induction hob chez nous

[mint]

Thank you for your replies which feel like a warm hug in my embattled state.

Anyway, I am hoping the guy will be back to fix things tomorrow because, otherwise, he is off next week for his holidays.

I'd get a local plumber in but I don't know one who would do a "small" job like fixing your sink so you could use it[:-))]  For the customer, it's a whacking great job but, hey, it's only the customer.............

The shop is wonderful and the kitchen is of a quality that I have never seen before.  The electricians who came to our rescue after the so-called installer bought totally the wrong cable, etc etc were so kind and conscious of getting everything sorted so the works could proceed.

So, there ARE silver linings even though they aren't so evident at the moment[:)]

[Gardengirl]

Oh, Mint, you are having a time of it - all that time out of your kitchen, then when you have it, this happens! I do hope your kindly and competent chap can do it for you ASAP! I can understand your feeling the need to have your original chap install it as you felt obligated towards him, but he really has caused such trouble!

Our kitchen installation went extremely well, but we'd had a recommendation from Russethouse, which was great, and the chaos. Who actually installed it were very good, although a separate company but worked with the kitchen designer. When a couple of little things cropped up, round he came and sorted it out quickly - all local people.

I've always felt lucky to have a husband who can do all those jobs such as everyday leaks and in the past rewired our house - not allowed these days without the correct paperwork. Our elderly neighbour in France had a leak under her sink for months and months, paid various plumbers to fix it without success. As soon as my husband heard, he got the bits and fixed it - she was so very pleased, still often refers to her nightmare leak.

Anyway, good luck and hope you've managed to find something to put under the leak temporarily.

[Jonzjob]

[quote user="mint"]

So, there ARE silver linings even though they aren't so evident at the moment[:)]

[/quote]

OK, has the silver lining arrived yet??

Or as was said after a sad crash on Radio Singapore a long time ago "Every silver cloud has a dark lining"?

[mint]

Oh, Jonz, it's so kind of you to ask!

It's all been like the curate's egg so far, that is, good in parts[:-))]

Getting to know the ove; id, take note, stp.  It heats up in a 10th of the time the previous one does.  OTOH, it seems to cook VERY efficiently from above, so have now discovered that I need to lower the shelf or, better still, turn down the heat!

I haven't had any chance to do any baking yet, can't find the flour, the rolling pin, etc.....they are all either in the petit salon downstairs, in the guest bedroom or perhaps one or two other places where I haven't thought of looking yet[8-)]

Little Dark Lining did come and did a couple of things but there are still quite a few outstanding but I am just glad to get him and his mess outta house and get a proper look around and take notes of all the things that need adjusting or re-posed etc.

The hob, ah the hob, managed to boil over the rice but now have that one sorted.  With but 2 very small capacity le Creuset saucepans, boiling over and mopping up spills have to be accepted.

So, for the next IMPORTANT question, can someone please recommend some induction friendly pans to buy?  I have thought about buying one of those induction converting discs but wonder if I should just bite the bullet and buy some proper induction pans?

This question has given me some grief because my Meyer circulon pans are my favourites in all the world, I have looked after them with my life and they look brand spanking new after about 6 years' use and now I am gritting my teeth to have to discard them in favour of some new not-tried-and-not-tested varieties?!

Still, do not take my moans too seriously.  When I saw some TV footage of some migrants in Calais opening a tin of tuna as though it were the biggest, goldenest Bernard Matthew turkey in all of France, I cannot but be grateful for ALL my clouds including their linings of whatever colour[:)]

[mint]

[quote user="WJT"]Sounds a bit of a nightmare Mint. Hopefully when all said and done you will be happy with your decision. I have heard wonderful things about induction hobs.

Will be interested to hear how you get on with it and how you feel it compares with a gas hob. I find it amazing that you can lift a pot and clean a spill and then put it back to finish cooking. :)[/quote]

Well, WJT, I have had some ....er.....experiences with the hob.

It's still taking me time to choose the level but it IS very responsive.  For example, if it's at level 14 and boiling furiously, I could take it down to 12 and when it's boiling furiously at 12, I take it down to 10 and so on.  But lower than, say, 8, it's only simmering.

I keep having to try touching the "sliding scale" thing as I don't always get the level I want.  Like playing the piano, it's only by touch that you get to know which note you want!

With my new pans, it is REALLY quick to get things to come to the boil.  MUCH too quick sometimes.  I put on some eggs to boil yesterday to make sandwiches and I was only out the room for a minute or two and everything boiled over.  I heard the "bleep, bleep", rushed back into the kitchen and found water everywhere but then the thing had actually turned itself off, so no harm done; just a bit of a mop up.

I fancy that food, eg, potatoes at the top of the pot take a bit longer to cook than those lower down so, obviously, it's better to have a large shallow pan or just to cook contents for a bit longer.

Today, I put a pan that was too large for the "ring" I had chosen and the hob did not detect the pot at all and told me there was nothing on it.  I switched to a larger "ring" and it started working straightaway.

Then, I tried that thing that someone has talked about on here:  I put a piece of paper between the ring and the pot that I had to move around a bit to avoid scratching the surface and the contents, chopped onions, carried on cooking merrily on top of the paper.

It's just very weird, WJT, because I am not yet used to it.  Compared to gas, I'd say it's just as quick and just as controllable but I could also understand OH's friend who said he and his wife couldn't get used to their induction hob and changed back to gas.

GG, if you are there, I have solved the problem of avoiding seeing the dust on the surface that you have mentioned.  I put a large table napkin on the hob when I have finished cooking and, at one stroke, I don't get to see the dust and I am preventing damage by people putting something down too hard on it.

I saw a 2-ring stand-alone induction hob for sale at Aldi today for 70-ish euros so it's a cheap way of trying it out before committing to changing.

[WJT]

Very interesting Mint, thank you for the update. It does sound amazing and perhaps in time you may say there is no turning back. :)

I love my range with gas hob but find the stainless steel under the rings very difficult to keep clean so your induction hob sounds very very good in that respect.