They're all good. It's best to find a layout you like and compare the extra features like timers. And check the appliance forum, too!

Fori is right. You have to decide which features are important to you, for example:

1. Mine has stainless trim top and bottom. Other people like flush, or no trim, or trim all the way around.

2. Mine has individual timers on the hobs. This is my number one favorite feature (leave rice or oatmeal cooking, set the timer, walk away). Others don't care.

3. The method of setting the temperature. On mine, you press a button to select the hob, then press a button to set the temperature ("direct select"). On others you have to scroll through +/- buttons.

I have the Bosch 500 and I love it. (in the interest of full disclosure, someone did mention that on the Bosch 800, the buttons are on the stainless strip in front, whereas on mine, the buttons are on the glass itself. Since wet hands make button pressing a little iffy at times, having the buttons on the stainless might be a little better, but it isn't a big negative for me).

I remodeled my kitchen a year ago. Appliances installed May 2013. I replaced a Thermador pro gas cooktop with a wolf induction cooktop. I had nothing but frustrations with it. After multiple service calls, phone class to tech support, replacement of major components, wolf agreed to exchange it for a 36" gas top. I am an avid cook, and although I did my due diligence, including cooking in a showroom and vetting my decision on GW. Perhaps I was never "wired" for induction cooking. I would strongly advise you to consider your current cooking setup and your cooking "style" before you make your decision

I remodeled my kitchen a year ago. Appliances installed May 2013. I replaced a Thermador pro gas cooktop with a wolf induction cooktop. I had nothing but frustrations with it. After multiple service calls, phone class to tech support, replacement of major components, wolf agreed to exchange it for a 36" gas top. I am an avid cook, and although I did my due diligence, including cooking in a showroom and vetting my decision on GW. Perhaps I was never "wired" for induction cooking. I would strongly advise you to consider your current cooking setup and your cooking "style" before you make your decision

My husband and I both like to cook and thought that when we did our remodel we would try induction. We have a son with a lot of food allergies, so when we travel, we usually have to prepare our own food. We decided to get a portable induction hob and then we could test it out and use when we travel. We fell in love with how fast the pots heat up and how easy they were to clean. When we did our remodel we bought a 30" kitchen aid induction cooktop. We love it. We have a couple ikea pans and the rest are LeCrueset or similar enameled cast iron and they are amazing to cook with. The ikea pans are 2 piece so they buzz and tick a little but the cast iron does not. The decision for the kitchen aid was based purely on the fact that I work for a homebuilder and get a fantastic deal on whirlpool,kitchen aid and Jenn air. We looked at the Jenn Aire and it only had one different feature from the kitchen aid and it was a few hundred dollars more. Not really worth it. I hate how the big gas cooktops throw out so much heat into the room. I will never go back.

We have a 36" Miele and love it

Bosch 300, all glass. Cheap. Basic. Awesome. Sleek to look at and cleans up with a spritz of vinegar. I feel like Charlton Heston. Yes, "They will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands."

I have a 5 year old Kenmore Elite 36" induction cooktop. I don't know if the current ones are different, but with mine while I love, love, love the speed and control and ease of cleanup, I'm sometimes annoyed by the controls and the layout.

The controls are "touch" controls with a separate + and -- for each element, but they should be called "press-slowly-firmly-and-deliberately-with-the-flat-of-your-finger-rather-than-the-tip" controls. Also when you turn it on the only choice is either the highest possible setting, or the second lowest, and to get to the commonly used "medium heat" setting ( 5 1/2 or 6 ) takes 7 button presses. Furthermore if you have any moisture on your fingers the controls will ignore you. However, paradoxically, the controls will sometimes have a small glob of splatter land on them and decide its a finger, and proceed to turn itself to the second highest possible setting. This has only happened to me twice but it is quite disconcerting, and could be dangerous if I was out of the room. Lastly if you are cooking something and decide to turn it up to the highest "powerboost" setting, you have to turn the element off and then back on -- there's no way to reach it through turning up the power level.

Lastly the layout of the elements puts the two smallest elements at the back of the cooktop, but those are the ones you are most likely to use to make a sauce requiring constant attention, and they are the hardest to get to, especially if something else in on the larger front elements.

