I'm sorry if my review is not that applicable since I don't have either model.

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I LOVE my Miele 36" w/ stainless steel edging. Mine's older, doesn't have the Powerflex zone.

I cook a LOT! and I love to sear, bring back to boil w/ the HIGH setting of 12 or Boost.

I've rarely used the Double Boost of the center big burner. I usually have to RUSH to turn things down, since I'm lazy and I start cooking this way:

- turn cooktop on w/ main button.

- turn burner on

- click B for boost, then press - (negative) to turn down from B to 12 to 11 to 10, which is where I usually like to start my cooking, except for eggs, rather than starting from 1 and go up to 10.

I've used mine for 3years and I love it!

Noise level: only notice it when I first put it on Boost, (sometimes my 1 cheap quality pot rattles), but then I don't even hear it to notice.

No problem w/ the button control, maybe except when we accidentally put a towel or something on it and turns off the control.

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I've only used my Miele.

I used my gf's GE induction range for 1minute, not long enough to notice anything good or bad or different.

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You'll love it!

Wow. Thanks for the review. I really thinking more and more about Miele! One store said they are waiting for their display model to come in. Soon I hope!

Of the 4 you mentioned, Miele and Bosch are your best bets. The miele is very new so you wont see many reviews, but like most miele product this technology was on sale for some time in Europe before it was imported stateside.

I'm also a Miele fan, although do not have the flex induction version either. I have had the 36" cooktop for half a year and LOVE it too. There definitely is a little buzzing at higher powers, or when you have front and back burners the power does seem to alternate between the two so you get a weird pulsating buzz noise (especially noticeable at lower temps with less cooking noise). Once things are frying, hood is on, etc, you usually don't notice the noise though. Buttons are fine - I set it to start at 6, since I'm usually going to 8-9 to start (or boost for boiling). They respond well (although a touch slower than expected, patience is a virtue), and the new version should be even easier. It's really annoying when you leave a spoon on the controls and you have 4 burners on that all shut off and you have to remember what they were set at, doesn't happen often though - you learn to be careful! It's also shut off for boiling water over onto the controls, but this was a good thing - coming from mediocre gas stoves I really needed to learn how to pay attention as things get hot FAST. Pan recognition is fine - I've had it once not recognize my all-clad skillet and had to re-try, but every other time has been good! Temp variation is great- from very low to very high, with enough steps in-between.

I assume both Bosch and Miele are great - I chose primarily based on layout and would make the same choice again (even over the flex burner which I don't think I would ever use and the two 9 inch hobs that close to each other would not be functional for me). I would recommend bringing your pans in somewhere and testing it out if you can - we were able to bring in our pans, see if they fit, boil water, etc.

Also, if you search there was a discussion and picture of the Miele flush mount vs top mount somewhere around here! I top mounted but I think the moral of the story was that everyone was happy and liked their way better, so you probably can't go wrong. :)

What a fabulous review lharpie. Very, very helpful. Thank you so much for taking your time for this. I'm sure your information will be helpful to many of us searching for that "perfect" cooktop.

Thank you Joe. I agree with you because Miele and Bosch are running a close 1st and 2nd place race with me so far!

May I suggest that you google this and search on the appliances forum. There have been many useful reviews/comments there. I think you will find some info. Generally, almost all induction users, whatever the brand, are in love with the technology. I love my 4 year old Bosch, not flex, induction. When I do my new kitchen, I will get Bosch again. Don't need flex. Every single piece of my cookware fits and works on the Bosch hobs. I don't need a bridge but ymmv. Bosch was, 4 years ago, appreciably cheaper than Miele. Maybe not now. Miele has showrooms where you can test/play with live, connected models. In certain cities.

