It sounds like you just want a griddle. That is all "teppanyaki" is, i.e., food cooked on a flat griddle. The guy who did my cabinets has 9 kids and his stove (it's a bigger model, probably 60" across) has a dedicated griddle. Typically, griddles are cleaned by scraping excess burned bits and grease into a channel with a drain. At the end of the day, a cleaning solution is poured on the surface and scraped into the channel, from which it drains. If there is no drain on the griddle you are eyeing, I would think twice. One thing you could do is buy one of those stainless steel griddles off of ebay. They are designed to fit on a stovetop or on your barbecue grill. They have the channel but no drain (not necessary if the grill can be tipped over to empty it.) That way you could try out the teppanyaki thing without having to bet the farm on it. If you really like the style and find that everybody wants to make flaming onion volcanoes, then look for a large range or cooktop with a built-in griddle and sell the portable one on ebay. Just be careful doing all those Benihana knife tricks around the kids! ;-)

Bikefan As mentioned earlier in this thread I bought it from HelpfulItem. The only induction cooktops that I saw "live" before buying were Electrolux and Diva. Dvbkansas Gosh, this could wear out my fingers when you ask me (or almost anyone else on this forum) about a kitchen renovation. Cabinets are from Elmwood Kitchens in a "pillow" style flat with all edges being rounded to the face. Cherry with champagne finish. (Originally I was thinking maple but realized that a pink undertone is nicer than yellow.) Short version: Working with designer on materials and appliances was pretty comfortable. (Are you comfortable with your particular KD?) Actual renovation seemed to follow Murphys law lots of installation errors. Good part is that when a problem was found their response was to fix it. Diagrams (11 pages) from CC were very important. When issues came up they were the "bible" as to whether the work was correct or not. Context: Old, small (about 8 x 10) kitchen that was falling apart. Bachelor still fully employed. Important implication is that I was not on-site for some stuff. Arrangement was for me to buy the non-plumbing appliances and CC does the rest. Other than the cooktop and GE MW all of my appliances are Fisher and Paykel. Demolition was July 23, 2007 and its not complete yet. (Original guestimate on my part was six weeks!) The appliances, other than the hood, have been functioning for several months but some stuff is incomplete. (I should have also had the window replaced at demolition since it was the perfect opportunity.) What went wrong? Carpenter had to have heart surgery on August 10. Knock off a week for getting a replacement. Cabinet/sheetrock (?) issues. For some reason the space behind the fridge was a foot until 2/3ds of the way up and then it was almost flush with the fridge. I didnt want any clearance issues per the F&P installation guides and since the diagram clearly showed the space it was opened up. (The carpenter might have been worried about the full depth cabs above the fridge?) An angled floor cabinet wouldnt open so a ½" filler was added. Just noticed that a folding corner cabinet doesnt have a recessed screw on the back of the knob and can scrape against the oven cabinet. Theyll plumb it. Cooktop/cabinet issue. I should have been more vociferous on this issue when I looked at the drawings. The Fagor docs were not consistent and apparently this was the first induction unit that CC has installed. Air space beneath the cooktop was not provided for the oven is underneath. So the cabinet was replaced with a cabinet with only a 2" toekick. (We considered other options and considered this to be best.) Air intake comes from a hole cut into the adjacent filler at the back which is open at the 4" toekick. (KD is going with a Thermador induction unit that she got a good deal on but wont install until new pots/pans are bought.) Countertop issue. We chose between three sets of Labrador Antique and we were happy with the slab. Big problem was that neither of us was present for the templating. Details are at the link below. Fabricator presented some options which I tried to accept but I knew I wouldnt be happy. After several scheduling delays and a few days before having a big pow-wow in the kitchen the granite company capitulated since the fixture holes were not as on the diagram. (Original countertop installation took three hours. Replacing the one section and drilling fixture holes on-site also took three hours.) Cabinet issue. Basic problem is that the cabinet colors were not consistent. After more scheduling delays new Elmwood rep and KD met in my kitchen and it was obvious to him that they were inconsistent. He took a drawer face and theyll be sending new faces. Also, two tall cabinets are bowed and well see whether they are replaced or fixed in some other fashion. Pull-out pantry issue. Exterior cabinet space is 15" wide and whoops, Rev-a-Shelf 14" pull-out wont quite fit in. (Fault KD on this.) Replace with 9" wide pull-out with 5 shelves instead of 4. They also built in a vertical storage area for pastry board, cooling, rack, oven pan, etc in the remaining 4" within the pull-out area. The internal pantry which pulls out is offset to the left and the fixed shelf space is on the right. Backsplash issue. Tile guy wasnt familiar with glass tiles. Since neither I nor the KD was there and GC was only there initially he applies the paper side against the mastic! All of it had to be ripped out. Lunada Bay glass tiles had to be re-ordered since theyre not reusable (although KD took a lot of the pieces and will find a use for them). After several weeks it took three days for the new tile guy to re-surface the walls and correctly install the replacement tiles as well as replace some of the ceramic tiles. (Im not great at projecting what a finished product will look like from drawings and small samples. KD was right that the glass tiles would make a great look. Although I think that the F&P DDs look good in SS she wanted panels for them. It was the correct choice. With the SS fridge, oven, hood, and MW the SS DDs would have been too much metal.) Hood issue. Its the little things that are deceptive. Hood was mounted 24" above cooktop. (F&P installation guide recommends 24"-30".) KD picked 24" for aesthetics. Im 511" and think that it should be a little higher. (But I didnt think about this beforehand.) I would still have issues with bumping my head against it but my sight line to the pots/pans would be better. They could probably raise it but Im not comfy with them moving 65 Ibs around and the glass tiles might be damaged. Im also not 100% sure that it would be better. Tough to know without actually doing it. The electricity is hooked up (so I can see what Im burning, err, cooking) but the vent is not connected since a ceiling panel face has to be replaced. Other issues? Probably, but I cant remember. It has been a blur. I felt comfortable with KD and were now working on the bathroom. I have strong feelings on some stuff and am ambivalent on other stuff. KD was able to read which stuff she had to pursue with more options. (KDs original suggestion was for red leather floor which was in their showroom. I was interested in cork. KD came up with cork that we both really like in the kitchen. Even Elmwood Kitchen rep commented on it.) At the same time she had liberties on other issues. (She replaced my mild preference for a HansGrohe faucet with a different HansGrohe faucet. KDs choice was better.) KD wanted all appliance installation done by CC. I was very much for this since I suspect that some F&P problems are with improper installation. Its expensive and the original budget was decimated pretty easily. CC is not cheap. Im all thumbs at DIY and the tradeoff for spending $$$ is that if there is a problem CCs general response is to fix it and not to disagree with you. But I am surprised at how many things went wrong with general installation. (No problems with any appliances so far). Im usually pretty easy to get along with so its good that my KD has some "Genghis Khan" in her. She notices some stuff after installation that I dont and will say that it has to be replaced. Period. By the way CC changed ownership 1-2 months ago.

