Electric hobs.

[Bill]

First off, gas isn't an option.

So what's second best? And is induction worth the hassle and expense of chopping in my ali pans?

[Flibble]

Yes. Induction is almost as good as gas and streets ahead of any of the other electric options. Good excuse to get some nice stainless steel pans.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Good god yes

We had the same problem and I bought one of these
http://www.aeg.co.uk/Products/Cooking/Cookers/4933...

Unequivacably the best cooker we have owned (from agas to gas range cookers up to semi commercial kit), and induction is amazing

The control and power is significantly more impressive than gas- you can take a large pan from barely simmering to boiling over pretty much instantaneously. There are no hot spots so you rarely burn things and the hob stays amazingly clean- it's totally flat piece of glass and only gets hot from the pan itself warming the surface, so for something quick it never gets hot.

That AEG has been rated the best freestanding model by which and I fully agree with their rating.

Guarantee that once you've tried induction you won't go back to gas- it's THAT good

[Pferdestarke]

Bill. Go induction and ditch the alu pans. Cleaner, safer, faster, more controllable and hotter when you need to sear a steak or reduce a sauce. Like anything you get what you pay for.

I came from gas and won't go back.

[Kneetrembler]

Pferdestarke said:

Bill. Go induction and ditch the alu pans. Cleaner, safer, faster, more controllable and hotter when you need to sear a steak or reduce a sauce. Like anything you get what you pay for.

I came from gas and won't go back.

+1, so much faster for starting and also when you turn off pretty instant & cleaner.

[craigjm]

Flibble said:

Yes. Induction is almost as good as gas and streets ahead of any of the other electric options. Good excuse to get some nice stainless steel pans.

+1

[Bill]

Cheers guys Planning to get a single induction hob temporarily as the Rayburn's buggered again and we're starting afresh.

[dazco]

I am intrigued by all this.

I will soon have taken over a restaurant where it is a pain to buy (lpg) gas and where £1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey, is induction good enough to ditch the gas hob and go all electric?

In the past I have hated cooking with stainless steel pans, I found everything sticks to it.

[Flibble]

I've not found stainless pans any worse than alu for sticking things really. You can get them in non-stick if you want to as well of course. Cast iron works on induction too, which is handy.

[RobDickinson]

Induction is better than gas. Fast, controllable, cool.

[uncinqsix]

dazco said:

I am intrigued by all this.

I will soon have taken over a restaurant where it is a pain to buy (lpg) gas and where £1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey, is induction good enough to ditch the gas hob and go all electric?

In the past I have hated cooking with stainless steel pans, I found everything sticks to it.

I think there's a good reason why restaurants don't generally use induction, and it has nothing to do with its (excellent) performance. My induction cooktop is a typical domestic 4 burner model, and it requires 32 amps at 240v. Now, scale that up to a medium/large restaurant with several times that number of burners, probably all needing to be more powerful than the domestic ones, and you start to need a pretty serious power supply with lots of amps.

If it's a small kitchen, it may be possible to make induction work, but pay very careful attention to power requirements...

[21TonyK]

dazco said:

I am intrigued by all this.

I will soon have taken over a restaurant where it is a pain to buy (lpg) gas and where £1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey, is induction good enough to ditch the gas hob and go all electric?

In the past I have hated cooking with stainless steel pans, I found everything sticks to it.

Look at the running costs and also consider you will need gas for a decent salamander. Also for commercial you will need a three-phase supply. Also gas for water heating and/or heating in general.

I have one electric combi oven, two freezers and five fridges plus normal lighting and a commercial dishwasher. Our electric is £750 a month compared to £225 gas for our main grill, sally, range and oven which are on all the time.

[21TonyK]

dazco said:

£1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey

Gas interlocking. Means the gas supply is cut off if the extraction isn't running. Bit if a PITA but a good fail safe although any modern commercial gas appliance has flame failure device(s) or FFDs. This cuts the gas if the flame goes out.

One thing that isn't obvious with LPG is the enormous amount of water vapour it generates. You need decent extraction just to get rid of this. Also, an LPG oven is never the best in terms of heat, moisture etc.

[dazco]

21TonyK said:

dazco said:

I am intrigued by all this.

I will soon have taken over a restaurant where it is a pain to buy (lpg) gas and where £1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey, is induction good enough to ditch the gas hob and go all electric?

In the past I have hated cooking with stainless steel pans, I found everything sticks to it.

Look at the running costs and also consider you will need gas for a decent salamander. Also for commercial you will need a three-phase supply. Also gas for water heating and/or heating in general.

I have one electric combi oven, two freezers and five fridges plus normal lighting and a commercial dishwasher. Our electric is £750 a month compared to £225 gas for our main grill, sally, range and oven which are on all the time.

The hob is the only gas appliance in the whole building. I looked at the running costs last night, an induction hob appears to cost about half what the gas would take to do the same job.

They seem to run on normal 13a electric too.

[dazco]

21TonyK said:

dazco said:

£1000 needs spending immediately to update the gas valve and link it to the extraction fan, or some such malarkey

Gas interlocking. Means the gas supply is cut off if the extraction isn't running. Bit if a PITA but a good fail safe although any modern commercial gas appliance has flame failure device(s) or FFDs. This cuts the gas if the flame goes out.

One thing that isn't obvious with LPG is the enormous amount of water vapour it generates. You need decent extraction just to get rid of this. Also, an LPG oven is never the best in terms of heat, moisture etc.

So if I got a new appliance with FFDs would I not need thr interlocking gubbins?

I never knew that's what it is for and it would indeed be a pain because the extraction fan is quite epic.

It is very powerful and can create it's own weather system.

[mattdaniels]

RobDickinson said:

Induction is better than gas. Fast, controllable, cool.

How do you flambe on induction?

[PugwasHDJ80]

With a gas torch

[21TonyK]

dazco said:

So if I got a new appliance with FFDs would I not need thr interlocking gubbins?

I never knew that's what it is for and it would indeed be a pain because the extraction fan is quite epic.

It is very powerful and can create it's own weather system.

I'll drop you an email rather than totally hijacking the thread

[Bill]

mattdaniels said:

How do you flambe on induction?

I don't think they had induction in the 70s

[Bill]

Hmmm, what's wrong with this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Digital-Elect...

And can anyone recommend a nice big iron skillet?