No answer since we don't have our unit yet. But when I talked to the company making them about placing the hobs, he said to distance them enough so that one pan would not attemp to couple to the one next to it. So maybe they are worried about two of the hubs attemping to heat the same pan and their controller doesn't know how to deal with that.

My Kenmore's largest hob is 10". Generally speaking, the heating efficiency will diminish some as the pan size increases beyond the specified hob size, however, I think you would only by limited by what is near the hob. In my case, the controls are just a bit over 2" away, and it would interfere with their electronics if covered. My largest pan is a 12" saute by Gourmet Standard. It works fine on my 10" hob.

Sorry, now I do see your question - at the very end.

I regularly use my 14" by pan on my Brandt. No problems at all. I think the element is 11". As expected, the pan is hottest where it sits on the element, but it works well. My elements are in a diamond configuration, to the large pan doesn't come close to touching another element.

Does the 12" maximum refer to the base of the skillet or across the top? Usually a 12" pan will have a slightly smaller base (11").

I don't think you'll have a problem because the bottoms of the all clad saute pans are quite a bit smaller that the top. But here's a warning; I have a portable cooktek unit with an 11 or 12" hob. I used my 11" all clad pan the other day to fry chicken cutlets and the chicken near the sides of the pan didn't brown. I measured the flat part of the pan bottom and it was only 9", which is the only part in contact with the cooktop. The interior pan bottom measures 10" but part of this curves upward so it's not actually touching the cooktop. I was very surprised that the oil didn't get hot enough at the edges.

I originally thought a 9" hob would be fine since this all clad pan is my largest, but now I think I have to get a larger saute pan and a cooktop with an 11" hob to accomodate large batches of whatever I'm browning.

I have the Kenmore clone of the Electrolux, and while it isn't installed yet, I did hear at one appliance store (for what that is worth) that the Electrolux had problems with its electronics if the pan overhung the control section and overheated it.

My assumption is that if the pan is offset some so that the control area isn't at risk, and the pan doesn't intrude into the space of any other hob, and the pan at least covers the inner ring of the hob layout, the worst that will happen is that some parts of the pan base will only be heated by conduction. And this could be accommodated by using a pan with a sufficiently conductive base layer.

If this proves to be a problem for the rare case of our using a very large pan, I will obtain a Cooktek unit fitting the same cutout that I will be installing a Cooktek wok hob into and swap units as needed.

kas

Thanks to all who responded. My 3.5 qt. All-Clad Sauteuse measures 12" at the bottom. I use it a lot. I often simultaneously use a large pot for pasta. It would be a major bummer to buy a unit only to find my cooking style would have to majorly revised.

I originally was considering the Electrolux because it has two "large" (10") hobs, where most of the 36" units have only one. I had to drop it from consideration because of the maximum pan size restrictions.

Unfortunately, I live in RI, and the one appliance dealer who actually had an induction unit (Wolfe) installed and "live" discovered when I visited that they did not even have a pan in the entire showroom which was magnetic! They had to send a staff member to the market across the street with my magnet to buy a pan that would work. My visit was the first time they'd even tried to use it, and it had been installed for months. Not a lot of help from them...

I am now waiting for official word from a Wolfe distributor in MA. We went up there yesterday and successfully and quickly boiled water in a 12" pan on a 6" hob. Of course, I understand the restrictions in terms of overlapping pan parts being heated only by conduction, since they're not over the induction element.

We have no natural gas available at our home and are trying to avoid the propane thing.

petlady1, are you sure your pan is 12" on the FLAT part of the bottom (that would make it about 14" across the top)? Even my largest stock pot has only a 9" bottom on the flat part. Boiling water isn't a good test. It's what they do at the stores because it's easy, clean and impressive. I would try whatever it is you do in that large pan (saute, fry etc). Take some steaks, burgers, whatever, and see how they cook in the middle vs the edge of the pan on a 9" hob (isn't that the largest on the wolf?). Then you'll know for sure. It would be so sad to spend all that money and end up disappointed.

I bought from a company most of my appliances and said I was my contractor. I got a huge discount. I got the Diva De Provence DPP-5 for $2,300, even though it lists for almost $3,500. Diva DDP-5 36 Inch Induction Cooktop: The DDP-5 36 inch, 5 burner induction cooktop delivers over 89,000 BTUÂs of power. Its 5 burner design is unique and offers flexibility for both larger size cookware and placement. The auto-expandable center element will automatically adjust in size to accommodate cookware ranging in size from 4 inches to 11 inches. The DDP-5 is absolutely perfect and can easily accommodate three 14 inch pans and out power cooktops larger in size. 1 - 3600w expandable zone that handles 4 Inch to 14 Inch pots, 2 - 2800w zones that handle 7 Inch to 10 Inch pots and 2 - 2200w zones that handle 4 Inch to 7 Inch pots.

