I have the Miele 36" cooktop - no problem with pans larger than the burner size. This should be the same for all. I went for this one specifically because I wanted to use 3 12" skillets at once on it, and it had the largest burner sizes (11" and two 9"). They seem pretty forgiving for using pans both small and large on them.

I often use two large skillets on my GE, one that fits the 11" burner and one that overlaps the 9" burner. I've never had a problem with using a pan smaller or larger than the indicated size, though I do try to stay as close as possible. Like kas stated, I try to put the skillet with more liquid on the hob that is smaller. I also don't let the pan touch the control pad, but the control pad beeps a loud protest to let me know when something sits on it anyway.

I don't often cook on my Bosch induction cooktop with two large pans concurrently, but I do know the pan does not have to exactly match the size of the hob - a larger diameter pan will work on a smaller diameter hob, and vice versa.

Well, it depends.

First of all, it isn't the top of the pan that matters but the bottom. Many large fry pans are smaller on the bottom so that is what you have to measure.

Some vendors have no restrictions. My CookTek is an 8-inch unit but there is no restriction as to the size of the pan. Smallest I've used is around 3.5", largest around 11".

Some vendors have a 1" restriction. So if the hob is 11", the maximum size would be 13" across the bottom of the pan (1" on each side).

I would say that if the vendor doesn't list a restriction, then there isn't one. Though the idea of not covering the control panel, wherever it is, is a good one.

Generally the rule of thumb for pot size is 1 inch under or over for induction. Or the width of your thumb.

But as Weedmeister says some hobs may be a little less sensitive to pan size.

Thank you all for the invaluable information. A follow up question, 30" vs 36": Will a griddle fit across two hobs or burners on a 30"? It looks like I would have to set it at an angle and possible risk getting too close to the controls. I need every inch that I squeeze out of my cabinets so I'm considering a 30" but I can't give up my pancakes on the griddle!

It depends on your hob configuration and you will need something with Bridge capabilities.

Thank you Jakvis. I see that GE makes has a griddle feature. I have emailed Miele to find out if they support cooking with a griddle.

PIcking up on what Kas said, do be aware that burner spanning with a griddle may or may not work as perfectly as you might hope. Depends on the burner design and depends on the griddle.

The basic problem is one you get with a burner spanning griddle on any kind of stove --- the areas directly above the burners will be hotter than the areas between them unless your stove/cooktop has extra heating elements to "bridge" the space between the burners.

I believe that Wolf and Bosch (in the Benchmark line, I think) now have cooktops with "burners" that are made up of an array of small rectangular induction units (kind of like a smaller version of "zoneless" induction cooktops.) Those will heat the whole griddle and avoid the "two heat circle" problem. There may be others out there now, but I don't know if the new GE is one of them. Its griddle feature might be like the ones seen on the Samsung and Electrolux ranges and cooktops -- the griddle feature allows you to link controls for both burners to set the same heat level but without having heating elements between the burners.

Griddle material is the other part of the equation here. Thick aluminum griddle do a pretty good job of conducting heat to reasonable uniformity across the base, but they will not t work over induction. For induction, you have to use a cast iron or carbon steel griddle and those are especially susceptible to the "circle of heat" problem.

In the real world, there is no problem whatsoever that I have encountered with pans larger than the hob on my Bosch 30" cooktop. Mine is 4 years old. I don't know about bridging but there is lots of info here. One forum member just uses an electric Presto griddle-solved.

Thank you for the feedback on the griddle. A Presto or a square griddle pan may be a workable solution.

This Forum is invaluable!

So I'll add to this thread instead of starting a new one.

We have a Bosch 36" (8665UC) where the largest, center ring actually has a double element. The inner element measures 7" and the outer 11". According to the manual, the outer "double element" will *only* activate if the pan is large enough that the stovetop senses it.

We have a T-Fal non-stick pan that my wife isn't happy with because it takes forever to heat up. When I tried to test it last night and measured with a laser thermometer, sure enough the center gets hot really fast while the outer edges are 50 degrees F cooler or more! When I measure the top of the pan it's 12" like the marketing says, but when one measures the actual bottom part that touches the induction surface, it's only 9.25"! So what I assume is happening is the outer element never turns on. Unfortunately, I don't think there is any way to tell on this Bosch when the element engages that I've discovered. So now I'm searching for a non-stick induction ready that is truly 11" or more on the bottom.

Sounds like a good plan. Saute pans of 5 or 6 quarts will have large bottom diameters. You can get those non-stick.

@phelme For an experiment, not for cooking, try offsetting the T-Fal pan so some of the base overlaps the outer ring. The sensing circuitry will detect inductive metal above the outer ring coil, and if there is enough inductance will turn the coil on. One way the sensing is done is by pulsing the coil and "looking" at the ringing waveform that results.

