Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks
--
David

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster wrote:

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

Careful, does she really just want a set of new pans? Induction hobs
require the base to be magnetic, ali or stainless steel pans aren't
unless they have an iron core in the base.

If you already have (mains?) gas I can't see a good reason for not just
replacing the gas hob. Induction are good but not as good as gas. I'll
get an induction hob for the new kitchen but we don't have mains gas.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.


Our's has been life changing. That said we only have electric in the
kitchen. It takes the **** out of all the other electric hobs i've had
over the years.
I have used gas hobs though and reckon they are comparable
controllabilitywise.
And might be more economical as there's no wasted heat, certainly look
better and easier to clean.

I got a cheap two 'burner' one on ebay cheap as chips, it works for us.

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?
I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Graham. wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?

Do professional chefs do their own hob cleaning? ;-)

I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the current
hob is a PITA.

Tim

On May 12, 12:21*am, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster wrote:
SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

Careful, does she really just want a set of new pans? Induction hobs
require the base to be magnetic, ali or stainless steel pans aren't
unless they have an iron core in the base.

If you already have (mains?) gas I can't see a good reason for not just
replacing the gas hob. Induction are good but not as good as gas. I'll
get an induction hob for the new kitchen but we don't have mains gas.

There is a theory that the Nox gases released into the house by gas
cookers are quite bad for you.
Especially if you have an existing pulminary problem such as asthma.
If you walk into a house with a gas cooker, you can tell instantly by
the smell.

On May 12, 5:22*am, Tim+
wrote:
Graham. wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? *Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?

Do professional chefs do their own hob cleaning? ;-)

I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the current
hob is a PITA.


We have a halogen hob. Cheaper and uses conventional pans but not as
efficient.
Easy to clean.

On 12/05/2013 00:24, Graham. wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?
I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.

If you looked carefully, you would most certainly see induction hobs in
TV chef programs. Specific example - Heston, but I am sure I have seen
them elsewhere.

To OP - induction is the way to go. If unsure, get a cheap 1 or 2 ring
plug-in one and see what it is like. But bear in mind that some built-in
ones have supersonic settings - maybe one ring at a time? That has to be
seen to be believed but takes more than 13A so your plug-in one cannot
manage it.

--
Rod

Lobster wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit
(we do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

We recently bought a new cooker with an induction hob. We had to buy a
new set of pans as our old ones weren't magnetic enough.
I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys me.
We were replacing a 30+ year old electric cooker with radiant rings. It
had to go because I couldn't source new ring trays and the old ones were
rusting through.
My wife is absolutely delighted with it. The only problem was the poor
instruction booklet. It took me ages to find out how to set the timers -
I found out by Googling for the manuals of other makes. Once you know
the manual makes sense!
My sister in law has one too and she also is delighted. I've yet to hear
anyone say "I wish I hadn't bought that Induction hob.".

I think induction hobs vary in speed and controllability so choose
carefully. We bought a single plate one to try out the idea. It wasn't
nearly as good as the cooker we eventually bought.

We bought a Stoves cooker in the end.

Edgar

On 12/05/2013 00:06, Lobster wrote:
Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Dennis is our resident expert on induction hobs :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

In article ,
Graham. wrote:

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?
I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.

Yes.

I've just been on a cookery course and the chef used a portable one-ring
induction hob. I was quite impressed with it myself - to the extent
that I'm now in the process of searching for a similar one myself -
stand-alone single ring unit.

The control was virtually instant - he stopped a pan boiling over with
a single button push, and used it to saute, simmer and boil (pasta)
It was the first time I'd really had a chance to look at one in-use
close-up and I was very impressed - if only I'd noted the make/model...

Prices do vary though - from a £25 Aldi special to £2500 or more )-:
So finding the right one for me may take some time.

Gordon

On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:29:56 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Henderson wrote:

Prices do vary though - from a £25 Aldi special to £2500 or more )-:
So finding the right one for me may take some time.

