Bring a bit of speed to weeknight cooking with this Hotpoint induction hob, which uses electromagnets to heat your pans directly instead of warming the glass first. The largest of its 4 zones runs to 3000 Watts, so a pan of water for a Friday night curry gets moving quickly, and 9 power levels let you drop the heat right down for a gentle simmer.

The CleanProtect nano-coating keeps halos and marks off the surface, and it is five times more resistant to chipping than standard Hotpoint hobs without the coating. Mess lifts with nothing but water, which can mean up to six fewer bottles of cleaning detergent a year if you wipe the hob with water alone rather than a spray cleaner. Handy, that. My Menu steps in for melting chocolate, boiling, keeping food warm and slow cooking, while Flexi Duo lets you slide a pan from one zone to the next with no change in heat, or link the pair for one extra-large pot.