Re: New adventures
 

It's a non-stick wok, TBH, I'm planning to bin it when we move. It's rather knackered now. We had a gas hob in the UK which was great for stir-frying but have a ceramic hob in NZ. I wouldn't have one in the future, it marks really easily and isn't very controllable.
There's just the two of us but I sometimes cook for four.
I do like to have a lid on my wok as I make paella in it !! The Spanish would be horrified :scaredhair:.
I have to consider the weight of pans, as my wrist gives way these days.

Re: New adventures
 

By "marks easily", do you mean scratches from the pans, or food spills burned-on and/or from cleaning the spills?

If it's the latter, then you would definitely benefit from an induction hob - food does not burn on to an induction hob because the heat isn't coming through the cooking surface - the surface can never get hotter than the bottom of a pan, which even when searing is still nowhere near the temperature of a ceramic hob. This means that if there is a spill or splash while cooking on an induction hob, you can literally just pick up the pan and wipe the surface with a damp cloth, so the spill doesn't even dry, much less burn onto the surface. .... And induction hobs are as controllable as gas .... a kettle with a whistle will go from full boil to silent in literally two seconds after turning the power off, and a pan boiling over will stop even quicker. This would also benefit your wrist as you would never need to snatch a pan off the cooker to stop it boiling over.

Re: New adventures
 

It was actually going to be delivered to our previous address in Texas. For some unknown reason Home Depot seem to not be able to clear our old address from their system.

Re: New adventures
 

It's a mixture of both. Water boiling over doesn't tend to be an issue to clean up but any food or sauces can be. There's an area about 7.5mm away from the edge of the rings that tends to be difficult to clean and forms a halo effect around parts of the rings. Tried all different cleaners and elbow grease to clean it off, with very limited success.

A friend of mine has an induction hob that she swears by. I've used it a few times when we've been there for a party or Christmas and I find it painfully slow for making sauces. It has a finger-touch pad for controlling the temperature. I have difficulty operating anything that requires a touch pad. I don't know why. My previous phone used a fingerprint touch pad to unlock it, I could never get into it :banghead:.
I'm prepared to give one a go when we get back home. Though I'll stick to a kettle for boiling water ;).

Re: New adventures
 

Yeah, I have experienced those burn-ring halos on traditional ceramic sealed-surface cookers/hobs, and in one case I even used an old chisel to remove what appeared to be at least 1mm of burned-on carbon build-up.

Our induction stoves have never had any such build-up after 10-13 years. One has a few light scratches, and the other has lost the shine over one "ring", but they definitely look better than a ceramic hob would after maybe just 1 year.

I am not sure why an induction hob would be slow for making sauces, unless you're not using it at the correct temperature? :unsure:

Re: New adventures
 

Try a razor-blade - the type you can buy at Home Depot or Ace Hardware. If you splurge and get the $5 holder, it's even easier to use, but not necessary.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...5cbea11efd.png
Or, if you have a box-cutter, remove the blade and use it.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...de4e3abc90.png

Hold it at a very shallow angle, and you'll find the stuff comes off really well. Brand new blades make all the difference and avoids any possibility of scratching. When we moved into our new place, the stove-top had those 'baked on' rings and nothing seemed to work, until I tried the razor blades. I've also used razor blades on glass shower enclosures to get rid of hard-water stains.

Re: New adventures
 

Agreed. I use a purpose-made Werxrite RetraGuard Safety Razor Scraper for Induction and Glass Cooktops from Amazon (lots of other brands there, too), along with Weiman Stove Top Cleaner; my 20+ year old ceramic top looks brand new. I always clean before re-use when there's a spill, not because I'm worried about it baking on, but because otherwise it stains the bottom of my stainless steel pans and they're more of a pain to clean than the cooktop.

Re: New adventures
 

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...f44357506c.jpg
Backsplash tiles in place!

Re: New adventures
 

:)

All finished - looks fantastic!

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Really beautiful JG, great colours and design.

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Thanks. My job was to wipe down after the grout was applied. I guess some places need a bit more wiping. I can see some smears on the tiles:o:lol:

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Thanks. Now for the next project:lol:

Our neighbors are convinced we are flipping the house and will be selling it soon. We like to keep them guessing.

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Tiles look great. Very fast install did you rent a tile saw? I did my house tile floors using a $40 Harbor freight wet saw. A better saw would have made the job a lot easier.

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Very smart and sophisticated :)

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We already had a tile saw from when we tiled our bathrooms in our house in Texas. 6x3 ceramic tiles are easy to cut. Floor tiles are a different story!