If you just want to play get the £25 Lidl one. I got one the other month
as I just happened to be in store, they had one and I wanted to play.
Best £25 I've spent in a along time.

Our small kitchen doesn't have enough space for it to remain on the work
top so it lives elsewhere but it's so good(*) I go and get it and use it
everytime I cook (ie. everyday...). It's rated at 2kW so has the same
grunt as a medium if not large gas ring.

(*) Alternative is "red dot" solid hotplate cooker. Thermal inertia of an
elephant.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:22:53 +0100, Edgar wrote:

I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys me.

eh, our gas heater burns 71 g gas per hour per kW or produces about 70 ml
of water an hour at 1 kW. 70 ml is a large double measure of sprits.

But that's for 1kW for an hour pan cooking rarely takes that long and
won't be running at a 1 kW either. I reckon the burnt gas will contribute
less than half of that 70 ml of water to the air, you'll have more from
the cooking itself.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Lobster wrote:

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Brilliant things. More efficient heat transfer than gas, ie faster to
heat a pan from cold, or bring something back up to temp.

Scott

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:24:37 +0100, Graham. wrote:

I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.

I ought to be frightened of 'em as well. When I was about 7 decided it
would be a nice thing to make Mum and Dad an early morning cup of tea.
Kettle was heated on gas cooker, great lump of cast iron thing with cast
iron burner rings etc(*). Lit it but the damn thing back fired, gas
burning from the jet up the inside of the burner tube. Made one heck of a
noise and terrified I went screaming up stairs. So much Mum & Dads nice
quiet morning cup of tea... B-)

Dad later explained and showed me what had happened and how to deal with
it (turn off the affected ring). It certainly left a mark on my psyche,
this happened nearly 50 years ago but I remember it like yesterday, but
I'm not frightened of gas cookers, even ancient hefty cast iron ones.

(*) http://props.stockyard.tv/assets/Ite.../0360006-1.jpg

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 11 May 2013 23:07:46 -0700 (PDT), harry wrote:

I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the
current hob is a PITA.

Well don't be such a mucky cook then. B-) Or just give it a wipe over
after it's cooled.

We have a halogen hob.

If you don't mind been blinded by the glow when you lift a pan or a from
the glow around the edges with a small pan.

Cheaper and uses conventional pans but not as efficient.

Still suffers from thermal inertia and the associated ease of burning
stuff due to the bang bang control and temperature overshoot.

Easy to clean.

No different to ceramic "easy to clean" if you don't spill anything on
it. 'Cause if you do it near instantly carbonises and as for anything
vaugely sweet...

Induction is hot but not hot enough to burn any spills, they'll dry out
but not burn.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 12/05/2013 11:44, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:24:37 +0100, Graham. wrote:

I would love a gas hob but SWBO is frightened of them.

I ought to be frightened of 'em as well. When I was about 7 decided it
would be a nice thing to make Mum and Dad an early morning cup of tea.
Kettle was heated on gas cooker, great lump of cast iron thing with cast
iron burner rings etc(*). Lit it but the damn thing back fired, gas
burning from the jet up the inside of the burner tube. Made one heck of a
noise and terrified I went screaming up stairs. So much Mum & Dads nice
quiet morning cup of tea... B-)

Dad later explained and showed me what had happened and how to deal with
it (turn off the affected ring). It certainly left a mark on my psyche,
this happened nearly 50 years ago but I remember it like yesterday, but
I'm not frightened of gas cookers, even ancient hefty cast iron ones.

(*) http://props.stockyard.tv/assets/Ite.../0360006-1.jpg

And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a blowtorch!)?

--
Rod

On Sun, 12 May 2013 12:11:55 +0100, polygonum wrote:

And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a
blowtorch!)?

Nope, our gas lighter was a glow coil electrical thing. Big single cell
zinc carbon battery, by big I mean about 2" dia and 6" high. Screw thread
around the top which accepted large threaded cap and simple switch. From
the cap there was a 3/8" ish dia tube with a screw in glow coil in the
end. It worked, mostly...

