
Ovens And Hobs
Company Description
14 Companies Doing An Excellent Job At Best Hob
How to Choose the Best Hob
There are a lot of aspects to take into consideration when selecting the best hob, from the price to energy efficiency. Therefore, deciding on the features that are essential is vital.
A basic electric ceramic hob can cost as low as PS100 however, you’ll have to shell out more to get a high-end model. Gas hobs, also popular and offer great temperature control but are more expensive, are another option.
1. Haier I-Flex Induction Hob
This Haier hob comes with four cooking zones and three “Push&Go” functions, and can aid in cooking quick meals. It was also one of the most efficient tests to boil water, which took just under four minutes. It’s child-safe and comes with an pause feature, meaning you can stop the process without having to mess around with the controls.
Its design is sleek and contemporary and blends well with contemporary kitchens. It’s usually made from glass (shatterproof and heatproof) or ceramic, and comes with touch controls that sit flush with the worktop for ease of use.
The controls are intuitive to use and we liked the clear display which tells the current power setting and which of the five zones is active. The ‘Boost’ feature produces high-powered heat for just a short period of time, and is ideal for stir-frying, or bringing pans of boiling water to a boil quickly. Safety features like the hob light that is hot and automatic shutoff are useful.
It’s not as responsive as other hobs tested in this test. We found that it took nine presses on the control to attain the highest temperature as opposed to six or seven on other models. It takes a bit longer for the pan to react to changes in temperature. You may have to adjust the settings several times to achieve the correct heat.
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 pots or pans. It comes with a dual-ring design that can operate on both ‘normal’ and ‘boost’ power levels. Boost is perfect for frying meat while searing it or making water come to a quick boiling.
It’s fully connected via the hOn app and boasts 100’s of recipes, with guided cooking and 30 unique programs divided into different food categories and types of preparation. It comes with a multislider control panel that has a lockable interface’ that can identify the type pan you are using to determine the appropriate cooking mode. It also works with hOn pans from third-party manufacturers and has a range of safety features, such as the control panel that can be locked and boil-dry protection.
2. Smeg I-Flex Induction Hob
If you’re working in your kitchen or searching for a substitute to gas induction hobs, induction hobs are becoming more popular. Prices have dropped dramatically in the last few years. Basic four-zone models can be found at less than PS100. If you are looking for the most modern induction technology, it’s worth paying a bit more.
This sleek-looking model from Smeg comes with the most modern induction tech to keep your cooking energy-efficient and convenient. The unique Auto-pot detection system automatically detects the location of pots that have minimum diameters of 9 cm, allowing you to activate the appropriate zone without needing to select it manually.
Smeg’s main focus is on energy efficiency however, it doesn’t overlook flexibility – this hob can be adjusted to conserve power based on the maximum operating temperatures of the zones. Eco-Logic advanced mode lets you to save more energy by reducing power output to as little as 2.4kW.
The user-friendly interface of this stove impressed testers, thanks to its intuitive sliding controls that follow your pan along the edge of it. The control panel’s color-coded design makes it easy to determine the status of each zone. The “Flexi duo” feature lets the connection of two zones to accommodate larger pans. There are many useful features, such as four cooking presets that automatically cook (melting, boiling slow cooking, keeping warm) and a Power Boost for quick results.
The oven also comes with a FlameSensor that can alert you in the event of a meal that’s been burned or a fire. There are many safety features such as a residual heat sensor and an automatic shut-off if the surface gets too hot.
It also has an anti-corrosive CleanProtect coating to help it resist hard stains and cooking marks. The hob is simple to set up and features nine power levels, as well as the handy FlexiDuo feature for catering for large pans. There are a host of extra features, like control locks and an emergency fuse in the event of accidental button pushing.
3. Indesit I-Flex Induction Hob
Induction hobs are powered by electricity and not gas. They use copper plates to generate magnetic force when a pan or pot is placed on them. They are able to heat up faster than gas hobs and they use less energy because the cooking zone is only hot when you turn on the pan. They are generally cheaper to operate than gas, and they are also simpler to clean.
The induction hob made by Indesit is packed with features that make it easy to create your own ideas in the kitchen. It comes with two distinct zones that can be combined into a Dual Zone to accommodate larger pans, as well as an instant booster zone to quickly bring water to a boil. The Push&Go feature, for instance, allows you to cook with perfection with the click of the button. There are nine power modes including a ‘P-boost setting that gives each zone maximum power for five minutes, can be easily selected with the controls, which are positioned along the bottom edge of the hob to follow your pans.
The controls are also easy to operate and feature an elegant, minimalist design that’s perfect for a modern kitchen. In our tests, it quickly heated up a pan once we put it on the Booster Zone, and boiling pasta water. It took a while to cool down after we turned off the hob, and the testers had difficulty seeing the exact temperature on the control panel.
In addition to the Dual Zone and Push&Go, this Indesit hob comes with a bridge function that lets you combine two cooking zones to accommodate larger pans. It also has a child lock and overheating block and an auto switch-off system that shuts down the hob when it’s too hot. The ceramic glass is easy to clean and has no visible flames. Our test subjects were pleased with the fact that it’s. Ventilated hobs unlike traditional extractors draw steam and smoke from the pan out of the room through a duct on the surface. Our experts believed that this hob’s duct was easy to clean, though it required two people to lift the filter out to change it.
4. GE Induction Hob
When choosing a new hob think about how it will fit to your kitchen Functionality‘s style and layout, and also your cooking style and life. Induction hobs are a good choice for cooking with kids or elderly in mind. They come with safety features like automatic shut-offs and a cool to touch surface. For those who value speed and efficiency, a ceramic glass fascia on an electric hob is the best choice. For those who live in areas prone to load-shedding, the ability to use gas hobs during power cuts may make the difference in favor of gas models.