Food

I would add a second vote for en papillotte

There’s a Nigel slater recipe which is baked sea bass on tomatoes, capers and anchovies. It’s properly simple and delicious in equal measure. Serve with your preference of carbs and salad.

Made this last night, Pumpkin & simple cupboard ingredients. Well tasty

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/nov/01/rachel-roddy-recipe-pumpkin-caponata

Made Maqluba last night. Fiddly but epic.

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018535-maha-sarsours-maqluba-upside-down-chicken-and-rice

Gas ovens are bollocks (though not as shit as oil burner ones. Fuck that noise).

Internal temperatures are way too variable within the oven - Leccy & fan, every teim.

I'm a convert to induction hobs too, and our new kitchen with be leccy all the way. Gas just doesn't have the same functionality, and the perceived downsides for induction don't actually seem to exist in reality.

Double ovens ftw. You have to be able to bake a pie at the same time as roasting potatoes.

If I could do one thing differently in my kitchen it would be to buy a range cooker with two ovens. As much as I love having the space for sunday roasts, and christmas cooking, always feels like a waste of heat/energy to fire it up just to make some cheese on toast or alternative small grilling event.

Gas ovens are bollocks

this is the sort of input I was looking for.

the thing about induction hobs that worries me is it feels like there's plenty of scope for certain brands/models to make absolute shit ones making it a mine field and we don't really have the income to replace if it sucks. all i'm worried about really is instant direct heat that's easily adjustable. our old cooker had ceramic hobs that moved at a glacial pace and it was the most miserable experience cooking anything so i can't face that again.

the perceived downsides for induction don't actually seem to exist in reality

Says the person that doesn't light sparklers off their gas rings!

Embrace middle age and middle class

It’s a joy of a dish.
My Tetta used to put this on every visit when I was younger, alongside kibbeh.
Can still smell the kitchen.

I think most induction hobs are decent if you have a few specifics to differentiate from the shit ones. I'd go for something that needs direct wiring, not a plug in one, also one with separate controls for each hob. That tends to move you away from the real budget ones and most people I spoke to when I was choosing mine were happy with whichever one they got (I got an AEG one).

You are paying more though to get something decent compared to a gas hob but not necessarily that much more. Ceramic hobs are just shit.

Conversely to all the induction hob praise I absolutely hate the ones in our new house, It's a decent spec Neff one but I find it horrible to use compared to Gas. Far less temperature control, constantly beeping at you, useless for Woks or anything where you want heat up the sides, not compatible with a load of our pans, just horrid.

Given the choice I'd definitely have a Gas one.

We tried different options over the years, settled on gas hobs and electric double oven

Is it just your pans that are the issue? We have triple ply le creuset pans which work brilliantly with our neff induction hob. Superb control, easy to get even heat across the base of the pan, super responsive, power move is really useful and the ability to set timers for different pans is a huge bonus.

I've got a combi range which works really well, gas hob and electric oven... I didn't like the induction hob we used to have, using a wok was a pain as we were eating a lot of Asian food at the time...

Post reflux/GORD it wouldn't be so much of a problem, the climate aware person in me would like to go all electric once we get a solar battery system installed... I suffer from terrible ICE guilt driving a car every day...

We had to get a load of new pans and I got decent ones to be fair. I'll cede that even temperature across the base is good and they heat up very quickly However, after 6 months of use I'd go back to Gas in an instant if given the option.

My anxiety about induction is quick adjustments to temp with wet hands and how responsive/tactile the control of it is. I like the idea of a single surface to wipe but also don't want to be angrily stabbing at a touch screen to turn the thing off.

ha! I have been there loads BUT i still wont trade off induction for gas. Plus I think the expensive induction stuff will have better user experience (mine is cheapo IKEA)

The control panel on my neff tends to respond quickly and isn’t bothered by damp fingers.

It’s a million times better than the controls of the old ceramic hob that was here when we moved in.

Ok, that's reassuring. Any particular neff to look at?

RE: Hobs.

Gas is better.

Get induction with knobs for each burner. Touch controls are shit.

But then I get back to having something that is fiddly to clean. It won't be as bad as gas I guess but still will slow things down / opportunity for the knobs to break etc?

you can get magnetic knobs.

On the fish supper chat, I Second the motion for some grilled bream. Lucky to have a great fishmonger here but I found some really fresh farmed gilthead bream In Morrison’s the other day. Think it was a fiver for two whole fish. I just grill them with a bit of olive oil and a good bit of sea salt. Serve with a tomato salad or some new potatoes. Freaking delicious and really easy to navigate the bones compared to some fish.