There are a lot of good ones out there.
I am loving my induction - no flames, minimal exterior heat, and such control.
Go for it!

I can't help you with brands, since I'm focused on Bosch because I prefer the configuration of both the controls and the hobs to pretty much everything else.

But induction is definitely not a new technology, although it's still very uncommon in the US. It's been used extensively for a long time in Europe.

We replaced a much hated JennAir electric cooktop with Bosch 800 series induction and love it. We wanted a manufacturer who had experience with induction and to us that meant either Bosch or Miele. We liked the controls better on the Bosch.

Funny here I am 7 years after purchasing an induction cooktop (36 in Electrolux) and although I hate it that my cooktop died and the cost of repair is almost the cost of new the thought of going back to regular electric or gas is horrifying.. So although I'm not pleased with the longevity ( or lack of) of this cooktop I am definitely getting another one. This time there are more options available so I have to check them out but induction I severything wonderfully hear And more. I have never regretted going to induction.

attofarad: "This is not a new technology. It has been on the market more than 20 years."

Or -- depending on your definition of "on the market" -- 50 years, or 60 years, or 70 years. In the late 1950s, Kaiser Steel Corporation, a major United States steel producer, in its Fontana, California, facility used induction as the only means of heat generation for the production of high grade steel. Kaiser Steel thereby gained an advantage over its competitors.

If induction was the best means to generate prodigious amounts of heat for steel production in the 1950s, it certainly has proved sufficiently reliable to boil a pint of water in the second decade of the 21st century.

Many gardenweb posters do not like Consumers Reports as they are skewed to favor low or mid priced lines. You will find gazillions of happy induction users here on this forum-from years back to the present. We all love all the many brands of induction..

You will have to do your own google searches. The gardenweb search function is crummy. Induction+gardenweb+appliances and you will have more positive reading material than you can consume.

From Ikea, GE, Miele, Bosch, Elux, all the Whirlpool brands, Wolf, Viking, etc

Re longevity-Fori, a gardenwebber had a nice Kenmore induction top from the 80's that still functioned well. Just not likely that long time users will be using this forum.
I expect my 2.5 year old Bosch induction cooktop to last as long as it's predecessor, a 60 year old perfectly working coil electric cooktop.

And they are producing more and more ranges these days, in addition to the relatively popular cooktop. We just need to spread the word about induction-love.

I LOVE, LOVE, I mean LOVE my Miele 36" Induction cooktop. I think mine is 2, or 2.5 years old, and I used it daily...usually 2x a day. It has never had one issue, one error code, one hiccup, etc. etc

After cooking on gas for about 30 years, I will never, never, never return to gas for cooking! Induction is faster, cleaner, cooler (in both meanings of the word cool :) and clean up is amazing. Now, I do not fear or think twice about frying or doing stir fry or cooking bacon. No heavy grates to schlepp around, no grooves, nooks and crannies to have to clean. Just a few sprays of Windex and a Microfiber cloth and the entire Induction cooktop shines. I am beyond satisfied with my Induction!!

While induction cooktops are relatively resistant to scratches, if you have a tendency to slide a heavy cast iron pan as you start to lift it you may cause a scratch. Even if the Ceram is harder than iron, cast iron can have inclusions or rust that can be harder than the Ceram. Scratching can be avoided by setting pans on pieces of silicone pad such as are made for cookie pan liners.

To make them I just cut out circular pieces in various diameters scaled for the pan sizes. Other geometric shapes will be just as good. Three pads under a pan forms a tripod support and defines a plane, so any pan not too heavily warped will be evenly supported.

The small 0.060 gap under the pan will have negligible effect on the efficiency of the induction field.

An added advantage of using the pads is less pan heat conducted back into the cooktop, and in some cases, less vibratory buzzing.

Silicone pan liners come in heritage red (iron oxide dyed to denote high temp), and blue. I think Silpats are partly clear and should also work.

There are no scratches on my late 2007 purchased Kenmore Elite (Electrolux Icon clone) induction cooktop.

kas

Larsi,

Do you have any other Miele cooking product? I am leaning toward the Miele Combi Steam oven and then will need to get a 30" regular convection oven and am considering Miele or other brands...