Thanks westsider40. Very good advice. I have spent a lot of time researching forums and you are correct. You get lots of good information. After I posted this I became curious about the temperature control responses I got on the Miele and found many negative reviews about the Miele pertaining to how slow it was to respond to pressing on the temp keys. This seems to defeat the purpose of having the quick response Induction is so famous for. I would think that this problem has been addressed by Miele and hopefully this new cooktop will not have this problem.

However, I was very glad to hear how happy you have been with your Bosch Induction Cooktop. It is the name brand I'm thinking about getting because I do want the flex area and I really want the wall oven with the side opening door to go under it. And, the rebate going on now with Bosch may "seal the deal"! Also, the Miele 36" Induction Cooktop will allow a Miele wall oven to go under it but I think it is about $2000 more than the Bosch wall oven and the door doesn't open to the side.. I don't bake and roast that much!

I've been moaning and groaning to my husband that I was really going to miss my double-sided Lodge grill pans, yes I own 2 of them. I love to have sausage and bacon going on one grill pan and pancakes going on the other one. Or, grilled meat on one and grilled veggies on the other one. I know cast iron works great with induction but these pans have grease channels and designed to straddle 2 electric gas burners not lay flat on a glass cooktop. So, I may be slow to learn this but I read somewhere that if a magnetic bottom pan gets within 1/4" of the inductors it will heat up. So, I look one of the lodge grill pans to my little portable induction cooktop that I bought to use to see if I liked induction, laid it down on the glass top, turned it on and it worked. Both the grill side and the griddle side. Not only did the cooktop stay on it got hot over the inductor so fast I had to remove my hand very quickly. Yeah, I hope it works on the Benchmark so I will not have to go grill pan shopping.

Okay, maybe this was more information than you bargained for but I wanted to share the grill pan story for all to hear and try. Lots of people are looking for grill pans to work so I hope this helps someone.

Thanks again westside 40. You have helped my confidence level with Bosch.

The sentence above should be "So, I took (not look) one of the Lodge..." Sometimes I do not like autocorrect :)

I think a side opening oven is not the best choice for under the counter. With an oven that low, you will be leaning forward, which makes it easier to clear a conventional door, and the side-opening door may clash with adjacent cabinet door/drawer handles. Both the ovens you mention come with full extension racks anyhow.

Personally, I would go with the Bosch flex induction and oven combo.

The stainless trim on the Miele 6375 makes it harder to wipe stuff off onto the adjacent counter. It will cost you extra to flush mount the Miele 6370, and there is a risk that the flush mounting will not be done well by the countertop fabricator. You also have to be careful about restrictions on the cabinet height underneath the 6370.

The Bosch combo will get you two flex zones and save you money. Just be aware that it really needs a 37" base cabinet for an easy install.

Wild-card: you should also consider the latest GE Cafe cooktop and oven combo.

Not that you asked, but the whole idea of a cooktop is the flexibility of NOT having a hot oven underneath while you're cooking on the cooktop, nor having to move aside so someone can reach into the oven.

I LOVE having my ovens no where near my cooktop! So I can cook on the cooktop, while DH is on the opposite side of the kitchen baking in his oven.

And I love not having to bend down so low to use my oven. (Yes, we're getting old!)

How's your layout?

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So the double-sided Lodge grill pan work on induction WITHOUT needing the flex zone?

I've been wanting one, but I thought that it wouldn't work on induction properly.

Good to know!

Ditto on not having the oven under the cooktop - mine is still under counter (absolutely no space to have it higher up), but I much prefer to store all of my pans directly under the cooktop, and be able to take things out of the oven directly onto counter above it. Definitely makes it much easier for 2 people to be cooking as Huango said.

Also, I would recommend you try out the buttons, etc, at an appliance store if you are able to. The Miele ones really are absolutely fine - they just act a little different than other ones - fine once you are used to them. The Miele are a press and hold - it doesn't take much time at all to change temps even with the +/- version (i.e. a second at most). I also like the steel frame - I do think it protects the side a bit, and hasn't been an issue in cleaning.

