I also debated between the Bosch benchmark flex induction and the Wolf. Went with the Wolf 36" CI365C/B for the following: The Wolf does not default to bridging when you turn it on like the Bosch. I found this very annoying and not intuitive to guests that might want to cook in my kitchen. Plus I have to remember to turn it off to use the second element independently which I do quite frequently. The Wolf has better pot recognition in my "testing" than the Bosch. I purchased a small 4 3/4" diameter melting pot as a test. The Bosch did not recognize it on the large Hob, but it did recognize it on the other hobs but not in bridge mode in the middle. The Wolf recognized it on ALL hobs including the large one. It does not recognize it in the bridge modes. Bridge mode was not an expector. I preferred the individual slide controls on the Wolf versus selecting the hob and the level separatly like the Bosch. I could live without the individual timers on the hobs like the Bosch. I have never had this feature so not sure how often I would use it. The Wolf was a much better value - several hundred $$ less. I see the induction technology changing rapidly over the next several years and would consider upgrading to a zoneless cooktop once the price point is in the $2K-$3K range. Hence I did not go with a flush install to keep my opening as small as possible. So far I love the cooktop. I normally cook on levels 1-6 and only use the upper levels when needing to come to a boil slowly - else I use the boost to get a quick boil (and it is fast). Have not used the bridge as I do not yet have pans that require it. Still looking for that great smooth griddle. Cleanup is a breeze over gas or electric. I left pasta unattended and came back to salt water all over my cooktop - nothing "burned" on. Easy clean. Use parchment under cast iron as I am afraid of scratches (only 2 months old so still babying it). Parchment does a great job of catching splatters as well. No regrets here on my selection.

Funny I had some of the same constraints. I have a 30" Wolf cooktop and like it very much. I am now used to it, but 2 years ago when I did my kitchen, I went from a 30" range to the 30" cooktop, it did at the time feel a bit compacted to me because the range had the controls in the front vs. the top as on the cooktop. I am now used to it and while your "big" my not be my big, I don't have any problems using wide pans simultaneously on my cooktop. To make risotto for instance, I use two wide (9 -10") pans on two burners back to front and don't have any problems with the space. 10" is my widest pan however. Surface wise it hasn't felt tight to me. However, there are 2 cooks in the family and it felt a bit close to me in the beginning going from the 30" range to the 30" cooktop but now it is not an issue. I do love the cooktop, though. Performance-wise it is very good. If the latter consideration is relevant to you, however, you may also want to take a look at the Viking designer series - the cooking surface spans the 30" width, controls in front. Do study its outputs though - for me, the high at 14KBTU may have been fine although I preferred the 15KBTU, but 2 years ago, the low was 1.2KBTU and that was too high for the things I do want to be able to make some times. At 675-700btu simmer settings for the viking now, that is a LOT better. The Wolf has 300 or 400btu lows and I find that I use them quite a bit so I would not have been happy with 1100btu for a low. I have a Bosch oven and like it very much indeed. I have a 30" 700 series but since Bosch came out with new models this year, I don't claim to know anything about them. The 700series is a relatively basic oven even though it was their top offering 2 years ago - bake, convection bake, convect. roast, broil, convect. broil and warm, thaw, dehydrate or some modes like that. It is self-cleaning although I've only ever used it once. Goes down to 100degrees in "warm", 120degrees in "dehydrate", 170degs in the cooking modes. The direction of the heat source distinguishes the modes. It does an excellent job with temperature control (+/- 7 or 9degrees per my experience except for when you open the door in which case the temp can drop sizeably depending on mode; Miele Wolf and Gaggenau are even more precise & hold temperatures to within 5-7degrees), very even whether in bake, broil or roast; I liked its size as it was a smaller oven. I LOVE its interface. I noticed Consumer Reports doesn't like it either but haven't been able to figure the reviews out. I will say that you do have to experiment a bit to get used to how to cook in it - either it is the convection or the Bosch itself but there are things I have had to consciously start to do to ensure good performance; I did have some corkers in the beginning before I cottoned on to that. Placing the rack too close to the front of the oven instead of in the center or towards the back will interrupt its' air circulation (in convection) and the net result can be a asymmetric cooking. Likewise sorting out how to load the racks for multi-rack cooking so that they are evenly spaced out else same story. That sort of stuff. Anyhow, I like my Bosch oven very much but claim no knowledge of even any of their new models. I absolutely love the cooktop, but I think that the oven maybe what I play with even more than the cooktop.

So glad this post is still "alive". I have the Thermador dual fuel 48" also. I don't love it. If I had to do it over again, I too would have wall ovens and a cooktop. My griddle is scraped up. We had someone who used metal utensils and overscrubbed when cleaning it also. Because I'm lazy, now when I use it (mostly for grilled cheese and hot dogs, maybe pancakes - I really don't use it much), I put a piece of aluminum foil over it and cook on that. I'm probably going to buy a replacement for looks. I think my current foil method and the fact that I don't use it much will help it look new for the life of the unit. Maybe my husband can use the old one on the gas grill in the yard. Does anyone know if it would work for that?

>>>"Is there a single burner induction brand recommended to test it out?"<<< We've had numbers of threads here on this subject over the years. However, before you dive into those dicussions, I'd suggest starting with this blog at CenturyLife.org to get a handle on aspects and features you might consider when trying to sort through the many dozens of brands and models in the market. Also, for further research, it may help to know that the "single burner units" you are looking for are often referred to as "Portable Induction Cooktops" (sometimes abbreviated as "PIC") and mostly run on regular 120v household current. This is in contrast to the one and two burner built-in induction units which are sometimes called "dominoes" and require a 240v circuit. After you've got a handle on what to look for, you might plow through past threads here such as [this one which ran for years[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/portable-induction-cooktop-and-cookware-dsvw-vd~2324992) and was still getting posts a few months ago.