Who in earth cooks their spaghetti this way?!

Anything Lidl/Aldi sell as "Stainless Steel" will work, and usually work better than even the Pro Cook stuff mentioned above.

I have the same pans, but they are showing their age (and spots of RUST on the bases), after 6 years, whereas a couple of much older Lidl pans still look like new.
We picked up a Wok from Ikea recently, and it seems very good, the non-stick works well and shows no signs of burn-through; unlike the Ken Hom Wok we bought last year, or the Pro Cook frying pan, where the non-stick started coming off after a few months.

However Ikea pans are a bit hit n miss, a large (expensive) saucepan we bought from there 2 years ago, the base plate started coming away from the body of the pan after only a year of use.

Just found out my frying pan and wok don't work on it but all other pans do......Do the lidl and Aldi ones work on these or anyone got any good recommendations.

No, I know exactly how they work, but you've missed the point: the heat the coil produces is waste heat, which is blown away by the fan and doesn't end up in the pot. This does not happen with an electric kettle, which is what we are comparing this to, and demonstrates that the kettle is more efficient. I am not questioning that induction hobs are more efficient than conventional electric hobs.
Last time I looked at my bill, gas was about 1/4 of the price of electricity per unit energy. Vehicle fuel is heavily taxed (as it should be), which is to do with government, not fuel companies.[/quote]

I didnt say gas and electric prices were the same, I said that since they managed to change the way they bill for them, they have an obvious goal of gas/electric parity, especially so much of our electricity is now generated by gas.

Same as when petrol was sold by the gallon, people wouldnt mind when the price went up by a couple of pence in costs from the petroleum company, or in government tax; but when Litres were foisted on us, the increases continued at the same few pence, but PER Litre, so 4.5 times more than when we were sold gallons.

Gas is going the same way; your gas bill may be a 1/4 of your electric bill, but my parents business gas bill rose and rose, until the gas bill - for heating and some cooking, was as large as the electricity bill - which powered everything else.

I saw the same thing happening with my bills, which is why, when I moved house (to an early 1970s time warp), I didnt bother getting a new gas system fitted, even though I had a new supply line fitted - along with getting the electric, water and sewerage systems renewed; before a new driveway went down.

I think you may have an incorrect idea of how induction hobs work, yes the coils produce heat, and yes, there is a fan to blow this heat away; but this heat was never intended to be directed at the pan; it is a secondary effect that is far more efficient than the amount of heat wasted by other hob technologies..
As for gas; since the gas companies managed to change they way they bill us for it,(learned from the petrol companies??), it has become a lot more expensive, and they seem to be aiming for gas/electric price parity.[/quote]No, I know exactly how they work, but you've missed the point: the heat the coil produces is waste heat, which is blown away by the fan and doesn't end up in the pot. This does not happen with an electric kettle, which is what we are comparing this to, and demonstrates that the kettle is more efficient. I am not questioning that induction hobs are more efficient than conventional electric hobs.

Last time I looked at my bill, gas was about 1/4 of the price of electricity per unit energy. Vehicle fuel is heavily taxed (as it should be), which is to do with government, not fuel companies.

[quote=pibpob.[/quote]
I think you may have an incorrect idea of how induction hobs work, yes the coils produce heat, and yes, there is a fan to blow this heat away; but this heat was never intended to be directed at the pan; it is a secondary effect that is far more efficient than the amount of heat wasted by other hob technologies..

As for gas; since the gas companies managed to change they way they bill us for it,(learned from the petrol companies??), it has become a lot more expensive, and they seem to be aiming for gas/electric price parity.

I don't agree with that. Water might boil round the element, but convection ensures that it mixes evenly and steam does not erupt from the surface. The heat stays in the water because any local boiling will re-condense.

In addition, the driver electronics and coil in an induction hob waste energy, which does not happen in a kettle. They need a fan to dissipate this, so it is significant. The fan pushes air between the coil and the glass, so heat produced by the coil is not conducted into the pan but is instead blown out of the vents.

Gas hobs and conventional electric hobs waste a lot of heat because a lot of it passes round the pan. It is recommended to use a larger extractor above an induction hob because there is little rising hot air to prevent vapours from the cooking spreading out. But in the case of gas, you do not have the inefficiencies in the generation and transmission of electricity to take into account, and it is a lot cheaper per unit energy.

