Weeknight cooking moves along quickly on this Indesit IS604QPB induction hob. Induction heats the pan itself rather than the glass underneath, so the heat reacts the moment you change the setting and a béchamel won't catch while you're stirring it. Press Boost and a zone gets extra power, handy when you want a pan of water at a rolling boil before the pasta hits the worktop.

Fitting it is simple. Plug&Play means it goes straight into a standard 13A socket rather than needing a hardwired connection, and clips along the sides hold it steady without screws or extra fixings. The slider touch controls sit at the front right, so you can nudge a zone up or down with a fingertip while your other hand is busy with the tongs.

With 4 zones on the black glass top, you can have a stir-fry going, noodles on the boil and a pan of sauce ticking over at the back. The LED display shows what each zone is set to, and the timer counts down so you're not guessing how long the rice has had. Once you switch off, the residual heat indicators stay lit to warn you a zone is still hot, and Auto Shut Off turns a zone off by itself after a set period based on the power level you chose. A child lock keeps small fingers from changing anything mid-cook.