We also had a gas poker for lighting the open fires, mainly the coke one
in the front room. Length of rubber hose to a handle from which a cast
iron tube with holes in protruded:

http://alfgifu.wordpress.com/tag/a-y...tos-2/page/12/

Forth image down, I like the operational description. B-)

You can still buy them for lighting BBQ's etc.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
polygonum wrote:
And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a blowtorch!)?

Yes! Our cooker had a central pilot light that did the 4 burners,
but for the grill or oven we needed to use the little lighter thing -
light it off the pilot then use it to light to grill or oven.

I used to try to get it to fill a baloon, but mains gas pressure is way
to low for that... Probably just as well!

Gordon

A lot more water vapour with a gass cooker of course.
What about Halogen, they were all the rage a few years back.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"harry" wrote in message
...
On May 12, 12:21 am, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster wrote:
SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

Careful, does she really just want a set of new pans? Induction hobs
require the base to be magnetic, ali or stainless steel pans aren't
unless they have an iron core in the base.

If you already have (mains?) gas I can't see a good reason for not just
replacing the gas hob. Induction are good but not as good as gas. I'll
get an induction hob for the new kitchen but we don't have mains gas.

There is a theory that the Nox gases released into the house by gas
cookers are quite bad for you.
Especially if you have an existing pulminary problem such as asthma.
If you walk into a house with a gas cooker, you can tell instantly by
the smell.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:22:53 +0100, Edgar wrote:

I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys
me.

eh, our gas heater burns 71 g gas per hour per kW or produces about 70
ml of water an hour at 1 kW. 70 ml is a large double measure of
sprits.

But that's for 1kW for an hour pan cooking rarely takes that long and
won't be running at a 1 kW either. I reckon the burnt gas will
contribute less than half of that 70 ml of water to the air, you'll
have more from the cooking itself.


I'll admit to a long standing prejudice against gas cooking which
probably has little real foundation - like many prejudices.

That said I've noticed when house hunting that kitchens with gas cookers
tend to be grimier than those with electric. So if it's not the quantity
of water it may be the soot from combustion combined with grease and
stuff from the cooking that is carried up onto the ceiling and walls and
deposited there by the condensing water vapour. I imagine an eggcup full
of water misted around a room would dampen quite an area. Perhaps an
advantage of electric cooking is that the fumes remain in the air longer
and have a better chance of getting out through a window.

We use pan with lids and little steam gets out - except when things need
fierce boiling. Then the windows and doors are fully open. One of the
benefits of having to buy new pans is that the new ones came with glass
lids which is apparently a good thing.

Anyway each to his own. And now that we can fit good cooker ventilators
maybe it won't matter any more.

Edgar

On Sun, 12 May 2013 12:09:19 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Henderson
wrote:

In article ,
polygonum wrote:
And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a blowtorch!)?

Yes! Our cooker had a central pilot light that did the 4 burners,
but for the grill or oven we needed to use the little lighter thing -
light it off the pilot then use it to light to grill or oven.

I used to try to get it to fill a baloon, but mains gas pressure is way
to low for that... Probably just as well!

Gordon


Thereby hangs a tail. Long time ago.


I has bought a 4 ft diameter meteorological balloon, the idea was to
fill it with H or He and use it to lift a long wire aerial for Top
Band DX, but what actually happened is that we decided to fill it with
coal gas from the Bunsen burner supply in the chemistry lab at Bury
Tech, and push it out of the window.

Our lecturer came in to see what all the excitement was about, and to
our surprise he actually encouraged us, but he didn't think the
post-card with RSVP details was a good idea.



--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

On Sun, 12 May 2013 12:39:53 +0100 (BST), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
Nope, our gas lighter was a glow coil electrical thing. Big single cell
zinc carbon battery, by big I mean about 2" dia and 6" high. Screw thread
around the top which accepted large threaded cap and simple switch. From
the cap there was a 3/8" ish dia tube with a screw in glow coil in the
end. It worked, mostly...

