For searching out info in the future, it might help to know that "induction tabletop units" are often referred to as "portable induction cookers" which sometimes is abbreviated as "PIC." Now, on your questions about pans, are you looking for a way to heat several pans together on a single induction burner? If so, the caterer's serving pan idea won't work any better than it would if you used it over a small gas burner. Induction heating is not passed by magnetic contact between pans over a PIC --- well, only on such an infinitesimally small scale as to be of no perceptible use in cooking :>). Basically, the strength of induction fields falls off so rapidly that it has no heating effect on pans more than a fraction of an inch above the burner surface. For the same reason, stacking pans won't work either. Further complicating things for you, your PIC may claim to be a 9-10" unit, but the actual induction field on them is only 3.5" to 6" (depending on brand.) Beyond that small field, you have to rely on your pan's mass and conductive abilities to spread and transmit the heat widely. A stainless steel caterer's serving pan is just too thin to function that way. IOW, it won't work like an induction adapter disk (which basically converts the induction heating into a radiant electric surface.) In theory, something thicker might work as an adapter, such as one of Chef King's rectangular, 14" x 23" carbon steel stovetop griddles (about $70 last time I checked). My experience with this kind of thing has been that these can heat other pans but so slowly that they work better on PICs as warming trays rather than for bringing other pots to heat. Frankly, it might be easier to heat up each pan separately on the PIC, then put on the caterer's pan with hot water, and use the PIC to heat the water that will keep the pans warm. If there is a second electrical circuit, you also might consider buying a second PIC. IIRC, there are some Duxtop units which have pretty good reviews and now are priced in the same neighborhood as the Chef King griddle that I mentioned above.

>>>"how can I tell which is the better of two ranges that have the same general specs (BTUs on burners and such)?"The simple answer is that you can't. The only way to know directly is to actually cook on the stove. If you narrow your choices down to specific models, you can try posting a thread about each of those to see if anybody here has one and can report on it. (Putting the model number in the title of the post helps attract attention.) You also can try buyer reviews at vendor sites like AJ Madsion, Sears, Plessers, and etc. Those may or may not be helpful to you. Beyond that, there is Consumer Reports' performance testing and ratings. Their testing of double oven gas ranges gave highest ratings to: (a) KitchenAid KDRS505XSS (a dual fuel model for about $2k; there is an all gas version that can be had in black, KGRS505XBL, which runs about $1800), But note that KA gas stoves have had a very high (16%) defect rate in the last few years. (Some of that elevated rate may be due to problems with self-cleaning modes frying electronics in the pre-2012 models). Also note that all of the Whirlpool brands of double oven stoves require electric power to operate so you cannot light the burners in a power outage. (b) LG LDG3016ST: a five burner stove, rated almost as high as the KA for performance but CR has, as yet, no reliability data from its membership on LG stoves. The reports at ConsumerAffairs.com indicates that warranty service from LG is variable and sometimes problemmatic. (c) GE JGB870SETSS ($1600). Has a central griddle burner as well as a a knob controlled oven (though with a digital display on the backsplash). GE/Hotpoint gas stoves have been the most reliable in CR's membership surveys. AFAIK, none of the stoves in your price range have a central griddle burner with the higher power you want. The designers all seem to think their multi-ring power burners are what should be used for boiling large amounts of water or searing in a big pan. Those oval central burners are for non-stick pancake griddles (and maybe fish poachers) where you really don't need or want very high heat, anyway.. For a fridge, the space seems able to fit just about any 22 to 31 cu. ft. capacity FD fridge as long as one side is not butting up against a side-wall. (Same consideration applies to with counter-depth fridges, btw.) With standard depth fridges, the larger the capacity, the deeper the fridge will be (and the more it will project out past adjoining countertops). Generally, products from Whirlpool and Samsung have recently been showing the lowest defect rates according to CR's membership surveys. (CR is tallying the latest surveys and we should have new reports sometime next month.) GE has reverted to making its fridges here, again, and those units are supposed to be a lot more reliable than the outsourced ones from prior years. For counter depth FD fridges, I think there was a recent posting here about Electrolux having a 22 cu. ft. capacity unit for under $1800. Don't hink it has the slide-back shelving you were looking for though. FInding a fridge with the slide-back shelf is going to require plowing through specs. Lowe's and AJ Madison's web site can be good places to look. The dishwashers thing is something else to research. Just about anything you buy these days will do a good job of cleaning when used with a proper detergent and rinse aid. Some do it in less time than others, and paying more for a dishwasher may get you shorter cycle times, quieter operation and more conveniences. I recall (but cannot find) a recent thread discussing and comparing the various Bosch dw lines from the base Ascenta on up. Sorry I can't find it because I think it probably answered your questions. EDITED TO ADD: okay, I found a couple of threads that might be useful for you on Bosch models. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg031728155588.html http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0208293324445.html The search engine here at Gardenweb seems to work better when you use the one at the bottom of the page. Lately, I've had better luck going out to google or bing or ask and using a search string which includes the name "gardenweb." For example, "gardenweb + bosch + 300 + dishwasher." This post was edited by JWVideo on Sat, May 25, 13 at 13:51

