kitten1313: ". . . another important element for me was the ability to bridge. I think the kitchenaid and the LG have true bridge elements, and the bosch has two same-sized hobs front to back, which would probably work well for a bridge." [grin] You are already ahead of the game when you show that you have done your homework by mentioning LG. We have had an LG induction (LCE30845) for several years now, and it has served us well. Yes, the two left-side nominally 8" burners do have a bridge element for the hourglass shaped gap between them, and the bridging works well. LG even includes a griddle with the cooktop that is exactly the width of the two bridgable burners and exactly the length of the two bridged units. It is made of magnetic stainless steel, but the surface is quite soft and will show scratches the very first time you use a spatula on it. The scratches will not be deep, and do not detract from function, but some people may fret about the cosmetics. Of course, you can use any other suitably sized induction-compatible griddle or pot on the bridged burners instead. Aside from the special bridging function, the LG is a pretty basic induction cooktop, lacking some extra bells and whistles found on the (much) more expensive brands and models (such as timers on the burners). The largest (nominally 11") burner has plenty of power for any "normal" cooking function, but if you can in 20 quart pots, or want to deep-fry your Thanksgiving turkey atop the cooktop, even the largest burner on the LG would be inadequate. For some reason I have not yet discerned, I have noticed that when I mention LG on this forum in connection with cooktops, I might as well be writing in Chinese characters; there never is any response at all. (Mention LG in connection with refrigerators or washing machines, however, and everyone chimes in.) In contrast, when anyone mentions an exotic European brand of cooktop that probably sells a tiny fraction of the volume of LG cooktop sales, the post invariably garners a response. That was why I was surprised to see you bring up LG spontaneously. Another unusual feature of the LG is that it requires less clearance below the countertop than almost any other cooktop of any kind, under 2", and its cooling air vent is not into the cavity below the countertop, but through small slits, less than the thickness of a nickel, on the rear of the coooktop in the stainless trim at the back.

I've been cooking on my Diva 36 inch for 5 months and really like it. I've had great results. It's very powerful and I have to remember to keep the heat on lower settings in order not to burn my food. It delivers more heat than I had expected. I only put it on full power if I need to quickly bring something to a boil. Then, I turn it down to actually cook what I intend to cook. It brings water to a boil quickly. I'm so happy I don't have to clean grill grates...did that for years and hated it. I'm very pleased with the Diva so far. I bought a large set of Al clad pans at Macy's for $420. I think the best set of pans that I found were at William Sonoma. They were the brushed nickel pans made for induction. However, they were around $800 for the set. I also picked up a few no name brands pots from TJ Max and Home Goods. They seems to work just as well as the all clad for boiling pasta etc. I definitely think it's worth the investment to buy a really good non-stick frying pan. Macy's also has a set of pans made specifically for induction that were priced less than $300.

We've got a Sunpentown 1881 unit (says it consumes 1200W). I use it mostly for boiling water and making pasta and now have it set up in my new laundry area that is vented and near a new working sink. One thing you should be careful of is how many things will be using the same circuit at one time. I had a lot of countertop appliances in my old kitchen (convection oven, single induction hob, microwave, toaster oven) and I think the prior homeowner had all the outlets on the same circuit so we'd blow the circuit breaker if we weren't careful. This kind of thing can easily happen when you've got a bunch of appliances in your temporary kitchen. jayne

These are related but different systems. Overheat protection simply shuts a burner (or burners) off when sensors detect the cooking surface is getting too hot for system electronics beneath it. That can be invoked by anything from an unattended pot bolling dry to somebody keeping four woks going at the same time, each on its burner's highest setting. When sensors underneath the cooking surface register temperatures rising above the set limit, the stove/cooktop shuts down to allow the surface and electronics to cool back down enough. The auto shut-off timers, on the other hand, are a way of limiting the opportunity for inadvertent unattended overheating incidents. Bosch calls its version of this system "automatic time limitation." It is explained in the Bosch manuals like the one I linked to.. Here is an example of what the manuals say: "If [an induction] cooking zone is used for a prolonged period of time without changes in the settings being made, the automatic time limitation function is triggered. The cooking zone stops heating. and the residual heat indicator ⁠/ flash alternately in the display. The indicator goes out when the control knob is set to 0. The cooking zone can now be reset. When the automatic time limitation is activated depends on the selected power level (from 1 to 10 hours)" Basically, at the burner's lowest power setting, you can keep an unattended pot on warm for 10 hours with progressively shorter times for each higher power setting. At a burner's highest power setting, the unattended burner will time out at 1 hour. If you really want to use the highest power setting for many hours, you have to come back every 59 minutes and bump it down to another setting and then back to the setting you want. Now, If your unattended pot boils dry before the automatic time limitation kicks in, the pot will get hotter and hotter until the overheat protection kicks on to shut off the burner(s) even if the automatic time limitation has not been exceeded. Likewise, our friend with all those woks on high may find the overheat protection kicking in before the 1 hour auto time limitation. Does that answer your question?