Induction hob pan sizes

mrochester · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:04

Hi all

Reading a few induction hob reviews, someone posted that when they used a pan that was slightly smaller than the hob size, it wouldn't boil. Is there any truth to this regarding needing to use exactly the right sized pan for the hob?

Many thanks

M.

The_Police! · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:05

mrochester said:
Hi all

Reading a few induction hob reviews, someone posted that when they used a pan that was slightly smaller than the hob size, it wouldn't boil. Is there any truth to this regarding needing to use exactly the right sized pan for the hob?

Many thanks

M.

No truth in this whatsoever.

mrochester · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:13

The_Police! said:
No truth in this whatsoever.

Super thanks!

Mr_White · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:15

I have an induction hob and can also concur with The_Police!

Dr House · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:28

induction hobs are amazing compared to the normal ceramic hobs

topgun06 · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:44

Not true.

However, we have a wok that only works on one of the induction rings. I think its the wok though.

vertica · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:45

The only time I've known this happen is on my mates halogen hob that had 'safety' sensors to turn the heat off when you removed the pan. The sensors were at the edge of the hob rings so if the pan was too small it wouldn't turn on.

mrochester · 22 Mar 2011 at 21:57

I see.

Speaking of woks, this is another thing I think I heard about induction hobs and them not working terribly well with woks (unless you get one of those wok shaped induction hobs). Again, is there any truth to this?

Thanks
M.

topgun06 · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:03

Not sure... ours was bought separately to the rest of the set (which works perfectly), so it might just be our wok. It only works on a ring which is the same size as the wok base.

I have no other experience than this. Sorry.

mrochester · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:05

OK ta. I'm looking at a fairly cheap induction hob which seems to lack the extra bells and whistles I can probably do without. It's the Indesit VIA640C and seems to get some excellent reviews as a no-nonsense, well rounded hob.

J-FRO · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:09

Do these induction hobs take forever to cool down/switch temperatures?

When I was at uni we only ever had "electric hobs" and they were shoddy for cooking anything because you couldn't readily control the heat. Consequently I prefer gas hobs because of the ability to change how much gas to give it and thus change the energy transfer so the heat can be controlled.

tom_e · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:11

J-FRO said:
Do these induction hobs take forever to cool down/switch temperatures?

When I was at uni we only ever had "electric hobs" and they were shoddy for cooking anything because you couldn't readily control the heat. Consequently I prefer gas hobs because of the ability to change how much gas to give it and thus change the energy transfer so the heat can be controlled.

Induction and normal electric hobs are very different, an induction hob is cool to the touch almost as soon as you remove the pan.

mrochester · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:13

J-FRO said:
Do these induction hobs take forever to cool down/switch temperatures?

When I was at uni we only ever had "electric hobs" and they were shoddy for cooking anything because you couldn't readily control the heat. Consequently I prefer gas hobs because of the ability to change how much gas to give it and thus change the energy transfer so the heat can be controlled.

Induction hobs are the electric equivilent of gas - they heat up quickly and the temperature can be controlled almost instantly. This is why I'm looking to get rid of my electric hob!

topgun06 · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:20

They're great. Record breaking coffee making times! Water boils in no time.

To begin with I found it a little hard to control the heat. But once you get used to what setting to have what type of food at they're fine!

J-FRO · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:24

tom_e said:
Induction and normal electric hobs are very different, an induction hob is cool to the touch almost as soon as you remove the pan.

mrochester said:
Induction hobs are the electric equivilent of gas - they heat up quickly and the temperature can be controlled almost instantly. This is why I'm looking to get rid of my electric hob!

Intriguing..... So if all the natural resources do run out and we end up having to rely on renewable energy ("ha!" I hear everyone say, it's only hypothetical anyway) at least we will have top notch cookers to cook perfect steaks on not letting them cows go to waste.

Shoei · 22 Mar 2011 at 22:33

We have an induction hob, the two rings have an inner & outer marking, so as long as the pan base fits between the 2 markings all is good.
The other side of the hob is an oblong induction area split in two, so this will small pans o othe odd shaped pans.
Love the hob, easy to clean & childproof in that the rotary controller is magnetic so we just take it off & it cant be used.