Cathy, I'm glad to see you are getting to know your induction cook top! Those prominent circles would bother me a little at first too.... When I first got my portable unit, I was talking a co-worker about it and he told me a great story.... he said he had a house a few years ago that had a stove that only worked with a couple of is pans and it would beep and not get hot if he tried to use the other other ones... he thought it was broken and almost called an appliance repair person to come "fix" it, but didn't because he didn't cook enough to worry about it! He didn't realize it was a "special" stove until our coversation.... years after he'd moved out of that house. It looks like you got a really good deal on your unit, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive. There is some great technology out now... Panasonic, Thermador, and Gaggeneau all make induction cook tops that sense the size and position of the pan and you can put the pans anywhere you want on the surface.... and it's controlled with a touch screen (they are putting touch screens on everything now... Kenmore even has a dishwasher with one)... The Panasonic verson which is just a concept model will also power a blender and juicer that are made specifically to go with that cook top! There's a video on Youtube... The UK has all the pretty induction ranges... we don't seem to get them here... do a google image search for a Rangemaster or Falcon induction range an see what I mean... they even have slide out grills and dual, side-by-side ovens! (responding to off topic questions, I wouldn't work for Sears again because they didn't pay well and I don't think they are doing well overall, but I had a blast when I did work for them because I was selling vacuums and sewing machines... it's a good memory!.... and granny is back home now from having had the chemo port put in so she's doing better... thanks for asking) We still have to set up something if you haven't already gotten rid of all those pots and pans (and even if you have :o)

Trailrunner has it right about cleaning right away. In fact I may have just "Saved" our Elux oven, after the Thanksgiving Turkey "leaked" a bit onto the bottom of the oven. Wife saw it, & said "I gonna run the Self-clean". There was only one lil spot on the bottom of the oven, but if you read Wolf's care manual for the cobalt oven, You will see that's a "No NO" to just run the self clean for such deposits. I told her I would clean it for her, she said "No Biggie" and She did it herself,--that saved a lotta electricity and "Fate tempting" Anyway without "Further Ado" here is the wolf info, You should probably get that info for your oven manufacturer's cleaning recommendations, sooooo U will have to decide how or whether to use this info on your particular oven! As this will make my post pretty long, I will add more later in another post. "Wolf Info" "Oven Interior (Blue) Before utilizing the self-clean feature, use a razor blade to gently lift baked on foods from oven cavity and window. For stubborn stains,spray with a mild abrasive cleaner or spray degreaser and scrub with a no-scratch Scotch-Brite� pad (pink or blue). If stain persists, use Easy-Off� Fume Free Oven Cleaner or a S.O.S.� Steel Wool Soap Pad. The S.O.S.� pad should be used lightly at first and with more force if the stain remains. Wash the entire oven cavity with soap and water to remove all cleaning chemicals before entering self clean mode. If the residue is not cleaned from the cavity, etching of the porcelain may occur. Once self clean cycle is complete, allow the oven to cool completely and wipe out ash with a damp cloth. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not allow food with a high sugar or acid content (i.e. milk, tomatoes, fruit juices) to remain on any porcelain enamel surface. Failure to remove these foods may cause a permanent dull spot. IMPORTANT NOTE: Never wipe a warm or hot porcelain surface with a damp cloth or sponge as this may cause chipping or crazing (hairline cracks)." Gary