@kaseki yep tried that, couldn't get it to activate the outer element. :(

for a "control" we have a large, 8 qt. stock pot which I temperature measured across the bottom when heating and the temp is raised uniformly across the inner surface. it's about 10.25" inches flat at the base so that must be enough of a diameter to trigger it.

oh I should mention that now that I'm paying attention, I can tell when the outer element is active because the magnetic coil noise is louder and pulses much faster. :)

you might look at scanpan their skillets are more straight sided My 10.25” skillet is 9.25” at the base They have a 12.5” that might work for you Sur la table is where I have purchased mine You can contact a store and see if they can help with a true measuement They are pricey but I am very happy with the 3 that I have purchased The cs+ works on induction There might b other manufacturers that make a 11 or 12 inch nonstick that will work

When I installed my GE induction cooktop, I purchased a $500 set of AllClad pots and pans that were advertised as "working with" induction. I ended up giving them away and buying Chantal pans that are MADE FOR induction. What a difference. I did a side by side comparison. Chantal could boil a cup of water in under a minute, AllClad took over 3 mins. AllClad couldn't hold a boil on a full 4qt saucepan either. Once I got Chantal, I stopped hating my cooktop. The Chantal pots have ceramic interiors which are non-stick. My 36" GE cooktop also has only one large burner, one medium and 3 small. I use smaller pans on larger burners to heat even faster. It will let you do this if the pan is not too much smaller. I haven't tried bigger pots on smaller burners because there is not enough room.

a less expensive option that might work are ikea non stick pans They have a 13” skillet for $40. Ikea non stick have received very good reviews on this forum.

we'll take a look at Chantal and Ikea. Thanks.

I have inquiries into Berndes, Scanpan and Swiss Diamond asking them all for the base diameters of the larger non-stick sautés. Wish they'd just post that info, this shouldn't be so hard. :)

We could get an 11" induction plate, found some on eBay. but that kind of defeats the purpose of induction in my book.

I also have sent an email to Bosch too to see if they have any ideas since they are the ones that decided on the 11" element.

@emeline12 thanks for the Chantal suggestion! We bought one of their 5 qt. sautés, which Chantal handily says is 10.25" across the bottom, which checks out. It's solid all across the bottom, not just a reduced diameter insert. It lights up the outer 11" element just fine. It is quite a bit heavier than the T-Fal it is replacing (at over 4 lbs.), but that's OK.

The one caveat I got direct from Chantal is they really don't recommend this for searing, not that it can't go that hot, just to go for cast iron instead. Uncensored Gordon Ramsay might disagree. ;)

We are having a problem with our Bertazzoni 36” induction range. Apparently the hobs do not match the size and spacing of the outline on the glass top. If we put a pan with a bottom the same diameter as the outline, only a portion of the pan heats up. When we bought the range, part of the attraction was even delivery of heat to the entire pan. Question for all of you, do your induction tops seem to create even heat to the entire bottom of the pan? Or do you have hot and cold spots?

With conventional flat circular coil hobs, the heated zone is over the coil windings, and should be symmetrical about the coil center (it more or less has to be). The coil center should be aligned with the surface markings, but might not be and this can be checked by watching boiling water patterns. Correction requires cooktop disassembly and coil adjustment. Heating will be indirect above the very center of the coil due to fewer field lines there.

The toroidal field above the coil will cause a ring shaped heating of the pan base extending from a bit away from the center to the edge of the coil, which may extend to the pan base edge, but might be smaller than the pan. If larger, then edge heating might reveal some added heating there as the farther radial field lines have to intersect the inductive material at the edge of the pan.

Detection of the heating pattern somewhat depends on the pan base construction. Thin 400 series stainless steel without copper or aluminum layers will most easily reveal the field pattern; heavy layers will spread the heat and make the field structure difficult to deduce.

@mlkfro

Sounds like the induction coils may be mis-aligned on your unit (ETA, kaski's post from an hour before mine didn't show up in my browser until I checked back here a day later. More Houzz weirdness!) FWIW, we've had a couple of threads here about similar problems on a few recent Frigidaire induction range units that either shipped from the factory with mis-aligned burners or else developed misalingment during shipping. The reported fix turned out to be what Kaseki suggests --- getting warranty service to come out and align the coils. Is your Berta still within warranty?

Yes it is. Berta has sent out a third party tech twice. Same guy, very nice, very sympathetic, but unable to do anything as Berta customer service maintains that the range is operating correctly. I have to assume that, with Berta induction tops, outlines do not reflect anything except, perhaps, where to center your pan. Otherwise, it’s just artwork.