Powerful and easy to use

Verdict

A gorgeous matte black finish ensures that the Smeg HOBD382MB2 stands out for all the right reasons. It’s a powerful hob too, with four individual burners which can be combined into a larger cooking zone.

Simple straightforward controls, alongside automated extractor fan control make this hob easy to use. The only real downside is that there are limited automated cooking programmes beyond the melting function.

Introduction

Finished in a gorgeous matte black, the Smeg HOBD382MB2 is an attractive 80cm wide induction hob with an integrated extractor fan.

This model is straightforward to use and powerful, it’s also brilliant to cook on. I’ve been putting the hob through its paces in the Trusted Reviews, and here’s my verdict.

Design and Features

• Gorgeous finish
• Refreshable filters
• Simple controls

The Smeg HOBD382MB2 is an attractive hob, with an integrated extractor fan sitting in the middle. It’s good to see that the extractor opening sits flush with the hob, as it makes it easier to move a pan from one side to another. With the Samsung Infinite Range CombiHob NZ84T9747VK/UR, the raised extractor makes movement a little trickier.

At 80cm wide, this hob is a large one, as it needs space for the extractor components. You’ll also need space below the hob, as the design sucks air down through the filters and out the front of the plinth. There’s also a kit to make this hob vent to the outside.

Underneath the extractor fan is a built-in grease trap, while charcoal traps fit into the top. These added extras help to filter out any odours while cooking. All of the filters can be washed in the dishwasher, so when the filter light turns on, you can refresh them for reuse. After eight refreshes, the charcoal filters do need to be replaced.

There are four zones on this hob. The left-hand-side and right-hand-side zones can be combined to create two larger zones if you’ve got bigger pots and pans.

The HOBD382MB2 is controlled via an LCD panel, which I found to be responsive and very easy to use, with clearly marked power options from 0 (off) to 9, plus a P mode for power boost, when you need to rapidly boil water.

In standard mode, each of the four burners can run at a maximum of 2.1kW. Power boost allows a single zone to jump to 3kW. Combine two zones together, and the power boost setting allows one Multizone to use 3.7kW.

There’s a timer per zone, with the hours, tens of minutes and minutes all individually controlled. That makes it very fast to set a time, and is far easier to use than a timer where you can only count up in minutes.

There’s only one cooking programme for this hob: melting. You don’t get the advanced boil or keep warm features that you get with other hobs, such as the AEG IAE84851FB; nor the temperature control that the Neff N90 T66YYY4C0 offers.

The extractor fan starts in Auto mode, adjusting its power automatically. That’s probably the only mode you’ll need, and I found that it responds well, quickly sucking down cooking gasses and steam. If you do want to take manual control, you can.

Performance

• Fast heating times
• Effective melting mode

To test the Smeg HOBD382MB2, I put it through my standard tests. I first filled a 1.5-litre pan with water, placed it on one of the cooking zones and engaged the (P) power boost setting. It took 3m 50s to bring my water from 20°C to 90°C, which is slightly slower than the Miele KM7201FR, with its double power boost, although far from slow.

I then ran the same test with a 1-litre pan and again used the (P) power boost mode and this brought my water to a boil in 3m and 5s. Finally, I ran the test with a 500ml pan using the same settings and this brought the water to a boil at a speedy 1m and 41s.

To test the melting mode, I added butter to a pan, placed it on the cooking zone and activated the mode. I found it melted my butter slowly, and well. Even after leaving it for 15 minutes, the butter didn’t burn.

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