Halogen Hobs - Any Experience?

andygrif · 27-10-2005, 18:47

We're moving house soon and I wanted a nice dual-fuel arrangement on the cooker front - gas hob, electric fan oven underneath. But as with anything in life it's a compromise (at least initially) that it's got a built-in halgen hob.

I've never used one of these things before, but right now we have those useless ceramic jobs, that take three days to warm-up and twice as long to cool down - which is no use to you if you have to bring something to a boil then drop the temperature right now for a simmer as they retain most of the heat for too long.

How does this comppare with halogen? What I've heard is that they heat quite quickly, but do they cool quickly too? I guess they're certainly easier to clean than a gas or ceramic hob, but is there any other benefit? Or should I call the gas man out?

Chimaera · 27-10-2005, 18:50

My Mum has got one - and loves it! It heats up instantly and is much easier to control than a ceramic hob. It does stay hot for a while after use though, but hers has a warning light while it's still warm and bleeps if you leave things on it. She wouldn't go back to a gas hob, which is what she's always had up till now.
You could always try it and see how you get on?

27-10-2005, 18:52

We have a haolgen hob, it has two settings Raw and Burnt. Incidentyl I think they are termed on and off on the destruction manual. Nuff said.

KingPhoenix · 27-10-2005, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by timewarrior2001

We have a haolgen hob, it has two settings Raw and Burnt. Incidentyl I think they are termed on and off on the destruction manual. Nuff said.

I concur... with timewarrior ours is exactly the same... mega hot, or no heat at all

SMHarman · 27-10-2005, 19:08

I put one in my last flat, a Neff one, very happy with it, though as you said simmer can be a pain, you kinda learn to set it to 1 and have patience.

andygrif · 27-10-2005, 20:34

Hmm...thanks everyone....I guess we'll wait and see how good it is...it's can't be any worse than the ceramic monstrosity I have now, so we'll see.

makikomi · 27-10-2005, 20:35

I had a halogen hob once. It looks nice and is easy to clean, but lacks the power and control of a gas hob. Given the choice, I'd go for gas every time.

zovat · 28-10-2005, 13:27

We have a halogen hob - I wanted gas, but the kitchen layout meant that we hould have to gave the hob in a really awkward place if we wanted gas (external door at the end we wanted the hob) - The hob is excellent - as flexible as gas, easy to clean, heats up really quickly, and turns down well, but as already mentions - does stay hot for a while after using, but there is a light to warn you of this.

It also has the ability to lock the controls, so you dont accidentally turn it off/up when you are using it (touch sensitive ontrols on the side).

Personally the only thing I miss compared to gas is the "wok" hob in the middle.

bob_builder · 28-10-2005, 14:06

I do not know if it is the same as the one I have used. This has one halogen ring front-left and the other three had ceramic heaters under the glass.

The Halogen was good at bringing things to the boil quickly but there was no way to adjust the real temperature all you could adjust was how quickly the halogen lamp turned on and off so things tend to boil for a few seconds than cool down for a minute then boil again and so on.

The other rings were better at simmering on but took a long time to heat up.