I don't have a brand to recommend to you. Unless your pocketbook can handle one of the "flex" options, consider bridging two hobs with a large oval or rectangular piece. I have a Demeyere plancha that is thick enough for very nice, even heating over my 6" and 8.5" hobs. There is just enough room that I can use my 11" French Oven pan next to it on my 30" Bosch 800. It's tight, though! The 36" has a middle 12" hob flanked by 4 smaller, so there is the possibility of 3 large vessels if you have the right puzzle pieces.

For big gatherings, I also rely on portable appliances. The Nesco, slow cooker, etc are often used in the garage or porch/deck until it's time to dish up the grub. They are especially nice in the summer time, when keeping the heat out of the house is the goal.

I hope that you get the induction for indoors! It made a HUGE difference in the ambient temperature in my kitchen and is a dream to use.

For the outdoor hob, I have a Firemagic Power Burner, a 60,000 BTU beast.

Alex9179, more than bridging, I'm concerned about two 12" frying/saute pans. How much bigger can the bottom diameter be and still get pretty even heat, do you know?

Dbabrams, that is exactly what he wants!!!!! I can't wait to show it to him! Hahahaha!

Recommended is a 1 inch difference between hob and pan bottom's diameter. Given a few minutes to pre-heat, my 12" Zwilling Sensation fry pan heats evenly on my 8.5" hob. There's still plenty of room to use my 11" bottomed pan (kind of a hybrid sauté/rondeau) on my 11" hob, alongside.

I don't know if 36" cooktops will have the hob sizes you'd prefer. They usually have 1 big hob and small to medium on the two sides, which have a 5-7" range. I have to google, now, because I'm curious!

Thanks for the great information!

I'm looking at the Bosch flex top. I wish someone made a 36" induction range top, like Viking did years ago. I love the look and the extra surface area. The Aga Mercury range is also a thing of beauty but I don't have the room for it.

One other question. Is it awkward to use the center burner?

In the Wolf, the largest burner is on the right and the other four are in the centre and left. This works out reasonably well for me as the 5qt pan goes on the large burner, the pasta water goes in the centre rear, and the other burners take anything else. If I need more, I broil them in the Bluestar wall oven.

"One other question. Is it awkward to use the center burner?"

I don't think so. I used to have a 5 burner radiant and used the center almost every night, along with one or two of the side burners. The handle was oriented at 6 o'clock while I was at the cooktop and I automatically moved it to one side when doing something else.

I had reasons for downsizing to a 30" and it wasn't the configuration. Radiant is awful and my expandable burner stopped expanding, the amp rating for the breaker box (previous owners ignored that detail), and more counter space in the island the cooktop is located. I don't miss the larger size and cook for 5 people every day.

I have a center burner on my LaCanche range that I never, ever use. Lol! But I love the extra space it gives me on the cooktop.

I'm going to take my two most used pans with me and see how they fit on both the Bosch and the Wolf.

I really appreciate the feedback. I'll let you know how I make out at the appliance store! :)

Friend of ours has the Bosch flex, and he loves it. He let me play with it, and it is impressive because it is literally very flexible! It takes a second or two to figure out where your pot is, but after that you're off to the races. If I needed an induction cooktop, that'd be the one I'd get. Everything else pales in comparison. imho.

I'm buying the 36" Bosch 800 Induction cooktop. One 8" hobs, two 7", one 6" and one 12".

I've narrowed it down to the Monogram or the Bosch. I love the look and the layout of the Monogram (and think the sous vide probe is too cool) but I'm concerned about reliability and the lack of timers. Can anyone tell me how useful shut off timers on an induction cooktop are? Thanks!

Gas stoves do heat up the kitchen noticeably more. So, yes, if that's your main concern, then an induction hob makes sense.

On the other hand, you said that you might not be able to persuade your husband to give up the Bluestar cook top. Just curious whether that was a typo or intentional.

Bluestar makes absolutely amazing gas appliances. But their cook tops are noticeably less impressive than their range tops. They also are a lot harder to clean than their fully open burners (on ranges and range tops). Keep that in mind when making a decision.

As far as heat is concerned, my best suggestion would be to get a powerful vent hood and to make sure that is covers the entire cooking surface (plus an extra margin on the sides). That's a good idea anyway for any high-powered stove. It won't eliminate all the heat, but it'll go a long way towards doing so.

You asked about shut off timers. I think, that's really a question about your preferred cooking style. Personally, I wouldn't have any use for it. If I need to cook something slowly, I move it into the oven. Can't beat that for even and slow cooking. If I want it to stop cooking at some point, I pick a suitable target temperature for the oven and then turn it off and let the residual heat do the rest of the cooking.

I probably would have some use for a timer that turns things on rather than off. That could be quite nice with yeast dough that I let rise over night and then want to eat in the morning. But that's really a feature that I'd need in an oven and not in stove top.

But just because I can't think of a use for a timer on a stove doesn't mean you couldn't. It really depends on how you like to use your stove.

I was able to persuade him to reconsider induction. I would love a Bluestar, but really, at the beach, even with a great hood, it will get too warm in the kitchen. We have a Wolf range now that only has 15K burners and I sweat while cooking.

