good ol' kitchen aid - just shout "we don't have a problem" loud and long enough and we'll make most people leave us alone.

They'll get a headache from the induction, no dinner after the self clean their oven , and if we're lucky their house will burn down from our dishwashers.

Whereupon we will have another "opportunity" to leverage our "brand awareness" and "history" to earn your business, increasing our "marketshare" and maximizing our profits.

Excellent sleuthing work, MizLizzie!

Doesn't look to me like that poor guy is doing anything wrong or expecting too much, although I generally put something in my pans before cooking. My E'lux induction range does not make noises like this. [The only time I heard loud sounds (briefly), I'd taken a pan out of the fridge to re-heat some soup; I think the lid rattled at first, but it quieted down very quickly, and a different pan from my fridge didn't do this just now, as a test.]

I think its KA's fault, in multiple respects -- by having only two size hobs (one large hob and four that are 7"), particularly since they require a fairly precise match to the pan size; and by rule-bound and legalistic customer service policies that miss the bigger picture.

We can learn from this guy's experience. Besides avoiding KA induction, its smart to try to cook on an induction cooktop with your own pans before buying. Look for units that offer a range of hob sizes that operate quietly and fit the pans you have or want to cook with. And avoid companies that have no clue what they're doing.

Perhaps someone else can explain why this KA unit is so noisy when induction units generally use similar parts.

It would be useful to know what the boiling water patterns look like when a working pan finally gets going.
No properly designed, assembled, and tested unit should be so sensitive or behave like that.
Get the facts together and take Whirlpool to small claims court when you want action.

That poor guy! His unit is much worse than mine, and mine is pretty noisy. I am able to use pots smaller than the hob - 2" or more in diam difference. KA just won't step up. What a shame. I tried to put warning comments on a few sites, but maybe his video will be more effective.

Sadly, the video had only 250 hits, thereabouts.

And once again, I feel like I'm down to Jenn-Air . . . ;-)

@MizLizzie - have you looked at the Bosch induction cooktops? They have the "pot sense" feature.

That is dreadful! I have a Bosch induction unit. I purchased Tramontina cookware based on reviews at Chowhound and use it along with the Le Creuset I already had.

My unit does NOT make noise, I do heat up empty pans, my hobs do not need to be an exact fit to pans.

What a nightmare to try and cook on with that KitchenAid!

Oh my goodness! I haven't placed my order for induction (still wavering between range or getting a cooktop & wall ovens) but this video gives me pause. I would go stir crazy if I had to listen to anything like that while I was cooking.

Salesperson was showing me KA wall ovens. I don't think I would go w/ any KA appliance after viewing this video. Poor guy - are they seriously saying that that is normal for one of their induction cooktops?!

Cavimum, I am now re-looking them. Not sure why I crossed them off to begin with. I think it was all the stainless trim. Now I see their entry level model, the Bosch 300, does come in black on black.

That's what I want. Black on black, with just a hint of where the pots go. Rimless. Or raised out of the rim like JennAir. I know, crazy, but I have waited years to get induction into the house, and now I'm getting nitpicky. I wish Bosch's white circles weren't quite so bright, and I can't tell if the thing is frameless or not. But I think Bosch might be a better bet and more cost effective than JennAir so thanks for jogging me. And I did not know about pot sense, so that is good to know.

I did not watch all that KA video linked here, just enough to get the gist of it. Did the guy ever say which brand cookware pots he was using? I sort of wondered if that was the problem. They looked like the anodized aluminum type with a disk welded to the bottom.

Wow, my GE range is much easier to work with. It's pretty forgiving with pan size and is very quiet. Yes, there is a soft hum, but it is easily drowned out by regular prep and cooking noise, and not anywhere near loud enough to affect conversation. That cooktop would drive me batty!

Cavimum: A graphic on the video (2:10 to 2:25) says he tried Calaphan, Circulon, Analon, ScanPan, and Kirkland, but those 1.5 Qt. pans were not recognized by the small 7" hobs.

Later on, another graphic says "These pans made no noise on Wolf induction" as he demonstrates the racket this thing makes heating first one and then two larger pans (@ 4:15 & 4:45) on the two front hobs.

Thank goodness I checked this. We're looking for an induction and although i didn't see a ka, my oao likes their ovens: glassed doors w/o seams that are exposed to the splashes. However, after this, I think I'll check out the bosch induction. oao does like the look of ge monogram induction 36".... we have ge monogram appliances now and have had good luck with them. Any opinions on their induction?

