I haven't see this one. It replaced a model where the controls were separated from the cooking area by the stainless trim. This left a 'gap' between the two glass surfaces that would let liquid get in.

Blue is the Elux color for their displays.

Thanks, weedmeister. My appliance guy assures me the blue is very subtle until it is turned on. He doesn't have one on display. I wish I could find someone who did.

I am familiar with the "Wave touch" ones that had that band of metal running horizontally above the buttons and below the elements. I did not care for all that metal. Do you think they are out, and this is the new look? They were hybrids, IIRC.

@MizLizzie - "eerie blue marks" ??? Do you mean the display? My Thermador induction cooktop has blue display. It matches display on our Elux oven and Panasonic microwave, and looks pretty to me but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. ;o)

Thanks, Cavimum! But is it on all the time? Or is it more like the Elux Wave-Touch thing? I don't mind the blue. I just don't want those weird Elux crosses glowing at me in the dark. ;-)

And further to weedmeister -- from the Elux website, looks like the old Elux cooktops are gone -- the ones with the metal across the top of the controls. AJM still has some in stock, but they are gone from the mfg site. I guess you hit the nail on the head with the moisture issue.

I have the 36" version. I picked it because it was a new, out of the box return and, well, cheap. The controls are much better than my old Kenmore Elite and clustered in the corner so that they don't get wet and wonky. The roughish surface doesn't show streaks and is nicely grippy on the bottom of the pan.

I have the older model Elux Icon induction cook top with the SS trim. It is NOT a hybrid. I've had it more than 2 years now. No problems at all, including "liquid getting into the controls", and in fact we only saw one post here in GW of that problem, so I really doubt it was a "Big Problem" except of course to the person that had the problem. Well it's all "Academic" now anyway, since that model has been replaced.

My cook top does have the blue display, which we like and find easy to read. When the unit is turned off, nothing shows in the display, IE no blue numbers, dots etc----but---- If you use the "Lock button" on the cook top, then a dot lights up blue to tell you it is locked.
I would suspect that the newer model displays are much the same as mine.

Gary

@MizLizzie - With our Thermador, the lights are on only when I have turned on a hob.

If the glass gotten hot, there will be a upper case or lower case 'H' or 'h' to warn us that the glass hot, and once it reaches a certain level, the lower case 'h' shuts off. I think all cooktops do that, including electric coil type under ceramic.

I can't thank you guys enough. That is such helpful info.

jxbrown -- can you tell me more about your cooktop? Where did you find it? Also, I was not aware it was rough, but I can see the advantages. Would you say it is like seeded glass, or just sort of textured? Does it still have a good sheen? Is the surface elevated so you can sweep crumbs off easily?

Wow. I hate to buy a cooktop sight unseen . . .

I had settled on a basic Bosch -- a safe, solid choice. But the appliance guy priced this one $200 cheaper. But more importantly (to me) it has the big hob front and left. I fry and saute a lot of things in big pans -- things that need constant attention -- and the thought of leaning over, even a few inches, to constantly stir stuff seems like it would be annoying.

I think I need to change my screen name to Goldilocks over this cooktop search . . .

That famous consumer product testing magazine rated induction cooktops at some point in time, not too long ago. Their take on the Elux (different model from yours) was very good and they said the HIGH and LOW settings were excellent.

Their testing is done in a lab, blah blah blah, and they liked all the induction cooktops. They only brand they did not 'recommend' was JennAir and it appears that was based solely on brand reliability (the reliability rating comes from subscriber survey answers). The review of the JA cooktop itself was as good as other brands.

So unless you find consistent negative comments on the Elux, it should be a great cooktop.

The cooktop is covered with tiny pits that just slightly roughen the surface. It's still shiny, just less so than plain glass. It's shinier than a honed granite countertop, as a comparison. The lower sheen helps hide streaks. With my older cooktop, I usually had to follow cooktop cream with a spritz of glass spray to make it streak free, Compared to the Silestone countertop, it is less slippery.

My last induction cooktop was one of the very first Kenmore Elites. It had touch controls that were more sensitive to liquids on the controls than to my fingers. I had to cook with a towel over my shoulder. The new cooktop is very responsive to my fingers. It will shut down if there is a large spill of water or whatever on the controls, but because the controls are clustered in a corner rather than spread across the front, it's less likely to happen. One time it shut itself down when I set a metal spoon across several of the controls. Of course, all you have to do is remove the offending spill or spoon and turn it back on. There is no need to reset the breaker, call a repairman or anything complicated.

It is slightly elevated above the countertop. I have the version that has a stainless rim. I found it in the markdown section at Pacific Sales. They only had one other induction cooktop on display. I asked the salesman why and he said that people who could afford higher end cooktops wanted gas. He asked me a lot of questions about cooking on induction since it was my second cooktop.

I've successfully tempered chocolate on it directly without a double boiler.

With all the emphasis on energy efficiency, it is boggling that induction isn't aggressively promoted in the US. In my shopping for a cooktop I have had sales reactions from admitted ignorance to outright misinformation. Almost every salesperson has known less about induction than I do -- which, as you can see from my many questions, is a tad disconcerting.

Thank you all again. I visited my Bosch again today for a second date, but no sign of the Elux anywhere.

