The Lemon Fool

We have recently moved house. Previously we had a gas oven and hob. We now have an electric oven, which is fine and what I believe is a halogen hob. I am struggling to get to grips with this, particularly when reducing the heat, it seems very slow to respond. Would an induction hob be an improvement? I have no previous experience of halogen or induction. The last electric cooker I used about 20 years ago had the old rings.

Induction is pretty instant. You need the right pans though, aluminium does not work. Although some have some ferrous metal sandwiched in the bases so they do work.

Slow response is a well-known problem with certain hob types. You just get used to it or you avoid them. In my later days of renting - once it didn't just have to be the cheapest place - I was able to avoid them, and occasionally told an agent that a solid electric hob was a show-stopper unless they let me get rid of it and replace it.

Anyway, discussed in various places, recently here. Executive summary: go for induction!

Imbiber wrote:We have recently moved house. Previously we had a gas oven and hob. We now have an electric oven, which is fine and what I believe is a halogen hob. I am struggling to get to grips with this, particularly when reducing the heat, it seems very slow to respond. Would an induction hob be an improvement? I have no previous experience of halogen or induction. The last electric cooker I used about 20 years ago had the old rings.

I would have thought it isn't a halogen hob as, AFAIK, they do adjust 'instantly'.

https://chefspick.co.uk/halogen-hobs-pros-and-cons/

"Unlike regular electric hobs, you don’t have to wait for them to heat up. They provide the same instant heat as gas, while still being powered by electricity. You can also turn the heat up and down instantly, like on a gas hob."

Sounds more like a conventional ceramic hob to me. Can you tell us what make/model it is? (Any user instructions left in the kitchen drawers for you?) Sometimes you can identify an unknown make/type just from spending ten minutes with Google images.

Agree that an induction hob is generally the best choice for a replacement. Frankly, none of them give you quite as much controllability as a gas hob, and they also won't take a cast iron steak griddle. (Surprise, surprise.) But we're still glad we bought our AEG.

There was another thread on this subject a couple of months ago. (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=41878&hilit=induction+hob) You might find that some of your pans won't play ball with an induction hob, buut in our case that was only one out of twelve.

And don't buy an induction that plugs into a 13 amp socket, unless you're happy with the likelihood that it won't be able to give you four (or maybe even three) rings on power at once. (Duhhh, you just can't raise that number of kilowatts from a 13 amp plug. ) Instead, go for one that installs into a proper cooker circuit with the right heavy-amp cable.

BJ

bungeejumper wrote:And don't buy an induction that plugs into a 13 amp socket, unless you're happy with the likelihood that it won't be able to give you four (or maybe even three) rings on power at once. (Duhhh, you just can't raise that number of kilowatts from a 13 amp plug. ) Instead, go for one that installs into a proper cooker circuit with the right heavy-amp cable.

I'm conscious of this shortcoming with the 13amp supply and the hob limiting you. So I did as suggested. I used to have a gas hob with electric oven. When I upgraded I stayed with electric oven but upgraded to a 4 hob induction and changed the hob location to improve kitchen flow. I had to run new cabling. I had thought about keeping gas and getting a 2 ring induction before I convinced myself that a full hob change in the new location was a better plan. I do not think I have had call to use more than 2 rings at once, I wonder if I'd ever used 3 on the gas hob in the old kitchen? I have added an electric steamer to the kitchen which probably freed a ring as I no longer boil potatoes or other veg.

bungeejumper wrote:, and they also won't take a cast iron steak griddle. (Surprise, surprise.)

BJ

Why not?

redsturgeon wrote:

bungeejumper wrote:, and they also won't take a cast iron steak griddle. (Surprise, surprise.)

Why not?

Ours wouldn't get hot enough. (I can't speak for others.) But what's certain is that a kilo of blocky cast iron would do terrible things to £1200 worth of cooker. Not an option, then.

BJ

I have an old-fashioned spirally element cooker converted with a board to an extra bit of workspace. I deploy as may individual small plug-in induction hobs as I need - often just one. It's like scaling up the kitchen on a job-by-job basis. C.

redsturgeon wrote: You need the right pans though, aluminium does not work. Although some have some ferrous metal sandwiched in the bases so they do work.

Test them with a fridge magnet. If it sticks they will work wth induction.