Induction Hobs

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So I've come to the conclusion I genuinely hate my current ceramic hob (its terrible and my child has started to consider it's ok to touch the hob)

So its upgrade time - now I know abit about induction (yes I know I'll need to invest in some new pans!) however I am unsure as to what qualifies as a good make these days?

I have cira £300 for the hob and abit spare then for the new pans required so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
 
We've just moved to a house with a NEFF induction hob and it's great. Ours is mid range but they start around £350. Be aware it still does get hot from the pan's heat - it's not safe to touch all the time.
 
Don't forget to factor in you might need 10mm cable back to consumer unit - I Had to run one to it's own RCD or whatever it was called.

Had a Siemens for 6 years now and it's so much better than halogen. - We did have to bin a load of non Induction Circulon pans though.

I paid 98 quid for a swiss grill pan if that helps but all pans are Circulon Infinity.
 
covenantuk said:
We've just moved to a house with a NEFF induction hob and it's great. Ours is mid range but they start around £350. Be aware it still does get hot from the pan's heat - it's not safe to touch all the time.
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Yep I know they do get hot from the heat but from my understanding nowhere near as bad as the current ceramic thing I have, nor do they retain the heat for aslong?

I could stretch the budget abit more, I'd rather get something thats long term rather than just change it

DXP55 said:
Don't forget to factor in you might need 10mm cable back to consumer unit - I Had to run one to it's own RCD or whatever it was called.

Had a Siemens for 6 years now and it's so much better than halogen. - We did have to bin a load of non Induction Circulon pans though.

I paid 98 quid for a swiss grill pan if that helps but all pans are Circulon Infinity.
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The current hob has its own 32amp breaker in the consumer unit although I would have an electrician check things over before I buy!
 
Are you not on mains gas ? Much cheaper and not that hard to keep clean.

Certainly don't buy a cheap induction hob - had one in a holiday cottage once and it was utter garbage.
 
AEG here, touch control and its fantastic.

Would never go back to gas, easier to clean and so so much more efficient and cheaper to run.
 
how come the siemens is no good with a wok ? not enough btu's to get it hot enough or the wok is not a flat base variety (like LeCreuset)

Like ceramic hobs one of the things to be wary of on the induction hobs is that, at low levels it not going to pulse on and off such that you cannot set things to simmer (they just alternate between boiling/sticking and off)
Another annoying aspect of ceramics / induction is that with slippery surface you cannot stir a pan without holding handle it just moves around on hob surface (I never had that problem with gas hob w/metal trivet supporting pans)
 
I've also had gas, both in my family home and since moving out, and made the semi-reluctant switch to induction when we had a new kitchen fitted a month or so ago.

The reasons were everyone we'd spoken to recommended it, from our builder to people here and friends. I love cooking and I was worried it wouldn't be sensitive or quick enough but it really is. It's much quicker in fact and so much easier to clean and use generally. Features like locking, auto off and timed off etc make it much better than gas as well. We even have a stove top kettle now rather than a plugged in one.

On the brand side we've got a Bosch and it came with a free set of pans too. It's great but having not used any others I couldn't compare.
 
jpaul said:
how come the siemens is no good with a wok ? not enough btu's to get it hot enough or the wok is not a flat base variety (like LeCreuset)

Like ceramic hobs one of the things to be wary of on the induction hobs is that, at low levels it not going to pulse on and off such that you cannot set things to simmer (they just alternate between boiling/sticking and off)
Another annoying aspect of ceramics / induction is that with slippery surface you cannot stir a pan without holding handle it just moves around on hob surface (I never had that problem with gas hob w/metal trivet supporting pans)
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These things have plenty of power to get pans hot. I can get a far better char on meat than I ever could on my gas hob.

I think he means you can't do funky wok-waving manoeuvres when stir frying.

Only downside I can think of is the fussiness over which pans you can use. But that's clutching at straws.
 
You need the gas flame to go round the wok to heat up the sides really. I don't get anywhere near enough heat transfer around my wok with induction, and that's with it sitting flat on the hob.
 
We have the 4.6kW Bosch one. It came with £100 worth of free pans, and also £50 or £100 off (can't remember which) for trading in an old appliance. Keep an eye out for a deal like that.
 
The house we moved into has induction, but not a 'name brand' hob. As such the touch controls are a PITA and sometimes it takes a good minute to get it to turn on :D Very finicky. Oh and dont forget you need new pans and pots if they arent induction-ones, which can be a big investment also.
 
My folks have a Neff one, seems pretty good. Touch controls can be a little bit fiddly at times but it seems to work well and I'm always impressed with how rapidly it heats up.

You don't need induction-specific cookware, as long as a magnet is attracted to it they'll work.
 
I've always preferred gas but I'm really impressed by the induction one in our new property and you can't argue that they are way easier to keep clean than any gas hob available.

I do miss the Wok burner on our old gas hob, but we've now got a gas Paella burner so I can use that when I feel the need for naked flames :D
 
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