If you bridge two conventional (circular) elements with a long rectangular grill/griddle, you will get a cold spot in the middle. Cast iron is not a great conductor. The virtue of the new flex zone cooktops is that they will heat those pans evenly.

Flex zones also give you powerful burners at the side(s) in addition to the center burner, which can be useful if you are stir-frying, for example, because it allows you to keep the pan adjacent to your prep area. And they are very flexible about pan size - the new Bosch Benchmark accepts pans under 4" diameter all the way up to a roasting pan.

In regards to having an oven under the cooktop, the doors of good quality modern electric ovens do not get particularly hot. It's a great location for broiling and roasting because your vent hood will carry away the fumes when you open the oven door. That's another reason why a conventional oven door is better in that location, BTW - it directs the fumes upwards when you open it; you also don't have to open it all the way when you are broiling.

The ideal solution is to have a second wall-mounted oven elsewhere for the reasons others have mentioned. A combi-steam oven (Miele is a good choice) is ideal for that, and only needs two feet of width in a full-height cabinet. You can stack it with a built-in microwave. If you don't like the price tag of combi-steam, you can get two foot wide wall convection ovens; they are more than adequate for day-to-day needs and save time and energy compared to 30" ovens - keep the big oven for broiling and larger dishes.

As to controls, the convenience of having individual controls for each burner is balanced out by each control being smaller. If you have slim fingers, the Miele will work well, if you have larger fingers and/or and not so dexterous, the Bosch may be easier. Personally, I see this as a wash - both will likely be just fine.

JQuigley - note that I edited the above after you read it. It's just like a kitchen design - I can't resist tweaking it endlessly! :)

caltrop, huango and iharpie

Thanks for your remarks about the side opening oven under a cooktop. You have made a very good point and something I will really be thinking about when I go back to look at it next week. Every time I open my microwave door I think “now, am I going to like doing this with my oven”, so I’m already trying to think through this. I was concerned about the oven door closing back on my arm but I understand that it can be opened up to 135° and similar to a car door, it will stay put where you stop it and without hitting the adjacent cabinet. I also read a comment about how easy it is to lean into the oven controls and accidentally turn them on. And, the side hinge oven needs 3/4" gap at hinge location if you want it flushed mounted. Like most flush mounted items, it limits replacement options in the future. I will be trying to visualize all of these problem areas as I’m studying it in the display. Unfortunately, my kitchen is so small that I do not have a wall for this to be placed higher. Believe me, I really wish I did but, it is just me and hubby (no kids or grandkids) and he is not underfoot when I cook. Our deal is…I cook…we eat…I walk away and he cleans up…heaven for us…or at least ME!

I’m really thinking more and more about getting the Bosch FlexInduction. I really do not want the stainless trim on the cooktop for crumb trap and looks! I like the clean look of the all black top but do not want flush mounted because of expense and limited options in the future of replacement. That is the other thing I didn’t like about the Miele. It doesn’t seem to be an option for top mount without the stainless trim. I have already told my cabinet designer to make the cabinet for my cooktop 1” higher than the standard to give a little more room for the oven to go underneath. That made him very happy and I don’t think anyone will ever notice the difference since it is on the other side of the room pinned in-between two walls. I’m also tall enough that this may turn out to be a good height for me. My next door neighbor has her island an inch higher than normal and we both never noticed the height difference until I measured it.

