• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

I don’t like our new induction hob

RogerS

RogerS

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
15,360
Reaction score
1,069
Location
Somerset
And neither does my wife. But they are very popular and so we must be doing something wrong. We’ve always had normal electric hobs and we’re very happy using them.

So……any tips for the transition?
 
We’ve had ours about few months now, having replaced a gas hob. So much better - easy to clean, incredibly quick to heat a pan, very controllable. Also way safer than gas - you can’t inadvertently leave it on! But it is bit of a learning curve, particularly getting used to what setting produces a simmer, or a barely noticeable blip on the surface of a sauce. Give it time, get used to the settings, and I’m sure you’ll soon wonder why you didn’t make the transition earlier.
 
What is it you don’t like about it? Maybe there’s something specific to your model (or pans) that isn’t optimal. I’ve liked the ones I’ve used: heats quicker than normal electric, but not quite as controllable as gas has been my experience.
 
We're on our second one; wot's not to like? Easy to control, can't be left on but you do need to invest in new pots n'pans if your old ones aren't compatible. We use an 'old skool' whistling kettle:

IMG_5924.jpeg whistling

....on ours and guess what we use to clean it? - Rob
 
We have induction. Mrs bought a set of 'induction ready' saucepans. They are aluminium with a steel layer on the bottom for the induction to work....and they are pretty rubbish. The smallest pans don't register on the hob as being there so do not heat up at all - they've been given away. The ones that do work heat slowly.

We also have stainless steel frying pans. They heat up really fast. So plan is to replace the saucepans with stainless ones but its low priority as we've kind of got used to slow saucepans.
 
We went from an old fashioned electric to induction it felt like going from the dark ages into the future! Can't see how you'd prefer normal electric, although ours was particularly old and rubbish before we switched. Positives for me are:

- I find with our Le Creuset pans it is really easy to control heat, no hot spots like you get from traditional electric or gas
- super, super quick, ours has a extra powerful mode and the sheer speed of getting a pan of water from cold to boiling ferociously is amazing
- doesn't stay hot for so long either. Can pretty much touch the glass after making a coffee in a mokapot

Downsides:
- not just that some pans aren't the correct material we have some British made spun iron pans which don't work very well as they're not perfectly flat
- not a criticism of induction but any glass topped hob. You need to be a lot more careful than gas on how you put pans down!
 
Apart from being harder to keep clean I would not use anything but a gas hobb, the Neff hobbs are so controllable with there click positions and not fussy about what type of pans you use. I also know our Woll Titanium cookware are not made for Induction hobs. On the other hand I only use electric steam ovens as they seem to cook better than a gas version.
 
I've been on induction for 10 years. I'd never go back.
I'm planning a new kitchen now. I'm currently using a little IKEA double ring plugin induction. Even that is excellent, just not always enough pot space.

The biggest problem we will have is the supply to the house. It's currently(!) 6KVA, which equates to about 26A, for the whole house. We occasionally trip circuits as it is. Even my Edwardian semi back in UK had a 60A supply.

We can have it upped to 9KVA (39A) but beyond that we would need to have a new main line installed. Goodness knows how much that would cost.

But I'd never go back.

Re pan size, there is a minimum size for each ring. Too small a pan and the hob won't "see" it.

What is it that you don't like?
S
 
I use induction too. Gaggenau single zone (so you can load it with pans). They are pretty much taking over in restaurant refits. Commercial induction is a bit different. Much thicker glass.

As others have said, it is essential to have good pans with a dead flat base and that won't warp. I use Mauviel 1830. Cheap pans are generally not great.

I still use my Mauviel copper pans as well on induction. I use induction heat plates and these work really well.

I think induction is much better. I can simmer much lower than on any other heat source. The hob has a timer for every pan placed on it, and it has safety cut offs.

Stick with it Roger.
 
Well, for example, when I cook a couple of my Indian dishes with the old electric hob, I would set it at 9 wait for the oil in the pan to start sizzling and then I would knock it down to 6 and the residual heat would be sufficient to keep the momentum going to start cooking the potatoes and then after a few minutes I would then turn it down to 2 and I could then leave it there and they would then cook slowly,
it’s the lack of residual heat that is really throwing me ?