There are serious semantic issues with recent posts in this thread. The induction cooktop generates an oscillating magnetic field over the hobs, the frequency of which is in the tens of kilohertz region. This field induces eddy currents in the pan base, which is both conductive and resistive. The induced currents through the resistance cause the pan base to generate heat. In addition, the magnetic field reacts with the hysteresis of the pan base iron B-H curve and generates heat. Is the pan base heated? It is heated just as a tungsten bulb filament is heated when current is passed through it. The pan base, in turn, heats the food by conduction. The temperature of the food depends on several factors, but can easily exceed 100C. The hob temperature sensor will shut the hob down when the ceram surface over the center of the hob reaches some temperature limit set by the manufacturer. This has to be high enough to fry and sear. A pan filled with water will not exceed 100C (at sea level) in the water, but the pan base has to be slightly higher in temperature for heat to flow into the water to vaporize some of it as steam. When the water is all boiled out, the pan base will rapidly rise in temperature burning any food that was in the water and eventually overheating the pan. Then the contest is between what is being heated to destruction and the safety shutdown of the hob. My 3.5 kW Cooktek wok hob at full power will within seconds smoke peanut oil (450F) if that is the only material in the wok. kas

Appliances are like cars - there is no one be-all-end-all answer - you really have to go with what features and style you prefer. Also as with any car, there is maintenance and occasionally service that needs to be performed to keep everything running smoothly. Jena-Air is really trying to position themselves as an ultra-premium brand. To that end they are really stepping up to provide that experience. So one thing to understand in the American appliance industry - there are only a few manufacturers, and sometimes manufacturers will build items for other brand names besides their own. The biggest and most obvious example of this is Sears' Kenmore brand - there is actually no one "Kenmore" manufacturer, just a big warehouse of Kenmore stickers that get shipped out to all the manufacturers who really make these things. Why do I bring this up? KitchenAid and Thermador get high ratings for their built-in refrigerators. Did you know that, up till just a few months ago, KitchenAid made a couple of the Thermador built-in refrigerators? KitchenAid is made by Whirlpool, the same company that makes Jenn-Air (they position Jenn-Air as their top premium brand, with KitchenAid the next step down targeted at foodie-culinary types). KitchenAid Dishwashers are also some of the top rated dishwashers made, along with Bosch. Oh by the way, Bosch makes Thermador. Did you know that JennAir is sourcing with Bosch to manufacture some of their dishwashers? So really, going with Jenn-Air is not a gamble in any sense. They are highly rated high quality appliances. They make some beautiful flush-mount built-ins, have awesome cooking features, and some cool tech to go along with it. If you search the web for any appliance or brand you will find complaints. No one, as far as I know, has created the 100%-reliable-universally-designed-pleases-all-the-people-all-the-time home appliance yet. As for buying, Jenn-Air has two programs going right now. One is called "Compliments of Jenn-Air" where if you buy certain combinations of appliances, you get a credit toward the purchase of another appliance... like a free dishwasher when you buy a range or oven/cooktop. They also have a builder program where a builder can register to receive a discounted price from any authorized retailer. Other than that, the pricing is UMRP, meaning unilaterally priced across all dealers.