huango…about the double-sided Lodge grill pan, I do not know about it working on any other cooktop. I plan to take it with me to appliance stores next week and try it out. And, I do intend to use it on bridge/flexzones, not across two individual burners. But, if it works across two individual burners on your cooktop then, why not. But, please don’t buy one to try unless you can take it back if not happy. I just have this little Tramontina Induction single burner portable cooktop that I bought at Sam’s Club to use during my remodel. I placed the grill pan where it was resting on it’s edges and the part over the induction burner was about 1/4” above the surface. The cooktop stayed on and the little 5” area where the burner was got the grill pan as hot as it would on any stove but just in this 5" area. I left it there several minutes and it stayed on. It toasted a piece of bread just great. So, my hope is that when it straddles the Bosch Flexzone that it will be recognized and still get hot. Wouldn’t that be great. If anyone has a Bosch Flexzone and can get their hands on one of these griddles would you please try it for me and see if it works. My appliance store has Jenn-Air, Wolf and maybe Miele (if the new one gets in this week) hooked up where I can cook on them. However, their Bosch FlexInduction is not hooked up and can’t be where they have it displayed…bummer!

Caltrop…I agree with you about the grill having cold spots if placed on two burners…much like it does on the old coil electric burners. That is my main complaint about the Jenn-Air. I understand that it does not heat in-between the burners that it bridges. It just lets you control the two burners as one. But I may still try the grill pan just to see if it will recognize it. That is the whole thing with cookware and induction cooktops, not knowing for sure what that particular cooktops burners will recognize. And, thanks for the more detailed review of the Bosch. I think it is the one. Much thanks to all!

Great tip for every one to know. I've also seen parchment paper used but would be a bit more expensive than paper towels. I did scorch a paper towel a little bit with the heat from a cast iron skillet but probably had the heat higher than needed. That may be why some use parchment paper, it is more heat ready. I saw the Silpat mat used just the other day and thought that was a much better option than paper towels, more padding for the cast iron and washable. Thanks Gregory

So which did you decide to go with? I was thinking of getting the GE cooktop but I like the layout of the Miele better.

The Wolf and Jenn-Air were really my only options if I wanted to have local service. These were the only two that my local appliance store had that I was interested in. They stopped carrying the Miele brand. I saw it in another town and really liked it but I selected the Wolf. Due to long delays in fixing a bad floor tile install, my kitchen is not finished yet so I haven't gotten to use mine. I was able to test both of these in the store and the Wolf recognized more pan sizes than the Jenn-Air, especially my lodge grill/griddle pan. I placed it on a Silpat mat across two bridged burners and it worked great. The Jenn-Air wouldn't recognize it at all. I will update my experience with the Wolf when my kitchen is finished.

That's why I ruled out the jenn AiR as well. I use quite a few larger pots /pans and realized not only did it not have a bridge element but I don't like the uniform 7" burners.

Love this discussion. ThInk i am going with Bosh now. Of course my Basco dealer likes Miele. Probably more profit for them, though they did say that both companies manufacturer their own hob units instead of outsourcing, so you should be getting a good product either way.

I went with the GE and absolutely love it! It's all the same technology so I went with a good product and a fair price. I love the layout and especially LOVE the fact that it's NOT black. It's easy to clean and I'm diligent about it, but if I ever didn't wipe it down, it hides crumbs way better than black would. Plus I like that it compliments the stainless hood.

What color is it?

It's exciting to read all these great reviews and tips! My Miele 36" induction cooktop gets installed tomorrow and I'm so excited to start playing with it. I didn't look at the Bosch but was tempted by Wolf because I liked the slightly textured surface. In the end I chose Miele ovens (I was much pickier about oven features so this was a harder decision for me) so matched the cooktop because I couldn't decide for any other reason. I still haven't bought my ventilation because I'm stumped on whether the Miele Connectivity (or whatever it's called) is worth it. Have you thought about that?

I also don't have wall space to put ovens anywhere other than under the cooktop and at first I regretted this so I'm glad to read some good reasons to do so here. Being under the ventilation is a great plus! My oven doors will open the conventional way, not to the side. I made sure to get the contour line swivel handles because I think these will be nicer to use despite the lower height.

I've been loving using my induction hot plate in our temporary kitchen and can't wait to get to work on the big new one. Will post a review once I've had a chance to play around with it a bit.

The GE is a charcoal grey. It's the GE Cafe line. This side view shows the color better