mrsr, I agree it is wasteful to ditch a functioning appliance to keep up with trends. I battled with myself over this issue, but for me the other issue is one of function. My husband and I like to cook together and find that our 30in 4 burner ge profile(which works fine) pits us against each other for elbow room and burner selection. Since our cabinets (late 70's builder grade) are literally coming apart at the seams we are planning on a kitchen reno; making this the opportune time for moving up to a larger range. Do people really invest the money, time and hassle of a kitchen reno to keep up with trends? Don't most people really want a timeless kitchen that will function well, please the senses, reflect oneÂs individuality and if they have to move, not send buyers out the door screaming in horror?

I am also an induction convert from gas. I agree about the control/ease of clean up etc discussed above in other posts. The one element that I really like is that I can cook at low temps equally across all the hobs. My former mid range gas cooktop seemed to always be too hot on the larger burners even at the lowest settings. I am sure if I stepped up to a high end gas cooktop or rangetop I may have been able to solve that issue. I have had the wolf induction cooktop for 2 years and am very pleased with it. Even though it has 9 levels plus boost - the levels are NOT linearly spaced but logarithmic There was a post a couple of years ago that I cannot locate from someone at Wolf/Sub Zero that explained their logic behind the 9 levels. I have found the 9 more than adequate and have never thought - gee if I could just do a "half step". I mainly use levels 1-5 once I have my pan heated. I would certainly contact BlueStar and see how they have calibrated their levels. It does look like a nice layout and a good price point. Cannot speak to the quality or longevity.

Hi CJ 2. I want stainless (look or real, I don't care) with as little black as possible. And here's the hard part: without a black cooktop. That part seems nearly impossible, but I absolutely hate how difficult our black cooktop is to clean. In all honesty both are a real pain to clean. I have a kenmore black cook top, and DD has GE stainless cooktop. I hate both, including removing those heavy grates. Oh well. My next one will be induction, when and if they come down in price. Re convection, that’s all I use. And it seems to cook things more evenly and a bit quicker.

>>>"No pro stove would have touch controls at all."<<< >>>"so all the induction units in restaurants must have knobs then? Why don't they sell knobs to the general public?"<<< Actually, some models of restaurant (aka "commercial") induction cooktops and ranges do have touchpad control interfaces and there are numbers of knob controlled residential induction appliances. For a commercial example of a touchpad controlled appliance, there are the Cooktek "Apogee" units used in restaurants as high-end as Grant Achatz's Alinea in Chicago and the Ducasse restaurants in Paris. For "knobs sold to the general public," recognized major brands with knob-controlled induction models include the GE Cafe models that I cited in my previous post, Electrolux/Frigidaire's "Gallery" slide-in induction range and some of the induction ranges the company makes for Sears to badge as Kenmores, LG's induction slide-in range, and Samsung's induction slide-in ranges. Boutique brand models with knob controls include Viking's induction range and some of its cooktops, Blue Star's induction stoves and cooktops, AGA, Bertazzoni, DCS/Fisher & Paykel, Verona and Ilve. Gagenau (a divsion of the Bosch BSH conglomerate), offers some models of cooktops with unique knob and glass controls. There are probably more models out there, but you get the idea.