Daven,

Take a look at the posts that come up when you click this link. There is at least one person on the forum who has a Thermador induction hybrid and he has been quite forthcoming about why he chose hybrid, how he likes it, and whether he would get hybrid again.

Good luck,
try_hard

Here is a link that might be useful: Hybrid Induction

try_hard - I looked through several of the threads that came up with your link and found the following comment from Klaa2:

"I have the 36" hybrid and love it. In retrospect, I would rather have purchased the full induction and bought a hotplate for the cookware that I did not want to replace. It was only a few teapots and such. I only use the radiant hobs when the others are all full."

Was this it or should we look further for more? I do recall someone quite a while back having bought a Viking hybrid and also saying they would get full induction if they had to do it over again.

I have the Viking hybrid and LOVE it!! HOWEVER, I love the induction part so much that I really wish I had gotten the all induction. Of course your copper pots/pans won't work so that's a really good reason to go with the hybrid. The one reason I went with Viking is because of the discussions here RE power sharing. Supposedly, Viking doesnt do that. I'm not sure because the electric switchover to the 50amp isn't complete yet, so I can't use all of the "burners" at the same time. The other reason is because it has 6 "burners" - 4 radiant; 2 induction. You may not like the knobs, but so far, everyone loves them. I have the 36".

RE the types of pans, I had some QVC Cook's Essential stainless non-stick and they work fine on both radiant and induction. They are good for everyday pans but I wanted some true stainless for real searing - I miss that. My sister talked me into trying Emeril, so I bought 2 pans. They are wonderful, and have the teeny copper strip. Cleanup is really unbelievable. I'm trying to decide whether to go high-tech with the all-clad or better. But right now, what I have is working, and the hybrid has been a great choice.

Hope this helps!

The only advantage of copper cookware is it's great response to heat changes. Otherwise it is expensive, heavy, expensive, a PITA to keep clean, may require periodic re-tinning (older pots), and expensive.

With induction, you get that kind of response with 90% of the cookware that is induction capable, making copper unnecessary. So while you may love your copper pots, they are now just a difficult to clean but beautiful accessory in terms of cooking.

If you really want to have a burner that you can use copper on, consider a small, inexpensive butane burner. Pro's use them for omelet stations, and similar 'demonstration' cooking. And they do get hot, up to 15,000 BTU's with the better units. They are also great for power outages, camping, tailgating, disasters, remodeling, etc. The link provides but one source.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sample of butane burners.

Or do what I'm planning and get modules, part induction, part gas.

Fenworth: Yes, that's exactly who I was thinking of - the teapot owner.

try_hard

Don't be so hard on copper cookware. ;) I use Falk Culinair that has a brushed copper outside and stainless interior. I never polish them and they were purchased years ago before the huge increase in pricing.

There is one line, I believe it is Wolf, where you can choose your elements -- two induction, two gas, etc. Maybe that would be an option for you. Good luck.