SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob

Is the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob worth buying?

Yes, the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob is worth the £139.90 if you want black glass, a wide wok ring and four sealed burners you can wipe around in one go. It gives you 8,000 W, a 3,400 W double ring and an LPG kit, and 117 buyers rate it 4.0. Buy it if you stir-fry often and want the hob to look like part of the worktop, not a metal tray dropped into it.

The buyers who leave it four stars tend to be doing the same thing you are: replacing a tired 60 cm hob without rebuilding the kitchen. The body is 60 cm wide and the cut-out is a standard 56 x 48 cm, so it drops into the hole most UK kitchens already have. Pair it with a Gas Safe engineer for the connection and the job is done in an afternoon.

What do the 8,000 W of the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob buy you?

The SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob splits 8,000 W across four sealed burners: a 3,400 W double ring, two 1,800 W rings and a 1,000 W ring. Divide the total by the four and you get 2,000 W a burner. Divide the £139.90 price by the 8 kW and the power costs £17.49 a kilowatt.

What that means at the hob is a ring hot enough to sear meat in a wok without the pan going cold under it, two mid-sized rings for a family pan of pasta and a sauce at the same time, and a 1,000 W ring gentle enough to hold a custard. If you cook one pan at a time, you will never use the 3,400 W. If you cook three, the spread is why you buy this one.

What comes in the box with the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob and how does it fit?

You get the hob, an instruction manual, mounting brackets and screws, four LPG nozzles and four natural gas nozzles already fitted to the burners. The body measures 60 x 51 x 10 cm and weighs 11 kg, so two hands make the drop into the cut-out easier, and the cut-out itself needs 56 x 48 cm. The brackets let you fix it down on a worktop, and the same hob can sit freestanding if your setup calls for that.

The automatic ignition runs off 220 to 240V at 50Hz, so it needs a socket within reach of the lead. The top is 8 mm tempered glass over sealed burners, which keeps a boil-over on the surface instead of under the hob. Cover runs for 2 years from the manufacturer, and the hob carries CE marking.

Where does the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob fall short?

The body is 10 cm deep, which is the number to check before you order. A shallow worktop with an oven or a drawer tight underneath will not take it, and that is a limit of the unit itself rather than the hole you cut. At 11 kg it is also heavier than the 8 kg Cookology 60cm Gas Hob, so get help lifting it in if your arms are full of worktop offcuts.

The pan supports are enamelled rather than cast iron, so they scratch sooner and shift slightly under a heavy casserole. Only 117 buyers have rated it, and their average sits at 4.0. And £17.49 a kilowatt is more than the £12.67 a kilowatt of the SIA AMZGHG602BL, which is the sum to run if price per unit of heat is your test.

How does the SNDOAS Black Glass Gas Hob compare with the TopStrong and the SIA AMZGHG602BL?

Against the TopStrong 4 Burner Gas Hob at £149.99, you pay £10.09 less for the SNDOAS and get the same 3,400 W wok ring. The TopStrong brings 8,060 W in total against 8,000 W here and swaps the enamelled supports for cast iron. Pick the TopStrong if you want iron under a heavy pan every night, and the SNDOAS if you want the black glass look and the saving.

Against the SIA AMZGHG602BL at £94.99, the SNDOAS costs £44.91 more and delivers 500 W more across four rings, plus 2,000 W a burner against 1,875 W. The SIA runs at £12.67 a kilowatt with cast iron supports and weighs 12 kg, so it is the one for a tight budget and a steel-free kitchen. The SNDOAS is the buy when the black glass top and the 3,400 W ring are the point.