Hobs - Key Features

Most people take their hob for granted. It's not an intrusive appliance, or even particularly glamorous, but when it comes to buying a new one it becomes a whole different kettle of fish (and heaven forbid if you want to use a fish kettle). This article is here to explain the base features of different types of hob. This facts is not designed to be used as a buyer's guide and instead should be treated as a resource to improve your insight of the subject matter.

Wok burners - Cooking with a wok is farranging in Britain but the precise heat source is not. The wok was traditionally used in conjunction with a wok oven; a small furnace onto which the wok was settled in order to efficiently heat as much of the exterior of the pan as possible. In the Uk the wok is most generally used with a hob. The problem with this is that most hobs are designed to furnish heat to a flat bottomed pan, like a sauté pan, frying pan or saucepan. Wok burners (burners because they are roughly exclusively available on gas appliances) are designed to furnish heat to a far larger area of the wok than would otherwise be possible. The most base formula is to have a smaller interior burner for heating the bottom of the pan working alongside a far larger burner for the sides. This type of wok burner can be used with quarterly pans.

Wok bowl - Induction hobs with specially designed wok cooking zones have to adapt the curved shape of the pan which means they come in a bowl shape. These hobs are high-priced but because of the nature of induction cooking they work remarkably well and furnish a talking point in any kitchen.

Extendable zone - Not all pans are the same size so some hobs come with extendable zones. If you enjoy cooking with a fish kettle or casserole then it can be well worth investing in a hob that comes with a zone that can elongate. This can take two forms - either a single hob which has the added functionality of extending its heat zone or two hobs that can be used together on a special setting.

Place anywhere induction hobs - Some of the more advanced induction models feature a place anywhere system. So long as at least part of the pan is settled over a predetermined point it doesn't matter how you squeeze it on. In result the entire exterior of the appliance is a single heat zone capable of retention multiple pans at several different heats.