Which hob to use?

Gas, electric, induction, ceramic – what’s the difference between them and how does each affect cooking performance and energy efficiency? If you’re stuck choosing between the different hob types, our handy guide breaks it all down...

Child-safety lock

These are touch controls that can be locked to prevent children from altering settings or switching on the hob. They can be found on most induction and ceramic hobs.

Dual zones

These are on ceramic hobs where a smaller cooking zone can be found inside a larger ring. Either zone can be used depending on the size of your pan.

Flexible cooking zones

Some induction and ceramic hobs feature a special cooking zone that allows you to merge two cooking zones into one larger one. This accommodates pans of varying shapes and sizes.

Ultra-rapid burners

Also known as “wok burner”, “booster” for induction and “triple crown burner” for gas. Most hobs feature an ultra-rapid burner of some sort. They’re used to generate intense, high-powered heat rapidly, and designed for stir-fry cooking in a wok, using large pans or for bringing water to boil fast.

Power boost

A rapid, intense boost of heat similar to an ultra-rapid burner, ideal for searing meat or stir-frying. These can be found on ceramic hobs.

Timers

Hob timers and minute minders can be found on almost all hob types, and can help you keep an eye on the progress of your cooking and maintain control in the kitchen. Some timers will automatically switch the hob off when the set time is up, or an alarm may sound to alert you. Some higher spec hobs may allow the timer to be set for each cooking zone independently of one another.

Pans

Gas and ceramic hobs are compatible with any pan, but induction hobs are only compatible with pans that contain iron - if you can stick a magnet to the pan, it will work with an induction hob. Cast iron or steel pans are the preferred choice, but some copper and aluminium pans may have an additional layer that will attract a magnet.

Automatic ignition

Found on gas hobs only, automatic ignition means the burner ignites when the controls are turned and pushed in. Older models often require you to press and hold an additional ignition button to spark alight.

If you’re looking for a new built-in hob, rather than a cooker with a hob included, it’s important to consider the range of choices available before you buy. Here are the hob types to consider:

Gas hobs deliver immediate heat and a lot of control over the size of the flame. Most have automatic ignition, but some older budget models may come with a manual ignition button. Typically, they have four gas burners of different sizes, but they can come with up to six cooking zones.

Gas hobs can be dismantled for easier cleaning, but they’re not as easy to clean as some of the other types. It’s worth noting that you'll need your hob installed professionally by a Gas Safe registered engineer, too.

If you like the precision that gas cooking provides but get fed up with mess and spillages that are difficult to clean on a traditional gas hob, gas-on-glass could be a good option for you. With this type, gas burners are mounted on top of smooth ceramic glass, making the surface much easier to clean. They’re pricier than regular gas hobs, though.

Some gas hobs are extra-wide to accommodate an additional, powerful cooking ring. These can vary in width from 70cm to 92cm depending on the design and placement of the additional ring. Wide gas hobs are useful when you need a faster and more intense heat source. This helps with larger pots and pans and is ideal for wok cooking.

We last tested hobs in 2018, below are the top models that are still available:

Induction hobs are becoming increasingly popular due to their low energy consumption, high responsiveness and rapid heat-up time. They work by heating induction-friendly pans directly via an induction element, rather than passing through the cooking surface. The spiral copper coil beneath the hob surface transfers energy directly between the induction element and base of your cookware.

The coil is only activated when an iron-based magnetic pan is placed on the hob. This means that only the exact amount of energy needed to cook your food is used and energy isn’t wasted heating the cooking surface. When you remove the pan, the hob surface also cools quickly so they’re also a good choice for safety.

You’ll need to make sure you have a set of pans that work specifically with induction hobs. It’s also worth noting that induction hobs aren’t suitable for people who have a pacemaker fitted, as the powerful electromagnetic field produced can interfere with it. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) recommends that anyone with a pacemaker should keep a minimum distance of 60cm between the hob and their pacemaker.

We last tested hobs in 2018, below are the top models that are still available:

This simply refers to the ceramic glass finish, which means that gas-on-glass and induction hobs are technically also ceramic hobs. However, when you see a hob advertised as ceramic they are most often electric ceramic.

With electric ceramic hobs, the heating systems are hidden underneath the tough ceramic glass surface. When switched on, they simply heat the cooking surface by transferring heat from underneath the glass.

The cooking zones on the glass surface indicate the size and position of the heat source, and will glow red when switched on. An indicator light on the control panel warns you if a hob zone is still hot even after it’s switched off (it’ll remain on until cool and safe to touch).

We last tested hobs in 2018, below are the top models that are still available:

The sleek and streamlined design – along with the smooth, easy-to-clean facade – makes these hobs a popular choice and they’re also fast to heat up. However, the heat distribution around the bottom of the pans isn't as good as when cooking on gas or induction. The heat is also more difficult to control and it usually takes a long time for the cooking surfaces to cool. They often don’t score as well as gas and induction in our tests for these reasons.

Every hob we test is put through a series of cooking trials to simulate real-world use. To test their performance, we time how long it takes to boil water on each of the cooking zones and see if the heat emitted is evenly distributed. We also look at the heat retention of each hotplate by seeing how long they take to cool down after switching off from being on full power, and how easy the hob is to clean when splattered with cooking residue.

We also assess how easy it is to set temperatures, if the controls stay cool during use, and if it’s clear to see which knob adjusts which burner. We look at the design of each hob too, checking if there are childproof controls and whether there are hot hob indicator lights.

Induction hobs tend to be the most energy efficient as all their power goes straight into heating the pan, no energy is wasted heating the surface. Gas hobs are also considered energy efficient as they tend to provide the lowest annual running cost, since gas is cheaper than electricity.