Timer and auto-off timer (clock)
Either a zone timer that switches the chosen zone off when the time runs out, or a plain kitchen timer (minute minder) that only beeps. Most hobs have both behind the same clock key.
What it is for
Select the zone first and then the clock to make that zone switch itself off — useful for rice or pasta. Press the clock with no zone selected for a simple countdown that leaves the cooking alone.
Makes differ, check your hob’s manual: the same letter or drawing can do a different job on another brand, and only your model’s manual gives its exact times and limits.
- What it looks like
- A clock face or a stopwatch on a touch key, with a two-digit time display (00 to 99 minutes on most hobs).
- Names makers use
- Time programming function and timer (Bosch); Timer (Whirlpool); Count Down Timer, Minute Minder and CountUp Timer (AEG); Switch off automatically and minute minder (Miele)
Where makes differ
Which one you get depends on the order of key presses, and the order is not the same on every make. Bosch and AEG allow up to 99 minutes; Miele’s timer runs from 1 minute to 9 hours 59 minutes. AEG adds a count-up timer showing how long a zone has been on. Whirlpool’s timer switches the zone off when the time has elapsed.
What it does not mean
The kitchen-timer (minute minder) mode does not switch anything off: when it beeps, the zones are still heating unless you set a zone timer.
Other symbols with the same shapes
Sources
No published standard we could check defines hob control icons, so this meaning is taken from 4 makers’ own manuals and support pages, each fetched and read on the date shown:
- Bosch: Bosch — Instruction manual PIE...F... hob (9000884453) — “This function may be used in two different ways: to automatically switch off a hotplate; as a timer.” The timer “can be set for periods of up to 99 minutes… This function does not automatically switch off a hotplate.” Checked 2026-09-28.
- AEG: AEG — HKP85410FB induction hob user manual — “Count Down Timer… to set how long the cooking zone should operate” (00–99 minutes, then “The cooking zone deactivates”); “Minute Minder… The function has no effect on the operation of the cooking zones”; CountUp Timer shows how long a zone operates. Checked 2026-09-28.
- Whirlpool: Whirlpool — Induction hob instructions for use (flexible-zone models) — “The timer can be used to set the cooking time for a maximum of 99 minutes… When the set time has elapsed, an acoustic signal sounds and the cooking zone switches off automatically.” Checked 2026-09-28.
- Miele: Miele — Operating and installation instructions, induction hobs KM 7897 FL (en-GB) — “A duration of between 1 minute and 9 hours 59 minutes can be set. The timer can be used for the following two different functions: For setting the minute minder; For automatically switching the hob off.” Checked 2026-09-28.
Written in our own words; quotations are the makers’ wording.