Pans are all OK
 
Woodbloke said:
We're on our second one; wot's not to like? Easy to control, can't be left on but you do need to invest in new pots n'pans if your old ones aren't compatible. We use an 'old skool' whistling kettle:

View attachment 36594 whistling

....on ours and guess what we use to clean it? - Rob
Click to expand...
Is that wise? Don't they have a coating on that you are abrading off using T-Cut? Or am I making that up?
 
Has anyone got one of those mega-expensive titanium pans that are supposed to be non-stick without an actual non-stick coating? My procook ones are all scratched now and I really need to replace them.
S
 
Ours is well over 10 years old and far superior to the previous standard electric hob so certainly wouldn't go back. I dodn't do a lot of cooking but find it easy to control for simmering etc. Can't compare with gas as it's 50 years since weve lived anywhere with a gas supply. We have a set of Circulon pans bought from Costco at the same time and I remember I cringed at the price but they're still going strong as well.

A bit of patience Rog and you'll soon get used to it.
 
My pans aren’t suitable for induction hobs, we have had them for about 40 years so we don’t want to replace them, they are Cusinox Elysee we have added some to the collection recently as people have been selling them on eBay after having an induction hob.

Pete
 
If you go to buy pans carry a decent magnet. Non magnetic S/S is no use on induction hobs and some encapsulated ones aren't particularly good.
Slow pans can be useful for stuff like béchamel that scorches quickly.
 
RogerS said:
Well, for example, when I cook a couple of my Indian dishes with the old electric hob, I would set it at 9 wait for the oil in the pan to start sizzling and then I would knock it down to 6 and the residual heat would be sufficient to keep the momentum going to start cooking the potatoes and then after a few minutes I would then turn it down to 2 and I could then leave it there and they would then cook slowly,
it’s the lack of residual heat that is really throwing me ?
Click to expand...
I've been on induction for the last three months, after having had gas for the previous nine years and old-school electric before that. After changing out a few pans, there was a while of having to re-learn what power level and time everything required, and to be honest I'm still not finished with that. For the things that I have figured out, though, it's much better than anything I've used before.

I tried to do hard-boiled eggs yesterday for the first time since moving, and failed spectacularly because I used the same timings I did on the old gas cooker - put them in cold, bring to a boil, three minutes, and turn off the heat. The induction cooker does the 'bring to a boil' part so much faster that they were still completely liquid inside because they'd only had half the cooking time. Of course being able to boil water faster is a good thing, it just messes up the old habits until you re-learn them.

The lack of residual heat is a similar thing, I think - induction responds faster in both directions, which lets you do more, but will mess you up if you're used to working with something that cools down very slowly. It's a bit of a mindset shift to keep the power on high until the last moment, and then drop it only when you actually want to move to a simmer, but once you make that shift you can do things with it that aren't possible on a less responsive cooker.

RogerS said:
Pans are all OK
Click to expand...
We found several of ours that explicitly said induction compatible, and technically would heat up, just much much slower than the rest of them. They got retired and replaced once they were identified. There are different degrees of induction compatibility.
 
Raymedullary said:
AWFUL things! Touch buttons horrible and they have a mind of their own... switch off randomly. We have gone back to gas thank you.
Click to expand...
when we moved in during covid, t/he kitchen had no gas and a dead cooker, the only thing we could buy and install was induction… 3 years later when we rebuilt the kitchen, we loved induction so much we installed a very nice Neff induction hob. However I agree with you about the buttons, I am not a fan of them, so we bought one with a central dial. The only issue is that it is magnetic to allow removal for cleaning, which has meant one attached itself to a baking tray and was cooked, another went through the dishwasher… at £70 each, not cheap mistakes!
 
Yes, the touch controls are the worst thing about it. Especially when you have cats that like to walk on them, so you have to keep the child lock on at all times despite not having children.
 
Steve Maskery said:
Has anyone got one of those mega-expensive titanium pans that are supposed to be non-stick without an actual non-stick coating? My procook ones are all scratched now and I really need to replace them.
Click to expand...