I remember those. They only worked with "town gas" (coal gas) IIRC,
and wouldn't work after the switch over to natural gas.

I think they used a platinum wire, which was warmed up by the current
from the battery. This wasn't hot enough to light the gas, but it was
enough for the platinum wire to catalyse the oxidation of the hydrogen
in the town gas, which raised the temperature enough to light the gas.

We also had a gas poker for lighting the open fires, mainly the coke one
in the front room. Length of rubber hose to a handle from which a cast
iron tube with holes in protruded:

I remember those too. They fitted into a gas connection with a bayonet
fitting next to the fire.

On Sun, 12 May 2013 14:55:24 +0100, Brian Gaff wrote:

A lot more water vapour with a gass cooker of course.
What about Halogen, they were all the rage a few years back.

See my other post not much more than eggcupful of water. Halogen suufer
the problems of most other electric hobs but are slightly faster to
react. It says something about the cleaning when ceramic and halogen come
with a special scraper... B-)

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 12 May 2013 15:30:47 +0100, Tim Streater wrote:

Anyway each to his own.

'tis true if I had the option of mains gas that is what I would use. Even
though I quite like induction and it's performance is pretty much equal
to gas I'm still sort of toying with idea of bottled propane. Lot more
agro to install though the electrics I can do an are in. I don't have gas
related "bits and bobs" so would have to get a man in...

And now that we can fit good cooker ventilators maybe it won't matter
any more.

As long as they vent to the outside.

+1 no point at all in a recirculating cooker hood. When we moved in here
that is what the one was set up to do. The windows would stream with
condensation when cooking pasta. Stupid thing was there was a hole in the
wall with a broken extract fan in it. Took that out ran a bit of flexible
vent hose from the hood to the hole. No more streaming windows...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Tim Streater wrote:

In article ,
Edgar Iredale wrote:

Anyway each to his own. And now that we can fit good cooker
ventilators maybe it won't matter any more.

As long as they vent to the outside.

If it doesn't vent outside it's not a ventilator.


Edgar

The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 12/05/2013 00:06, Lobster wrote:
Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting)
and given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively
expensive it needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit
(we do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Dennis is our resident expert on induction hobs :-)

Fire!

--
Adam

On 12/05/2013 11:36, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:22:53 +0100, Edgar wrote:

I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys me.

eh, our gas heater burns 71 g gas per hour per kW or produces about 70 ml
of water an hour at 1 kW. 70 ml is a large double measure of sprits.

But that's for 1kW for an hour pan cooking rarely takes that long and
won't be running at a 1 kW either. I reckon the burnt gas will contribute
less than half of that 70 ml of water to the air, you'll have more from
the cooking itself.


Not with a good set of pans.
We have some old stainless pans without vents in the lids and they will
simmer without much steam escaping at all.
Its only cheap pans that need a vent and let loads of steam out.

On 5/12/2013 11:31 AM, Dave Liquorice wrote:

'tis true if I had the option of mains gas that is what I would use. Even
though I quite like induction and it's performance is pretty much equal
to gas I'm still sort of toying with idea of bottled propane. Lot more
agro to install though the electrics I can do an are in. I don't have gas
related "bits and bobs" so would have to get a man in...

We don't have mains gas either, but 2 or 3 years ago we had a dual-fuel
cooker installed. The two propane bottles have an automatic changeover
wotsit.
I wish I'd done it years ago.

On 12 May, 13:27, Tim Streater wrote:
In article ,
*Gordon Henderson wrote:

In article ,
polygonum wrote:
And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a blowtorch!)?

Yes! Our cooker had a central pilot light that did the 4 burners,
but for the grill or oven we needed to use the little lighter thing -
light it off the pilot then use it to light to grill or oven.

I used to try to get it to fill a baloon, but mains gas pressure is way
to low for that... Probably just as well!

Gas cooker I had installed in the US in 1984 had spark ignition.

