How to choose a gas hob (surface)

In this article we will talk about the nuances of choosing a gas hob.

At one time, I myself faced this issue, when choosing a gas hob for myself, I had a rather difficult task, namely, I needed to find a panel on which I could heat up not only a kettle or fry scrambled eggs in the morning, but also cook a large pot of soup, so much so that there would still be room for a frying pan, and even better two.

Being engaged in the choice of kitchen equipment, I had to scrupulously approach the study and comparison of the differences, pros and cons in the modifications and design of gas surfaces made of glass, stainless steel or enameled.
For an informed choice, I had to read a lot of reviews and figure out the dimensions of the surfaces, the distance between the burners and other nuances that are important for the comfortable operation of the hob in my kitchen.

Since this is not a promotional video, but material collected from my own personal experience, it turned out to be quite voluminous, I hope those who watch this video to the end will be able to get answers to most of their questions and possibly dispel some doubts.
By the way, who is interested in information about choosing a washing machine, watch my other video - you will find a link to it in the description or comments on this video, and now, let's continue about gas panels.

Since here we will only talk about gas hobs, we will immediately note all the disputes about which is still better, gas or electric, you will not find discussions about this here.


So, the first thing to understand at the very beginning of the choice is how much and how often you plan to cook on a gas hob.

The standard depth of a kitchen worktop is 60 cm and almost all models of hobs are made based on these dimensions.

It is very important to take into account the power of the burners and the dimensions of your cookware, since, for example, a powerful burner located at the back of the stove with overly wide cookware installed on it can cause the apron behind the stove to overheat.

By the way, despite the obviousness of this fact, this situation happens quite often, as a result of which, someone’s apron plinth melts or even the apron itself is damaged, although in principle it is not permissible to use a combustible apron and a plastic plinth near the stove.

There are several ways to get out of this situation, the first is when installing a panel with a powerful rear burner, if possible, move the gas surface closer to the front of the countertop, thereby increasing the distance from the burner to the back wall.

The second option is to choose from panels where a powerful burner is located on the front line.
The third option is not to put dishes protruding beyond the dimensions of the panel on a powerful burner.

In any case, before buying a hob, you should read its instructions, which should indicate the allowable distance of the panel from the back and side walls, as well as the allowable diameter of the cookware that can be used in this case.
Since even on a conventional gas hob with a powerful burner located on the front line and with excessively wide dishes installed on it, the gas control knobs can melt.

You need to understand what size cookware you use and how many burners you may need at the same time.

Dimensions and number of burners

If you don't cook much and the stove is only used occasionally, then a three- or even two-burner hob might work for you.
Any models can be equipped with burners of various capacities, and for special gourmets, some models are equipped with a special WOK burner.

The WOK burner has a high power due to two or three rows of flames, thanks to which it is possible to maintain a high temperature in the dishes, or, for example, to boil very quickly.

Three-burner hobs, almost all, with a standard depth of about 50 cm have a width of about 45 cm, may differ in the location of the burners and the shape of the surface.

For two-burner models, the most common sizes are 50 cm deep and about 30 cm wide.

 If, however, you like to cook a lot and maybe even several dishes at the same time, you should consider models with four burners.

Four-burner hobs with a standard depth of about 50 cm have a width of about 60 cm

For those who use large dishes and who have little space on a regular four-burner, manufacturers offer five-burner panels. Five-burner surfaces with the same depth of 50 cm have a large width, which can vary from 75 to 90 cm.
Almost all five-burner panels have a wok burner

Also, it is worth paying attention to the location of the handles.
In three-burner and four-burner hobs, the handles are usually located close to the burners and the installation of wide cookware on them may result in the handles melting.
 In five-burner models, most often, the handles are located in the middle opposite the WOK burner, and therefore, they have a greater distance from the front extreme burners, which will allow you to use wide dishes without fear that the handles of your panel will be damaged.

Also, it is worth noting that if you used a conventional gas stove before, and plan to replace it with a gas hob with a separate oven, after buying a gas hob, you may encounter an unpleasant surprise for yourself, realizing that you suddenly become really small places on the plate.

The thing is that ordinary gas panels with vertical gas handles located on them do not correspond to the distance between the burners, even in comparison with the simplest and smallest gas stove.

In gas panels with vertical handles located on them, the distance between the front and rear burners is reduced to suit these same handles.
And if, for example, in your old four-burner gas stove with a depth of 50 and the same width, the entire top was given over to the burners and the distance from the center of the front burner to the center of the rear was approximately 23 cm, then on a conventional gas surface with four burners and four handles located on top, the same distance between the side burners, the distance between the front and rear burners is reduced, and will already be somewhere in the region of 18 -21 cm.
Someone will say so what, some 3 - 4 cm. But here we must not forget that you put the dishes on the gas stove without thinking that you would block the handles for it, but put it as you wanted, do not fit a frying pan next to the pan? They moved the pan to the edge and there was a place for a wide frying pan.
On the gas surface, in view of the reduced distance between the front and rear burners, you will have to get out, taking into account both the location of the handles and the size of the dishes.

In such a situation, if you really don’t have much space on a standard four-burner gas hob, front-handle panels like a gas stove are most suitable.
In such models, due to the removal of the handles beyond the working surface of the panel, the distance between the front and rear burners slightly increases, and the handles are out of reach of high temperature.
For a complete understanding of whether the gas stove is suitable for you or not, if the store has such an opportunity, you can arrange the dishes on the exhibition sample of the option you like, if there are no dishes, then mugs the size of your dishes that are pre-stocked and cut out of paper will do.
If you choose a surface on the Internet, then you can draw the surface in real size on paper, asking the managers of the online store to report the distance between the burners and their size, also not forgetting to note the location of the handles.
Such seemingly unnecessary fuss will help you understand whether your dishes will fit on the stove and possibly save you from the wrong purchase.

