BS: Induction hobs

Subject: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 04:04 AM

Kitchen is now complete apart from a bit of lighting. Other than the advantage of having an oven that works properly (our old one has been duff for ages) the big bonus is the induction hob. I was a bit wary as we always used gas before but I am well pleased. There was a couple of pans we needed to replace but that happens anyway. It is so quick and easy to control plus we no longer get things burning onto the hob itself.

Anyone have any advice on how to get the best out of it or on what to avoid?

One thing I do not understand at all. I have never been able to fry eggs "easy over" with any of our previous hobs or pans. The yolk has invariably broken before. Decided to give it a go with the new hob and frying pan this morning - perfect! Something to do with the heat maybe?

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Mr Red
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 04:21 AM

Maybe the frying pane, maybe the way gas concentrates the heat, and the way the hob increases the heat from zero. Probably slower.

The GF has had 2 or 3. Her's is OK, she likes it. But she rented out a house for her aged aunt and between putting a brand new hob in and the tenants being in, they reported a crack in the glass of he hob. More than likely their fault (not me mate!), but she had to replace it.
I would say a dropped pan. So the glass is not immune to shock.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Helen
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 04:43 AM

I used to only ever use gas cooktops but we've had an induction cooktop for nearly 10 years and - praise be - it's even better than gas.

I always liked the instant high to low or low to high of gas. If something was boiling over I could turn the gas off and the problem stopped immediately. Induction is the same for that.

The best thing is choosing a setting and knowing it will always be the same temperature. The other best thing is that one of the cooking areas has a timer so I can make slow-cooked meals, set the timer and leave the kitchen to let it do its thing unattended. Couldn't do that with the gas.

Let us know your triumphs - and failures, if any.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 05:08 AM

You don't need to flip frying eggs over. Just cook them over moderate heat with a glass lid on (so that you can see what they're doing). After about two minutes-plus you're sunny side up without basting. Just leave 'em in for another minute or so if you like the yolk a bit more set. The lid is the secret. Anything that will fit the top of the pan will do, but it's not a great idea to have a tin lid that you have to keep lifting to check the eggs, as you're letting out the heat that sets the top of the eggs. I have a small non-stick cheapo pan so the eggs don't spread out too much, but I'm not that bothered if they do. Use butter only. When the eggs are done, slide 'em on to a warm plate, whack up the heat and use the residual butter to fry a goodly slice of bread. Nirvana. And anything fewer than three eggs and you might as well stick to cornflakes.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Senoufou
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 05:45 AM

We have a ceramic hob (not induction) but the glass is easily cleaned with ...er...Vim! I know 'they' say you shouldn't, but I find Vim to be the best thing to clean the surface. I have to buy it on mazon as the supermarkets don't seem to sell it any more.
This site is haunted!! There is an 'A' missing from Amazon but the thing won't let me insert it, it just shows as an arrow.
Anyone else having this problem? It won't let one edit anything!

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 07:32 AM

Flash kitchen spray will degrease anything. Use a bit of cream cleaner with one of those little green scrubber thingies to get burnt stuff off.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 07:45 AM

Mrs G has discovered Koh cleaner to

If it was up to me I'd stick to turps, Swarfega and wire wool but she swears by it.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 07:52 AM

I use that combination to clean my armpits.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 08:18 AM

Sounds a bit wimpish to me, Steve. What's wrong with a blowtorch?

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Jack Campin
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 10:06 AM

I got an induction hob at about the same time as a large stent in a coronary artery.

The sensation I got when standing near the hob in operation was alarming. I don't know how much field leakage there can be, and I haven't been able to source any equipment I could use to measure it myself, but in the absence of any solid data, the prospect of getting my artery flash-cooked from the inside is scary enough that the hob stays in a bag out in the shed.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 11:28 AM

Bugger! I am told that the effective range of the induction field is less than a centimetre. The hob certainly complains if I lift the pan slightly. Maybe the older ones were worse? Does nowt to my wrist plates but I think they are titanium anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 01:31 PM

Lost in the mists of time, two blokes on Crackerjack in a sketch in which one was puzzling over a crossword clue.

Hmmm... "To egg on"...five letters...

Sez his mate, "Toast?"

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Helen
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 01:56 PM

Two more things about induction.

Don't use the stick blender in the pan if the pan is still on the hob. It messes with the magnetics or electrics or whatever those dark, mysterious internal forces are. Hubby mucked up one of the hotplates when he was off with the pixies not too long after a major operation. We had to get the Mr Fixit to come and repair it.

A good feature, although I haven't tested this one out, is that apparently if a pot boils dry and overheats the induction hotplate will turn off, so it is a good fire safety feature.

