Cooking with induction, electricity and gas

Cooking could not be trendier. For years TV chefs have been encouraging viewers to cook with fresh ingredients, explaining how to make their favourite dishes and spreading the message that cooking is fun. We cook with our friends in our kitchen-cum-living rooms, making it part of an evening get-together or even an event in its own right.

This trend is also reflected in the collections of kitchen and appliance manufacturers. The kitchen is the heart of the smart home. Ultra-modern refrigerators with different drawers store food at the optimum temperature and provide information on their contents via an app. Thanks to intelligent storage systems, there’s plenty of space for supplies even in small kitchens, and taps can dispense both boiling and sparkling water – some versions are even hands-free. The cooker also offers almost unlimited possibilities today with induction, electricity or gas and a diverse range of additional functions.

Induction cooking is especially popular in Germany because it is so safe, efficient, precise and convenient. Heat is generated at lightning speed. But only the base and the contents of the cookware get hot, not the ceramic glass surface. A booster function can increase the already fast performance by as much as 50 per cent. This alone makes cooking a very pleasant experience. Added to which, a host of other intelligent features are available, such as a child lock or a stop & go function. This allows the user to pause the cooking process at any time (for example if the doorbell rings) and then restart it immediately without having to set the temperatures again.

A hob with flexible induction, otherwise known as flexinduction, provides even greater convenience. Two or more cooking zones can be joined with the bridge function to create extra-large cooking surfaces. For those who want to emulate the professionals and cook, fry, keep food warm or melt ingredients at different temperatures simultaneously, there is a function that easily divides the cooking surface into three areas.

One of the absolute highlights available from German kitchen appliance manufacturers is full-surface induction. Predefined cooking zones are a thing of the past with these hobs. Instead, the user has the whole surface at their disposal, giving them a single large cooking area. They simply place the cookware on the hob, and the pan recognition automatically detects the number, position and size of the pots and pans. Cookware of different sizes can be moved about in any direction because the induction hob remembers the settings entered and simply applies them to the new position.

Two further additional options add a touch of style to everyday life: firstly, cooking and frying sensors, which avoid overcooking, overheating or burning food. Secondly, guided cooking – assisted, sensor-controlled cooking and frying with a large number of automatic functions, tips on the optimum settings and step-by-step instructions on a touch display or a smartphone if the hob has connectivity enabled. A special new feature that makes cooking and frying more convenient is automated ventilation. Known as venting hobs, these appliances have integrated ventilation, ideally built directly into the hob, and they adjust the level of extraction to suit the current cooking and frying processes precisely.

Those looking for an alternative to induction cooking can opt for an electric hob with radiant heating elements – equipped with several high-speed cooking zones, two of which can be combined, as well as a booster function, child lock and power consumption display. Alternatively, they can choose from the range of gas hobs, which meet the highest safety standards. Professional chefs are not the only ones to get excited about being able to calibrate the level of heat precisely when cooking on an open flame with several gas burners of different outputs.

Combining different power sources produces outstanding culinary results – for example, an induction hob with an integrated gas burner. Or home cooks can opt for several slimline modules known as domino hobs. These can be induction, electric, gas or teppanyaki – a style of cuisine in which meat, fish, vegetables and desserts are cooked on a hot steel plate. There are also teppanyaki hotplates that can simply be placed on the induction hob’s ceramic glass surface. Hobs equipped with this particular function will detect the teppanyaki hotplate automatically.