Lizza,

Unless something better than induction rolls around during my lifetime, I can't see myself ever leaving the technology. HOWEVER, since my Miele KM5773 has died and the "power control board" is half the price of a new unit, I'll never buy another Miele (I realize not in your corp buying program, but I'm dissuade everyone).

I'm poking around for other suggestions and Bosch seems like the obvious choice right now.

I would add only one thing...

GET AN EXTENDED SERVICE CONTRACT! And make it one with teeth.

Good luck

M

Some folks put a paper towel between the cooktop and pan to prevent scratching. This allows you to move the pan around a little while cooking without lifting it. Then you can just use the towel to clean the cooktop.

Moxie- how old is your Miele. I debated between the miele, wolf and Thermidor and ended up with the wolf as I looked the look of the surface.

rjremodel,

Our ENTIRE house is Miele!!! We have the Miele 30" Master Chef Oven, the Miele SpeedOven (amazing!!!!), the Miele Vent Hood, Miele La Perla II dishwasher, Miele Induction Cooktop (36"), Miele warming drawer, Miele W4842 Washer, Miele T9802 electric dryer and 2 Miele Canister vacuums. Love their technology, build quality, heritage and generally good customer support!!

Installed Miele
- Dishwasher: works very well
- Steam over: works very well
- Oven: Love it and works very well
- Induction: If I had a boat, I'd use it as a 50 lbs anchor. You can read ad nauseum about the finicky buttons and a smattering of people similar to me regarding the error codes and the units shutting off.

We have a 36" Thermador induction cooktop. We installed it about 15 months ago, and so far it has been absolutely perfect. I sear and stir-fry regularly, make stock 16 quarts at at time, have turned about 200 lbs of fruit into jams and preserves, and make pancakes on a cast iron griddle across 2 hobs. The double boiler and rice cooker have been retired from service.

Thanks to the timers I haven't had anything boil over or burn since we got the cooktop. I set the timers automatically, so if I'm distracted there won't be a disaster. Friends with small children don't worry about burns, and I don't worry about my cat setting herself on fire. DH loves it even more than I do since he is the kitchen cleaner, and the cooktop wipes clean with a swipe of a sponge.

The cooktop does not click or buzz with any of my mixed batch of cookware, and the controls are trouble-free.

Cheryl

Another induction owner here who would never go back to electric coil stove/cooktop, if I can help it. I've never had gas and never want it. (cleaning those heavy cast iron grates, & the burners.... ugh!)

Hubby and I both love our induction cooktop; it turned out to be the best part of a complete kitchen remodel. That's how thrilled we are with it.

Consumer reports magazine often gives a chart on brand reliability, based on surveys answered by their subscribers. Sometimes, that is the only indicator I can find on how well a product will hold up.

My first post ever.
Thinking about a new kitchen in Manhattan.
I worry about the ability to 'see' how hot the heat source is and adjust it 'on the fly' .
Are the 'cheaper' brands just as powerful as the 'boutique' brands?
Most of my high-heat cooking is sauteing with occasional stir fry (which I do in a sauté pan and not a wok anyhow).
tell me I should stick with a Capital or BS cooktop vs induction. Talk me down from the induction ledge.
Loafer

I read the concerns about cast iron and scratches. I use a paper towel under my cast iron skillets...awesome...no scratches and no splatter cleanup! I have a Samsung induction range...love it. Price was not my issue ... reviews and repair comments were my deciding factors. Oh how I wish Samsung made a slide-in range.

We loved our 3-year-old GE Profile induction range until we heard a loud pop almost four weeks ago and all it could do was display an error code. Luckily we got an extended warranty so we're fine, right?

Think again ...

After weeks of repair attempts and parts orders our range has been declared "unrepairable". The warranty company is sending us a check for about $1000 less than the cost of replacing the range.

We're pretty disappointed at this point.

