I have the 36" GE Profile induction cooktop, no stainless steel border. We built a house (moved into it in April) and I chose this cooktop after hours and hours of research. I did not consider the Kenmore because I wanted to use a specific appliance store in my town and they don't sell Kenmore. But I think I can still provide some feedback that you may find useful.

I don't think I would use a pan sensor feature. The GE has 5 "burners" of varying sizes and I always have the right size for the pans I need to use.

Regarding a keep warm feature -- on my GE, I just turn the burner to 1 or Low and it keeps the food warm. I use this after we fill our plates and sit down at the table to eat - leaving the pan on this setting ensures the food is warm when DH goes for seconds.

I chose frameless because (1) I liked the way the black glass cooktop appeared to be floating on my granite and (2) I didn't want to clean the frame. Now that I've made a mess of my kitchen several times, I am 100% certain that frameless was the best decision for me. When the cooktop was installed, I instructed the installer to NOT use the puffy-tape-seal stuff that comes with the cooktop and is suppose to go between the glass top and the countertop. As a result, if a piece of food gets lodged under the edge of the glass, I can (carefully) lift the glass a tiny bit to reach it and clean it away. The frame might contain a spill, but then you would have to use a toothpick to clean the edge of the frame. No thanks - I spent enough years using toothpicks to clean clogs from my gas burners on my gas cooktop!

When I bought my cooktop (last December) the pricing for the GE Monogram was about $10 more than the Profile. Yes, ten dollars. All the other Monogram appliances were significantly more than Profile but this one was almost the same. There were no technical differences - they were both the same layout and power. The only differences were aesthetic. The Monogram had blue circles outlining the burners; the Profile did not. Instead, the Profile had a texture on top of the burners. I liked the appearance much better and still do.

I had to have a service call on my cooktop because it was scratched by the tile guy during the final days of construction when the backsplash had to be revised. GE had a 30-day cosmetic exchange program so I called GE within 30 days of closing on my house, told them my cooktop was scratched, and they mailed me a new cooktop and sent a service guy over to install it. He was very nice and did a great job on the installation.

Good luck!
Try_Hard
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try_hard, thanks for the great, very detailed info - I have read many of your posts here and was hoping you would weigh in :-).

I can't believe the Monogram was only $10 difference! That's hilarious! It seems to now have the same extra features as the Kenmore, though most people site the blue circles as the only difference.

I thought the same on the keep warm thing - that it is just the same as putting it on low myself. I am still curious on the pan size thing as I can not seem to find much info about the value of that feature.

Great info on the frameless - I am leaning that direction. Good to know about the service aspect as well - thanks again!

GE Monogram and Profile are not different in any way but cosmetic
All induction cooktops have a pan sensing feature
Not all have a keep warm feature
I think most people here choose the GE is because they can get them without borders and thus have less clean-up, plus it might have more power than the Kenmore

I chose Miele :)

olchik, I should have clarified - I know they all have a pan sensor but some also list a pan size sensor that adjusts the burner to the size of the pan. According to the GE website, the Monogram has this and the keep warm feature, while the Profile does not. Good point on the power, I don't have a good grasp on what sort of power I would want so I haven't been paying as much attention to that as I probably should.

My comments about a pan sensor assumed you meant pan size sensor, too.

I would argue that every induction cooktop has Keep Warm functionality because they are so good at managing low, low temperatures. Perhaps Kenmore is highlighting that basic functionality as a special feature whereas other manufacturers do not specifically call that out? Not sure.

I looked at the Electrolux induction cooktop but it had the frame and I was determined to go frameless. None of the stores in my state carried Miele at the time and I didn't want to deal with importing anything.

Since my kitchen project finished in April I don't spend much time here anymore. About once a month I look at the threads on page 1 of the Appliance forum just to see what people are talking about.

try_hard

I'll say one more thing -- the best way I have found to keep my induction cooktop clean and spotless is a microfiber cloth. Just rub the cooktop with it and the marks/spills/dried spots will come off. If you need a little more than elbow grease, use a gentle cleaning spray (I use Shaklee Basic G.)

try_hard

Yes, I meant that they all have a pan size sensor too
The way that induction works is by only sending power to the pan. So if the pan is smaller than the burner, only the pan gets the power and the area on the burner outside the pan does not get anything. Also, they all have a safety feature built in that a pan has to be a certain size in diameter or the burner will not turn on.

