If you’ve read anything even remotely food or cooking related here before, you’ll already know that it’s usually followed by a big caveat of “I’m the worst cook ever, I hate cooking and don’t trust anything I ever say regarding cooking”. Obviously, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but cooking really isn’t my favourite way to spend time so, if I do share anything even remotely food or cooking related, you’ll know that it’s something I think is lifechangingly amazing.
If you’re thinking of purchasing a new hob or kitchen or if you’re wondering how many times I can squeeze the word hob into a post, you’ve found the right place.
Over the last years we’ve cooked on both gas hobs and electric hobs and, thanks to our extractor fan falling off the wall and smashing our existing electric hob into a thousand pieces, we now cook on an induction hob and we love it!
Admittedly, we’d not planned on buying a new hob and were perfectly happy to live with the one that was in the apartment when we moved in but I can honestly say that I’m so happy we made the change. And believe me, this is a big thing for someone who would happily eat out every day of the week.
As well as being pretty, or at least as pretty as possible when it comes to hobs, it’s oh so practical and efficient. Our model – it’s a Siemens Studioline IQ700 – has 9 clever zones that automatically recognise where a pan is and only ‘heats’ this exact area, even when you move it around. You can also combine heating zones which makes the hob even more practical and we’ve managed to use 5 pans in one go even on our standard sized hob!
But the many fancy features of our hob aren’t what make it so amazing – it’s the actual induction that’s so fantastic. It’s so quick and easy to use!
One of the best tips we received when be bought our hob was to get one with an edge. As usual, I wanted ours to be as minimalist as possible, so really didn’t want a chunky edge which is why we opted for a hob with super slim side profiles. The stainless steel sides are almost invisible and provide protection in case you drag a pan across your worktop and catch the edge of your hob. Perfect for clumsy people like Jan and me!
As much as I’d recommend an induction hob to everyone, there are a few tiny drawbacks so we’ve put together a list of induction hob pros and cons that you’ll hopefully find helpful if you are thinking about updating your kitchen.
Induction Hob Pros.
Fast.
It’s similar to cooking on gas. You turn it on and the pan heats up pretty much instantly, if you turn it off, the heat is instantly gone. Boiling water, for instance, takes the same time (or less) as it would in a kettle!
Easy to keep clean.
The first time I used it, I let the milk boil over. Totally on purpose, of course. Okay, so maybe not on purpose but it did give me a chance to check how easy it is to clean and it really couldn’t be easier! As the hob doesn’t get hot (just very warm) so nothing burns into the surface and it’s just a matter of wiping away any mess with a damp cloth. Seriously, it’s that easy!
Safety.
The actual hob doesn’t get hot – just the pan does. This means that if you touch the hob after removing the pan there’s no chance of you accidentally burning yourself. Don’t get me wrong, it is hot after removing the pan (just because of the residual heat of the pan) but you can touch the hob pretty much instantly – although I still wouldn’t recommend you do so!
Energy Efficient.
We always look at the energy rating of appliances when we buy anything new and as a result, our electricity bill has drastically reduced (we only use about half of the energy we did a couple of years ago!).
As induction hobs are quicker than electric hobs and only transfer heat to exactly where the base of your pan is you automatically reduce the energy you use, too.
Cons.
Takes a tiny bit of time to get used to.
This is probably a bit of an exaggeration. If you’re switching to an induction hob from a gas one there’s almost no difference. If you’re switching from an electric hob it’ll probably take a couple of uses to get to grip with the induction as it’s sooo much faster!
Cost.
We’re always budget conscious and there’s no getting around the fact that an induction hob is more expensive than an electric one. Ours is a Siemens Studioline hob which is mid-range (it’s available as a wider 90cm version, too) and we absolutely love it!
Pans.
You can’t use every pan on induction. We always knew that we ultimately wanted an induction hob so the only pans we already owned were all suitable. Just check for the little induction logo on your pans but, as a basic rule, your pans will work if you can stick a magnet to the base of them.
Space.
You’ll need slightly more space for an induction hob. We didn’t realise at first that an induction hob needs more space around it for the air to circulate so we had to lower our oven to make room for the hob.
It wasn’t a big job but it was well worth the extra pfaffing to be able to have an induction hob. It is something worth taking into consideration though, especially if you’re installing an oven underneath.
I can honestly say, that we love our induction hob and we’d never want to go back to cooking any other way!
Ultimately, we are still planning on replacing the whole kitchen, even if our kitchen makeover last year did wonders and it feels like a completely new kitchen. Having said that, we will definitely be keeping our new appliances including our amazing induction hob, our dishwasher and our Slide & Hide oven – if only for the reason that I feel like I’m on the Bake Off every time I use it. Now all I need is the skill to match it!
So, how many times do you think I managed to squeeze hob into this post? (Spoiler: it’s 39) What kind of hob would you prefer? Do you have a favourite kitchen gadget? What’s at the top of your kitchen wishlist (a wine fridge is at the top of mine!)?
*This link is the same hob but as ours is no longer available I’ve linked to a newer model of the hob we have. We’ve thoroughly tested our hob and, as always, we only recommend products we love and think that you will, too!
I also exchanged my old electric hob for an induction hob and absolutely love it. Just one hint, you can also use old newspaper in between pans and the hob to prevent to hob from scratches and even dirt while cooking. As the hob doesn’t get really hot, the paper won’t burn and it’s totally easy to clean the hob, just throw away the newspaper :-)
Ohhh, interesting – I’d not heard of that before! I’m always super careful about not scratching our new so I might have to give that a try. Thanks for the tip, Andrea!
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