Jack, that's a worrying impact. I think further research might help. I just did a quick Google search on this phrase:

induction cooktop impact on coronary stent

and there were a number of articles which I have not read yet but base on a quick skim of the headlines and blurbs, there does appear to be a negative effect on coronary stents and pacemakers. Better to be safe than sorry.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 03:04 PM

Aquatic Mammal (5,4)...


Ships cat

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 04:24 PM

Sorry for my fat fingers. Should be 5,3 of course!

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 19 - 07:57 PM

"Can you help me with this crossword, Holmes?"

"Two across: large lemon-coloured flat fish related to sharks.."

"Yellow manta ray, my dear Watson...".

"Five down: Conservative MP pays money to ex-wife..."

"Alimony Tory, my dear Watson."

"Seven across: Burglar alerts police on breaking in..."

"Alarm entry, my dear Watson"

Twelve down: Source of sharp citrus fruit"

"A lemon tree, my dear Watson"

"Fifteen across: in the Southern California style..."

"A la Monterrey, my dear Watson"

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 03:01 AM

Interesting to hear that people actually like induction hobs. My sister-in-law has one which I use fairly often and I hate it.

I like to spoon oil over a fried egg until the yolk turns pink but if you tip the pan even slightly to collect the oil, it stops cooking altogether. I agree with Steve that using a glass lid will help but sometimes the egg may overcook while your waiting for the desired visual finish. A little basting helps things along a leaves you in control.

My sister-in-law's frying pan was slightly warped on the base, so not all the base was in contact with the hob, giving hot and cold spots across the pan. Replacing it was the only option.

Stir-frying is difficult as the bottom of the wok gets red hot while higher up the walls remains cold for quite a long time.

Worst of all, and for me, the thing that means I would never buy an induction hob, is that my aluminium pressure cooker doesn't work on it. I know that you buy stainless steel pressure cookers but we have been together for a long time and I am not going to let new fangled technology split us up, especially when gas hobs works so well.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 03:29 AM

Mrs G has an aluminium pan the she doesn't want to give up so she bought a stainless steel plate thingy with a handle that sits between the hob and the pan. Defeats the object a bit but it works. There are clever woks made of different layers that get the job done, but we just use a stainless saute pan.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 03:30 AM

Oh, and

Yellow door.

A lemon entry my dear Watson.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Mr Red
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 04:07 AM

Does nowt to my wrist plates but I think they are titanium anyway.

I think your titanium plate is much bigger and less like a light bulb filament.
A stent is quite fine by comparison. Probably heats up more noticeably.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 04:48 AM

Some more thoughts on stir frying; I have never tried stir frying on a conventional electric hot plate but I assume the problem must be similar. Whereas a gas hob has flames running up the side to heat the bowl directly, on an electric device the bowl can only heat up by conduction from the base which in direct contact with the hotplate. The woks that I use have a relatively small flat base compared with the large surface area of the bowl. An additional problem for the induction hob is that if you lift the wok to toss the food, you have lost the heat source - not good if you want to keep food sizzling. Sauté pans are for sautéing - woks wouldn't have been invented if they weren't needed.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 06:06 AM

Not sure if the wok being invented is a valid argument, Doug. If the Chinese were so c!ever how come they didn't come up with a fork instead of chopsticks? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 06:13 AM

BTW. The best stir frys I had were in our works canteen. They did use a wok but they were not fried. Done in a small amount of hot vegetable stock. The vegetables went in raw but any meat or fish were pre-cooked and went in towards the end. I kept saying I must try it but never did.

Just out of interest.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: DMcG
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 08:12 AM

Completely different, but related question. How 'green' is an induction hob compared to other heat sources?   I am sure the figures and topic must be debated elsewhere, but I haven't yet summoned the energy (!) to search for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 08:34 AM

If the Chinese were so c!ever how come they didn't come up with a fork instead of chopsticks? :-)

Nicely summed up by Oscar Hammerstein in "The King and I":


King: You will order the finest gold chopsticks.
Anna: Your Majesty, chopsticks? Don't you think knives and forks would be more suitable?
King: I make mistake, the British not scientific enough to know how to use chopsticks.


DC

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Dec 19 - 08:36 AM

:-D

Reminds me of the Ghandi quote.

Q: What do you think of Western civilisation Mt Ghandi?

A: I think it would be a good idea

Subject: RE: BS: Induction hobs
From: Helen
Date: 11 Dec 19 - 02:25 PM

Every now and then I like cooking popcorn with olive oil. It's a healthier snack alternative than some other fatty, salty bought products. This is one case where the induction hob is definitely not as good as a gas one. Lifting the pan to shake the popcorn around takes it off the heat source, however, we have heavy bottom steel pans so the heat is probably retained long enough for a quick swish around.

We also have a couple of cast iron frypans so they retain the heat well, and distribute the heat across the whole pan after a short period on the hob.