So about 10years later than Mum's new Cannon in the 70s, which had
spark iginition, a (mechanical) clock that would turn the oven on and
a rotisserie attachment for the grill. I always thought the merkins
were a bit behind when it cam to cooking.

MBQ

On 12/05/2013 13:09, Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
polygonum wrote:
And who remembers the gas lighter that was a thin, flexible pipe and a
triggered thing at the end (halfway between a fag lighter and a blowtorch!)?

Yes! Our cooker had a central pilot light that did the 4 burners,
but for the grill or oven we needed to use the little lighter thing -
light it off the pilot then use it to light to grill or oven.

I used to try to get it to fill a baloon, but mains gas pressure is way
to low for that... Probably just as well!

Gordon

Sounds about right. I can place/time my first experience of them to 1962
in Newcastle.

Ebay item 230931072940 (finished) - have a look at the pictures - one
shows such an ignitor quite clearly.

--
Rod

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

I really do recommend them. When we built a new extension, we toyed with
having gas cooking but tried a cheap single plug in one from Lidl,
£29.95, to tide us over while kitchenless and we were converted. We
installed a proper four ring one in the new kitchen and love it.

The downside, as already mentioned, are that the pans need to be made of
steel or cast-iron. Aluminium or SS won't work unless they have a
magnetisable base, which some do. Take a magnet when shopping for new
pans, or testing suitability of existing ones! Most cookware now shows
what it is suitable for though.

If not used for severe frying, you can put a square of kitchen towel
between pan and hob and cook "through" it and further reduce cleaning
though nothing burns-on anyway, unlike halogen.

The single hob gives a fifth ring if needed and is well suited to taking
outside for summer cooking. The paper towel trick always raises questions
at a BBQ from the uninitiated ;-)






--
Steve

On 12/05/2013 17:14, dennis@home wrote:
On 12/05/2013 11:36, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 09:22:53 +0100, Edgar wrote:

I won't have gas - the added moisture created by burning gas annoys me.

eh, our gas heater burns 71 g gas per hour per kW or produces about 70 ml
of water an hour at 1 kW. 70 ml is a large double measure of sprits.

But that's for 1kW for an hour pan cooking rarely takes that long and
won't be running at a 1 kW either. I reckon the burnt gas will contribute
less than half of that 70 ml of water to the air, you'll have more from
the cooking itself.


Not with a good set of pans.
We have some old stainless pans without vents in the lids and they will
simmer without much steam escaping at all.
Its only cheap pans that need a vent and let loads of steam out.

Why does the price of a pan dictate the need for a vent?

I can certainly see that cheap and nasty pans might have poor-fitting
lids hence let water in the gaseous phase out in excess, but that is not
a need so much as poor quality.

--
Rod

On Sun, 12 May 2013 05:22:04 +0100, Tim+
wrote:

Graham. wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?

Do professional chefs do their own hob cleaning? ;-)

I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the current
hob is a PITA.

A good compromise answer to the question gas or induction may be a
'gas on glass' hob. They have the controllability of gas, are easier
to clean than a standard gas hob (but not quite as easy as induction)
and, most important from SWMBO's viewpoint, they look good.

They are not cheap, but a good gas on glass is not as expensive as a
good induction.
--
rbel

On 12/05/2013 20:47, rbel wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 05:22:04 +0100, Tim+
wrote:

Graham. wrote:
On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:06:33 +0100, Lobster
wrote:

Our current gas hob is knackered (now two rings down and counting) and
given that obsolete replacement parts are prohibitively expensive it
needs replacing.

SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?

Do professional chefs do their own hob cleaning? ;-)

I have a gas hob but it'll be induction next for me as cleaning the current
hob is a PITA.

A good compromise answer to the question gas or induction may be a
'gas on glass' hob. They have the controllability of gas, are easier
to clean than a standard gas hob (but not quite as easy as induction)
and, most important from SWMBO's viewpoint, they look good.

They are not cheap, but a good gas on glass is not as expensive as a
good induction.