I have used 12" and 14" pots with no problem on the bigger burners.

Greg

Greg, where did you buy your appliances from? I am very interested in that DDP-5 for $2300
You can email me off-site

Please, "do tell" :). I have never seen a DDP-5 priced so low.

Thanks Greg, but I'm a little confused since your first sentence mentions 4 to 11 inches. But then you say you've used bigger pans. I will definitely investigate the Diva. I would have to buy it out-of-state, since no one in RI carries them. I thought I'd remembered someone on GW saying it was noisier than some, although I could live with that.

Meanwhile, I think we'd all like to know where you got that fantastic price!

OK, I called Diva in Toronto. Diane there assures me that it is OK to put 3-14" pans on even though the max hob size is 11". Of course, she made sure I knew that the overhang would not be heated via induction. She wondered why Electrolux would say that exceeding a hob size by more than + 1" "might damage the cooktop" or why GE says "it is not recommended." Yeah, me too. But, since they do, looks like Diva is the major contender for me, right now. Thanks again Greg!!!

Wanted to add that after a conversation with someone who is in engineering at Wolf, I have been assured via e-mail that:
"You can use three 14â pans at one time on this unit. It will not affect the operation of the product. The inner circumference will be the heated area." Just in case anyone wants to know.

So now I have to decide between the Wolf and the Diva. Both have been responsive to my strange questions, but there is no one in RI or nearby MA that has a Diva up and running. I know Diva has more experience with the technology, but the Wolf warranty is much better. Hmmmm...

I bought my appliances at lowestpriceappliances.com You must rememnber that I bought $16,000 worth of appliances there and I guess they didn't have the GE Monogram induction readily available so they gave me a great price on the Diva DPP-5. I would be very suprised if they gave the average consumer a similar price to what I got. I used my contractors name and ordered a Thermador triple stack, a Thermador Freedom 30" refigerator/Thermador 24" freezer, Scotsman ice maker,Thermador top of the line dishwasher and a couple of other things. They are in NY (Brooklyn to be specific).

I here they have great prices on Miele items, from cooking to vacuums.

And the trucking costs were far less than any state taxes in SC, where I live.

I doubt they will believe you are a contractor if you are buying just one convection cooktop. Pleasedon't use my name.

Greg

"Pleasedon't use my name."

I thought you said you used your GC's name? :D

Thanks Greg. I am sure no one wants to cause any issues there.

We received similar good deals when we bought our last set of appliances. Essentially, there are fixed prices for a number of units so they give the discount on the one or two items where they are not forced to do so. As such, it is not unusual at all to get the discount you received, with or without the contractor's name. We asked for three bids and it was uncanny how everyone acted more or less in the same manner.

What about spanning 2 hobs with say a griddle or roasting pan? Seems like this may be a problem for any model that can't handle a larger round pan. I see that the 30" LG has a nifty induction bridge, but I was interested in a 5 burner model. Anybody know if the 36" Bosch can handle larger pans? If so, its 2 7" burners are configured nicely to span with a rectangular pan.

For the record, the GE induction manual says "Cookware larger than the element ring may be used; however, heat will only occur above the element." There is no mention of a 1" excess diameter limit.

I'd echo checking the actual flat diameter of the pan. I use a lot of All-Clad including some very large pans (e.g, a 6 qt saute) and they do not exceed the max size on the Electrolux induction hob. My 20 gallon stock pot is only 11" in diameter.

What about spanning 2 hobs with say a griddle or roasting pan?

We do this regularly. We have a Le Creuset rectangular griddle which we place so it's over the center hob and the large lower right hob. The area between the two hobs definitely doesn't heat as well but conduction does get it hot enough eventually. We only cook pancakes this way and so far it works for us. BTW, we experienced the same phenomenon with our two gas burner stove in our old kitchen so we haven't had to change our cooking style griddle wise. :)

We have a de Dietrich 309x purchased from Salon Blue Ridge in NC (We are in IL) and I HIGHLY recommend them.

It has 1 11" hob, 2 9" hobs and 2 smaller hobs (don't remember the size) I have a 14" AC Saute pan that I regularly use. I heat it really hot, put the oil in and get it too smoking and swirl it round so that the hot oil heats the pan. This is fine for stir fry but for saute I keep meat with the thicker parts toward the center of the pan and the thinner pieces/parts/ edges towards the outside. So far this works well.

I do believe that there are induction cooktops in the pipeline, not at all sure of the release date, that will bridge two hobs so griddles will get hot all over. The owner of the induction site (www.theinductionsite.com) is a font of information. OK I just checked the site and the LG LCE30845 Induction Unit has a bridge element

Here is a link that might be useful: LG Bridge Induction cooktop

The manual for the LG 30" cooktop with bridge states that only the griddle that comes with the unit can be used on the bridge element.

The reason companies say what they do is because of liablity issues.