I believe when cooktops don't have many features, they start listing off basic induction cooktop features as something special for that cooktop.
BTW, the induction site has kenmore for $1440 and Profile for only $29 more
http://theinductionsite.com/north-american-residential.shtml

if you check the manual on page 13, you will see that profile also has a keep warm feature - a low setting L

Here is a link that might be useful: Click on Manual

if you check the manual on page 13, you will see that profile also has a keep warm feature - a low setting L

Some cooktops have a dedicated "warm feature", where you press a button and it turns all the burners to low, so you can answer the phone or something. The Kenmore (made by Electrolux) does have a dedicated "warm" button, GE (neither Mono nor Profile) does not

Here is a link that might be useful: Click on Manual

I purchased the Kenmore primarily because of price and because I can install drawers underneath to utilize base cabinet. It is not installed yet, but my understanding is that it requires 4 1/2" clearance underneath the cooktop whereas it seems like I read on this forum that GE requires approx 10-12" (don't quote me).

try_hard, thank you for the info and cleaning tips.

olchik, thank you for the info and really good point on the pan size sensor. I am looking at 36inch so the Profile is $110 more than the Kenmore. I think you are right about the GE being more powerful per burner, while the Kenmore has a higher total max power.

mrs-mjt, thanks for weighing in on choosing the Kenmore, the clearance issue is another factor that seems to come up a lot with the GEs.

Anybody else choose between GE Profile and Kenmore Elite? Anyone order from theinductionsite?

I can speak to the "clearance underneath the cooktop" issue. This was a big concern for me when I was shopping for induction cooktops. The GE Profile was my preferred cooktop but the instruction manual clearly states you should not have combustible items within X" of the bottom of the cooktop. I was concerned that I couldn't put drawers underneath but decided to have my cabinetmaker put a false front directly under the cooktop and then 2 deep drawers under that. This hasn't been a problem at all. I haven't noticed any air circulation issues, residual heat, etc... Here are photos of my setup:

View 1:

View 2:

View showing the cooktop taken out of the granite for the replacement I mentioned in my previous comments:

And, in case anyone is interested, here are some photos of the cooktop with the glass top removed:

And a closeup of the touch-control panel:

Try_Hard
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Try_Hard- LOVE your kitchen!!!! I know this belongs on another forum, but, how's the fireplace doing?
Dalcolli, my cooktop is a similar situation to Try_hard's except instead of two drawers, I have a cabinet base that I will put some wire shelving in that I'm going to pick up at Home Depot or some such place.

Today I am currently leaning toward the GE for the frameless. I have seen lots of people in other posts here and other sites talk about how they got around the clearance issue just like try_hard. Someone mentioned making the top narrow drawer a tilt-out, but I am confused as to the purpose of the clearance requirement. Is it for airflow/ventilaton? Is it an issue of things stored below heating, melting or catching fire? Is the idea of the false drawer to make enough clearance/buffer between the top of the first pot drawer, the top of the pots or the bottom of the first pot drawer? Or is there actually equipment on the underside of the cooktop that there must be room for?

Dalcolli: I, too, was unclear on the purpose of the clearance. I talked to GE sales personnel, service personnel, customer service; I even asked for the number to their product engineering group, hoping I could find someone who could tell me more than the owner's manual told me. But none of that went anywhere. Since the word "combustible" is in the owner's manual I assumed their concern was overheating and fire.

I considered a tilt-out but couldn't figure out what I would store in it so I didn't do that.

moose_2007: We still have the same issue with the LOUD fireplace. The rainstorms have stopped so I should probably pursue resolving the problem during the dry spell. Thanks for the kind words about the kitchen.

try_hard

try_hard, you definitely did your due diligence!

My engineer DH has a friend and a former coworker friend, both also engineers, who work at GE here in Louisville. He is going to ask them if they can shed anymore light on this and, if I can translate from whatever super-technical answer I am likely to get, I will post here anything we find out from that. DH suspects the issue has something to do with the electromagnetic field affecting metal items underneath while someone is cooking on top.

From my understanding, you should not have a drawer directly under the cooktop, but the cabinets with two large drawers and one false top should be ok
I believe it's for ventillation

I chose the Kenmore cooktop because of price and the fact that I liked the stainless frame that only runs on the top and bottom. It looks much easier to clean than a complete frame but the the stainless gives it a little bling and helps it not blend in with the soapstone. I chose not to bother with a top drawer underneath because I have two drawer stacks next to it for all the necessary supplies so I'm content with just two deep pots and pans drawers under it.

LET ME know before you buy the Kenmore induction -- I found a GE authorized dealer who can order a 36" Monogram (brand new- latest model, full warranty) direct from GE for $1699- its local to me (Georgia), but that's the best price I've found for ANY 36" induction (the Kenmore Elite 36" is around $1750 or so). The GE Monogram is a much better product and has a much better name (for resale as well!)

olchik, DH's GE engineer friend agrees - he thinks it is for ventilation purposes only.

The frames aren't bad to keep clean. Mine (older model) has a frame and I am a total slob. It's fine, but it does show slight scratches. I think it'd look spiffier without the frame, but it depends on the countertop. I suspect mine would have chipped edges if it didn't have the frame.

I agree about the keep warm feature being silly--I can keep chocolate barely melted on mine for hours without burning without a "keep warm" feature. (Mine is a Kenmore, 1983 vintage.)