Great British Baking Show Cooktop / Hob

Almost every episode of The Great British Baking Show requires the bakers to cook ingredients or additives, as opposed to solely baking things. Whether you want to call it a cooktop, a hob, a stove top, a range top, or burners - to facilitate this each baker has a Neff N 70 - 30 cm Flex Induction Cooktop (4 burner model on Amazon UK) installed on their counter.

The Neff N 70 Flex Induction Cooktop (4 burner model on Amazon UK) is basically Neff's top of the line 30 cm (~12 inch) cooktop. It comes loaded with features and is backed by a pretty nice 5 year warranty - if you're in the UK.

The cooktop has a super clean black glass surface and a stainless steel trim for durability. The controls are embedded into the surface of the cooktop, and thus are all 'touch' controls. There are no nobs or buttons.

The heating elements are all induction - which we'll get into later. Taking advantage of the induction technology Neff has done some pretty tricky things. It automatically detects the cookware on it, and applies induction accordingly. This allows it to heat large or small pots and pans precisely. They've also added "Power Move" technology, which basically means the closer to you, the hotter the pans. Therefore you can cook close to you and slide things away from you to keep them warm.

Lastly being only 30 cm wide, the cooktop is basically good for having one or 2 pots on it at any given time - which is all the bakers really need. A full sized cooktop for 4 pots and pans (think of any traditional kitchen) would simply take up too much space on their work bench.

The world of cooktops is basically broken into 3 camps - Electric, Gas, and Induction - which refers to how the cooktop heats the pots and pans. Gas is easy, it burns, things get hot - we've been doing this for like 10,000 years. Electric cooktops have an element in them which gets hot. This element then transfers heat to your pots and pans that are sitting on it. For ages, if you did not have gas, you had an electric cooktop. Lastly there is induction.

Induction works by quickly switching the polarity of electromagnets underneath the pots and pans. This in turn quickly flips the atoms in the base of your pots and pans, the flipping back and forth makes them hot. This comes with some really cool pros and some really weird cons.

Pros first!

The induction cooktop only puts energy into the bottom of your pots and pans. This means the only thing getting hot is the bottom of the cookware! Instead of having the burners getting hot and remaining hot for a long time, only the pan has been heated. This is wonderful from a safety point of view, and clearly the reason the Great British Baking Show uses induction cooktops. It avoids having a blazing hot surface next to a distracted baker.

Secondly, induction cooktops are far more efficient than the other cooktops. Why? Because instead of heating the air / gas / exhaust, or the burner, elements, and surrounding environment, the induction cooktops only heat the pans. For this reason they've been very popular in Europe for a much longer time than in the US, where energy has been fairly cheap historically. This is changing - quickly.

Lastly, the induction cooktops put energy into the pan ... right now! There is no waiting around for things to heat up. People smarter than me, who's job revolves around measuring these things, say induction is 40% faster than any other option. So if you're trying to save time, this is another awesome benefit. In the case of the time crunched bakers on The Great British Baking Show this is not just a luxury but a necessity.

Cons next!

Because the induction top uses electromagnets, pots and pans that magnets can't stick to, simply won't work. Common pans such as aluminum and copper bottom pans are out - steel pans are in! Basically if a magnet can stick to the bottom of it - or it says for induction use, it's good to go.

The induction is caused by quickly flipping the polarity of the electromagnets, which means something is flipping back and forth really fast. On some induction cooktops this creates a humming noise. The higher temperature you set, the louder the humming gets. The humming will either make you fall asleep or go crazy. Your mileage may vary. So best to see the cooktops in person before you buy and see what noises does or does not occur.

We're back to the Neff problem! If you're in the UK (hello! and enjoy your NHS) then you're set. You have pretty easy access to Neff equipment, be it this 2 pot cooktop, full size cooktops, their amazing slide and hide ovens, or their sub-par heating drawers. The world is your oyster. Well ... Neff is your kitchen appliance? The cooktops are a high scale setup so you're looking to pay £530 - £3,200 for their cooktops.

If you're in the USA you're going to have issues. The only way I can find to easily get your hands on one is to import it. That can be done via places like Import Appliances. You're going to pay a premium to do so, but if you need what's in The Tent, then this is the way to go.

If you're just looking for a induction cooktop, then you have options. Some good - some bad. A quick glance at Home Depot reveals options anywhere from $500 to $2500. Amazon has the same Frigidaire 30 Inch Electric Induction Cooktop and rocks the Free Prime Delivery. However, the Amazon selection is a bit muted.

But lastly lets take a look at my go-to for premium quality in the kitchen. Wolf makes some amazing products and their induction cooktops are right up there again. They range in price from $1,600 for a 15" cooktop up to $3,400 for a 36" cook top (that is quite wide!).

Again when it comes to Neff - if you're in the UK go for it! They have a great build quality and make some great appliances (save that -ugh- heating drawer). But if you're in the US you're going to have to import Neff appliances. Why do that? Why not take the import fees and hassles and get an incredibly premium setup - for about the same price you can go with Wolf and you're going to be happy.