This AEG candidate also proved to be a speedy customer, with a 1.5 litre pan of water being heated to 90 degrees in a touch over 3 minutes in the flexible zone. Over the standard rings, it also managed to boil a small 500ml pan in 90 seconds or so, offering an especially fast time that’s largely thanks to the fact this AEG hob drew 2800W of power. It also offered consistent heating over the flexible zone. No product is perfect, and despite induction hobs being modern and high-tech, they come with various niggles, regardless of the brand. They also take some getting used to; particularly if you’ve never used one before and you’re used to gas or standard electric cookers.

You may not be as familiar with the brand Caple but they’ve been around a long time making some great products and are my go-to for wine coolers. Especially their integrated under-counter wine cooler. Stop & Go settings, keep warm function and WiFi controls all add to the great features this hob provides. And if you opt for a Miele cooker hood the hob and hood will connect and talk to one other, automatically turning the cooker hood on at the optimum settings for whatever you’re cooking. They are much faster at bringing heat to your pans, so they shouldn’t be treated as though they work the same as a gas or standard electric cooker. So be prepared for the possibility of needing to kit yourself out with a new set of pans if you invest in a FlexInduction hob. The pans that will work are: Especially if the island is a little bit shallower than normal. This is where I’ve used them the most in my kitchen designs!A panoramic induction hob (also known as a linear, shallow depth, slimline or panorama hob) has its cooking zones in a straight line next to one another, rather than some behind each other. The reason you shouldn't overuse it is simple:most domestic pans just aren't built to be at such extreme heat for any prolonged length of time, and can potentially suffer warping and other damage. That's not all though. Pans that are that hot can also start to mark the surface of the hob itself. My own hob sadly bears the scars of this, and while it doesn't seem to have affected its performance, it has marred the clean and seamless appearance of the hob. Cost to run: We asked whether the induction hob was costly or relatively cheap to run based on our 10 minute pasta-boiling test. The largest hob is the De Dietrich range. It has fivezones and 15 cooking levels, as well as special features such as 'StartControl', which enables the user to programme the hob to switch on andcook at a given time for a given period at a given heat. There's a timer It’s also handy that there are two different cooking areas with this Samsung candidate – two are more normal circular zones while the other two makes for a Flex Zone of sorts that are really mid-sized burners. As well as offering four zones to play with, the NZ64K5747BK also has some handy features such as Power Boost to offer some extra cooking oomph to one of the four zones, as well as a keep warm function and a global pause button for if you need to step away from the hob at any point.

No flexi-zones but this sleek and minimal hob from Smeg offers some nice features at a wallet-friendly price. You could spend thousands on a hob with all of the features in the world, but if you aren’t going to use them, is there any point? Not only enough room on your countertop, as it’s not fun not having enough open countertop space for prep work but also a wide enough cabinet underneath. During testing, we found the hob worked rather well at full power with speedy heat up times saving a few seconds with each meal. The hob’s Power Boost function helped to deliver some of the fastest boiling times we’ve seen, with an average of 4 and a half minutes to boil between a litre and two litres of water. The fifteen levels of heat aided in offering some welcome control and the Keep Warm feature functioned well, distributing 200W of power per zone. Generally speaking, the heating across the circular burners was especially even, although much less across the Flex Zone – a thermal imaging camera revealed the two circular burners, with some cool spots outside of them.If the hob is especially grubby or shows signs of pot stains that can’t be removed using washing up liquid, try the vinegar and baking soda method. Combine one part baking soda with one part white vinegar in a bowl or spray bottle and apply it to the hob. Leave for 30 minutes, wipe off with a damp sponge and give it a buff with a dry cloth. Job done. So, if you factor these costs into your budget, your debit card won’t scream as loudly when you’re paying.

Storage & organisation Furniture Textiles Kitchenware & tableware Kitchens Lighting Decoration Rugs, mats & flooring Beds & mattresses Baby & children Smart home Bathroom products Laundry & cleaning Plants & plant pots Home electronics Home improvement Outdoor living Food & beverages Christmas Shop Shop by room This handsome slab has 90cm of meal estate and five-zone flex induction for convenience and outright efficiency. In fact, this model’s induction system is one of the very best because cooking zones are automatically connected depending on where you place the cookware – they can also be connected manually if required. This is a great system for all styles of cookware, including rectangular roasting tins and teppanyaki trays. However, there is a small but fairly significant caveat that should be considered before jumping on the induction bandwagon: induction only works with ferrous metals like steel and cast iron, and chances are at least some of your current cookware is of the wrong variety, so you'll need to replace them. You also get Miele’s TwinBooster technology meaning you can crank up the power to a huge 7.4kW to really get your water boiling fast and ready for pasta night! Many induction hobs adopt the touch-sensitive approach to controlling temperature but unlike most models that require stabbing at buttons to raise or lower the temperature, this one uses a touch-sensitive slider which is said to be more accurate and intuitive.

Gaggenau's induction hob has five flexible cooking areas with 17 power levels and a memory function. The Bosch PUE611BF1B features TouchSelect controls, which means that selecting the right mode to suit your cooking task is straightforward. Induction hobs are also frequently praised for their speed and energy efficiency and this is where this model really excels. Those are good –often very good –but in my experience, pans made entirely from stainless steel or cast iron are the best types of cookware for induction hobs.You can position them where you like, the hob 'burner' size is less important and they're less hassle all round. The induction hob works by heating your cookware directly, instead of just transferring the heat from hob to pan and pot. In other words, the hob itself stays almost completely cold, as induction places the heat directly into the base of the pot or pan. Induction hobs for every home and cooking need In our selection of induction hobs and cooktops you'll find a variety of models with different functionalities.