SIA R8 - 70cm gas hob with five burners

Not a fix but something I've been busy with. A year ago I started my kitchen project. The kitchen, then, was tired and old, and needed updating. So last year I bought some new cupboard units and doors and arranged things such that when funds would allow, I could install a new hob with five burners. This meant losing a bit of wall-cupboard space as I needed at least 70cm of open space above the hob which, due to it having five burners, was 10cm wider than the hob that was already in there. Anyway, I got as far as I got with that but due to lack of time and funds I never got to install a new hob. So, for the last year I've been coping with a half done kitchen that had some nice bits in it and some grotty and/or unfinished bits. This included my old 60cm hob (which, to be fair, was fully functional but looked well past its best).

So, this past week I've been busy completing the project and that brings me to my new hob. I also bought a new worktop for it to go into (and so that side of the kitchen now matches the other side that got its new worktop (and sink) last year...).

The hob is the SIA (Ship It Appliances) "R8".

Features courtesy of SIA's ebay advert:

Front controls

Black glass easy clean surface

Cast iron pan stands

Wok burner

Flame failure safety device

Heavy duty burner caps

LPG kit included

Burners

Front left semi rapid burner / 1.75 kW

Rear left semi rapid burner / 1.75kW

Rear right rapid burner / 3kW

Front auxiliary burner 1kW

Centre wok burner 3.8kW

Technical

Nominal rating 11.3kW

Appliance power supply 220-240V 50Hz

Max electrical power 2W

Fuse rating 3A

Weight 14.7kg

Dimensions

Product dimensions L 700mm x W 510mm x H 90mm

Cut out dimensions 477mm x 557mm

I settled on the R8 because I wanted separate pan supports on each burner and those on the R8 looked really chunky. I thought that that would reduce the chance of pans toppling over. In real life, I was pleased to see that the pan supports are very substantial. But before I get to that, I will say something about actually installing the hob. Even though it is 70cm wide, the worktop cut out is 57.7cm which means that the hob can be installed over a standard 60cm carcass. Also, the depth (under the glass hob top) is only 4cm which, once the foam underseal is in place, means it sits perfectly in the B&Q "Arlington" worktop I'd chosen. I cut the new worktop myself after lots of very careful measuring and marking. Here are some pics:

And now some close-ups of the hob. First, the gas connection. My installer told me that this was 1/2 inch BSP. There was no other fitting supplied but my installer had the right bit to hand so I presume it is fairly common:

 Here is one of the burners without the bits on it:

The knobs (which I think are plastic with a metalised coating on top):

Electrical connection:

And here is the hob on the worktop (dry fit because I didn't know whether the installer would need to do anything to the hob before it was fastened into place on the worktop):

So, that's about it, really. The pictures below show the hob as fitted and fully operational. They do give a proper sense of scale. The fact that the hob is flat rather than indented, combined with the big chunky pan supports, means that pans sit quite high. I was also concerned about "room" for big pans but a quick test shows that the space between the four burners around the outside is enough for my full size frying pan, large steamer and stock-pot. Obviously, the middle burner is for a wok and I think it might be a struggle to fit anything else on the hob whilst cooking in a wok (but then again, why would anyone need to use more than one pan in a wok-cooking scenario?). Finally, one more thought occurs now that everything is fitted: if a pan boils over it will go everywhere. So, I will have to keep an eye on things...

Incidentally, that grey stuff on the walls is laminate floor. If you like the look of that I can do no better than point you in the direction of Katie Bower's blog. The only thing I did differently was using "no nails" in place of silicone sealant and brads. Also note the clear glass splash-back behind the hob...


More soon, no doubt....

D