For the first time in my cooking life, I am cooking on an electric solid ring hob and I hate it. I hate how slow it is to respond to the controls, slow to heat up, slow to cool down. I can't work out how after I have brought something to boil, how you then get it to simmer? I'm really struggling to cook on the hob and I'm so put off cooking at the moment. I have thought about changing to a ceramic hob. Would a ceramic electric hob preform better than a solid ring electric hob?


In the meantime I need to get my head around cooking on an electric hob, do you have any tips for cooking on a solid ring electric hob you can share?

I have an electric hob and it is a pain in the neck. You kind of have two options if you are cooking something and want to boil then simmer. You can either plan your meal to take longer to cook and put it on number 3 or 4. It takes longer to get to boiling point but then you can turn it down one notch, without burning the food, whilst you are waiting for it to cool! I never put mine above 4. Or if that doesn't work for you, bring your food to boil and then turn it right down to number 1 or 2 but keep stirring it for a while, when it starts to simmer turn it up to 3 and it should be fine.

They do take a long time to cool down too. I sometimes get my biggest pan, fill it with cold water and put it on the ring i've just used. It isn't enough to heat the water up to more than warm and it stops my cats walking across it and burning paws etc :rolleyes:. I also turn the ring off early on occasion. If the meal is done and i'm just waiting for something else to finish I turn it off because the ring stays warm long enough to keep it hot without being on!

Remember though that all hobs are different so whereas I use number 4, number 3 may be better on yours. Good luck :thumbsup:

Thanks for your advice Kittenta. I'll have a go with the having it lower to start with. I'm used to starting it on the fullest flame and then going down to the lowest when boiling/simmering and I guess I'm doing the same now.

I very rarely use the highest settings unless i'm boiling water for eggs, or something that won't stick to the bottom of the pan!

electric hobs are a pain

'ceramic hob' now means two different things - just to be confusing!

the older ceramic hobs were peddled as keeping a constant heat better, but they have a habit of delaminating and corroding, and aren't as 'constant' as us gas users would like!

I'd suggest getting a good set of solid based pans which will even out the temperature in the same fashion as a ceramic hob is supposed to, but without the nuisance of trying to clean the ceramic plates and waiting for them to corrode

If you're getting a new hob but don't have gas at your address, have LPG fitted :thumbsup:

I have gas at our house, but I think it would cost too much to have a feeder pipe put around to where the hob is and buy a new gas hob. I would want it doing without messing the kitchen up as well, as I have no plans to change it at the moment as it was done prior to us moving in to it. I'm still very undecided as to what to do, and as it all costs money, I'm just trying to get on with the solid plate hob. Although buying new pans sounds like a good idea and might just make cooking on the hob more bearable.

Depending on how big the hob is, or if you have other rings on, then just move the pan so it's about a quarter on the ring you want to use if it's really slow to cool down. Just keep a close eye on it.

A lot depends on what your cooking too. If you need to keep a constant temperature, such as for making sauces, then don't turn it down to the setting you want immediately. Turn it down to one notch above, as if you're still needing to stir, or shift stuff around in the pan, you might cool the pan down too much.

When it looks like it's cooled enough, then turn it to the right setting, and carry on as usual.

I had to cook with electric for years when a student, and skint in general (on a Baby Belling), and when I moved and got to cook with gas again, I was like a kid in a sweet shop with a whole bag of cash.

I've got one of those sit on the side sets of rings because the council disconnected our gas ones. I hate it with a passion but never got round to having the gas reconnected. I try to avoid using the rings if possible and just use the micro wave