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Home & garden.

Updated: 14 Mar 2022

How we test hobs

Find out how we test hobs to uncover those that will quickly heat up your soup but can gently simmer too.

Jane Darling

In this article

What makes a Best Buy hob?
How well does the hob heat up?
How good is the hob at simmering?
What's it like at frying?
How easy is it to use and clean?

In order to get the Which? recommendation, hobs must excel at heating quickly and also be good at low-temperature simmering.

All hobs are sent to the Which? test lab and undergo a series of rigorous tests that answer the following questions.

How well does the hob heat up?
How good is the hob at simmering?
What's it like at frying?
How easy is it to use and clean the hob?
Should I buy it?

Head to our hob reviews to find out which ones come out top of our testing.

What makes a Best Buy hob?

All of the tests described below contribute to the overall percentage score each hob achieves.

However, as we consider that certain tests are more important than others, we weight them differently. We think it's crucial that a hob performs well at heating, simmering and frying, so these account for a larger part of the test score. The score is broken down in the following way:

50% performance
25% ease of use
20% ease of cleaning
5% energy use

Induction hobs need to score 80% or more for us to recommend them as a Best Buy, electric ceramic hobs 70% and gas (including gas-on-glass) hobs 65%. We think that any hobs that score 45% or less should be avoided, so we highlight them as Don't Buys.

How well does the hob heat up?

To see how quick and efficient a hob is, we time how long it takes to heat a pan of water from room temperature to 90°C, and we also record how much energy it uses in the process. The best hobs take less than four minutes to heat 1.5 litres of water, while the worst take closer to 11 minutes to do the same job.

How good is the hob at simmering?

We heat a pan of baked beans and then leave it to keep just-warm to find out just how gently a hob can heat and to see how responsive the controls are. The best hobs are very easy to control and adjust, while the worst are harder to control and could leave some of your beans stuck to the base of the pan.

What's it like at frying?

To see how well heat spreads across the base of a pan, we heat a frying pan to 200°C and then take a photo with a thermal imaging camera. This shows how far the heat has spread and identifies any cold sections. The best hobs will heat the base of the pan evenly, and so deliver a perfect pancake, but the worst will leave some areas much cooler.

How easy is it to use and clean?

We use a panel of three experts at the Which? test lab to find out how easy each hob is to use. We assess how easy it is to operate the controls, check how clear the markings are and see whether there’s enough space to use all cooking zones at the same time. And we listen out for any unusual or irritating noises.

To see how easy each hob is to clean, we heat cooking oil and allow it to splatter on the burners, and we also allow a pan of rice to boil over. The grimy hobs are then left to dry overnight after which we attempt to clean them with washing-up liquid and a sponge.