How To Explain Best Hob To Your Grandparents
How to Choose the Best HobWhen selecting the ideal hob to buy there are a variety of factors to take into consideration. From price to energy efficiency. Therefore, deciding on the features that are important is crucial.
A basic electric ceramic hob can cost as low as PS100 However, you'll need to spend more for a feature-packed model. Gas hobs are a popular choice and provide great temperature control, but they're more expensive.
1. Haier I-Flex Induction Hob
This Haier stove has four cooking zones with three 'Push&Go" functions and can help you prepare quick meals. It was among the fastest ways to boil water in our tests, taking just four minutes. It's child-safe and comes with an option to pause the process, so you can quickly stop the process without having to mess around with controls.
Its design is sleek, contemporary, and works well with modern kitchens. It is usually made of glass (shatterproof and heatproof) or ceramic, and comes with touch controls that sit flush with the worktop for easy use.
The controls were easy to use and we loved the display which shows the current power level as well as which zone is in use. The "Boost" feature generates high-powered heat in a brief time. It's ideal to stir fry and speedily bringing pans to boil. Safety features like the hot hob light or automatic shut-off are also useful.
It's not as responsive as the other hobs in this test. It took nine presses to reach maximum temperature, in comparison to six or seven for other models. It takes longer to react when you alter the temperature of cooking, which means you might have to alter settings several times before the pan is ready to cook at the proper temperature.
This model is 60cm long and has four cooking zones. One of them is a half-flex zone, where two areas can easily be joined to accommodate larger pans or pots. It has dual-ring design and can function on both 'normal as well as 'boost' power levels. The Boost is ideal for cooking meat and searing it, or making water come to a quick boil.
It's fully connected via the hOn app, and offers 100's of recipes with cooking instructions and 30 different programmes split into different food categories and preparation styles. It has an intuitive multislider interface, as well as a lockable' control panel, plus it will automatically recognize the type of pan you're using and set up the proper cooking mode. It is also compatible with hOn cookware from third-party manufacturers and comes with several safety features such as a lockable panel as well as boil-dry prevention.
2. Smeg I-Flex Induction Hob
Whether you're having work done in your kitchen, or looking for an alternative to gas induction hobs, they are becoming more popular. Prices have dropped dramatically in the last few years. The basic four-zone models are now available for less that PS100. If you want all the bells and whistles that are included in the induction system it's worth the extra cost for the most up-to-date technology.
This sleek model from Smeg features the latest induction technology that makes cooking more efficient and energy efficient. The innovative Auto-pot detection system automatically recognises the position of pots that have minimum diameters of 9 cm, allowing you to activate the appropriate zone without having to manually select it.
Smeg's main focus is on energy savings but it doesn't forget the possibility of flexibility. The hob can be adjusted to conserve power based on the maximum temperatures that the zones can operate at. Eco-Logic advanced mode allows you to conserve more energy, reducing the power output to as low as 2.4kW.
Testers were impressed with the user-friendly interface of this hob that has intuitive controls that slide along the edges of the hob to follow your pan. The control panel's colour-coded scheme allows you to easily identify the status of each zone. The "Flexi Duo" function allows the connection of two zones to accommodate larger pans. There are a variety of useful functions including four automatic cooking settings: melting, boiling, slow-cooking, and keeping warm.
In addition the hob comes with a 'FlameSensor' which alerts you when there is a risk of a fire or burnt-on food. There are also several safety features, like a residual heat indicator as well as an auto switch-off if the surface becomes too hot.
It also resists tough stains, and has a protective coating of CleanProtect. The hob comes with nine power levels and a 'FlexiDuo feature' to allow for large pans, and is simple to set up. There are a host of additional features, including control locks and a safety fuse in the event of accidental button-pushing.
3. Indesit I-Flex Induction Hob
Induction hobs are powered by electricity and not gas. They make use of copper plates to generate a magnetic force when a pot or pan is placed on them. They are able to heat up faster than gas hobs and they also consume less energy because the cooking zone only gets hot when you turn on your pan. They're generally less expensive to run than gas and are easier to wipe clean too and that's why they're an extremely popular choice.
Indesit's induction stove is packed full of features to allow you to be creative when cooking. It has two separate zones that can be combined into the Dual Zone to accommodate larger pans, as well as a rapid booster zone to quickly bring the water to a boil. A range of functions that are automatic such as Push&Go let you create perfectly cooked meals with the click of one button. The controls are easy to operate and allow you to select nine power modes including the P boost option that provides maximum power for each zone for five minutes.
The controls are also simple to use and have an elegant, minimalist design that's ideal for a contemporary kitchen. In our tests, it was able to boil pasta water in a snap and quickly heated up after placing an oven on the Booster zone. However, it took a long time to cool down once we turned off the hob. Our testers were unable to see the exact temperatures on the control panel.
As well as having a Dual Zone and Push&Go feature, this Indesit hob has a useful bridge function that lets you connect two cooking zones to accommodate larger pans. It also has a child lock and an overheating block as well as an automatic switch-off system which prevents the oven from working when it gets too hot. Our testers appreciated the fact that there weren't any messy, visible flames and the ceramic glass was easy to clean. Unlike a traditional extractor hood, vented hobs draw steam and smoke out of the pan and out of the room via a duct in the surface. Our experts thought that this hob's duct was easy to clean, though it required two people to lift the filter out and change it.
4. Induction Hob manufactured by General Electric
When selecting a kitchen appliance take a look at how it fits to your kitchen's design and layout, and also your cooking style and life. Induction hobs are a great choice if you cook with kids or elderly in mind. They come with safety features ovens hobs like automatic shut-offs and a cool to touch surface. If you're looking for speed and efficiency using a ceramic glass facia on an electric hob is the ideal choice. For those living in regions susceptible to load-shedding, having the ability to use gas hobs in power outages could tilt the balance in favor of a gas model.