We bought a GE induction cooktop a little over a year ago. I like induction cooking in general, because I can boil something quickly or simmer it. I do not like the GE Profile because it constantly sends error codes when I wipe it and it will not allow me to cook on high on two adjacent burners. When it was 1 year and two days old, I was cooking on it and I heard a loud POP. After that I could not get it to come on. Fortunately, I had purcased a 5 year extended warranty from HH Gregg. The service technician came out and told me it had blown everything and would be so expensive to repair it would be cheaper for the store to give me store credit. The good news was that there was no depreciation. I am going to pick out my new cooktop tonight and it won't be a GE. Needless to say, I would not buy another GE product, but if you decide to buy one in spite of the bad reviews, be sure you purchase that extended warranty.

Given the inability or disinterest by the induction cooktop manufacturers to use parts that will last for many years, or to design cooktops that have the modularity and board isolation to have modest repair costs when there is a failure, my present view is that induction cooktops should be considered to be balloon leased. For the period of the extended warranty, say 5 years, the lease is virtual. Once the extended warranty is over, the total cost of purchase can be divided by the lifetime to failure to determine the actual lease cost per year.

My Kenmore lasted about 7 years and cost $1900 as I recall, plus a service call cost to determine that it was too expensive to repair, so the lease cost was around $300 a year.

kas: have you chosen a new cooktop that fits your Kenmore's opening?

Kas --

I enjoyed the pithy analysis.

Much as I like cooking on induction, there are some downsides to making that as a choice. To be sure, the lack of modularity, board isolation, and durablity, combined with the high cost of replacement part seem to be concerns with many major-brand appliances of all kinds and not just induction cookers. Still, the concern is greater with induction ranges and cooktops because they have more of the complex electronics.

Seems like buying many things these days will involve an exercise in risk assessment.

kitchengirl: I replaced it with a Frigidaire "Gallery" model. It is trimless, if not timeless, and has a hob arrangement that DW thought was better. It has modestly more power per hob than the Kenmore it replaced (which I'm still hoping to evaluate the repair-ability of in the fullness of time) and lower cost. It fits well in the existing cut-out requiring only some slight modification of the existing bonded in safety hangers to obtain screw alignment. (These devices are effectively the only part that keeps the cooktop from sliding around in the cut-out other than weight.)

This unit uses an X alignment marking instead of a circle marking. I find the X alignment marginally less efficient at guiding quick pan positioning.

The hob controls follow the general Electrolux layout of one set per hob, but are somewhat more compactly presented than in the earlier Kenmore. The association of control group with hob is clarified by a stylized symbol, but this is not as obvious (due to hob arrangement) as aligning the controls below the staggered hob layout of the Kenmore. This is a nit to me but DW thinks it is less obvious than she would like.

Contrary to the installation guide (still the same as the 2007 Kenmore guide and still lacking any identification of whether it is for a Kenmore, Electrolux, or Frigidaire), this unit seems to be cooled from air underneath, and does not vent through a metal slotted gap between Ceram and counter surface like the Kenmore. A table I made comparing these models may be found at:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2246536/36-induction-cooktop-with-bridge?n=96

along with a lot of other induction cooktop information provided by many here.

kas

Thanks, kas. I'm belatedly thinking about factoring "lease cost" into my choice, so I appreciate the additional info. When one is outfitting a whole kitchen, there are a lot of variables to consider and weigh...

I have had a Frigidaire Professional induction cooktop for the last 6 years and have not had any problems whatsoever. Love the cooking and the fact that it is so easy to keep clean and does not stain or show any burnt marks like the other smooth surface cooktops.

We bought a GE profile induction cook top six years ago. We always enjoyed it. The problem is that the large element and the small element went out unexpectedly and simultaneously. A couple of different repair services recommended by GE told me to expect a bill that would be between 500 on the low end but possibly more.

I then discovered there are three ways to buy and induction cook top. There is the class ranging from ranging from $2000 - $3,500. Middle range units run from about $1000 to $2,000. We just ordered from the lowest tier which ranges from $250 to $1000; our unit with 5 year warranty and tax was $502.

Assuming this unit may last beyond the warranty, we will decide (if and when it fails) what would be the best route for a couple in their mid 70's. Meanwhile - as time passes I may attempt to revive my GE induction cook top when I have the time and compunction to do so. These days in our "disposable" technology, I figure its better to spend less for new than more for fixing old.