I never had a timed burner so I'm not sure if I'd use it or not. I'm thinking I wouldn't. I mean, I haven't used the temperature probe in my oven in the 6 years I've had it. LOL! Now, a dough box that keeps your breakfast rolls chilled until morning and then warms enough to let them rise before you get up? That would be something!

I occasionally make fresh croissants for breakfast. I prepare a large batch, as they are so time consuming to make from scratch. And then I freeze them before baking. At around midnight, I take a few out of the freezer and put them into the cold oven. When I get up in the morning, they have risen and are ready to be coated with egg wash and to be baked. As they take less than 20min to bake, that all works pretty easily.

Sourdough bread is trickier. It needs longer proofing times, and then it needs to be shaped and needs additional bench resting time. And when I bake it, it takes about an hour in the oven and needs to cool down for another hour before it is ready to be eaten.

I have not figured out a good solution to having fresh bread in the morning unless I get up a couple of times during the night or unless I am OK with baking it the night before.

>>>"Can anyone tell me how useful shut off timers on an induction cooktop are?"<<<

Sure can, but you might get more responses if you start a new thread with that specific question in the title.

Generally speaking, burner timers are one of those things that some find very useful while other people are utterly indifferent to the feature. Those who find them useful often have a variety of different ways to use timer controlled burners.

Personally, I find timer controlled induction burners very useful. I use pressure cookers often and most pressure cooker recipes call for a specific time under pressure. For that, timer controlled burners can give near "fire and forget" convenience. Also very useful for things like, say, morning oatmeal which needs a low boil for seven minutes and then needs to sit for a few more. Having a timer-controlled burner prevents "boil dry" incidents that might occur when I get distracted by morning phone calls. (I work from home and sometimes get phone calls that interrupt breakfast.) Also, I do a lot of entertaining, and would find multiple burner timers useful when managing multiple dishes in multiple pots all going at the same time.

When it comes to timers, I wouldn't have one without them. But that's just me. I can set a timer to simmer something (say rice or pasta) for a specific time and then go off and do something else knowing it won't scorch since it will shut down itself.

I hear you guys about rice and oatmeal. I guess, that's where it comes in handy to live in a half-Asian household. We have a rice cooker that gets used for these tasks, and after the remodel, we'll also have a combination steam oven that fills a very similar need.

That's not to say that a shutoff-timer couldn't be useful for some people. I just don't need it with any of the cooking and baking techniques that I feel most comfortable with. I rarely need timers, and when I do, I yell across the room: "Hey Google, set a timer for 25min and another timer for 55min". Google Home then reminds me to check on my bread half-way through, and to check again, when it most likely is done.

I realize I am late to this discussion, but I wonder has anyone considered the Gaggenau VI 492- which has flex induction with one large hob (32cm/12.5") in the middle? This is what I am leaning toward getting for my new kitchen.

Regarding timers on each hob. I was one who was indifferent about that feature. Color me surprised when it turns out I use them all of the time and love the option. Like jwvideo, I use a pressure cooker often and it's especially great for the 6-6-6 hardboiled egg method, along with the usual suspects mentioned. It's a step saver for me. I'm also an a struggling multi-tasker and NEED timers. I love not having to juggle which job gets timer precedence, since I often use the oven at the same time and MW timer is used for kids' reading homework or video game-playing.

Layout and direct select were more important when I was narrowing down my choice. Hmmm, looks like GE doesn't use direct select? Hopefully you can find a dealer who has some set up so that you can play with the different controls.

I agree that the direct select on the Bosch is very nice. Thermador has direct select too and the same layout as the Monogram. But not the sous vide probe. I guess the big question is, will I use it? Lol! I still have some time before I need to choose. We're a few months out from the install. I'll try to find them live and play with them. And maybe by then, someone will have reviewed the Monogram cooktop. Thanks!

Sous vide would be pretty sweet at the beach! I already have an immersion circulator and one of the reasons I would prefer the portable option is that I can put the pot out on the porch/deck, or in the garage, to keep the heat out of the house. I don't mind it so much in the winter.

We have the immersion circulator too, so outside is definitely an option. :)

I never had a timed burner so I'm not sure if I'd use it or not.

Think cooking perfect rice. Or perfect oatmeal. Things like that.

As I said earlier, it depends on your cooking style. It's very rare that I have a recipe, and even rarer that I'd measure precisely. So, most of the time, I wouldn't even know what time to set.

I have a general idea, and then I check sometime before I expect the food to be done and make adjustments as needed.

Oatmeal and rice are easy. But my wife prefers the rice cooker and gets great results as well. So, I understand about different people preferring different techniques. That's fine. Whatever works for you

If you can squeeze in 42", there's a Miele that fits your bill. Two flex induction zones of 9 x 15, one like 11 or 12 in the center and several inches between the hobs so the pans all fit.

I really liked the 42" miele but didn't want to commit to it since it's the only manufacturer that makes one in that size. Thanks! I decided to go with the Themador Masterpiece 5 hob in silver finish.