I've also been looking at having to change out my pots and pans :~(
I've had my all clad and copper clad for 30+ years so it's sentimental.....

@wordie89 - depending on which all-clad line you have, they might already work. We already had the all-clad tri-ply pots for years, so we didn't have to buy new cookware.

@chac mool - Thanks for the pot info. If all KA units were like his, one would think there would be more in the media about it, especially here on GW.

I had time to go back and watch the entire video this morning. Our Thermador induction cooktop will recognize a pot whose contact surface is 2" in diameter smaller than the hob, and I can place it anywhere inside the hob circle.

wordie89:

For opinions, try using the search function at the bottom of the threads list page. (You want the one at the bottom of the page, not the top one.) Use "ge monogram + induction" as your search string. IIRC, there have been a number of threads on Mongram induction cooktops. You also could go to Google and search on "ge monogram + induction + gardenweb" and "ge monogram + induction + chowhound."

BTW, what does "oao" stand for? One and only?

I thought it stood for "over and out" but I'm obviously behind the times.

As far as GE induction, I've been using my range for two months; compared to that video, my induction is both silent and has infinitely flexible hobs. My smallest pot is a 1 quart Tramontina which can be used on either the 6" or 8" hobs, though I have to take a smidge of care to center it on the 8". His cookware did look wonky, but I use a nonstick aluminum skillet with a welded disc bottom (el cheapo) and it works both fine and silently.
OK, TBH, not truly silent--sometimes, there is a faint buzzing or hum as cookware is heating, as described by williamsem, but it is very faint, easily drowned out by ambient house noise, and goes away after the pan is hot.

Wordy89 -- do the magnet test on the bottom of your All Clad. If it sticks, it works. Also, if you are speaking of the GE induction cooktop, chac_mool and others gave me the heads up on an installation issue with those. Unless you're installing over an oven, the lower end GEs require a 12" clearance below. That takes out two drawers. Unacceptable. I wrote GE to clarify. They stand by this. Nothing combustable 12" from the BOTTOM of the unit. This might not be the case with a higher end GE. Dunno. Just be aware.

Another induction brand to consider is LG. They have one with a bridge burner. I also considered the Miele and the Elux, both of which people generally like. It's really a shame about the KA failings, because it's a lovely, rimless unit, it doesn't require much clearance in any direction, and it cooks well. If only it weren't noisy. In my case, the noise is generally drowned out by the hood, which isn't all that loud itself, and/or the stereo.

The noise level does change depending which brand of pot I'm using. The video guy was using Anolon. Most of mine are Tramontina Tri Ply Clad. The noisiest of mine are Italian non-stick skillets. But I do think that all these pots on other companies' cooktops would be silent. Certainly none of the others actually click like KA.

I would like to know what this unit sounds like when liquid is added to the pan. My Circulon is the loudest pans I have until 1) I put something in them and 2) they heat up.

Good point, weedmeister. I wish we could get that guy over here and chat him up. Still, that is a awful clicking sound. I would go crazy.

I can answer weed's excellent question using my KA unit. I just put the 12 qt Tramontina Tri Ply empty on the 11 inch hob and set it on power boost. It buzzed (it didn't click, because it only clicks on 5 or less). I filled it with at least 8 qts of water (we're having macaroni tonight, so this was timely) and put it on power boost. It still buzzed, but it was slightly quieter. Not a big difference, though.

I just checked - the water is starting to simmer (it is pretty fast), and it's still buzzing, but not as loudly as for the poor guy on youtube.

Since my unit does take pans smaller than the hob, either his unit is faulty, or his cookware is the difference. Still, he's done the world a service by posting this. No one should buy KA induction unless the noise really doesn't matter.

OK, to be fair, I just went back out there, turned on the Kobe hood on the second lowest setting, put something in the microwave and another saucepan on a smaller hob on medium. With all this background noise, I could hear the clicking of the smaller hob. The rest of the buzzing blended in with the other noises, including the noise of the boiling water. So mine is definitely not as bad as his.

Maybe somebody brave can invite him to view this thread, and maybe join to comment on it. I'm too shy, myself...

Okay, chac_mool. I did it. I invited him to come hang with the appliance freaks. We will see.

He had his on High (or boost, can't tell). My CookTek on Max will make a noise, kinda like a low drone. But boiling water is louder.