You're going to have a wonderful kitchen someday, MizLizzie, what with all the thought and effort you've put into this project already.

I am in the very same boat. It is sooo hard to choose a cooktop without actually seeing it. Frustrating. Trying to decide between Bosch 300 series and Electrolux induction. No one has the ELectolux and there are very few real photos online other than the ones with drawn on lines to show the cooking zones. No showrooms around here. If anyone has the Electrolux EW30IC60 LB installed and could upload a pic I would love the help.

I'm in the hunt and narrowing in on the Elux as well. The only showroom around here that has any active models on display only has the older 36 (last year or two years ago I think). Can't find a single local shop that even has this model on display, let alone a working model. Would love to see some "real world" pics and reviews. Curious what folks think of the crosshairs for the hobs rather than rings.

MizLizzie, we do not own, and have not used, an Electrolux induction cooktop. However, when we were looking at induction cooktops (years ago), ISTR that the Electroluxes needed more room beneath the countertop, both for physical clearance and for recommended "additional" clearance, than most others. My only suggestion, therefore, is to look critically at the dimensions required for installation as one of the factors that you consider before making a purchase.

Reading the user guide for the Electrolux, it looks like it doesn't have shut-off timers on the burners (the timer is just a beeper). Competitor's models have individual shut-off timers for each burner as well as a beeper; that strikes me as useful. For example, when we are cooking Basmati rice on our gas cooktop, we let it simmer for 15 minutes then turn off the burner; with a shut-off timer on an induction cooktop, we could have the burner shut off automatically and avoid any risk of boiling dry and burning.

If one believes the user guide, the restrictions on pan sizes are pretty tight on the Electrolux; however, I suspect that reality is different. When we tested the Bosch 800-series cooktop, it was noticeably more lenient on pan sizes than its manual said (pans that were smaller than the stated minimum sizes worked OK).

I am dubious about the crosses instead of circles. Without trying it, I don't know whether that's really an issue. You could easily simulate that part by drawing crosses on a piece of paper and seeing how easy it is to get a pan centered.

On the plus side, I like the look of the controls on the Electrolux - individual instant-set controls is about the best set-up I have seen, assuming that the instant-set part is not too fiddly (you still have +/- controls to tweak with if you don't hit the exact setting using the instant "dial").

The Electrolux has the largest number of power levels that I have seen on any induction unit - around 25! I don't know whether that is a plus or not; the Bosch has around 19, and that seemed to be plenty during our simple tests, but I don't have enough experience of these things to know whether even more levels might be useful in real-life cooking. FWIW, Wolf's induction cooktop only has around 9 levels.

This post was edited by PeterH2 on Sun, Feb 17, 13 at 21:40

The E'lux induction range hobs have ~23 levels, it looks like. Note that they are distributed asymmetrically: Nine levels between 5 (midpoint) and Powerboost, and 14 levels between 5 and Lo.

Perhaps fewer levels would be OK, I'm not sure. Never noticed a need for more, fer sure. I've been fine with this for a couple of years now.

You know, I have decided to go with the basic, tried-and-true Bosch. I like the Electrolux, but I do not want any hassles with my danged cooktop after I have up-ended my life, my husband, and my kitchen to get it. ;-)

Bought this Electrolux Induction cook top. So far LOVE IT. It looks very sleek, easy to wipe up, boils in seconds. Has a beveled edge and glass black top. Goes from boil to simmer instantly.

I'm looking at this cooktop as well, seems to give you a lot of bang for your buck. Anyone else has it?

Does anyone know anything about Frigidaire Professional Induction cooktop FPIC3095? Looks to be good too. I'm not in the market for a super high end induction cooktop for 2K +.

SweCan, all I can say is I love, love, love my basic Bosch, and I paid less than $1,500 after rebate. Take serious note of herring_maven's warning above regarding depth, especially if space is at a premium. I fell in love with the GE early on, but was warned off here because of the depth requirement. I cannot speak to the Elux, but the Bosch is soooo thin, and allowed me a big drawer directly beneath. Check it out below to get an idea.

Wow. That's quite incredible. I'm planning to have two deeper drawer for pots and pans and lids under the cooktop.Definately looking into that!

One thing that I really like on the Electrolux is that the big burner is in the front, not in the back as the Bosch. I don't know if it would be a big deal, but it's just my feeling that it is more practical to have the bigger one in the front. I have a big family and do a lot of cooking in big pots and pans. :) Bosch has had the same one out for a few years so there's a lot of feedback on them. But since Electrolux just came out with this one it's harder to get user reviews. Still have about a month until I need to make my purchase. Hoping for mor Electrolux users to share their experience!

SweCan, that is a very valid point, and one that I seriously considered. I cook primarily on that big element. But I just got nervous about the Elux. They have been known to put out a dawg now and again.

That said, I went all Elux on my ovens and fridge, feeling they were tried and true, and beloved here. I have not been disappointed, though my fridge did require one service call immediately after install.

The big element being situated rearward on the Bosch has not been a problem. Yes, I have to lean in an extra inch. And it isn't all the way in the rear, but kind of mid-cooktop. Still, in a perfect world, I'd have liked it front and center. But the Bosch cooks like a dream and I'm happy. (I'm 5'4" by the way, and my countertop height is standard, if that helps anyone shopping.)