"Gas glass hobs don’t heat up as quickly as electric ceramic models."

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-gard...as-glass-hobs/

And slow heat up was my main gripe about ceramic. (Plus all the hot
surface issues.)

--
Rod

On Sun, 12 May 2013 00:24:37 +0100, Graham. wrote:


SWMBO, bless her little cotton socks, has been told by somebody that
induction hobs are the way forward.

I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Thanks

Have you ever seen a professional chef use any sort of electric hob?

Quite often on Cruise ships where gas is not welcome or practical for
various reasons.

We have had an induction hob for about 6 years now, no mains gas and I
don't really want the clutter of bottles or a storage tank for
cooking. Having used gas in the past we found the induction hob to be
almost as controllable as the gas was. A lot easier to clean compared
to the open burners of the gas cookers and old style electric rings we
have used in the past. Only very minor niggle is that drips of water
from saucepan lids etc when you lift them up form puddles that need
to wiped up with a cloth,with gas or old style electric rings the
drips just sizzled then turned to steam and went out the extractor.
As other have said you need the correct cook ware and most domestic
induction hobs won't be suitable for people who like cooking with Woks
,commercial induction WOK units are available but pricey.

G.Harman
G.Harman

On Sun, 12 May 2013 20:54:17 +0100, polygonum
wrote:


A good compromise answer to the question gas or induction may be a
'gas on glass' hob. They have the controllability of gas, are easier
to clean than a standard gas hob (but not quite as easy as induction)
and, most important from SWMBO's viewpoint, they look good.

They are not cheap, but a good gas on glass is not as expensive as a
good induction.


"Gas glass hobs don’t heat up as quickly as electric ceramic models."

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-gard...as-glass-hobs/

And slow heat up was my main gripe about ceramic. (Plus all the hot
surface issues.)

What an apparently strange comment for 'Which' to make. As the
burners are located on top of the glass, there is nothing between the
flame and the pan, whereas an electric ceramic hob has ceramic glass
between the element and the pan base. Unless they are indicating that
all gas hob burners are slower than electric ceramic which, from
experience of halogen under ceramic and gas, I would suggest is not
the case.
--
rbel

On 12/05/2013 00:06, Lobster wrote:
I know zip about these other than I can see they are expensive - does
anybody here recommend them? Also, are they straightforward to fit (we
do have a dedicated radial oven cable already)

Best bit of kitchen kit we ever bought. far FAR faster than anything
else, and really controllable.

I'd say, of the cookers we've had:

Ceramic hob - easy to clean, unless you have a burnt-on spill. Godawful
slow.

Radiant ring - faster than ceramic. Never did work out how to clean it.

Halogen (only used my mum's) - better than the above, but not as fast as
gas. Spills burn on.

Gas - had one for years. PITA to clean, inefficient, you can use
anything at all to cook with. Even an old tin if you want.

Induction - faster than any of the above, efficient, quiet (Which?
reckon noisy - I think ours is quieter than the gas, just the occasional
buzz), and so easy to clean - just needs a wipe with a damp cloth, as no
part of it ever gets hot enough to burn anything on. But we did have to
buy new saucepans, and I'm now doing stirfries in a sauté pan as you can
get a flat wok.

Get one.

Andy

On 12/05/2013 14:55, Brian Gaff wrote:
A lot more water vapour with a gass cooker of course.
What about Halogen, they were all the rage a few years back.

Brian

Benefit of those is you can use any pan material compared to induction
needing magnetic. Better than solid or radiant rings in that they are
completely flat (easier to clean) and heat up faster. Only used them
occasionally and never had to live with them so can't comment on
reliability.

On Sat, 11 May 2013 23:05:52 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

There is a theory that the Nox gases released into the house by gas
cookers are quite bad for you.

There are theories that angels dancing on pin heads can be bad for
you.

Especially if you have an existing pulminary problem such as asthma.
If you walk into a house with a gas cooker, you can tell instantly by
the smell.

Of course you can dear, you can probably also smell the deadly
peanuts.