TBH I am more of a gas person. But that is mainly because as a student I have been trained in a kitchen where they cooked on gas (b.t.w. I did not study as a cook, but it just helped to pay the bills during that time). I feel it is easier to control. The other thing is stir frying: I still have to find the first non-gas hob that can properly heat a wok.

But in our house in Sweden we have induction. It took me some time to get a good feel for it, but now it is OK. I'd rather cook on gas, but that's not really an option there.

On to your question: I am using DeMeyere pans (Apollo series) on the induction hob and I am really glad with those. They are "just" stainless steel as I really don't like coatings on my cooking utensils (any coating will get damaged and get in your food in the end). But, as long as you take good care of them, they are essentially non-stick. Do not use metal spatulas or spoons, because those will scratch the surface. I have those pans for about a year now and there is no patina, they are still gleaming and clean. They do cook very nicely and transmit the heat from the hob very well. I'd rather spend money again on these pans than on expensive titanium or some such. They were not cheap in any sense, but to me they are definitely worth their money. If you want I can make a photo of them as they are now.

Another option for frying pans is carbon steel. I have a couple of those and they are good, once they have a nice patina on them. If you decide to go that route, then be aware that the thinner carbon steel pans can warp when heating too quickly on an induction hob. Also never dry-heat them (e.g. when roasting spices). They do not like that.
 
Cast iron works for me on an induction hob. Yes, the pans need careful cleaning but I don’t find it a chore. Cheap woks with rounded bases from stores in the local Chinatown are also really good for stir-fries if you mount them on a proper steel wok stand. Again, you have to be careful how you clean them (iron + water = rust, obviously) but the ‘wok hei’ is worth acquiring. I’ve been using the same wok for over twenty years on both gas and induction.
 
spb said:
Yes, the touch controls are the worst thing about it. Especially when you have cats that like to walk on them, so you have to keep the child lock on at all times despite not having children.
Click to expand...
Surely it switches off very quickly as it doesn’t detect a valid pan. Unless, perhaps, you have a bionic cat?
 
Our induction hob has proper knobs. I wouldn't want the touch controls. Induction took a bit of getting used to, but I wouldn't go back to gas.
 
The most irritating thing about our touch panel control section thingie of the hob is that if you inadvertently put anything on it by mistake (cat, dishcloth, pan lid, scourer pad etc) the whole thing switches off for about 5 seconds. You then have to wipe the control panel dry before you can start up the various parts of the hob again - Rob
 
John Brown said:
Our induction hob has proper knobs. I wouldn't want the touch controls. Induction took a bit of getting used to, but I wouldn't go back to gas.
Click to expand...
The commercial Athanor (other brands are available) have knobs and if I set it up again this is what I would go for, along with an induction dish for a wok. The advantage of touch controls (much as I hate them) is the individual timers for every pan. If I can be bothered to use an app (I can't) I could also set it to do say level 9 boost for 2 minutes then turn down to level 1.5 slow simmer or whatever I want. The main thing that bugs me is that when first switched on it takes 7 seconds (ie ages) to be ready to set the temp and if you don't do something quite quickly (because I am chopping or something) it turns off again pronto. In an ideal world I would have induction and gas. I did buy Gaggenau gas burners as well, but decided not to install them as piping in LPG from outside was too much faff.

The best things are incredible speed and that induction is so easy to clean.
 
We have a 5 ring Siemens Induction hob. After years of a halogen ceramic hob it's the DBs. Each ring has an individual timer which switches off when the time is complete. It comes to the boil quickly, simmers easily, and the surface doesn't stay dangerously hot after cooking is complete. We wouldn't have anything else.
 
RogerM said:
We have a 5 ring Siemens Induction hob. After years of a halogen ceramic hob it's the DBs. Each ring has an individual timer which switches off when the time is complete. It comes to the boil quickly, simmers easily, and the surface doesn't stay dangerously hot after cooking is complete. We wouldn't have anything else.
Click to expand...
Do you know what the model number is please, there appears to be a plethora of designs.
S
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top