Agreed. Plan is get a two ring induction hob that will plug into a standard 13Amp socket. We have the Aga for everything else.
That’s the one I’ve been looking at.
Had an induction hob for nearly 20 years now so all of our non-compatible pans were chucked years ago.
A plug-in induction hob is limited in power to 3kw at any one time, Meaning less per ring if a two-ring unit with both in use. That is OK for some things, but throttles the potential benefit of high power for quick heating. Our induction hob with 4 rings includes a 6 or 7 Kw boost function on two - which can be used simultaneously at that power. That makes it significantly quicker to boil water than an electric kettle, and is a boon if heating a large pan full of something, or wanting very high heat to sear something, etc.
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Sounds pretty useless, removing the instantaneous heat capability of induction, and hence adversely affecting use with a wok!
Well I’d not buy one but wok insisters seem to go for them. A frying pan is perfectly serviceable for stir frying.
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I’ve always used a gas hob because it’s what proper chefs use
On holiday we’ve occasionally used induction.
Positives seem so be speed of response and power. Boiling a big pot of water on max is impressive
Negatives seem to be:
- Fiddly touch controls. Many presses to change the temperature
- It turns off when you lift a pan up. The happens quite often when you are frying
So technology impressive but implementation poor
Our village does not have mains gas, so the cottage had bottled gas. I used it until they ran out and I then bought an Everhot, which is electric range running off a pair of 13 amp sockets with an induction top.
The Everhot is reliable, and the induction option a dream, even for boiling water for tea/coffee. It also provides background heat to the kitchen, which is a bonus as it could be the coldest room in the cottage. However, it does cost more to run …
One of the houses we were looking at had one of these (Everhot). Never heard of them before then. I looked them up… damn they’re expensive! Look sexy though.
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So does my Bosch oven and induction hob. Both installed by an electrician.
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I disagree entirely with this assessment.
Our hob has conventional control knobs. They allow far more precise an rapid control than a gas hob. There’s also a digital display with a scale of 1 to 9 for each ring. If a pan is about to boil over, just nudging the level down 1 or 2 levels immediately brings it under control.
The little 2-ring hob has touch controls, which have much the same precision.
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That was my point. The ones I’ve used have been touch screen but I haven’t researched all models. A conventional control knob sounds perfect.
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100% agree
Induction hobs are better than anything else
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Having used an induction hob for the past 7 years I wouldn’t wish to change.
Combines all the convenience of an electric hob with the instant control of gas.
Select the ring, touch the power level number. Simples.
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What is a “proper” chef?
And of the bulk of chefs out there, how many specify their own choice of hob, and how many are simply following habit?
Until retiring this summer my wife was a chef, and in places of work gas was always used - but she much prefers induction and would have installed induction had she been designing the kitchen. And I am aware that induction hobs are creeping into the restaurant business in recent years - I have certainly seen them in use in television visits to some top restaurants, including Michelin starred chefs, though of course a lot of gas cookers are still prevalent.
I meant ones you see on the tv.
As I said induction seems to have a lot of positives. If it can be made easy to control then it seems great. The ones I’ve seen have been a glass sheet with touch controls which don’t cope well with liquids etc. So not ideal for a cooker.
Freestanding induction hobs have been around in the catering industry for a lot longer than they have on the domestic market.
Why would you think that they can’t cope with liquids?
Strange meaning of “proper’! 
As I said, I’ve seen top restaurant kitchens on TV where they use induction hobs.
My hob, now 16 years old, has touch controls, and very occasionally it will decide it needs several taps to respond, but that is quite infrequent and causes only minor irritation at the time.
However there are certainly models available with rotary instead of touch controls, though I’ve not seen any domestic ones (however Ihaven’t looked) Those used by proper (!) chefs do tend to use rotary controls - however they also tend to be priced at professional levels.
Those are all examples with 5KW rings
And in my quick Google I found a wok induction ‘burner’ (7kW):
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I think that possibly the point you’re trying to make regarding the physical use of the two types of hobs, are situations such as tossing the contents of a frying pan to cook it evenly, and of course the heating stops when one does this. I seldom use an egg flipper when frying, and simply tip down, then flip the eggs over, and I’m not sure if the induction burner makes a difference or not, when doing this.
When watching cooking shows, one always sees the chefs tossing things around over the gas flame.
I currently have a standard electric hob which is thoroughly annoying on many levels, but when I move house I will be buying an induction hob and I very much look forward to it. If tossing (the food that is) doesn’t work anymore, I’ll use a flipper.
It’s more that the touch controls seemed easy to change when wiping up spills.
Clearly this is how I see myself.
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