Bob's post reinforces what I said, you have to compare the features and decide what's important to you. I don't make sauces much so that part pbly wouldn't bother me (however the Bosch is laid out better) , but the 7 button pressed to get to medium (vs 2 on the Bosch) might drive me insane!

I have a Miele. Kids use it all the time. Works perfectly.

My wolf is almost 2 years old and I love it- it did take some time to master it but now I am happy!
I love the independent large power burner and the low temp options on other.
That being said- wolf does not have the individual timers that some love.
I am not sure I would be patient to use anyway.
Also- no bridge options.
Money no object - Thermidor freedom

Bosch 300. Both hubby and I grew up cooking on gas, but have used electric for over 20 years. Decided to go to induction: Incredible control, much better than gas and a much cooler kitchen too. I love, love, love it.

I didn't want the SS trim which led me to the Bosch 300. I was concerned about the ease of operation but find it's a dream to control. One touch on the - (minus) starts it off at 4.5 (medium), then laying the finger on the + function raises it to desired level. You don't have to tap, just lift your finger at the end. The glass stays like new with mild soap and a clear water rinse. Simmering is perfection. Like the hob layout except wish the 11" hob were 10" instead. No clicks ever, and no hums unless you try a pot that is smaller than the instructions dictate. For example, a 10" pot on the 11" hob is OK but it would have a rhymic hum with a 9" pan on that burner. Have had it for two years with no problems. Like another poster, you will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands

I have a 30" JennAir and LOVE it! I am amazed at how quickly water boils and the ease of clean-up makes induction a winner in my book.

Check clearance requirements. Some need 12 inches of air below which limits the use of a drawer or cabinet in that 12 inches. My Bosch had no such requirements and I had a utensil drawer built directly under the cooktop. I have a relatively small kitchen so that was important to me. There's scads of threads on the pluses of induction on the appliances forum. Do look them up.

Also, there is definitely a learning curve---where it is not working as you think it should. In almost all cases, it is user error and inexperience-which does go away with time--ok, in almost all cases. Just give it time.

Re touch controls, gently rest your finger. There is no need to press hard. Gently rest, and increase pressure slightly.

I've been reading through this forum for over a year now when we started building our house. It's been a good and helpful source of information for me during our construction. We moved into our new house last month and since I have more time now, I would like to give back to the forum by sharing my opinion and experiences.

One of the things I was hoping to get some information/experiences from at that time was the Thermador Freedom Induction. But since the cooktop was (or is) still quite new, there's not that much information available. I went ahead anyway and got it.

Let me start by saying: it is pretty cool to be able to put your pan/pot anywhere on the cooktop. But there's a limitation to that though: basically you have 'zones', left, right, upper and lower. You can only put two cookware at a time per zone. And of course, the 'limit of 4 cookware on the whole cooktop', which is not a problem for me. With an oven and convection microwave, I rarely need a 5th 'ring' on my cooktop.

As everyone knows, the controls is touchpad only: no knobs or buttons, which can be a drawback when you want to turn down the heat ASAP and instead of being able to turn a knob/press a button, you have to scroll through the heat levels on the touchpad.

Also, after turning the cooktop on, it takes quite a bit of time (several seconds?) before the logo 'Thermador' goes away and be able to turn the heat on.

I don't know if other induction cooktop has this feature but I love the 'clean lock' feature: while cooking, and you want to clean the cooktop, just press 'clean lock' and it 'locks' the touchpad and you get 20 seconds to do a quick wipe of the cooktop.

You could set the 'cook time' individually for the four cookware, which I think is handy.

The question is: is it worth it (for me) to pay the premium for the 'freedom' induction? I still like the 'cool factor' but since I've only had it for a month, it's still too early for me to say if it's worth it or not. I'll update later.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope this helps anyone who's deciding on an induction cooktop.

This post was edited by MyleneR on Sun, Feb 16, 14 at 21:34

I went from years with an electric coil to induction (Wolf), and I am now a devoted induction user. The induction cooktop responds immediately to changes in hob setting, so food turns out properly cooked; it's hard to burn things on induction (unless I'm not watching . . .). Control over the temperature is fabulous. I love that I can save a pot from boiling over by just pressing a button! And it's fast; no more waiting for pans to heat up.

