The stove is quick, easy and effective and would be useful to anyone staying in basic temporary accommodation where very limited cooking facilities are available or for traveling in similar circumstances. The cooktop, powered by a 240V 1500 Watt heating element, measures approx. 25cm deep x 23cm wide x8cm high. It has an 18.5cm dia. cast iron hot plate and comes with a 75cm power cable which is adequate for most situations. The control heat knob is graduated 0-5 and can be set at any position. I did an initial test on the cooktop in three ways; firstly boiling 500cc (two mugs) of water in an enamelled steel pot and secondly by frying a sliced tomato and two eggs. Later in the day I fried six very thick beef sausages from cold in approximately 20 minutes with the stove set mainly at heat setting 5. All three tests were carried out at an ambient temp. of 20C with water at approx. 18C. The water took around seven minutes to boil from cold using the maximum heat setting No5. The pot used was only 16cm in dia. so could conceivably have boiled quicker with a wider pan. From cold the tomato started to fry within around 3 minutes on setting No3 and I continued to fry the additional two eggs in a total time of approximately ten minutes.
14 July 2019 Since this initial review I have spend 4 weeks accommodated in a room with few other cooking facilities except my own Birko food heater/ cooker and a microwave oven in a communal kitchen. During this time because restaurants and cafes were too far away I cooked all of my own meals and this cook-top was invaluable. Dishes I cooked on it included chicken and mushroom in tomato sauce and sweat and sour pork.
A few points worth noting. The unit becomes very hot if used for prolonged periods at full heat. I found setting No 3 adequate for most purposes and it would be better to start low and increase heat only as required. The hot-plate remains hot for around 30 minutes after switch off, something to be aware of for handling and packing when traveling. While modern induction heaters may be quicker in heating and cooling they can be very fussy about the type of metal pan used with them and usually smaller frying pans of aluminium can't be used. This cook top has the benefit of being more flexible in that regard. Overall a very useful heater/cooker which could also be used as a pot warmer at home. An excellent and valuable cooking aid for anyone travelling or staying in un-serviced or remote accommodation. I would also highly recommend the Birko food heater/cooker, the two items combined provide great cooking ability.
| Brand | Maxim |
|---|---|
| Model Number | HP1 |
| Color | Grey |
| Package Dimensions | 29.2 x 25.6 x 8.6 cm; 2.2 Kilograms |
| Item Weight | 2.2 kg |
