A desperate bump as I slide off the front page into oblivion!

No opinions on the LG Induction Cooktop??

Regarding the "bridge"...does anyone know of a 36" induction cooktop w/the bridge element (LG only has a 30" from what I could see on their site.)

My 36" GE Profile radiant electric has the bridge, but it looks like the GE Profile/Monogram induction cooktops do not.

nope, nope, and nope. You'd think that the appliance makers would get on the ball with this. Even if they made a 36" induction/radiant hybrid - with the bridge being the only radiant elements.

I'm actually suspicious as to whether this is a 'true bridge'. Rather, it may be that the two hobs get linked when in 'bridge' mode and the gap remains unheated, but insulated.

Here is a link that might help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Induction

Weedmeister -- can you explain " insulated but not heated"? What would be the advantage to this from LG's standpoint? Or to put another way, what is the technical limitation in having a heated bridge that you suspect that it is in fact just insulated?

I would buy an inexpensive (or even a more expensive) electric griddle. Cooks Illustrated reviewed various electric griddles in Jan. 2009 and gave the Broilking Electric Griddle at MSRP $99.95 the best score--basically perfect. Has a large surface, distributes heat perfectly, has a removable backsplash, can fit 11 pieces of bacon-8 pancakes-or 8 pieces of french toast at the same time. It is a heavy duty aluminum cast griddle and cleaning the non-sticj surface was a breeze.

The cheaper and somewhat smaller West Bend Cool-Touch Non-Stick Electric Griddle came in second at MSRP $51.95.

In third place was a Cuisinart combo Panini Press and grill at $129.95.

I would get the first place model and use a cast iron pan (or other smooth heavy object) for making panini-style sandwiches.

Greg

One of the issues with induction (and radiant) glass tops is that you should not use a pan much larger than the size of the 'hob'. The reason is that the heat from the pan will spread out to the glass which MIGHT (and I mean MIGHT) cause thermal shock and fracture the glass. All the manufacturor's warn of this.

Induction drivers are infact round coils underneath the cooktop surface. (Usually)

So what I suspect is that the LG insulated the section between the two round hobs and ties their control together (parallel) when used in 'bridge' mode. Could I be wrong? Sure. They may have infact put a small coil underneath it. The only way to tell would be to put a pan on it with water and observe the pattern of boiling water.

I think the bridge is an actual element. These are the specs:

No. of Cooking Zones.....4 (Plus Bridge)
Large:Right Rear.........1 - 10" Induction
Small: Right Front.......1 - 6" Induction
Standard: Left Side......2 - 7" Induction
Bridge: Left Side........1 - 7" x 16 5/8" Induction

Note the bridge is listed as an induction element.

My radiant cooktop's bridge is also an actual element.

As to linking the controls, I don't know about the LG induction, but the controls on my cooktop are not linked together and must be turned on/off/set using two different knobs (one knob has the option to turn on just the front element or the front element + bridge)

However, since a bridge element appears to be rare (it does appear Bosch has one as well), I am considering Oskiebabu's advice to just buy an electric griddle when we switch to induction. My griddle, though, is the only pot or pan I have that would work with induction!

Zoneless is a developing technology that would work great for this situation. AEG and DeDetrich in the UK show this in cooktops not available yet in the US. Electrolux Pro has commercial units that are total coverage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliancist

I have a Rival electric griddle and it is very nice to have. It also frees up your cooktop to make bacon and sausage!

Fagor has a induction cooktop portable griddle

I have an electric griddle, but never bother to drag it down from the shelf and just use a skillet on a single burner, instead.

One of the other blogs (LG Appliances) has a comment from an owner that the bridge on the LG works well. It's the one I have decided on so I'm hoping that's the case!

Hi Skyedog - you were the one and thanks for the follow up. I don't know if I care if it's a "true bridge" as long as it cooks evenly, and bacon's a good test. I had tried a cast iron griddle across two burners on my smooth top electric range, thinking that eventually the cast iron would heat up by conducting the heat across. It didn't and I wound up having to scoot the bacon around the entire time. Some would burn, some would be soft. If the bridge gets the job done, I'll be satisfied.
Did you get a griddle with purchase of the cooktop? According to the LG website, it comes with one. Another point in favor of the LG.
Thanks again!

Kathycooks,
Yes, the griddle comes with the cooktop, inside the box with all the packing materials. The burners are pretty close together so there is not that much space for the heat to "bridge" across and since the heat is completely even over the burners the heat ends up fairly well distributed.

I have the wolf induction 36 inch. I use the 12 inch new scanpan nonstick for pancakes and all griddle items, it is new to the usa. FINALLY a nonstick flat surface that is large enough to fit several pancakes etc on induction. I had the fagor one, it didnt work nearly as well.. it was smaller, square and the round circle under the square griddle didnt allow for the even cooking that the scanpan does. It is $150.00 ,but well worth it

Induction cooktops heat by inducing large currents in the pot. A pot that bridges two elements allows electrical coupling between them. Depending on the design, this coupling could cause improper operation or a failure of the cooktop.

The LG specifically allows a pot to bridge two elements.

I realize this is an old thread but I am wondering if the LG induction cooktop is still the best option for a griddle? We use ours all the time over 2 gas burners and is like to be able to do this when we get an induction unit.

Thanks!

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