Do pay attention to the burner layout. Love that on my induction the largest hob is off to the side. Try it, I think you'll love it.

I love my Bosch 300 (no trim). It has one large ring that is great for really big pans (I make jam/jellies and cook in large batches). I like the ease of control and instant response with induction. Easy to clean - and if there's a haze on the glass from prolonged use a magic eraser scrubby works wonders. It looks as good as the day we took it out of the box.

Cam, I'm not really in need yet, but thanks for the tip about the magic eraser (I have had the Bosch 500 - absolutely love it - for a couple of months now).

I have the Electrolux 30" Induction Built-In Range for a little over a year. I have no complaints at all. I have had gas stove in the past and I find the induction more responsive and easier to clean. I will never go back.

I gonna upgrade my dinning room with a GE PHP960 36" induction cooktop. My friend said that it is perfect with many advantages such as energy efficient, no need to for temperature to go up or down. Just like you, I go to search for the preview of this type and I meet them here: http://bestinductioncooktopreview.org/ge-php960smss-profile-36/

Here is a link that might be useful: GE PHP 36'' preview

The most important feature I looked for in my 36" induction cooktop was that it had to have white lines clearly showing where the hobs were located. Then I wanted the largest hob in the middle. I purchased a Thermador. In my previous house I installed a GE Profile induction. The GE worked fine, however, it was difficult to quickly see where the hobs were and that annoyed me.
I expected a learning curve having used gas all my life, but, everyone quickly adjusted to induction. I'll never go back to gas.

I think you can consider duxtop/nuwave brands for single cooker & berghoff for double cooker, read few reviews here

Avoid Samsung induction stoves like the plague. We had 4. Same $3500 model. Sequentially.

#1--electrical malfunction that could not be fixed, which was replaced with

#2--oven door would not shut when oven racks were in place, which had to be replaced with

#3--big hob kept turning itself off in the middle of cooking, which had to be replaced with

#4--which EXPLODED. The glass top exploded just after I turned it off after ~8 minutes of use on a medium heat.

Samsung customer service was hopeless. Given the ordeals with the company we simply requested a refund. Nothing else. The saga went on for a year and I finally had to take them to small claims court, for which they hired a law firm to represent them (which had to cost more than the stove did). They lost in small claims court but not a pleasant experience. Details on Consumer Protection Agency website.

Currently have an Electrolux indction range, which is fine. I cannot get very excited about it (since its predecessor tried to kill me). Ugly. I hate the back panel that rises up with an arched top so nothing can be put on top. I also hate the panel and where the controls are. Too busy and even after 1.5 years I have to search for the right control as they are not intuitive and indistinguishable. But it cooks food. And is pretty easy to clean.

Oh and it is black and stainless. I hate black in my kitchen and I'm not a huge fan of stainless. Basically ugly but serviceable.

This is too late for the OP, but for future readers:

We got the Sears Kenmore Elite 30" about 9 months ago. I love it. It has all the good points mentioned above. One of the things that steered me in this direction was the knobs. I didn't want to push a button multiple times to get the heat setting I needed. There are push buttons for time and temp settings, but you only have to push "timer" and then the combo of numbers that gives you what you need, as in hit the 2 and then the 5 for 25. Same for other choices. I really like being able to mop up spilled water as it's being spilled, and getting such a prompt response when you turn down the heat to stop the overflow. I can mop up with a dishtowel as it's happening and not set the towel on fire or burn my fingers (I've been freezing green beans and canning tomatoes). Happy camper here.

Samsung seems to be confused about its purpose. Is it an electronics company or a arms dealer? Everything they make seems to explode.

What islandgarden said. My Samsung induction was poorly designed (oven door vents adjacent to cooktop so one second of boilover had it running right down inside the glass doors; oven racks that slanted downward when you pulled them out' etc). Still, as my first induction range, I was totally in love. Up until half the cooktop died at 3.5 years of age -- even though the cooktop had a five-year warranty, "this" wasn't covered. The Samsung French-door fridge purchased at the same time needed a new control board about three months before that, a $500 touch. When the range cratered a few months later, it went to the dump. After reading about class action suits of Samsung range owners (apparently there's a history of them catching fire while in self-clean mode), I can assuredly say, never again.