I have had the previous wolf inductioin 36” cooktop for over 10 yeasrs. Its a no frills model but it has been reliable (no repairs). I really like the separate controls for each hob. I also like the layout with the large hob off to the right. I allows me to put a large pan on that hob and keep the handle off to the right and not interfere with the other hobs. I believe Wolf kept the same configuration with their new cooktop; however, they lost the separate controls per hob and added lots of bells and whistles. Is it worth the new price? It most likely would not be for me. I think at that price point I would look at the full surface Thermador unit even though it is $2K+ more. At least I feel you get alot of nice features with a full surface induction that the traditional induction cooktops don’t offer..I spent a little over $2K for my Wolf and feel I have gotten my $$ worth. I would also sugget looking at the Bosch Benchmark. It gets alsot of love on this forum. I recently purchased a GE profile 30” induction for a second home. It has the separate controls per hob and 19 (I think) power levels. So far I have enjoyed cooking on it and have no complaints. The 30” model has the large hob off to the right. Their 36” is a more traditional layout with 2 smaller hobs left and right and the large hob in the center. I do not find the touch controls finicky like my Wolf. I can wipe over the controls with a wet cloth and it doesn’t yell at you! You might want to look at the Yale Appliance induction reviews and blogs. I thought they had alot of good information on their website. Good luck!

I know what you mean - whichever cooktop you get, you still have to cook the food 😂. For what you are cooking you could go with a Frigidaire, but you are looking at premium luxury brands for a reason. Think about why.

I agree with Kim, the biggest innovation in induction is the Thermador cooktop copied by Gaggenau, (and a to some extent by their sister brand Bosch) that allows you to place your pan anywhere and accommodates up to 6 pans. But while the design is great, the execution hasn’t been flawless according to reviews I've read. The Thermador costs the earth ($6.5K) and the Gaggenau about $1-2K more than that.

You’re buying a glass surface, a control interface, magnetic inductors, build quality, reliability, and flexibility, alongside ease of maintenance, warranty (2 years full, 5 years limited with the Wolf), and customer service. How those pieces fit into a cooktop and what those cooktops can do for you - similar but not the same. The base model Bosch and Wolf have 5 magnetic inductors, the Thermador has 56, but you pay for the flexibility they provide. If you don’t need that, don’t pay for it. Figure out which features you need and your choice will make itself. I love the previous generation Wolf top too, by the way, and have been cooking on it for two years. The scrolling-to-find-a-setting interface on a Bosch kills it for me. Also, Wolf has the best controls for low energy settings (melt/simmer) and that’s important to almost everything I cook. Good luck!

In addition to all of the excellent feedback and comments posted here regarding the question of how much is a luxury induction cooktop worth, I would also add the following. There has been a trend over the last few decades where appliance manufacturers, increasingly discontinue, not only models, but also the parts to repair them.

Of all of the manufacturers, regardless of price point, only two maintain parts, inventories for legacy models for any extended length of time. Subzero group, which includes the Wolf brand, is known to not only have very high levels of customer service, but they can often provide parts to repair an appliance and sometimes for decades. I believe that Miele ‘may’also has this reputation for parts availability, although their reputation for customer service has taken a bit of a dive in recent years based on many reports here on the forum. As for Bluestar, the question on their capacity for maintaining parts availability is still an open question since they have not been in the luxury appliance game as long as the aforementioned brands have. Most of the mass market brands and even some luxury brands like Thermidor and their lower price brands under the Bosch name do not maintain parts availability to the extent that subzero group does.

From my own personal perspective, the more I spend on a consumer product, the longer I expect to get service from that product. Obviously, all of the other variables matter as well because you have to certainly enjoy using the appliance and if it has design flaws or is not to your liking in someway, then having long life cycles with long service ability may not be that much of an advantage. I would also add that if I expected a product either to not last a decade or more or if I was unsure that a manufacturer was going to keep parts available for service, I would seriously consider not investing luxury level prices for something that in the end, becomes disposable given the rampant rise of planned obsolescence that has only increased over the last 20 years.

I can't speak to a cooktop model, but I do have a 30" Wolf Professional Series induction range and it is fabulous! Can say enough good things about it. Worth the splurge.

CR's top-rated 36" induction cooktop is the LG Studio CBIS3618BE ($2700). It has an amazing 6000W double-element (on boost), simmer power level, and a novel feature that tests the compatibility of a pan with an induction element, displaying it as a percentage from 10 to 100.

You’re not missing much — performance-wise, most premium induction cooktops are very similar. Wolf’s price is mainly about brand, build quality, service network, and long-term reliability, not a huge leap in cooking results. For everyday cooking, Bosch or similar gives far better value.

One thing to remember when selecting a cooktop is that the cutout size is not consistent across models so you are likely committed to this cooktop for a long time unless you replace it with a model where your cutout can be modified to support the new model. That is why reliability at least for me is very important. $2K more for a reliable product that will be supported for a long time may be less expensive in the long run saving frabrication costs or replacing countertops.

Kim G: "the cutout size is not consistent across models so you are likely committed to this cooktop for a long time"

Or maybe just the brand. LG standardized the cutout size across all three of it's 36" induction cooktops.

• Cut-out Dimensions (WxHxD): 33 7/8" x 5 3/4" x 19 1/8"

wdccruise - the point is if you want to switch to a different brand - you current cutout may be too large or need to be modified. My wolf cutout is 35” wide and 19 1/2” deep. Changing to LG would most likely not be an option for me with my current granite cutout. Just becaue LG has the same cutout actoss their 36” models (I’ll bet other brands do the same) there is no consistency between differnt brands. So if you don’t like your current brand or want to switch to a more feature rich brand it may not be possible without some significant cost.

You wrote, " you are likely committed to this cooktop". I pointed out that all LG 36" induction cooktops have the same cutout dimensions. I believe this consistency also applies to other brands such as GE and Bosch. So one is not committed to "this cooktop" but one may be committed to a brand unless one can find a cooktop from another manufacturer that offers cooktops with similar cutout dimensions.

Of course, one may be able to enlarge a cutout to fit a future, new appliance.