Another important point for the normal arrangement of dishes on the panel is the upper grill, which we will talk about next.

Lattice on gas stove

On the net, everyone writes as one about only one thing, that cast-iron lattice are better than steel ones. This is of course true, a cast-iron and massive grate has better properties compared to steel, namely, cast iron is not subject to deformation during heating and, accordingly, a cast-iron grate is always even and the dishes will not sway on it and will always stand normally.

But, it is worth remembering that cast iron is a fragile material, and for example, when a cast-iron grate falls on a hard floor, it can easily crack, so you need to be careful with cast iron.

Steel gratings are not afraid of falling, because of this they can only bend and, in some exceptional cases, a welding joint can bounce somewhere. But when heated, steel can change its geometry, so such grates are subject to deformation, and the dishes on them can be unstable.

Also, greasy grate is more slippery compared to cast iron, and if you are actively stirring something with a spatula in the pan, hold the pan firmly, as it can easily slide off the steel grate.

When choosing a gas hob, it is very important to pay attention to the execution of the grate itself.
For example, individual grates for each burner look very impressive and initially may seem very convenient when cleaning, since you do not need to remove all the grates from the surface to wash it. If something leaks, you can remove only the one you need.

But such grates, in addition to the convenience of cleaning under them and a spectacular appearance, also have a significant disadvantage, this is a small area of ​​support for dishes and, accordingly, its instability.
On such a grid, large dishes will stand very unstable, and I would even say dangerous, probably everyone understands that a pot of hot soup standing on a stand with a small support area is not a good idea. A small grill will not allow you to move the dishes to the side so that another one would fit next to it, everything is only in the center.
These grills are more suitable for those who cook a little and slowly.

The grate, which has a large area of ​​​​support and surface, gives greater safety and greater freedom of action, and the surface consisting of several gratings located in the same plane allows you to conveniently move the dishes from one burner to another.
Some manufacturers of panels with WOK burners also complete the panel with an additional stand for frying pans with a rounded bottom. It's definitely handy, and when not in use, many people use it as a hot pad.

Is the surface of the hob glass, stainless steel or enamel?

In retail, gas panels are widely represented with a desktop made of glass, stainless steel or steel coated with enamel.

Let's take a look at the pros and cons of these options.

glass surface

It is certain that the hobs with a glass worktop look very nice and stylish.
Of the advantages of the glass surface, in the first place is probably beauty and spectacular appearance, cast-iron gratings on shiny glass are definitely beautiful.
The ease of cleaning such a surface is quite debatable, since there is a big difference in the color of the glass - black or beige.
 Black glass again looks very nice, but as they say, you have to pay for everything. Everything is visible on the black glass, spilled salt, splashes, and of course stains after a hasty cleaning.
With black glass, the hostess will definitely have more work, as many housewives write in the reviews, you have to rub the black panel several times a day.
Light glass emits less pollution on itself, and after wiping, stains are not so visible on it.
Now about the specific disadvantages of the surface with glass. The first minus is a completely flat surface, in a situation where, God forbid, something escaped, there is nowhere for liquid to accumulate, such as on a stainless steel or enamel surface, in large quantities the liquid will pour directly onto the table or floor.
The second minus, although the glass itself is tempered and has high strength, according to the owners of such cooking surfaces, glass damage is quite common. Situations in which glass is damaged can be completely different, someone writes that during cooking and without outside influence, the glass suddenly crumbled, someone hit the pan hard on the grate, someone dropped the lid .. Agree that such a possibility can always be , and glass replacement, if available at all, can cost a pretty tidy sum.

stainless steel

The next option is a stainless steel surface. There are a lot of complaints about stainless steel from housewives. But not because the stove has become unusable and you can no longer cook soup on it, but because of the difficult cleaning of the surface after which, as many housewives write, there are still stains, there is no previous shine and there are scratches from the washcloth.
Yes, such a surface, however, like everything else, cannot be rubbed with anything, but stainless steel still wins compared to glass and enamel in terms of scratches and chips.
Scratches and chips on glass or an enameled surface cannot be removed by anything, a chip on a stainless steel can only be a dent (but you need to try very hard), but scratches can still be polished.
What can I say, you need to clean any stove, and the stainless steel surface, is the biggest drawback in a poorly washed surface? Now there are a lot of videos on the net that talk about the means by which it is not so difficult to take care of stainless steel, the main thing is to choose the right tool.

Enamelled hob

Enameled stoves have been familiar to us for a long time, nothing has changed with the advent of gas stoves with an enamelled surface.
There is a wide range of colors available for sale. Although all enamel washes very well, nevertheless, based on user reviews, with all the beauty of dark options, the ivory-colored surface wins, this color of enamel, unlike pure white, causes the least trouble when cleaning.
As for chips and scratches, one can say this, the appearance of a chip on such a surface is of course possible, it all depends on whether you drop something on it or not.
But scratches, here, just like everywhere else, you need proper and timely care, and then the surface will delight you with its excellent appearance for a long time.


As for the functionality of gas hobs, it is quite simple, gas control and electric ignition are almost an integral attribute and it’s probably not even worth talking about it,
Therefore, the main guidelines are the dimensions, the location of the burners and their power, and of course the choice of surface coating - stainless steel glass or enamel?

original article - http://stroimasterskaya.ru/articles/3179

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