Although the math says you are right, the induction hob will be a bit faster than the kettle, as it heats a larger area of water than the kettle element; in the kettle, the water nearest the element can be boiling, while the water furthest away is still cold; with induction, the volume of water being heated is much higher, so less energy is wasted from boiling away part of the water, while heating the rest.

In comparison with an identical pan of water on any other type of hob, induction blows them away; I used to use an industrial gas hob at work to heat 5 gallons of water for cooking various things. To get it from tap cold to boiling would take in the order of 30-35 minutes; the same pot with the same amount of water on the 2KW Lidl induction ring took about half the time, and on my higher power hob at home, it was less than 10 minutes.

Used this today for the first time...... Absolute brilliant, I can't believe how quick it can boil water from cold...... Shame we never discovered these earlier

I've used Le Crueset cast iron skillets for years, if used properly they are indestructible (if used improperly they are not!) and once you're accustomed it's hard to use other types of pans which are so inferior. I would only use stainless steel for risotto or boiling, 95% of the time I'll be reaching for the iron skillet.

Sorry I meant my full size one. I was just adding to the debate on amount of power settings. When you use the boost function on one ring it limits the other 3 so it can't exceed its power rating. So if I boost it to 3.6kw the other three are limited to 1.6kw. If you turn on the oven or grill the limit drops even further. Maximum draw can't exceed 35A.

Its power output is 2000W so it will boil water at the same rate as a 2kW kettle, and slower than a 3kW kettle. Of course it may be able to boil less water than the minimum for a kettle.

Was probably to the max but when you are doing things like sauteed potatoes you have to move the pan about so catch it now and again. Why they didn't use heatproof plastic I don't know.

No issues on my full size one as edges are metal.

As for settings it has 1-9 and 'P' for power which increases power to that ring but limits the others. Boils water about twice as fast as the kettle can.

Most induction hobs only have 9 levels, presumably so that they can be shown on a single 7-segment display. This applies to an awful lot of expensive ones, so it stands to reason that it is enough for most people.

In what way is it similar to microwave cooking? Is it either 100% or off?

Sounds german lol,
Everything cheaper abroad thats why companies moved from this country, like HP and most likely why cadbury eventually sold! Only an assumption

Hope it's better than the Lidl one I bought to use while I did the kitchen.
Around the edge of the glass there is a raised plastic strip which when a hot pan touches it it melts!
Took it back to Lidl for a refund.

I try to buy German, as the quality is far better t han what we normally get offered in the UK.

The problem is, DD arent German, they are French. They look superb, and very innovative; but the design is inreliable and spares so expensive, that even a single failed element means it was cheaper to buy a new Induction hob - assuming they will even admit a spare is available to buy.

Mine broke 3 times in 2 years; I managed to fix it myself the first two times, (I am a sparky with electronic bias), but the cost of a replacement part, combined with feedback suggesting the part was prone to failing every 18 months meant I was NOT going to waste £400 on the part, when I could buy a similar model with a 5 year warranty out-right for a similar amount.

I wont ever buy a DD product again

Do I need special pans for this to work?

More power levels mean it is easier to get a proper simmer or frying temp level; for boiling even 5 levels is enough.

Because induction power is similar to how a microwave delivers power, it is too easy to burn something, even on a low heat setting, if you dont have those fine control levels.

Did she learn that in prison?

These are a great way to try out induction cooking, and can be used on a table for a Chinese style hotpot, but if you want a full sized hob with multiple heating areas, you want a lot more power levels. I personally wouldnt buy one with less than 15 power levels.

My current Samsung has 16 levels, and the one before (which broke a month out of warranty), had 21 levels (DONT buy Die Deitricht - POS with very poor customer service).

After using induction, I would never go back to even gas, let alone a standard electric hob - be it radiant, solid plate, ceramic or halogen.

15?! Ours has 9 and even then I'm spoilt for choice....

Check out Martha Stewart's one pot pasta recipe. It's superb.

True - spaghetti comes in tins from Heinz

Ray Mears

I just thought that exact same thing! You're supposed to cook that stuff separate but just highlights the fact you can't because it's only 1 hob; so IKEA helpfully suggest some frankenstein 1 pot meals...

Is this better than this from IKEA?

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/appliances/hobs/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-white-art-40331630/

I said better, not prettier.

Had one for about 4 years. Brilliant.

Nice deal

This is the normal price.