Belling IHL773 Review
A powerful 77cm wide induction hob
Verdict
It might lack some of the automated cooking programmes of its rivals, but the 77cm wide Belling IHL773 is a well-priced hob for those that like a slightly wider model. It’s simple to use, heats up quickly and has a handy flexible zone for dealing with larger pans.
Pros
- Great value
- Easy to use
- Quick heat-up times
Cons
- Changes power when selecting a burner
- Very limited power to one burner when Boost mode is used
Key Features
- Cooking zonesTwo standard round burners and a Flexible bridge zone.
- PowerThis hob requires a dedicated 32A circuit.
Introduction
Getting a 77cm hob may not get you more burners, but you do get more physical space than with a regular 60cm model, which can be useful for larger pans and even resting items.
The problem is that most wide hobs are quite a bit more expensive than their 60cm counterparts, which is why it’s good to see the Belling IHL773.
A basic hob, this 77cm model is simple to use, gets all the basics right and has a Flexible bridge zone for larger pans.
Design and features
• Wide, with lots of space
• Simple slider controls
• Flexible bridge zone
At 77cm wide, the Belling IHL773 is wider than your average 60cm hob. There are still only four burners on this model, but the extra space is well-used, giving more room around the burners.
That’s useful, as there’s room for larger pans and space to slide a pan off one of the circular burners while keeping it on the glass surface. When not in use, the entire surface is available for putting hot items on.
There are four burners on this hob, each controlled via a dedicated slider control at the bottom. The two round burners are controlled individually, but the Flexible bridge zone can be used as two zones or combined into one higher-power zone, using the link button at the bottom of the hob.
Power settings for each burner range from 1 to 9, plus there’s a Boost function for rapidly boiling water, which can be engaged by hitting the B button while a burner’s power control is selected.
Switching power settings is easy: I just had to slide my finger up and down the scale to get the power level I wanted. It’s important to follow the manual and use a finger flat on the slider rather than the tip of a finger. Do the latter, and it’s hard to select a power mode accurately.
There is one minor annoyance with this system. When I wanted to select a hob, say to set a timer, I had to tap the corresponding power slider, which adjusted the power setting. Inevitably, changing or setting a timer means first having to readjust the power setting.
This hob splits power between the two sides. This means that only one of the two round burners can be put into Boost mode (the other burner is limited to power setting 2); and only one of the two left zones (or the entire Flexible zone if linked) can be set to Boost (the remaining zone is limited to power setting 2).
There are no clever modes, such as sliding a pan up the zone to adjust power as you get with the AEG IAE84851FB.
Using the Flexible zone as one, either a larger pan or griddle can be used across the entire surface area, or a big pan can be placed in the middle, getting the maximum power input of 3600W; individually, each Flexible zone is limited to a maximum of 1800W. For the other zones, the 21cm burner has a maximum power output of 2600W and the 16cm burner 1500W.
Timers are available for each zone, automatically turning power off when the timer runs out. Plus, there’s a generic timer that will just beep when it runs out.
Take a pan off the heat, and the Belling IHL773 remembers the power setting used for two minutes. That’s handy if you need to slide a pan off heat to add more ingredients or give it a stir, as you can do your job and then carry on cooking.
Annoyingly, the Belling IHL773 doesn’t remember power settings if you accidentally hit the power button. Do this, and you’ll manually need to reinstate the settings that you were using.
Belling uses Schott Ceran glass for this hob. This is hard-wearing and easy to keep clean, so good to see here.
Performance
• Good boil times
• Good range of cooking space
As the Belling IHL773 doesn’t have any automatic modes, such as chocolate melting or boiling, I tested the basic performance and power of this hob. First, I began with my small pan, testing how long it takes to bring 500ml of water from 20°C to 90°C. This took 2m 19s, which is similar to the same test on the Hotpoint TS 5760F NE Flexi Zone Induction Electric Hob.
Moving to my medium-sized pan, the Belling IHL773 took 2m 37s, which is similar in performance to the Miele KM7201FR.
Putting my largest pan on the Flexible zone, it wasn’t quite big enough to cover both elements. Using just one of the zones on the Flexible side, the IHL773 took a leisurely 4m 53s to bring 1.5-litres of water to 90°C. Redoing the test on the larger round burner, 1.5-litres took only 3m 24s to reach 90°C, making it one of the faster hobs I have tested.
Using a thermal camera, I could see that the round hobs have circular burners that evenly heat the pan.
With the Flexible zone, placing a large pan in the middle, I could see that it was being heated from both of the round burners in the top and bottom zones.
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Should you buy it?
You want a larger hob and manual control:
Powerful, large and great value, this is a top 77cm induction hob.
You want more features:
If you want automatic melting, simmering and boiling features, look elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
There are more intelligent hobs out there, and there are some that will heat even faster. However, if you’re happy with full manual control and want a slightly wider hob, the Belling IHL773 is great value.
For other alternatives, check out my guide to the best induction hobs.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every induction hob we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main induction hob for the review period
We measure how long it takes to bring 500ml, 1-litre and 1.5-litres of water to 90C using different sized burners.
We test any special cooking programmes to see how they perform
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FAQs
This model has four individual zones, but the left two can be combined into one.
Each zone has a timer, and there’s a standard timer as well.
Trusted Reviews test data
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
