splashed food with a damp cloth.
Induction though is brilliant but has to be a decent hob with fine control.
 
shroomz said:
Since you already like to cook I'll tell you two things:

1.You will only ever need a damp cloth with a bit of fairy to clean the surface and it will wipe off. No scrubbing any part of the hob ever again.
2. There are at least one option from Nef that have a twisty disk thing that I've used and they're pretty good
Click to expand...
I get this, but the AEG gas hob is glass - so easy to wipe and the iron bits can easily in dishwasher. I'm not trying to be dismissive of induction, but the cleaning point us moot
 
What induction hobs are you all using, so I can get idea of what decent ones look like and cost. I realise there are differences in the underlying control electronics that will impact how good they are to use
 
GeX said:
What induction hobs are you all using, so I can get idea of what decent ones look like and cost. I realise there are differences in the underlying control electronics that will impact how good they are to use
Click to expand...
I have this one.

Neff N70 T66FHX4L0 60cm Flex Induction Hob, Black

Buy Neff N70 T66FHX4L0 60cm Flex Induction Hob, Black from our Hobs range at John Lewis & Partners.
www.johnlewis.com www.johnlewis.com
 
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Have a read about the pollutants generated by gas hobs and it might sway the decision.
When we re-did our kitchen a couple of years ago we were a bit worried that we wouldn't like the induction hob, but glad we did it. A couple of pans that claimed to work on induction didn't actually work that well and got swapped.
Electricity is more expensive than gas, but induction hobs don't waste heat around the outside of the pan, so I'd guess there's not that much in it. Also, you might find that your oven spur might have a sufficient rating to share with the hob. Some induction hobs can set a power limit if needed, but this obviously isn't ideal.
Edit: the one we've got is NEFF T58FD20X0
 
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Yea I don't agree with the induction is better for everything.

It's better for most things, but you can't really use a decent carbon steel pan on induction for frying, so you need to use cast iron. Nothing wrong with that as such but cast iron pans weigh a ton and for good ones they are expensive.

Forget trying to use a carbon steel wok either, even a flat bottomed one, it doesn't work, the bottom will be like lava and edges a lot cool which will cause it to warp, same carbon steel.

So I don't agree that induction is better for frying than gas at all.

For most other things it is though and more efficient, you can boil a pot of water much faster for example.

Is there are way you can have both? If I was doing my kitchen now I'd have an induction hob and a single gas ring. We don't have piped gas but if hook up an LPG gas bottle to it, run the pipe out the wall, you got the best of both then.
 
GeX said:
I've always been quite firmly in the gas hobs and electric fan oven camp, but want to explore induction hobs as we're redoing the kitchen and this would be an opportunity to change.
Click to expand...

I have an induction hob and it's amazingly better than the ring hob I had before. However, induction hobs are a big no-no if you have a pacemaker.
 
Had gas hob and then a new kitchen and went induction.
Moved house and it had a gas hob. Didn't miss the induction. Meh!
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yea I don't agree with the induction is better for everything.

It's better for most things, but you can't really use a decent carbon steel pan on induction for frying, so you need to use cast iron. Nothing wrong with that as such but cast iron pans weigh a ton and for good ones they are expensive.

Forget trying to use a carbon steel wok either, even a flat bottomed one, it doesn't work, the bottom will be like lava and edges a lot cool which will cause it to warp, same carbon steel.

So I don't agree that induction is better for frying than gas at all.

For most other things it is though and more efficient, you can boil a pot of water much faster for example.

Is there are way you can have both? If I was doing my kitchen now I'd have an induction hob and a single gas ring. We don't have piped gas but if hook up an LPG gas bottle to it, run the pipe out the wall, you got the best of both then.
Click to expand...
You just need the right pans, mixed metal ones work really well to help distribute the heat.
 
You can get induction hobs with gas rings on, you'd only need 1 gas ring.

Granted they are not cheap, but if I were doing my kitchen it's what I would have.
 
As others mention, cleaning is very easy. As the hob itself doesn't heat ip as such, everything just wipes off super easily and doesn't burn into it.

It is fast and easy to control and if you do your research you can find ones where the touch buttons are not as annoying as they can be on cheap models. Mine boils a full saucepan of water in the same time as the kettle.

But most important of all; induction is safer. You cannot accidentally turn the hob on if there is no pan sitting on it and therefore a child could not burn themselves on it or knock it on. Or you can turn a lock on too for extra safety.
Because the hob itself doesn't heat up and only warms up because the pan heats up, it cools very fast after too.
You can have timers to turn it off after certain time if you need to cook something for a while and wont be standing next to it so it cant be forgotten.
You have no gas to worry about either that could end up being knocked on without a flame.

I would never go back to gas after having induction and you might find the same if you give it a go.
 
robj20 said:
I thought I'd love touch controls but have started to dislike them.
Reason, they don't like having water/moisture on them. Mine constantly switches off because I've wiped away some water or splashed food with a damp cloth.
Induction though is brilliant but has to be a decent hob with fine control.
Click to expand...
Was going to say the same thing. While I prefer the induction - we bought some old Miele secondhand for £40 or so - the touch conntrols are really annoying. And it really takes very little water - you don't have to overboil anything just some steam dripping down when opening a lid is more than enough to stop everything. Yes, a teatowel to dry it is easy enough but you do have put all the settings back.

Maybe some extra wide hub - so 80cm or 90cm rather than 60cm - could have all the controls well away from the hubs but the common 60cm ones don't.
 
glitch said:
Why?
Click to expand...

Because gas heats by convection where are induction is conducting?

To explain, the best wok I have, I bought it from an Asian supermarket, carbon steel round bottom, I had a gas burner a use outdoors which is run off an LPG gas bottle.

Absolute pleasure to cook on and it was cheap. It's a thing pan, the idea is the heat from the gas runs up all the sides of the wok, you get even heating.

That simply won't work on induction, even a flat bottomed one, the heat will transfer straight into the part touching where are the edges will remain relatively cool, you can't cook properly on the and it'll likely warp.

I do have a wok I can use but it's a heavy bottom cast iron one, it's okay but it's a compromise.

Same with a carbon steel pan, it'll heat the area the induction ring is touching, dbd you get a hot ring in your pan and likely warp. I bought a really fancy debuyer carbon steel pan and I cannot get a good season on. There are induction designed pans but any any tried are a compromise.

I do have a decent cast iron pan that does work well, but it cost me £130.
 
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