James Silverton wrote:
> Dora wrote on Sat, 23 May 2009 15:26:42 -0400:
>
>> Sarah wrote:
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>> I'm in the process of picking all my appliances for my new
>>> kitchen. I'm in a dilemma, as the induction hobs are at least
>>> £500 more than the ceramic hobs. I us a gas hob at the
>>> moment, but want to switch to electric due the the ease of
>>> cleaning. Does anyone have an induction hob, and what do you think
>>> of them? Worth the extra money? DH who does no cooking at all,
>>> can't
>>> understand why I don't pick the cheapest
>>> appliances on the market, but this project is costing
>>> an awful lot of money and I want to get good appliances that will
>>> last and will be a joy to use! Thanks
>>>
>>> Sarah
>
>> Sarah, I think you'll receive good advice by posting your
>> question on the uk.food+drink.misc newsgroup. They'll have
>> much more experience with induction hobs than people in the
>> US.
>
>> BTW - to another poster's question, the term "hob" has been
>> around as long as I can remember. I can remember my
>> grandmother putting things "on the hob"; i.e., stove.
>
> The use of the word "hob" to describe the whole heating unit or
> cooktop is fairly recent. The "hob" was originally not the heater
> but
> the supports that held the pots over a fire as the Oxford Dictionary
> will verify.

Could be. All I remember is that she had a behemoth in the kitchen -
coal fire on one side of the monster and the range on the other.
Things were taken off and put back on "the hob".
She even had a spit in front of the fire, on which she cooked the
turkeys. I'm talking "w a y b a c k" there, since I am now
two hundred and seventyfive years old.