First a question for you: Who cooks more? I think whoever cooks more, or whose cooking requires the extra spots, should get to decide how many of each.

I looked at the combos recently but don't remember for sure. One of the great benefits of both could be using a double griddle. Sometimes you can use one on the induction, especially newer ones that are designed to do that without going nuts, but with gas it's a given. The combination units, however, usually have the gas spread apart. They also tend to have the star style surface grates (stick up a couple of inches), whereas continuous grates, or at least recessed ones, are much nicer to use. There's nothing like accidentally pushing your pot while you're stirring and pushing it right off the star grate!

I have a 15" Wolf gas with a "medium" burner in the back, and a "small" burner in the front with the knobs next to it. The knobs are as inconvenient as they look, but I played kitchen with it in the store and realized it would work okay for me, and it does. My induction is a 24" Gaggenau which is like 2/3 of the 36" unit they were selling at the time, with the big double element and a pair on the side.

One reason I wanted gas was to char vegetables, but the stainless isn't as easy to clean as enamel, so I have to really want to. It's my first choice for grilling tortillas or hotdogs--I really want the hot air around them. And then I can use my small grill plate, which fits perfectly on the front burner. There are a few other, similar foods that similarly just seem to want flames. And it's a world class trivet. :)

For just plain old cooking in a normal pot, I use the induction every time. If I need the extra burners, of course, I also use the gas, but, in general, I use the induction. Why would anyone not?

If you're getting the Miele combi-sets, I think the double gas and the induction would be enough for most people most of the time. The people who study these things say that people rarely use more than 3 burners at a time. I only do for feasts, if for no other reason than that's the only time so pressed that I can't stagger tasks. But I have a steam oven, so that also reduces my need for burners.

You could add a second induction, or the Miele wok burner if you wanted another burner. If your budget would stretch to Gaggenau, you could choose between double induction, the big wok induction, a double gas, and a single gas. If you mix them, like I did, you need to have plenty of support between. Mine is 4".

Why does your husband want to split the cooktops? Is it the flames? Having burners in case there's a power outage? The look? If it's the look, you can also have the cooktop area built up and decorated to give it more presence and have the visual impact of a range.

Thank you for the reply.

We want split cooktops mostly because we cook with glassware and stonewares that don't work on induction.

Gaggenau is probably out of our budget but on its Canadian website, I don't see a 24" induction. Probably it's not available over here. I did think about getting two 15" Wolf modules, however, reading some people's problem with Miele induction touch controls, I want to move away from touch controls because even my phone and ipads don't response to my finger sometimes. If I want to stick to knobs, my choice is even more limited.

My husband and I cook almost equally. I do more of the baking and stews, while he likes stirfry and frying in general. I think having 2 induction should be enough for me. The only problem is that I need to make sure if my huge pressure cooker is going to fit on the 11.5" induction. I cook with my pressure cooker a lot, and since induction boils so quickly, it'll shorten my cook time even more!

Gaggenau has knobs and so do the Miele combi-sets. I think Miele sells their 24" over here, nowadays, but no knob. I got my Gaggenau 24" from England by FedEx, after checking with the insurance company and and the Gaggenau service that it would be okay, as well as the building requirements.

It's not the 15" that's the deal with the induction. It's the size of the ring, which is probably 11-12" for the large single ring dominoes (generic term for 15" modules). I think Fagor sells a two ring, but I was recently researching for a project, and there's only the single big ring on the Miele USA web site. If you put two together, that's 30" that you could have saved money with by buying a 30" cooktop--though no knobs.

How much room do you have for your combination?

Aha! I just found the cooktop you started this thread with. It didn't come up before, but I've rebooted since. :)

From your description, I think it'll work very well for you. It's a known brand, and gas and induction are both pretty standard. The biggest issue would be for them to adequately shelter the electronics, but I do see that they keep the power burner away from the induction. :)

That's basically the configuration I have but flipped, with the big burner being the gas. I finally found specs for the induction, which is 1400/1800, which is basically small and medium. There may be power boost, but you may find the induction a bit wimpy, especially for the pressure cooker. My large single element is 2200, boosts to 3300. I have an 1800 boosts to 2500 and a 1400 boosts to 1800. I use the 1400 for small things, like making toffee (no need for double boiler). I use the 1800 when the 2200 is busy, but it's noticeably weaker, so I try to do the sear on the 2200 and the sauté, for instance.

But, anyway, no star grates there. Nice continuous grates, maybe a little far apart, but sufficient, and it looks like they're not much above the surface of the induction and frame, so no falling off at all. :) Should be no problem using a double griddle or fish pan or whatever. And it has knobs. Check out Universal-AKB. I don't know if their sale price is the normal street price or what.

It looks like a good cooktop, but it's definitely tilted toward the gas.