I have had induction almost 2 years now. LOVE IT! I found my large, non-stick skillet at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It is a Farberware. It works great and is holding up great after 2 years of use. My small non-stick skillet I got at TJMaxx - a Tivoli - also holding up well. Both were well under $50 each. Also, I believe you will find that some induction cooktops largest burner is larger on some units than others, and the placement of the largest burner is different depending on the manufacturer. The size and placement of the largest burner was the deciding factor in my purchasing decision. At the time I shopped (there are lots more choices on the market now) I found the 30" GE Profile to have the best for me - one of the largest burners, and placed to the front of the unit (I'm short and don't like to reach over other pans if using my large fry pan). So, that's what I went with and it's been great! I have not found the 30" to be crowded at all - but, again, I think it's because of the way the burners are layed out. Hope these insights help as you shop around. Good Luck!

I do not have this unit and am not recalling seeing much about this 36" Viking model here in the last couple of years since this thread was active. You might have better luck attracting responses from current owners and users here if you started a thread of your own and put the model number in your thread title. As for using your large LC pans, I'm not sure I know what you are asking. Have you used induction before? If not, maybe you are not quite understanding how to ask the questions. Let me take a stab at what you might be asking. * Are you asking if the full size Viking induction cooktops like this one have the same problem recognizing LC pans that that the old Viking single-burner portable induction cooktop units (PICs) once had back in the previous decade? The answer to that is that the full size cooktops and the Viking induction ranges have never had that problem. The problem was limited to those old and long discontinued PIC models. * Or, are you asking if there will be a problem operating a burner with a pan larger than a particular induction hob space. Say, your LC pans have 12" diameter bases overtop the 9" square hob spaces of the Viking cooktop? The answer is that your LC pans will all work, but may intrude sufficiently into the adjoining hob spaces that the LC pans don't leave enough space for pans on the other three burners. For example, maybe you want to use a couple of 12" LC frypans --- one on the front right hob and another on the left front hob --- and then want to plant a large LC dutch oven on the middle hob in the back. So, how big are the pans you want to use at the same time on the other three burners? For that matter, how often do you figure you will be using all six burners at the same time and need to be running two or three 12" diameter (or larger) LC pans? Frankly, the best thing to do to find out how the cooktop will or will not work is to take your array of pans to a dealer and see if and how they all fit. If you can't find a showroom example, try using the dimensions shown on the installation instructions to draw a full scale layout with a sharpie or magic marker on a piece of newspaper. * Or, are you asking if a nine-inch square induction hob will evenly heat the entire base of a large LC pot or pan with, say, a 12" diameter (or larger) base. The answer is that you will have the same behavior with LC pans that you will have with any cast iron pan on any burner (gas, electric, or induction). IOW, no problem with braises, soups and stews, where you have liquid to even out the heat, but you will need lengthy pre-heating to get an even spread of heat across any cast-iron base when you want perfectly uniform heating as for searing or browning out to the edges of the base. This is a property of all cast iron, not just LC. If the VIking cooktop had some burners with larger diameter induction fields (large enough to encompass the entire base of your big LC pans) the cast iron would still heat unevenly. Preheating to evenness might take a bit less time with the larger burner, but it still will take quite a while. That's just the nature of cast iron cookware. FWIW, Cook's Illustrated has been recommending that you put cast iron pans in a hot oven for a half hour or longer to preheat CI skillets for stovetop searing like cooking steaks. Then you run the stovetop at lesser heat which is sufficient to maintian the searing temps for the cooking session. Again, the preheating and unevenness will be no big deal for tasks like braising, boiling water, deep fat frying, stocks, soups and stews with a lot of liquid. Probably not a problem, either, for making a very long simmered tomatoey ragu or long-cooking of beans. But where you will need workarounds will be for stir fries or browning where you need every square inch of base surface to be perfectly evenly heated for the meat or bacon or veggies or whatever that you want to brown. Again, you would need the same workarounds with any stove where the burners are not sized for large pans, whether gas or regular electric burners as well as induction.

"The cooktop is equipped with a fan that switches on automatically at high temperatures. The fan may continue to run even after you have switched off the cooktop if the temperature detected is still too high." -- Use and Care Manual

Thanks for quick replies & suggestions! Keep them coming, the more options we can find that match our needs & budget, the better our chances of locating them at a local dealer. By way of further clarification: a diagonal configuration of two large 11" hobs will still suit our work-flow just fine: when cooking w/ two large pans we rarely have a third burner going, much less a fourth, so working across a smaller front element that is not in use is not a problem. A low-profile rectangular griddle on one side of the cooktop will not work for us as replacement for a second large skillet/pan. Since we are typically cooking large quantities, parallel pans capable of doing the same thing at the same time in equal quantities is a must (we frequently split the same dish into separate pans to finish one half for vegetarians & one half for meat eaters). Sometimes we will step down to one or two smaller 9" bottom pans (12" at opening), but they are likewise at least 1.5" deep to be able to hold larger quantities of roasted vegetables, curries, stir-fries, stews, etc. We are willing to spend a reasonable premium to get the configuration we need, but not willing to change the work-flow our cooks have honed over a combined 70+ years in the kitchen.