How to measure for a hob cutout

Hob widths are marketing names, not measurements. A 60 cm hob is not 600 mm wide, and the hole it needs in your worktop is smaller again. A 78 cm hob is the worst offender of the lot, and I will get to why in a moment.

If your worktop is already cut, the cutout dimension is the only number on the spec sheet that can rule a hob out. Everything else is negotiable.

Nominal width, product width, cutout width

Three numbers, all different. The Bosch PUE611BB5J is sold as a 60 cm induction hob. It measures 592 mm across the glass, and it drops into a cutout of 560 x 490 mm. The glass overhangs the aperture on all four sides so the join is sealed and invisible.

Cut to 592 and the hob falls through. It happens.

Even 60 cm hobs use three different apertures

Here is where it stops being tidy. Across the 60 cm hobs we list:

• Induction and ceramic, almost universally: 560 x 490 mm. Bosch PUE611BB5J, PUC61KAA5E, PID631BB5E, PXE675DC1E, Electrolux EIV63343 and EHI6322BF, Fujioh FH-ID5230 and FH-ID3530, Mayer MMIH603FZ all agree.
• Gas hobs, mostly: 560 x 480 mm. Bosch PCC6A5B90, Mayer MMSS633 and MMGH633HI.
• Two Mayer gas models, the MMGH360HI and MMSS360HI: 555 x 475 mm.

Ten millimetres of depth and five of width. Small enough to ignore, right up until your aperture is exactly 555 mm and you have bought something needing 560.

78 cm is the one that catches people

This is the finding worth the whole article. There is no such thing as a standard 78 cm cutout. Every brand we carry has picked a different one:

• Fujioh FH-GS7020, FH-GS6820, FH-GS5035: 650 x 350 mm
• Mayer MMGH278HI and MMGH378HI: 650 x 350 mm. The MMGH772HI and MMGH773HI: 670 x 370 mm
• Bosch PMI8256EVN, PPI82560MS, PMD83D31AF and the rest of the 78 cm range: 700 x 400 mm
• Teka GK LUX 78.1 3G: 715 x 415 mm
• Electrolux KIS87553IT: 750 x 490 mm

That is a 100 mm spread in width and 140 mm in depth, on hobs that all sit at roughly 780 mm across the glass. A worktop cut for a Fujioh at 650 x 350 will not take the Electrolux, and a worktop cut for the Electrolux leaves the Fujioh with nothing to sit on.

If you are replacing a 78 cm hob, measure the hole. Do not assume the new one uses the same one. Browse the 78 cm hobs with your aperture written down.

90 cm hobs

Slightly better behaved, but not much. Electrolux EHG9350BEP and EHG9357MFP want 700 x 405 mm. Fujioh's FH-GS7030 and FH-GS6830 want 700 x 400 mm, and the FH-GS5030 wants 705 x 405 mm. The Bosch PMD93D31AF is the outlier at 880 x 455 mm, which is nearly the full width of the glass.

So two hobs both labelled 90 cm can differ by 180 mm of cutout. Check the 90 cm hobs individually.

Domino hobs and 30 cm units

Domino units let you combine narrow modules side by side. Bosch's PRB3A6I40X gas domino needs 270 x 490 mm, Electrolux's EHI3251BE induction domino the same 270 x 490 mm, and Fujioh's FH-ID5228 and FH-ID5125 need 268 x 500 mm.

If you are running two dominoes together, you need two apertures with a bridge of worktop between them, sized to the manufacturer's instruction. That bridge is structural. Do not let anyone talk you into one long slot.

What to measure

1. Cutout width, front and back. Worktop cutouts are rarely perfectly square. Take the narrower reading.
2. Cutout depth, left and right. Same principle.
3. The corner radius. Cutouts are usually rounded. A hob with square corners will not seat properly in a cutout with a large radius unless the corners are squared off.
4. Front and rear margin. The distance from the cutout edge to the front lip of the worktop and to the back wall. Manufacturers specify minimums and a cutout too close to the front edge weakens the worktop.
5. What is directly underneath. Drawer runners, a built-in oven below, or a carcass rail all limit how deep the hob body can drop.

Depth below the worktop, not just the hole

Induction hobs are shallow. The Electrolux EIV63343 is 44 mm tall, most Bosch induction hobs are 51 mm, and Fujioh's FH-ID5230 is 62 mm. All of that sits below the worktop, so a drawer immediately underneath is usually fine.

Gas is different. The Electrolux EHG9350BEP stands 130 mm tall and the EHG9357MFP 168 mm, though most of that height is burners and trivets sitting above the surface. Venting hobs are the extreme case: the Electrolux KCC84450CK is 217 mm and the Teka AAF 87601 MST 219 mm, and they need clear space in the cabinet below for the extraction path. That cabinet is no longer usable as a drawer bank.

Induction needs the electrical supply sorted first

Power draw across the induction hobs we list runs from 3000 W to 7400 W. The Bosch PUE611BB5J and PUE612BB1J come with a plug and draw 3000 W. The PUC61KAA5E and PUC611BB5E draw 4600 W with no plug supplied. The PID631BB5E and PXE675DC1E draw 7400 W and expect a dedicated supply.

A standard 13 A socket in Singapore supplies roughly 3000 W. Anything above that is an electrician's job, arranged before the hob turns up. Fujioh states this plainly on its own hobs: the FH-ID5230 is marked 30 A, while the smaller FH-ID3530 and the domino units are 15 A.

When the hole is right

Two recipes built around hobs named in this article, once the cutout is sorted: Hainanese chicken rice on an induction hob and char kway teow on gas.

Common questions